FOUNDATION OF INDIAN CULTURE AND CIVILISATION
PRESHISTORY:
Three cultural stages
1) Paleolithic: (Old stone age) first stone tools (Fire)
2) Mesolithic: Hunting and food gathering
3) Neolithic: Man-made tools made by grinding and polishing, agriculture (Indus Valley)
4) Chalcolithic: Use of metals eg copper
PROTOHISTORY: Indus valley civilization belongs to Bronze Age also called Harappan civilization.
Indus valley period: 2400 to 1700 B.C.
Town planning:
* Grid system
* Klin Burnt Bricks
* Excellent underground drainage system
Important sites:
*Mohanjodara: Larkana (Sindh)
* Harappa: Montgomery (Punjab, Pak)
*Banawali: Hisar (Haryana)
* Dholavira: (Gujarat, Rann of Kachch)
Social condition:
Food: Barley and wheat
Garments: Cotton and wool
Pottery: Wheel turned
Metal: No iron
Utensils: Copper and Bronze
Entertainment: Dice playing, hunting
Economic Condition:
- Mainly agrarian
-No canal irrigation
Trade and commerce:- Barter trade
Script: Boustrophedon (pictographic): from right to left then left to right.
Seals: Soft stone called “Steatite”
Religion:
- ‘Primitive Animism’
- Linga and yoni
- Prototype of Shiva
- Pipal, Neem and Tulsi
Burials:
- Cremation
-Partial Burial
-Full Burial
Decline:
- Natural Causes
-Foreign invasion
Notes on Indian History: Indus Valley Civilisation
