The start of civilizations and Bronze-age

Civilizations and Bronze-age

In the introduction to this series we saw that humans were settling around major rivers and as a result learnt agriculture and started to domesticate animals. The major settlements were around the Indus rivers. As more and more people started to join this settlement, various clusters started to form. This was also the start of internal trades where markets were becoming common. This population explosion was something the people could not handle and it is believed that human waste was accumulating leading to health issues.

How did they handle this problem?

These problems were the motivational points for the people to start thinking about a structured civilization. Cities were planned and houses were constructed in blocks. Sewage was handled extremely well by this civilization, using closed pipes to divert the human waste. Closed toilets were also constructed in each house. Evidences also show the construction of public bathing areas and construction of wells for water catchment.

How a site of this civilization could have looked

Major cities

Everyone has heard of the Harappa and Mohenjo-daro civilizations which were established on the banks of the Indus river. These cities lie in modern day Pakistan. Few sites located in modern day India are also part of this civilization Dholavira, Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, and Lothal. Developments also occurred in the Malwa region of India in this period but major cities were not formed and people continued to live in small clusters. As there are many rivers flowing around the Malwa region, the settlements were dispersed.

Bronze Age

As the cities started to form, the people of the Indus Valley started to innovate and as a result led to the production of copper, bronze, tin, and lead. This invention helped them to gain experience in metallurgy and improved their handicrafts. As a result, the civilization started to move into the Bronze-age from the Stone-age. Tools were being manufactured with more precision and in higher volumes. It is believed that role specific jobs were starting to take shape which in turn led to high volumes of trade in the civilization. A proof of this is the coins used in the Harappan civilization. This civilization was also part of the first long distance trade with Mesopotamia, trading spices, textiles, and precious metal.

Coins used in Harappa

Language and Religion

The information available on the language used in Indus Valley settlements is very limited. A collection of texts written on clay and stone tablets have been unearthed, which contain trident shaped, plant like markings which appear to be written from right to left. The Indus script remains indecipherable without any comparable symbols.

Indus Valley scripts

The religion in Indus valley is a point of speculation as there have been no evidences of temple like structure in these regions. It is widely believed that they worshiped a mother goddess who symbolized fertility.

What happened in the rest of India?

As stated in the last post, the neolithic age arrived very late to the north-east and south India. The people in these parts were still focused on agriculture and there seems to be no signs of trade during this period of time.

The other factors that contributed towards these regions not entering the Bronze-age are:

• The population densities were small.
• The geographies of these places were not abundant in copper and tin.

Some regions excelled in pottery. There have been evidences of various cultures using earthenware. Well known items made by them are vases, cups, bowls, and large storage jars. Important cultures in this period were Ahar, Kayatha, Malwa, Savalda, Jorwe, Prabhas, and Rangpur. A large number of sites that excelled in pottery existed in the upper Gangetic plains.

Various earthenware made during this period

It is to be noted that the Indus valley civilization entered this stage as they were facing several issues. The other parts of India never faced these issues during this period as agriculture was thriving. Although these parts did start the production of iron over the next hundred years. Making these parts as one of the fewest regions in the world that jumped directly from Stone-age to the Iron-age.

What's next in the series?

In India, the bronze-age existed till 2000 B.C.E. In the next part we will look into what happened to the Indus valley civilization and why they did not survive despite being so well planned. Other points to cover include the transition to Iron-age and the arrival of Aryans.

Foot notes

The information provided here is based on my research of various sources. If you feel like this information is inaccurate, let me know and I would love to correct myself and learn more. In my encounter with various books I have seen that the history of India is mainly concentrated around the Indus valley and Delhi and very little information is provided of the southern and north-eastern parts, in this series I plan to cover all parts of India equally to the best of my efforts. 

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Also let me know what topics you would want me to cover in the comments below. :)

- Aniruth

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