10-14-2007
|
 |
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2007
Age: 27
Gender: 
Posts: 860 DesiPad-Buck: 56.00
Rep Power: 7
|
|
|
Ancient history of india
Ancient history of north india
India is the site of the famous civilisation of the anciant world,the others being in Mesopotamian ,Chines ,Egyption ,Greek and the Mayan (Central America)
The earliest known civilization in India dates back to about 3000 BC.Discovered in the 1920s ,It is the very confined to the valleys of the indus (which was flows through pakistan and ladakh , the name of few places ) hence it acquired the name the Indus Valley Civilisation.This civilization was predominantly an urban concentrated in and around two principal towns,Mohenjodaro and Harappa, the ruins of which still exist
Subsecuent archaeological excavation estabilished that this civilization was not restricted to the indus valley but encompassed a wide area in the present day north western and western india thus the civilisation is now familiarly known as the Harappan civilization ,its main sites in india being Ropar in Punjab ,Lothal in Gujrat and Kalibangan in Rajistan.
All the cities of indus valley civilisation were well planned and were built with baked bricks of the same size,the streets cut each other at right angles,and had a elaborate system of covered drains.There was a fairly clear division of locations and houses for the upper and lower strata of society.There was also public buildings.The most famous being the Great Bath At Mohenjodaro and the spacious granaries.The people of this civilisation knew that the use of copper ,bronze ,lead and tin.The discovery of bricks prove that burnet bricks were used extensively for both domestic and public buildings
The people of indus valley civilisation had domestic animals including camels ,goats ,buffaloes and fowls.The presence of several seals depicting a humped bull indicate that this animal was known in those ancient times.The Harappans cultivated weat ,barley ,peas and seasame and were probably the first to grow cotton for making yarn and clothes
Trade was an important activity at the indus valley and the numerous seals discoverd at the site suggested that the each merchant or merchantile family had its own seal.These seals are in various quadrangular shaps and sizes ,etched with human or animal figures.There is ample evidence that the harappan civilization had extensive trade relations with the near by regions in india,besides areas around the Persian Gulf including Sumer (modern Iraq)
The figures of deities on the seals indicate that the people of harappa worshiped a host of gods and had also involved a set rituals and ceremonies.No edifices or monuments survive,but a large no of human figures have been discovered,including a steatite (gray/grayish-green stone with a soapy feel) bust of a man (probably a priest)and a figure of dancing girl in bronze.
 
A large no of terracotta statues of mother Godess (shakti) have also been unearthed ,suggesting that she was commonly worshiped .several conical and ring like pieces of stone have also been found which are considered the rudiments of Shivalingas (phallic symbols of shiva)and yonis(vulva) depicting the cosmic creative forces
By about 1700 BC Harappan culture began to decline,due to repeated floodings of its towns located on the river banks,coupled with the ecological changes which forced the desert to engulf the arable land.Some historians also claimes that invasions by barbarian tribes of the north west also contributed to the decline of the Harappan civilization.
REST WILL BE POSTED LATER....
|