Indus Valley Civilization — The Bronze Age Wonder

🧠 Mnemonic — Four Directions of IVC Extent

North (Manda, J&K) — South (Desalpur/Pabumath, Gujarat) — East (Alamgirpur, UP) — West (Sutkagendor, Balochistan)
Remember: "Manda Shouts East-West" = Manda(N), Desalpur(S), Alamgirpur(E), Sutkagendor(W)

The Harappans were master urban planners — centuries before Rome or Athens had planned cities, IVC towns had grid streets, covered drains, and standardized bricks.

→ Grid layout: Streets cut at right angles; main roads oriented N-S and E-W
→ Two-part city: Citadel (western, elevated, walled) + Lower Town (eastern, residential, larger)
→ Standardized bricks: Ratio 1:2:4 (thickness:width:length) — uniform across all sites; fired burnt bricks (not just mud)
→ Underground drainage: World's first planned drainage system; covered brick drains with manholes (inspection holes) at regular intervals
→ Houses: Multi-storied; private bathrooms attached; stairways; doors opened to side lanes (not main street, for privacy)
→ Great Bath (Mohenjo-daro): 12m × 7m × 2.4m deep; waterproofed with bitumen; likely used for ritual purification
→ Granaries: Centralized food storage at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro — suggests state control of food distribution
→ No temples: No clearly identified temple structures (very unlike Mesopotamian cities)

⚠️ Exam Trap: "The Great Bath was used for bathing" — this is an oversimplification. It is believed to have been used for ritual purification, not everyday bathing. Distinguish this from regular private baths found in Harappan houses.

→ Crops: Wheat, barley, peas, sesame, dates, mustard
→ Cotton: First civilization in the world to grow cotton; Greeks called it "Sindon" (from Sindhu)
→ Animals: Cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig, elephant domesticated; horse not confirmed (very important!)
→ Crafts: Bead-making (carnelian, lapis lazuli, gold, faience), seal-making (steatite), pottery, shell work
→ Bronze: Used "lost wax" (cire perdue) technique; Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro is a masterpiece

→ Overland + sea trade with Mesopotamia (called Harappan region "Meluhha" in Sumerian texts), Afghanistan, Persia, Central Asia
→ No coins: Trade by barter; standardized weights used — binary system (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64...); cubic weights of chert stone
→ Lothal dockyard — evidence of direct seaborne trade with Persian Gulf
→ IVC goods found in Mesopotamian sites; Mesopotamian goods (lapis lazuli from Afghanistan via IVC) found in India

→ Relatively egalitarian — house sizes vary, but no palaces vs. slums contrast like in Mesopotamia
→ No evidence: No king, no army structure, no clear warfare weapons
→ Priest-King figure (Mohenjo-daro) — the most famous steatite sculpture; possibly a high priest or ruler
→ Women: Wore bangles (evidence at multiple sites), necklaces; terracotta female figurines suggest fertility cult
→ Cosmetics: Lipstick, kohl found at Chanhu-daro

→ Mother Goddess worship — terracotta female figurines in abundance; fertility cult
→ Pashupati Seal (Mohenjo-daro): Male deity seated cross-legged (yogic posture); surrounded by four animals (elephant, tiger, rhino, buffalo); linked to proto-Shiva
→ Unicorn — most common animal depicted on seals (over 70% seals have it)
→ Tree worship: Pipal tree (sacred fig) revered
→ Fire altars: Found at Kalibangan and Lothal — evidence of fire worship
→ Linga worship: Possible link to later Shaivism
→ ~2,500 seals found; made of steatite (soapstone); used for trade (marking goods)

✅ What to Write in UPSC Mains: The decline was gradual and multi-causal. Most scholars today accept a combination of climate change, drying of the Saraswati river, and ecological degradation leading to eastward migration and cultural transformation (not abrupt collapse). The "Aryan Invasion" as a cause is now academically discredited.

✅ Must-Know for Prelims MCQs

→ First site discovered: Harappa (1921, Dayaram Sahni)
→ Deciphered? No — IVC script still undeciphered
→ Writing direction: Right to left
→ Great Bath: Mohenjo-daro
→ Dockyard: Lothal (only site)
→ Ploughed field: Kalibangan (pre-Harappan)
→ Signboard: Dholavira
→ Largest Indian site: Dholavira; Largest overall: Rakhigarhi
→ First cotton growers: IVC people
→ Horse: Not confirmed in IVC
→ Bronze Dancing Girl: Mohenjo-daro
→ Meluhha: Mesopotamian name for IVC region
→ Weight system: Binary (1,2,4,8,16...); cubic chert weights
→ Brick ratio: 1:2:4 (standardized across all sites)

🎯 UPSC Previous Year Question Themes

→ Identifying sites by their unique features (Great Bath, Dockyard, Signboard)
→ Boundary/extent of IVC (N/S/E/W extremities)
→ Features unique to IVC (no coins, no horse confirmed, no temples, standardized bricks)
→ Crops cultivated (cotton first in world)
→ Trade with Mesopotamia (Meluhha)
→ Decline theories — which is accepted/discredited