There is her little Baluchi-style face with pouting lips and insolent look in the eye. She’s about fifteen years old I should think, not more, but she stands there with bangles all the way up her arm and nothing else on. A girl perfectly, for the moment, perfectly confident of herself and the world. There’s nothing like her, I think, in the world.

These were the words of Mortimer Wheeler in 1973. Wheeler was one of the most popular archaeologists of the middle twentieth century and part of the excavation teams at the Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro sites in Pakistan now.


The ‘Dancing Girl Of Mohenjo-Daro’ statue at the National Museum, Delhi, India

The 10.8 cm long bronze statue of the dancing girl was found in 1926 from a house in Mohenjo-daro, one of the biggest centres of the Indus Valley Civilisation or the Harappan Civilisation. ‘Dancing Girl Of Mohenjo-Daro’ is widely considered the most important find of the Indus and Saraswati Civilisation and one of the most important and priceless processions of the National Museum, India.
The ‘Dancing Girl Of Mohenjo-Daro’ is the first sculpture in dancing gesture discovered in the Indian subcontinent. It is also one of the earliest cast bronzes in this cultural area. But its most interesting aspect is that in casting it the Harappan metallurgists used an advanced technique known as the lost-wax (cire perdue) process. Analyses of copper-bronze objects and ores from several mines suggests that the civilisation must have obtained much of their copper from the Khetri mines of Rajasthan. In addition to this source, the mines in Baluchistan and Afghanistan might have been also tapped by them. With the decline of the Harappans the bronze technology developed by them also came to a close, thus the metalcraft that was developed in the first urbanised society of the Indian subcontinent has its own independent identity.

Iron objects appear in India from about 1000 BC.

In 2004-2005 the Archaeological Survey of India found a red potsherd with an engraving that resembles the ‘Dancing Girl Of Mohenjo-Daro‘. The Hakra ware potsherd belonging to the pre-early Harappan period was recovered from Bhirrana, Distt. Fatehabad, Haryana. This find established the presence of an unbroken cultural sequence at Bhirrana: from the Hakra ware culture and its evolution into early.

Harappan, early Mature Harappan and Mature Harappan until the site was abandoned.

THE INDUS VALLEY AND SARASWATI VALLEY CIVILISATION

Sometime before the 4000BC some people from the eastern foothills of Baluchistan/South-western part of modern Iran started moving into the valleys of the now dry Saraswati River and the Indus River. About a 1000 years later the Saraswati River started drying up during to climate change. Since this civilisation was agriculture based, when the water became scarce, the people started relocating more towards the Indus River Valley. More than 500 sites have been located around the dry bed of the Saraswati River as compared to 150 sites along the Indus River.

In total around 1400 sites of the Indus and Saraswati Civilisation have been identified, out of which 24 sites that are most important (towns rather than smaller villages) have been excavated. Some of these key sites are: Harappa (in Pakistan), Mohenjo-daro (in Pakistan), Lothal (Distt. Ahmedabad, Gujarat), Kalibangan (Distt. Ganganagar, Rajasthan), Surkotada (Distt. Kachchh, Gujarat), Banawali (Distt. Fatehbad, Haryana), Rakhigarhi (Distt. Hissar, Haryana) and Dholavira (Distt. Kachchh, Gujarat).


Map showing prominent sites of the Saraswati and Indus Valley Civilisations

Some sites outside the immediate basin of these 2 rivers have also been identified, for example in western Uttar Pradesh. The entire civilisation was spread across an area of 1600 km north to south and roughly the same distance east to west. This civilisation was the largest of the four ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China. However, of all these civilizations the least is known about the Indus Valley people. This is because the Indus script has not yet been deciphered.

The 3 phases of the Indus and Saraswati Civilisation are: Early Phase: 3500 BC-2600 BC, Mature Phase: 2600 BC-2000 BC and Late Phase: 2000 BC-1500 BC

Indus and Saraswati Civilisation grew from villages to towns to cities, during its decline, the towns and villages were reduced to villages but the ancient belief systems and ancient practices were passed on and can still be found in modern Hindu practices.
So far there is no concrete scientific/archaeological evidence if there is a relation of the demise of the Indus and Saraswati Civilisation with an Aryan Invasion who were the succeeding race in India after the Indus and Saraswati people. There is considerable debate if the Indus and Saraswati people where the Aryans themselves?

Modern Hinduism draws a lot from this ancient civilisation and an interesting book to read is the Rig Veda by the Aryans, a selection of hymns and the oldest book on Hinduism. Indus and Saraswati Civilisation is known for its advancement in city planning. Each city had it’s own construction, however generally speaking each city had a ‘citadel’ for the elite and a ‘lower town’ for the common man. The ‘citadel’ had it’s own fire alters, swimming pool like the Great Bath in Mohenjo-Daro, Warehouse like in Lothal, Granaries like in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, etc. The ‘lower town’ had shops, public buildings, and special buildings like the Dockyard in Lothal.

The cities had neat road and lanes crossing each other at right angles, the houses were built on a chessboard pattern some with courtyards, living rooms, furnished toilets, kitchens, some with staircases going on to the roof or upper storey. Most settlements had defence walls and gateways.
The Indus and Saraswati Civilisation was a Bronze Age Civilisation and all kinds of Copper and Bronze artefacts have been discovered, ornaments and jewellery in Silver, Gold and semi-precious stones, seals in steatite and other materials. The seals depict various animals like bulls, elephants, tigers, crocodiles, narrative themes like hunting and worshipping, text, which still cannot be deciphered.


Some of the various human and animal figurines recovered from different Indus and Saraswati Civilisation sites



Evidence exists of trade between the Indus and Saraswati Civilisation and cites of Mesopotamia, Failaka, Behrain, Oman, etc. through the Persian Gulf; and via lands passing through Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.
The dead people were disposed off by burying them in pits and pots or by cremating them. There is evidence of fire worship Banawali, Lothal, Kalibangan, etc.


Double burial at one of the sites

Oval brick stuctures with fire alters have been found at Banawali. Bones of a true domesticated horse have been discovered at Surkotada. Gold and Silver jewellery have been discovered at Kunal, a small early Saraswati Valley site in Haryana.
The bulk of the excavated material from most of the sites is beautifully decorated pottery with black painting over bright red background. Motifs include geometric patterns, flora and fauna.


Various pottery recovered from assorted excavations over the years


A typical motiff painted in dark paint paint over dark red pottery


Most of the exquisite finds of the Indus and Saraswati Civilisation come from the late phase of the civilisation. Four exquisite Bronzes comprising of a bull drawn chariot with its driver, a rhinoceros, an elephant and a buffalo were found at Daimabad, Distt. Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.


The chariot with the driver


The buffalo


Some jewellery has been recovered from Nagwada, Distt. Surendranagar, Gujarat. Recently, a large collection of jewellery made of silver, gold, semi-precious stones in two Copper containers have been found at Mandi, Distt. Muzaffarnagar, UP.

I visited the National Museum Delhi on 29th March 2012 and in November 2009 and February 2012 I visited the Rakhigarhi excavation site.


The famous green Copper pot found in Rakhigarhi with jewelry and ornaments inside

I plan to visit Kalibangan, Surkotada, Banawali and Dholavira this year and Harappa and Mohenjo-daro (in Pakistan).