Civilisation and Cities Chapter Notes | Footprints Class 6: Book Solutions, Notes & Worksheets PDF Download

Understanding Prehistory

More than 4,500 years ago, there were people who lived in big cities along the banks of the river Indus. They were very organized and lived in a place we now call the Indus Valley or Harappan Civilisation.

The Unveiling of Harappa

Until the early 20th century, people didn't know about the Harappan Civilisation. They thought Indian history was only about 3,500 years old. But in 1920, a person named Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni discovered the ruins of Harappa, a village in present-day Pakistan. Another person, RD Baneiji, found the remains of a civilization in Mohenjodaro, also in present-day Pakistan, in 1921. These discoveries revealed the Indus Valley Civilisation. Later, they named it the Harappan Civilisation after the city of Harappa.

Features of the Civilisation

• Town Planning: The cities of the Indus Valley were very well-planned. They were divided into upper and lower towns. The upper town was smaller and higher, where special buildings were located. The lower town was bigger and laid out like a grid with houses, straight roads, and a good sanitation system.
• Special Buildings: In Mohenjodaro, there was a big building used for storing extra grain called a granary. There was also a rectangular pool-like structure called the Great Bath, possibly used for religious purposes. They had a town hall for important gatherings and decision-making.
• The Lower Town: People's houses were in the lower town. The houses were well-planned with one or two floors, made of bricks, and had different rooms for various purposes like bathing and cooking. They also had a good drainage system.
• Drains and Drainage: The Harappans were very particular about keeping their cities clean. They had a well-planned drainage system with covered drains alongside the roads. They even had holes to clean them.
• Streets: The roads were planned in a grid system, going from east to west. They were made of burnt bricks and rounded off at corners for smooth traffic.

Harappan Life

• Social Life: There were different social groups in the Harappan society. Some people were rulers, some knew how to write, and others were skilled in trading and religion.
• Clothes, Ornaments, and Everyday Items: People wore cotton and woolen clothes. They loved wearing jewelry made of gold, silver, and other materials. They used earthenware for cooking, and they had toys, figures, and games.
• Occupations: They were farmers and herders, providing food to people in the cities. They grew various crops and were the first to grow cotton in India. They also had craftsmen like potters, metal workers, and traders.
• Harappan Traders: They traded with other countries, and we know this because we've found their seals in other ancient cities.
• Seals: The Harappans had special seals made of stone, which they used to mark their goods.
• Harappan Faith and Beliefs: We don't know much about their religion, but they likely worshipped trees and animals. They believed in life after death.

History in Depth

The city of Lothal in Gujarat was important because it was near places where they found special stones. Some historians think it might have been a dockyard for boats and ships.

Case Study: The North-West

Bhirrana, Haryana

• The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) conducted excavations at the Harappan site of Bhirrana in Haryana.
• They found a thick red ware with an engraving similar to the famous bronze figurine of the 'Dancing Girl' found at Mohenjodaro in the early 1920s.
• This discovery is extraordinary because no other 'Dancing Girl' statue had been found outside of Mohenjodaro until this.
• Bhirrana is significant because, for the first time in independent India, deposits of Hakra ware from the pre-early Harappan period were found in sequential chronological layers.
• L.S. Rao, who led the archaeological team, stated that they have strong evidence of an unbroken cultural sequence, starting from a village culture and evolving into semi-urban and urban cultures until the site was eventually abandoned.

Decline of the Civilisation