Indus Valley Civilisation
In the two major issues of origin and survival, the Indus civilization is still a mystery. From its silent relics, we can only glimpse a few economic, social organizations and cultural understandings, and know less about how it begins and ends.
The radiocarbon dating method defines the maturity stage of the Indus civilization between 2300 and 1700 BC. After comparing these measurement results with the annual rings of the foxtail pine in the southwestern United States, the time was greatly pushed back from 2500 to 1900 BC, which means that the Indus civilization and the Tigris-Euphrates and Nile civilizations are the three oldest ancient civilizations in the world . Mesopotamia's urban life started earlier (3100 BC), but it did not lead much.
In addition, the Indus civilization and the Mesopotamian civilization have a common point in common, including the use of the seal, the central barn and the combination of the lower hills. The checkerboard pattern of the main area of the Indus civilization is compared to the winding streets of the Mesopotamian city, similar to contemporary New York streets compared to the streets of London. It is obvious that the Indus City is not directly developed within the scope of our knowledge, but is planned to be built. Many Indus cities were built directly on virgin lands, rather than being built from generation to generation, further strengthening this impression. Are their planners from Mesopotamia?
Maybe not. The Indus technology seems to be similar, but the details of its finished products are very different, and it has its own style. The founders of the Indus City were more likely to be from the Bronze Age agricultural culture, and their ruins may still be buried in the hills of Baluchistan, west of the Lower Indus in Pakistan.
According to archaeological traditions, these cultures are named after the places where pottery was first discovered: Zhob, Togau, Quetta, Amri-Nal, and Kulli ). These pottery forms have similarities with Iranian pottery, so it is speculated that they came from Iran; some locations are known to be more than a thousand years earlier than the Indus civilization. An excavation by Mehrgarh in Pakistan showed that the agricultural development in this area was 3,000 years earlier than the construction of the Indus city. Therefore, the native development of civilization seems to be more likely than borrowed from Mesopotamia.
Our understanding of these communities, based on ground excavation and reconstruction, combined with a small amount of archaeological excavations, has the same overall characteristics: quite isolated small hill villages, with barley and wheat farming, peak cattle, sheep and goat livestock To make a living; build stone blocking dams all over the catchment ditch to save precious rainwater and irrigate farmland; use millstones and stoneware to grind grain. The main differences in detail depend on the culture and site, and are mainly presented on pottery, which is quite different from the general similarity of pottery styles in the vast area of the Indus civilization.
Archaeologist Gregorian. Gregory Possehl pointed out that the occurrence of agriculture and domestication of domestic animals in the Western Mediterranean region comes from the interaction between humans and the native barley, wheat, cattle, sheep and goats. He further pointed out that barley, cattle, sheep and goats are also native to the Indus Valley; wild wheat may once survived here. Good archaeological evidence shows that the Indus settlements had domesticated these crops and animals before the maturity of the Indus city (2500-1900 BC). He suggested that instead of thinking that technology spread from West Asia to the Indus, we should treat the Indus as part of domestication that first appeared in arid regions. Animal and plant domestication occurs in different locations, and the Indus River is one of them.
End and follow-up of Indus civilization
Around 1900 BC, the Indus city reached its end. Many small towns and villages in the Indus civilization continued to exist, and some even survived to the Iron Age (1000 BC), but urban life reached its end, and was not reborn until the second urbanization in the fifth century BC. The Indu script was extinct, and writing was not reinvented until some time before or during the Ashoka era. The Indus city suddenly appeared in 2,500 BC, and it existed for about 600 years. It was indeed a rather long time, but it was not as long as the cities of Egypt and Mesopotamia.
We do not know whether the cause of the destruction of the Indus River fell quickly or slowly. The rapid decay theory focuses on the evidence of natural (flood) or man-made (military invasion) disasters; the slow theory is based on ecology (drought) or internal factors (chen stagnation, low morale).
In the Sindh District, the Indus River flows through levees above the plains on both sides. Floods are a blessing to agriculture, but they threaten the safety of the settlement. The lower district of Mohenzo-Daro was rebuilt at least three times after suffering from flooding. Hydraulics RL Raikes believes that a devastating flood caused people to abandon Mohenzo-Daro and other sites.
The Indus ruins along the Arabian coast are located 40 or 50 kilometers inland, suggesting that they were originally on the coast. At some point during the surviving period, the coast rose sharply and therefore separated from the sea. Because it is located in an earthquake zone, land lift may occur suddenly. If this happened while the Indus River City was still inhabited, something suddenly happened, as Lex believed, might change the flow direction of the lower Indus River and flood the riparian plains and settlements without warning. However, in contrast to a single city, the entire civilization will not be destroyed in a natural disaster; even if Lex's claim to the destruction of the southern city of Sindh is correct, the Indus city in Punjab may not be affected.
Evidence from the late stages of the Xalapa and other Indus sites shows that they were occupied, and the bricks of the site were misappropriated to build dirty chalets (Jhukar Culture). Here and elsewhere, the long-handled axe made of copper or bronze appeared at the same time as the end of the Indus dwelling, with an ominous feeling. At the top of the Mohenzo-Daro site, human bones died on the road and in the house, strongly suggesting that violence occurred and was abandoned. Motimo. Sir Mortimer Wheeler blamed the early Aryans. His sacred poetry collection " Rig Veda " (Rig Veda) once described the god of war Indra destroying the enemy's Dasyu's hundred-walled fortress. However, as far as the current evidence is concerned, the destruction of the Indus city was about 1900 BC, and the Aryans arrived in India after 400 years or more.
Meteorologist Rhett. Reid Bryson advocated that the Indus people depleted their environment, and large-scale agriculture stripped the natural cover of the soil, causing sand and dust storms, turning the pleasant climate into dryness, and causing the Rajasthan desert east of the Sindh district. . Obviously, Sind once had more diverse animals than today, including elephants (if not imported), rhinos and tigers that require shade, water and a lot of grass to survive. Today, all three can be seen on the Brahmaputra River in Assam, on a grassy wet flood plain. However, like the flood theory, this theory does not explain the disappearance of the city on the upper Indian River in Punjab.
These theories all imply that the people of the Indus River cannot respond to external forces beyond their capabilities, cannot adapt to the new pressure environment, and retreat in the face of challenges. Although they had rebuilt flooded cities, rebuilt and strengthened their fortifications against military attacks, and popularized agriculture throughout Sindh and Punjab, they were now facing strong blows and lacked the intrinsic resources to rebuild, defend settlements, or move to better locations. All the foregoing theories can be summarized as the problem of internal resources, including material resources and moral spirit.
The cause of the demise of the Indus city is still inconclusive. However, more importantly, what is the continuity between the Indus civilization and the subsequent ancient India, especially under the sudden break of urban life and written writing. In addition to speculation on the continuity of religion, including the concepts of Shiva worship, yoga, and mother goddess we have already discussed, some scholars believe that the Indus civilization was established by the Sanskrit Aryans of the Vedic period, and its settlement is concentrated in The Laswati River Basin, where Ganwariwala and many small Indus sites are located. There are many problems with the Indian-Saraswati civilization theory. The most important thing is that the Indus city hardly sees the remains of horses and chariots. These are widely described in the earliest Vedic documents.
However, after the Aryans arrived, it was still hundreds of years before the writing and urban life revived on the Indian peninsula. The contribution of the Aryans to the classical Indian civilization is the formation of a clearly visible culture that integrates the techniques, practices, and beliefs of many previous cultures, and the existence of the Indus civilization is most thought-provoking. At the secular level, the real-wheel oxcart that can still be found in the Sindh district today may be the survival of the Indus culture; other parts of South Asia have long been replaced by axle-wheeled vehicles that will be introduced from the northwest later. At a higher level, images of Hindu worship, such as the Great Goddess and Lord Shiva, may also be examples of survival.
However, so far, the history of the Indus civilization is still its own independent chapter, and the relationship with the subsequent stories of the Indian civilization is still unclear. Only by further digging more evidence from field archaeology can we verify whether our speculation about how the Indus civilization extended into the Vedic and subsequent periods is true.
Why can India become the master of dominating South Asia?
How does writing, religion, architecture, and art affect the countries of South Asia?
Tailor-made for beginners,
the first introduction to Indian history in life
India, a country with diverse nationalities and cultures,
is compatible with the advantages of Central Asia, Islam and the West in the historical torrent.
Through its literary, religious and political influence, it has established South Asia's hegemonic status.
There are many books related to Indian history on the market, but few can really summarize all of India. This book was written by well-known ancient Indian scholar and emeritus professor Thomas University of Michigan ’s Department of History, in order to solve the students ’loss of confidence in understanding the long and complicated history of Indian civilization. Techniques, with 34 maps and pictures, write wonderful works. Whether you are interested in India, or think of people traveling, doing business, studying, or even living in India, this book can satisfy your curiosity about exploring Indian history. This is definitely the introductory Bible of Indian history and South Asian history that everyone should have. .
