Harappan Civilization: Art, Architecture, Political Systems, and Decline Explained

all right welcome back guys I hope you're all doing well now in our previous lecture we were talking about

the conditions of life during the haran civilization we had talked about the material culture we had talked about the

harapan society we talked about the haran economy we were talking about art and architecture during the harapan

civilization art discuss different types of art which existed such as seals beads bronze images terra cotta figurines

Stone Art Etc right we have already talked about the types of seals that were

produced superal discuss beads made of semi-precious Stone such as Carnelian aate Jasper

shirt Etc right uh most of the beads were made of statite semiprecious stones and coral while a few others were made

of metals as well important centers of bead making chanaro and Lal then we have bronze art as well Harens produce Bronze

Statues of humans as well as animals in large numbers also some of the bronze pieces are were are art Marvel such as

the dancing girl from M lost wax technique to make Bronze Statues then we had terra cotta

figurines also right terra cotta figurines are different from the stone stone sculp or the bronze sculptures

Stone and bronze sculptures represent what kind of art folk art or Elite art elite art High quity pre terracotta art

was folk art that was produced by the common people for the common people right terra cotta is actually baked

earth that is what the literal meaning is Terra Cota right Haren produce large number of terracotta figurines

representing men women animals Birds Etc these figures were meant to be used either as Idols or as toys possibly

these figurines belong to the people who came from the lower strata of society but reflect the harapan expertise in

making sculptures they come from the they belong to people who came from the lower strata of society Common People

later on this art merged with other common Indian art forms as well and in fact we see an overlap between the

common art the art of the common people as well as the elite art in some places [Music]

also that jewelry used by the elites was made

of semi-precious stones and metals such as copper bronze gold silver

Etc however the commoners were not in a position to afford

it how did they ornament themselves imitation jewelry made of

terra cotta okay that is what they used to have clear

now now when we talk about the Stone Art what are we talking

about the stone sculptures the haran people produce Stone sculptures as well they represented human beings and

animals in these sculptures unfortunately nearly all all these cultures of this this period are in a

very poor State they are highly damaged still some statues such as the statue bust of a bearded priest from mudaro and

two statues from the from harapa representing the human anatomy one red Sandstone statue and the other dancing n

have superb quality so art brief surve then talking about architecture haran architecture represented in public

monuments and individual houses so these were the kinds of structures that they used to make con con say public

monuments as well as individual houses as the haran ruling class did not prefer to spend much on public monuments the

number of monuments is limited in number right on the other hand the common people were enjoying higher standards of

living than their counterparts in the Contemporary civilization and as a result a large number of burnt brick

houses for the common people is a unique feature of this civilization what were the building

materials that they used mud bricks in limited quantity burned bricks primarily they were used most commonly and stone

in some cases atav mud bricks at bavali and burnt bricks everywhere else cementing

material or they use several things ranging from mud to bitum to gypsum which is a

compound of lime right kinds of public buildings that we have access to assembly H great B great Greenery Etc

these things we have found from Hara 12 Grainery surface area was equal to the single Greenery at moan jaro from doav

Stadium like building and LEL the largest structure is a dockyard this represented the largest piece of

architecture private houses the houses were made of burn brick single or double story either they could have one story

or two story two stories at MO what are the features almost every house had a courtyard with a well inside right

so house it was made somewhat like this and open courtyard in the center surrounded

by the actual building okay actual house it would have multiple Chambers or

houses common feature Courtyards that at Monaro almost all the houses have a well inside the house

inside the courtyard every house had a separate bathroom a separate

toilet and a separate kitchen

okay the bathroom toilet and kitchen all were having external

drainage also right these drains connected to the main drains which flowed under the streets of every of

every street every block and two sto two St that there used to always be a staircase between one story and the the

next right stairs were built to go to the upper story every house had a bathroom with burnt brick floor and

proper drainage system was involved in the houses which were connected to the main drainage system in turn Okay so

these are the important aspects of art and architecture in the haran

civilization next we have to talk about the theories with regards to the decline of the harapan civilization but before

we do this let us talk talk first about the nature of

the haran political system

okay now in the absence of written records problem can we know about the exact

nature of the political system no therefore a great degree of guesswork and estimation is required and as a

result what has happened different interpretations have been put forward by different sets of

historians resulting in a rich historical debate right what are the different kinds of theories

that have been propounded the earliest historians who studied the nature of the political

system emphasized that it was a highly centralized Empire right who were the historians

associated with this kind of theory Mortimer wheeler and Stuart

pigot what is the assessment that they have made they have pointed out that

haraa and moan jaro acted as the twin

capitals of this extensive civilization they have also emphasized that the government was

autocratic and controlled by extremely powerful entities priest

Kings further they have given supporting evidence to support their Theory

evidence support supplement they have pointed to the presence of

greeneries at both haraa and moan jaro to show these were political centers and a strong political entity existed which

could centralize control they have also pointed to the absence of conflict

right so the society was a relatively peaceful one and how is this possible that why did competition never boil over

into violence because of the hand of these extremely powerful priest Kings they

prevented violence and maintained peace right and thirdly they point to the uniform pattern of life to Great

degree of homogenity visible throughout the civilization in both material as well as social culture

right material culture similarity same type of town planning same type of building material is being used same

script is being used cultural similarity same type of religious beliefs and practices flourish over the entire

region same way of life people are living same way in which they are organizing themselves socially social

hierarchies economic hierarchies right so all this indicates the presence of an extremely strong

centralized Empire which was necessary to maintain this kind of control without this kind of Empire such control would

not be possible now supporting

this sh nagar she has also supported the idea that the harapan civilization was an

Empire on the basis of archaological evidence and

cross cultural exchange that we see throughout the Empire right so she has made the

argument that this was part of the same political civilization polities fragmented poity

exist and she has done this on the basis of the similarities pointed out by these historians in the archaeological records

and also by the frequent cultural exchange that is evident from the archaeological evidence that is found

that means material culture May overlap distinct political entities so the kind of material overlap the

cultural overlap that is visible would not have been possible so that is one point of view limitation

SC Malik has come forward to point out that had haran civilization actually been

ruled by aristocratic priest Kings so what should we have seen which kind of buildings elaborate religious

monuments but these are absent so there is absence of monuments associated with priest Kings

okay a limitation or yeah Scholars such as Mr

mugal Jim schaer SC Malik GS

fil and Kor they

represent the emergence of A New Perspective in haran historiography right since

the 1970s onward words these Scholars have challenged The

View that the harapan civilization was

culturally and materially homogeneous okay and what is the very basis of the

theory of Imperial centralization the high degree of

cultural and material homogenity set of that har civilization is extremely

homogeneous when it comes to the material culture the religion the script the language Etc such in fact they have

argued that diversity rather

than homogenity was the Norm

clear and what is this indicative of political centralization or something else something

else so this weakens the framework

of political centralization okay within this there are different

perspectives centralized actually nature of the haran political

system here in comes the second point of view that Harens had a decentralized political

system and two different historians have presented two separate Frameworks to explain the nature of this decentralized

political system Walter E Fair service he has rejected the idea that it was a

highly centralized Empire and has emphasized upon the existence of an intricate

system of Village Administration being the real BAS bis of

governmental organization right and what about the cohesion that is

visible across the harapan civilization if a political centralization was not the main driving force behind this unity

and and homogeneity then what else was driving this economic interdependence

that was one factor secondly religion and

thirdly tradition according to Walter Fair service was the

basis of civilizational cohesion AC centralized

system reject right now Walter Fair service has admitted that uh simply disjointed system of Village

Administration could not be responsible for this kind of civilizational cohesion even if these units were economically

interdependent connected by religion and tradition right some social hierarchies were necessary to reinforce this

cohesion so he admits that

some social stratification was necessary to enforce

this cohesion but highly centralized state which is dominated by the upper

sections of the society how does it extract obedience d right through coion however

he says Fair service ISS that while some social stratification was necessary to enforce this cohesion it was never

extracted or it was never imposed on the basis of force comma

Force never played an

important role right and

one of the distinguishing features of any state is that it has the ability to monopolize violence it has

a monopoly over violence within the harapan civilization

was there any entity which had Monopoly over violence that means Fair service has

denied the existence of a strong centralized State and says that this social socially stratified or stratified

Society had its own Traditions by which it extracted obedience from those at the lower ladders of society but they did

this without the use of violence clear second number

SC Malik that once again the harapan civilization

did not have a strong centralized Empire argument that had it actually been ruled by PRI priest Kings then there would

have been very Grand monuments which could be easily associated with those priest

Kings uh this means that such priest Kings did not exist rather the haran civilization

state was a straight state in transformation it was an early state or a Chom state

okay write down the haran

state was one that was transforming

from tribal Society to Civil Society had this process of

transformation been completed process that is why it was a state in

transition St right it could be categorized as an early state or a chief Dum state right

now so from kinship and Kip's ties the basis of social and political organization was changing

to economic and uh political relations right transformation so it was somewhere in

between a tribal society and a fully developed Civil Society right that means the powers of the harapan Chiefs was

more than the tribal Chiefs of the earlier period but less than the kings of the monarchal period

clear then next we have Jim

schaer that once again the civilization was achieved

them supported by a welldeveloped trade Network right

and what is the evidence that he uses to argue that a highly centralized State system did not

exist because of the relatively egalitarian distribution of wealth had a welldeveloped state system existed what

would it have ensured that the entire Surplus or the maximum portion of surplus would have been appropriated by

the ruling class living very little for the ruled class sub point the absence of

monuments and distribution of artifacts and distribution of artifacts throughout the occupational

levels indicated indicated occupational levels indicated the egalitarian distribution

of wealth the egalitarian distribution of wealth which is

characteristic which is characteristic of formative societies of formative societies

right not of well-developed societies which is characteristic of formative societies and why does he say that there

existed a well-developed trade Network because of the relatively high level of

prosperity fortive although wealth is equally distributed but there is not enough

wealth to be distributed therefore living conditions are quite poor this was not the case in the hartan

civilization Not only was the civilization prosperous but it was equally distributed as well economic

inequality was relatively low right so these are the arguments that schaer has made third set of

arguments favor the idea that the harapan political system was an oligarchy

who are the historians associated with this Theory JM ker

and G fossil

right what have they argued that the heran civilization had a corporate political

system in which power was not concentrated in the hands of a single individual or a single family rather

among a collection of

Elites right they argue that

[Music] the prominent Merchant family is

and Artisan guilds hard there had different

spheres and levels of influence okay what is power the ability

to make something happen power was not concentrated in the hands of a single individual or family

rather it was distributed among a group of elite families where where did these Elites come from from the trading

background or The Artisan background did they enjoy the same amount of power no they enjoy different levels of power did

was power distributed equally among them in all Fields no for different fields different families were responsible

conclusion that without the availability

of uh written records it is impossible to

conclusively let us say talk about

the exact nature of the haran

poity okay at the same

time [Music] we must

appreciate that this debate

covers an extremely lengthy

period and do political systems remain stagnant over long periods or do they evolve

they evolve they lose some characteristics gain some new ones as such

there may not be uh straightforward

answer to this question full stop

Perhaps Perhaps the haran civilization or sorry the haran

political system meant different things meant different

things during different periods during different periods is this

clear next we have to talk about the decline of the haran

civilization right now the haran civilization flourished from an extremely for an

extremely long period of time from around 2600 to at

least 1900 BC when it began encountering serious problems and from this period onwards it

experienced decline till around 1300 BC by the end of which those characteristics which are usually

associated with the herant civilization disappeared completely this process is regarded as

the decline of the haran civilization take now over time different historians have put forward

different explanations different theories to explain the decline of the haran civilization broadly they can be

categorized into two categories theories there is which uh

emphasize upon the sudden end or death

or catastrophic end of the harapan civilization on one hand and

secondly Theory which chart out the gradual

decline or slow decay of

the haran civilization okay first of all

the Aran Invasion Theory put forward

by Mortimer wheeler right now he has given both archeological and literary evidence to

support this Theory however most historians have discarded this Theory because it rests on

extremely flimsy grounds the second theory with regards to the sudden death has been put forward

by historians such as HT lambri Etc right what have they emphasized upon huh catastrophic

flooding right sorry not H lamri rather Mr Sani and RL Rees then

similar other natural disasters have been uh also put forward right such as

massive earthquakes storms earthquake storms that earthquake and it is going

to induce secondary earthquakes along the same fall time so for several decades major earthquakes are going to

be felt so after an earthquake people can rebuild their homes will people be able to ever

rebuild their lives right then some historians have put forward

the explanation of extensive volcanic activity being responsible

for this kind of sudden death okay then we have theories which focus upon gradual

decline such as recurrent flooding that at the same

site decade over decade there were several floods resulting in their periodic

desertion and then occupation once again the frequency of these floods kept on increasing until habitation was no

longer possible over here so these s are going to decline over a period of a century or so they are going to start

showing signs of Decay or decadence then secondly another theory is with regards

to the drying up of perennial

Rivers especially the gagar hakra river system right now gagar hakra river system is believed

to have been fed by two important rivers the and the yamuna right massive earthquake storms alternate

explanation that because of this warping of the Earth's surface these Rivers changed their courses the

satl was captured by the Indus River the yam was captured by the ganga River therefore the main head waters that fed

the sarasti river the Gaga river system they disappeared resulting in The Disappearance of that River as

well thirdly another explanation has been offered namely

the shift of the monsoon system a similar explanation has been

offered that is the weakening of the monsoon system

so some paleo environmentalists and paleo botanists have conducted study in the

indust region and the garagara river system and they have concluded that around the year 2000 BC the monsoon

system which brought most of its precipitation over the Indus River and sarasti river system started to migrate

towards the east so Eastward migration rainfall over the core habitation zone of the uh indust SAS

system that reduced drer conditions onet and second explanation is that Monsoon system itself started to weaken right

then another explanation has been the onset of or the decline of the civilization

due to ecological imbalance right volary Fair service argued that

Harens had extensively cultivated the same Parcels of land for over a thousand years by this point of time they had

cleared all the surrounding Forest groundwater resources were becoming more rare and rarer and rarer groundwater was

being depleted also they had so extensively changed the course of the rivers that frequent flooding became in

inevitable and as a result of these ecological imbalances the carrying capacity of or the population base of

the haran people far exceeded the carrying capacity to Breaking Point and as soon as that Breaking Point arrived

the civilization started to fail the balance between availability of food and the population the balance between trade

and agriculture all of this Stu started to break down so civilization is a living system it is a it is an organic

system and as soon as one arm or one limb start becoming becomes diseased all other systems are affected obiously also

so this is what happened according to him according to another historian Shirin ratnagar it was the

decline of Mesopotamian trade that was responsible for

it explanations clear

now which of these do you think is the most reliable one recurrent

flooding huh because logically you may believe that

this was the main cause but reality that the haran civilization was spread over an

extremely large area more than 13 lakh square kilomet the area over which it was

spread is larger even than present Pakistan right do you think that in all these areas the same factor would have

been responsible n for example flooding W explanation man let's say

but would it work for S such as SRA or Suka

gandor on the basis of of this analysis that no single

Factor was single

handedly responsible for the decline of the haran civilization

secondly your term had decline this itself needs to be re-evaluated earlier the decline of the

harapan civilization what was it understood to mean the complete disappearance of the

harapan material as well as social culture but recently this understanding has

changed now it has come to be understood simply as the disappearance

of haran urbanization and all the material factors associated with it such as large

well- planned cities extensive long-distance trade large agricultural Surplus the use of

script well organized political system yes but your social elements culture okay they are going to continue for

example believe in the same gods and goddesses having the same religious practices having the same religion

carrying on with the same script having the same agricultural practices Etc right so those things are going to

continue decline therefore in this new definition would simply represent the civilization inates

post Urban phase and that is why with the decline of the harapan civilization we don't say

that the civilization came to an end completely we simply mean that it represented the beginning of the late

haran culture right now the people of the late haran culture

were the descendants of the mature Harens themselves They carried on some of the material as well as social traits

of the haran people but they were no longer able to inhabit the same habitation Zone as their forefathers

they had to migrate towards the east and towards the South towards the ganga Valley and towards Gujarat and

Maharashtra that is why during this period the emergence of a large number of new sites in the G ganga Valley

Gujarat and Maharashtra right once they move to these regions these haran people came into contact with the natives who

were inhabiting these regions who were the natives the native calic tribes right

they competed at as well as cooperated with uh each other there was cultural exchange as well Material Exchange as

well The Harens uh through the process of cultural diffusion and assimilation absorbed some of the characteristics of

the calic people and the opposite also took place okay so some new characteristics are going to emerge to

decline not that it disappeared completely complely so in one sense did the haran civilization ever actually

disappear no because through that same process of cultural assimilation and diffusion the process of the diffusion

of harapan culture continued taking place throughout the course of Indian history and elements of it are still

visible even today for example religious beliefs culture even material traits for example

the continuation of bronze metallurgist for the Lost wax technique the way in which the artists often

imagine their bronze sculpture that closely resembles the way in which the early haran artist used to do it right

so same Techni same them same methods similar artifacts is this

clear now coming back to the notes there is a heated debate about the decline of the harapan civilization because of

firstly the harapan script has not yet been deciphered and secondly even the archaeological evidence does not help

clarify this issue as most of the exclamations are vertical rather than horizontal various theories have been

propounded in this regard which are as follows number one the theory of Arian Invasion given by Mortimer wheeler

declare har civilization's end was sudden and catastrophic what was it caused by by invasion of warlike Arians

who came from Central Asia and Eurasia and completely destroyed the mature Aran civilization at its peak okay what is

the evidence that he has given to support this both archeological as well as literary evidence archeological

evidence at moan jaro he points to the discovery of 26 human skuls with cut wounds

then as a sign of conflict likewise he claimed that the skeletons in the Symmetry H layer from haraa belonged to

an Invader group symmetry H after the harapan

civilization disappeared this was the mature har phas layer deposited this is known as

the Symmetry H layer and the artifacts and material remains from the Symmetry H layer closely resemble the lifestyle of

the AR symmetry H layer deposit who were responsible for it the local harant or

the Arian Aran so it has been argued that mature haran people were driven out or killed and the site was occupied for

a long period by the Aran people as literary evidence he has given reference to the

r Haru this was thean name for modern Hara and purander purander is one of the

synonyms of Indra what is the literal meaning of

Pand breaker of forts whose forts was Indra breaking those of The Harens and Indra

was the chief deity of the early Aran with Hara that is the breaker of fors Indra

respectively he also gives another literary evidence it talks about the slaying of the demon

vitra demon once again Indra right

demon it used to imprison the rivers right what do you think this demon represented the dams and bares

constructed by The Harens slaying of the demon means breaking these dimes which have caused catastrophic flooding Etc

right so point out has given both archeological as well as literary

evidence but on the basis of recent research Scholars have come to the conclusion that the views of Mortimer

wheeler were not convincing why are they not considered to be convincing the archaeological evidence

that he cited is not sufficient first of all the number of skeletons and M is too small 26 million and limited only to one

location secondly even a smaller number of these deaths can be conclusively attributed to the violent

wounds that many of the wounds had actually healed before the person died right that means these wounds were not

fatal and secondly problem that although these wounds have been found from the same place L your

wounds or sorry these skeletons do not belong to the same time period they are spread over a long period of almost 200

years so this was probably a place where criminals were executed and then their bodies were disposed of not necessarily

the place of a mass killing by an Arn Invader group secondly the skeletons at symmetry Edge belongs to a different

period mature har layer symmetry H layer

problem between them There is almost 300 years worth of a sterile layer where nobody had occupied

the site that means there were at least 300 years before the mature harappans left haraa and the Arians arrived so

could the Arians be blamed for destroying the civilization of The Harens literary evidence presented is

also not authentic as the rig was transferred in the oral form for centuries and was written at a much

later period there therefore a lot of information may have been inserted into it later on there is a Time gap of

nearly 3 to 400 years before the decline of the haran civilization and the Advent of Aran in

India the signs of Decay or decline started becoming visible in the harapan civilization

from 1900 BC onwards and the first groups of Arians started arriving in India from Central Asia when

from 1500 BC onwards right was the arrival of the Arians similar to an invasion or were these

groups simply trickling in one by one trickling in one by one to gradual immigration

right and they continued to come to India from Central Asia till about the beginning of the later way they till

1000 BC so there there was never any Invasion as such right in fact mimal wheeler was representing an

imperialistic view on Indian historiography by profounding the theory of Arian Invasion he tried to justify

the British Invasion of India that is why the whole debate about the decline of the arer civilization has moved to

other directions right what other directions decline due to climatic or environmental factors

the theory of flooding given by John Marshall and Sr right John Marshall Trace seven layers

of flooding at moan jaro Sr ra has found evidence of flooding at loal and bakra in

Gujarat right so what have they they argued that successive flooding of these locations led to their ultimate Decay

and then desertification then another theory theory of tectonic

movements given by Mr sahani and supported by RL re Mr s deferred with the view of a

normal Monsoon type of flooding according to him this was catastrophic inundation which was caused by tectonic

movements so when an earthquake takes place two plates meet each other and as a result there is warping of the Earth's

crust suppose a river was flowing from here to here what is going to happen a natural dime is going to be formed and

thus a big Inland Lake can emerge right and according to mrani this is exactly what happened the indust water was

blocked due to the upliftment of a tectonic plate at moan jaru and due to this people vacated moan jaru this view

has been supported by the US hydrologist ARL RS once again tectonic activity

he explanation use H lamri but in another manner he has said that it was not responsible for C catastrophic

flooding but for the shifting of river courses and the drying up of the gagar hakra river system HD lamri did not

accept this view he argued that even if such blockage was created the river could make its way by cutting through it

he gives drought as the real reason behind the decline lamri emphasized that earlier the river satl and Yuma were

tributaries of the river gagar and later the SAT shifted to join Indus while the yamuna joined the Ganges right so gagak

river system important tributaries they were captured by other river systems consequently the river gagar dried up

creating an acute water shortage in this region this theory has also been supported by a Bist G

singhar regar Lake and what has he found that from that by 1900 BC there was a decline of

rainfall in this region po analis poen the seeds of various flowering

plants right now the different kinds of pollen indicate what kind of plants were growing in particular regions right as

the climate change the ecology is also going to shift plants which may have been able to arrive survive earlier

would no longer be able to do so if the climatic conditions are outside their survivability range outside their

threshold right so D variety PLS their pollen variety pollen count is going to increase

variety their po count is going to decline right so he has said that around 1900 BC changes

visible and he supports the idea of HD lamri that this was tectonically induced drought and desiccation of the gagak

river system rather than catastrophic flooding then we have the theory of drifting away of the monsoon

right a group of archaeologist studied the decline of the harapan C ization by Excavating the Indian and Pakistan

regions according to this Theory Monsoon itself drifted away resulting in the decline of precipitation in this region

thus resulting in the decline of the civilization another explanation is that of ecological imbalance given by wter

Fair service he has highlighted the problem of eological imbalance caused due to ere exploitation of Natural

Resources Vishnu MRA also supports this idea he also gives a hint of phenomenon of excessive human intervention in

nature being responsible for the decline of the civilization then Shirin ratnagar has

pointed to the decline of the Mesopotamian trade being the main cause for the decline of the

civilization what is her Theory based on it is based on the idea that the main Driving Force main life force of the

harapan civilization was its longdistance trade with Mesopotamia since we have already disproved that be

easily discard has underscored the decline of Mesopotamian trade and called it a major factor behind the decline of

the civilization but there is no concrete data to support this hypothesis right

then DK chakrawarti has altered an alternative explanation he has rejected the Paradigm of death or decline and

said that the harapan civilization simply changed its characteristic the change of character of the harapan

civilization DK chakti has given A New Perspective in this debate according to him the harapan civilization was based

on a pro proper balance between its urban and rural regions Agriculture and trade but when it made made an Eastward

shift gradually it merged with less developed social groups such as peasant shifting cultivators hunter gatherers

Etc in association with the inhabitants of the of an urban civilization these social groups certainly Advanced but

simultaneously haran inhabitants or the members of the civilization lost their Urban character okay now

critical abisal of the views on the decline of the haran civilization as we have seen the different Scholars have

given different views while explaining the causes of the decline of the civilization the earlier view of the RN

Invasion Theory it has been completely rejected it cannot be substantiated so it has lost its relevance but while

analyzing other factors we should be cautious of the fact that a generalized cause will not do justice to all the

regions CA example the theory of flood is not relevant for sites such as suag gendor

and sutak which are situated in the desert area likewise the theory of desertification cannot be applied to

sites like Alam garur which is located in the ganga Valley extremely we region right so we can conclude that for the

decline of the harapan sites a single Factor was not accountable rather different factors may have been

responsible for the decline of different sites further when we observe the nature of the decline and time span of the

decline what do we notice that the process of decline was different for different sites not every

site witnessed the same pattern of decline for example moan jaru declined in 2100 BC but kalibangan and bavali

continued up to 1800 BC secondly at moan jaro we see definite signs of DEC and stagnation but the other sides

kalibangan and bavali seem to have disappeared at the peak of their growth right when they were still quite young

therefore while discussing the nature of the decline we should keep these factors in our mind and finally evaluation of

the term decline decline earlier the term decline was understood as the complete end of civilization but from

the 1960s onwards It is believed that the civilization did not end but continued in an altered form after its

decline so simply a transformation transformation namely the decline of the urban phase

only the civilization simply lost its Urban characteristics it came to be known as the late haran character when

we are talking about Urban characteristics extensive town

planning extensive longdistance trade welldeveloped political and administrative

systems the widespread use of script what else

uniformity in material

and social culture what else nature of the

economy should it be based only on a single activity or diverse diverse

then there must exist some degree of social stratification which is a common

characteristic of all civilizations it is a natural Cory right the existence of social economic and

political classes and finally apart

from administratively subsidized coercion some other mediums of control need to be present as well such

as a common ideology or

religion or culture Etc

okay now what is going to happen with this transformation as the highly developed

harapan people come into contact with their lesser developed calic counterparts some of the things they are

going to impart to the calic people but some calcula characteristics tribal characteristics they are going to take

for themselves as well right what are the things that they are going to

lose extensive town planning longdistance trade may continue but its volume is going to be much

lesser and it is not going to contribute as much to the entire economic mix administrative system is going to become

localized so it is also going to undergo a transformation the widespread use of script is no longer necessary so

therefore it is going to disappear in place of uniformity of material and social culture we'll find diversity

right so common unifying factors they are going to disappear and be replaced by Regional

diversity economic diversity is going to be replaced by increase in the importance of

Agriculture right agriculture is going to once again emerge as the main stre of economy social stratification is going

to be visible but to a much lesser degree right so once again the economy and Society are going to become

flattened and the utility of a common ideology religion or culture is no longer going to be there because there

is no uniformity of material and social culture the scope of human interactions over long distance that has declined

substantially therefore right so these things are going to disappear but some of the other

characteristics of the haran people they are going to continue such as believe in the same kinds of gods and

goddesses following the same kinds of religious practices speaking the same languages using the same kinds of

agricultural implements and practices uh these kinds of things construction technology poetry making continue maybe

metal working these kinds of things are going to continue all right now coming to

the later haran cultures 1900 to 1300 BC they are supposed to have continued between 19 00 to 1300 BC during this

period elements of late haran cultures were visible in the regions of Sy Western Punjab bahwalpur region Eastern

Punjab and harana kach and sashtra and the ganga yamuna duab that means just on the outskirts of the core habitation

zone of the harapan civilization names of certain late haran cultures

culture cemetry culture har gandh grave culture north of the haran habitation Zone that is North

Punjab and Southeastern Afghanistan then the red Lous we culture at Gujarat right now it

represents features plot out right

to juker culture over here then we have

the gandhar grave culture over here

then we have the lustrous red wear culture in Gujarat then

the Symmetry H culture western eastern Punjab and herana

so a breakup of the physical division of the late har

sides okay now what are going to be the characteristics of the late harapan

cultures it represents the phase of decline of the harapan civilization and its transformation from an urban into a

rural culture so characteristics of Rural Life are going to be visible is town planning going to

continue no town planning Villages May settlements are going to be much smaller therefore it is going to be discarded

will you find the same kind of standardization of Weights implements tools measurements that was visible in

the harup civilization no economic interaction trade Etc they are happening at a much lower level therefore there is

no need for enforcing this kind of standardization secondly standardization it is a result of

extensive trade it is meant to facilitate trade at a large volume inang since trade was itself not

happening therefore there was no need for these standards so these things are going to disappear the use of

standardize implements weights and measur seals potteries Etc they are going to lose their relevance thirdly

the number of sites in the core region is going to decline core region of the harapan

civilization the triangle between haraa mudaro and bahur so North East North Punjab East Punjab or

S but on the other hand number of SES are going to increase sharply towards the east and the

South ganga region or Gujarat Maharashtra region okay what is the significance of the late haran culture

significance what is the role that it plays it is the common link between the haran past and the modern culture

why because it is through diffusion of the harapan culture by the late haran cultures that the chain of cultural

diffusion was started the haran culture their scientific knowledge and

their cultural traits were inherited by the late harapan cultures who came into contact with both

the calic as well as the

early Vic Arians now both the calic as well as the early Vic Aran absorbed some of the

cultural and material traits of the harapan civilization ultimately themselves

coming into contact with each other and result with the changing scenery

changing climate changing technological improvements and changing political organization stage that is State

formation and urbanization for the second time okay so in fact the late harapan culture

is the first link between India's first and second urbanization clear secondly some

important developments first started taking place during the late harapan culture rather than the mature harapan

culture for example haran agriculture weakness what was that they cultivated both summer and winter crops but

cultivated them during the same season in different seasons they are going to be

cultivated Advantage they are going to start using animal manure as fertilizer right then

they are going to become the common link for the cultural diffusion for example religious symbols beliefs and practices

mother goddess belief fallace worship belief fertility cult how is all of this going to be transmitted to the later

generations of Indians through these late haran cultures themselves okay now let us come back to this although

the haran people were growing both kinds of crops that is rabi and kharif crops but they sold both kinds of crops in the

rabi season only and in the same field it is only in the late haran period that the concept of two cropping Seasons

developed properly now this needed more land for cultivation but

civilization available and therefore it is believed that this was this new knowledge was one

of the main reasons why the haran people had to move away from their core habitation

Zone it needed more land as the crops had to be sewn in different fields alternatively and for the intervening

period they had to leave the land fallow for regaining f fertility it was due to this factor that the harapan people made

made an Eastward expansion in search of better climate and more cultivable land at Pak in baluchistan wheat and

barley were sown as Robbie and rabi and rice sorry wheat and barley were sown as rabi and rice Millet soram Etc were sown

in the summer season though as kharif crops now second important development the late harapan people worked as an

intermediary between the harapan and historical phase in fact the late haran people carried some haran technology

like copper and bronze making Potter Wheels Etc and made these Technologies available to the next Generations

thirdly late haran people developed prosperous rural settlements and preserved the rural life as well in the

course of time it merged with the common Indian life right so since they were able to adapt the harapan culture for

the rural purposes the harapan culture became completely and permanently ingrained in India's rural culture and

it is still visible even today the late harapan people also preserved the religious ideas and Cults of the harapan

civilization like the cult of the mother goddess pashupati fire alar serpent cult Etc and later all these elements mer

into the religious life of the Indian Society in this way they prepared the way for the rise of Hinduism in the

future okay now take down a question the theories of

sudden decline of the haran

civilization leave a great degree of

uncertainty analyze so in this question do you have to talk only about the theories of

sudden decline no you have to talk about all theories one part of your answer you

will give to sudden decline theory for example Aran Invasion theory for

example catastrophic flooding theory for example volcanic storm

theory for example shifting of river course theory

but at the same time you'll have to also point out their limitations and following this you are

going to come to the next part of your answer what is that going to other

theories you're simply going to say in light of the weakness of these theories other theories have been presented such

as the theory of recurrent flooding such as the theory of

shifting monsoons or the onset of drier conditions in the core habitation zone

or the theory of ecological imbalance or the theory of decline of Mesopotamian trade

okay and then what should we do and doing this will allow you to do what it will allow you to provide an

alternative picture right yeah that there can be

no single generalized cause to explain the decline of such a

large civilization secondly the process and experience of decline differed from side

to side timeline also differred and in light of this understanding the entire picture of

decline has changed or the definition of decline has changed earlier it was supposed to mean the complete end of

civil ization now it simply means the end of the urban characteristics of the civilization that is what we should end

with clear take down another question highlight the

characteristics of the late haran

culture full stop what was

its significance to the

evolution of Indian history question

mark the two parts what were its characteristics Urban civilization rural

culture rural culture dominated by trading activities or cult agricultural

activities characterized by the presence of Welltown plans or absence characterized

by the characteristics L

culture characterized by the decline of settlements

in the core habitation Zone and a marked increase in the number

of settlements in eastern and southern

regions there was a marked migration towards these regions what else do we

see The Disappearance of script what else do we

see the onset of cultural and material

diversity as different communities adapt to their own ecologies as trade and politics become more and more localized

right what else do we see relatively flatter social political and economic structure

right so charactertics what is the significance of the late heran culture

in the evolution of Indian history first of all it is the most crucial link

for the continuity of or

upon religious symbols beliefs and practices

these cultures provided the common link

between India's native calcul

and the foreign Arian culture okay they

facilitated cultural and material exchanges between all three groups okay

since they were the common link resulting in a number

of new Innovations such as examples the assimilation of the late

har belief in pashupati merged with the Aran belief in Shiva right to give rise to Shiva mother goddess with shaky right

so Innovations in the religious cultural and material

fields for example the beginning of the use of animal manure as a natural fertilizer the beginning of seasonal

intercropping of crops Etc All Began during the late haran culture during the late

her upen period right and these Innovations resulted in some

or triggered some other changes resulting in

larger social economic and political

changes over the next Millennia