The Bronze Age in the Indian subcontinent began around 3300 BCE. The Indus Valley region was one of three early cradles of civilization in the Old World; the Indus Valley civilisation was the most expansive, and at its peak, may have had a population of over five million.
The following are the important topics to study from Ancient Indian History:
- Prehistoric India
- Historic India
- Indus Valley Civilization
- Vedic India
- Mahajanapadas
- Buddhism and Related Topics
- Mauryan Empire, Administrative Structure, Rulers and Legacy
- Gupta Empire, Rulers and Legacy
- Invasions from Central Asia
- Kingdoms, States and Dynasties of South India, Their Rulers and Legacy
The Pre-historic period can be classified as:
- Paleolithic Age – Old Stone Age (BC 1 0000 years ago)
- Neolithic Age- New Stone Age (BC 10000 -BC 4000)
- Chalcolithic Age- Copper Stone Age (BC 3000-BC 1 500)
- Iron Age – Iron Age (BC 1500-BC600)
The era of some important events
- The beginning of the Earth -4.6 Billion years ago
- The appearance of man – 4000 years ago (Homosepians)
- The beginning of the city’s -4700 years ago
Old Stone Age: (Paleolithic Age)
- They were nomad
- They discovered fire by using the flint stone.
New Stone Age: (Neolithic Age)
- The first animal they tamed was a dog
- They used polished, carved, sharp stone weapons.
- The wheel was invented.
- Copper was the first metal used by them.
Places in India where the Old Stone Age tools were found:
- Pimpet Ca, Mageshwa
- Rajasthan – Luni Valley
- Karnataka – Pagalkha
- Andhrapradesh – Kurnool caves
- Tamilnadu – Vadamadurai, Athirambakkam, Pallavaram, Kanchipuram, Vellur, Thiruvallur
Copper Age: (Chalcolithic Age)
- They made tools out of copper as well as small stones.
- They drew colorful pictures with geometrical patterns
- The Harappan culture belonged to this age
Iron Age
- The period, when the tools were made up of iron, was called Iron Age
Indus Valley Civilization
In 1 921, archaeologists found out that it was the ancient city of India.
Harappa in Sindhi means ‘Buried City’.
This civilization flourished in India about 4700 years ago.
The Great Bath:
- The most important structure found in the citadel was the Great Bath.
- There were steps on both the sides of the pool
- There were rooms on all the sides of the pool for changing clothes.
- Fed by water from a well and the dirty water was emptied by a huge drain.
Buildings:
- Houses were built in grid system
- Houses which had two rooms
- Multi-strayed houses, public hall, granary and public buildings built out of bricks.
- No windows in the houses.
- They had a well and a bathroom.
- There were dustbins in front of the houses
Town Planning:
The northern part of the town was narrow and elevated.
The excavators considered that those were constructed on the security basis.
The eastern side was broad and lowered
Applied Science
- The science and technology such as construction
- Selections of lands
- Measurement of plots
- Foundation, selection of quality building materials & Geometrical figures were in use
Drainage system:
- The drains from the houses were covered.
- They ran along the sides of the streets which were connected to the street drains.
- They had manholes at regular intervals for cleaning
Administration:
- The public drainage system
- The Great Bath
- The public hall
- The street lights
- The provisions of dustbins show that the administrative system was well organized.
Handicrafts:
- There would have been workers like
- Document writers,
- Seal maker
- Carpenters
Doll makers
- Masons and other artisans
- Dolls made out of terracotta
- They used copper and bronze to make weapons
- Weights were made out of a kind of stone.
Terracotta seals:
- Hundreds of rectangular seals were discovered here
- Pictographic writings were written on them
- The script had not been deciphered yet.
- Bulls, cart, dove, boats and a figure of a human meditating are seen
Script:
- Terracotta planks discovered here were engraved with letters
- They were pictographic writing.
- These writings are related to the ancient Tamil writings.
Occupation:
- Agriculturists
- Artisans
- Traders
- Traders
- Potters
- Blacksmiths
Agriculture was their main occupation, they cultivated wheat and barley, stored the surplus grains in the granary
Dress
- People wore cotton and woolen dresses
- Men wore a garment similar to the ‘dhoti
- Shawl as upper garment
Ornaments
To make ornaments they used
- Gold
- Silver
- Ivory
- Precious stones
Art
- Experts in making pots out of terracotta
- The figures of birds, animals, images of male and female
- The figures of birds, animals, images of male and female
- Pots and bowls were discovered
Sculpture
- The statue of a dancing girl made out of bronze found in Mohenjo-Daro
- Statue of a man with beard made out of limestone are examples of the excellent sculptures
Religion
- The articles excavated in Mohenjo-Daro tell us about their religious Practices
- They worshipped Lord Shiva represented as Pashupati
- Mother Goddess, Lingam, Trident and trees.
Causes for the decline of the towns:
- Wooden articles would have got destroyed by fire
- Rivalry because of the civil war
- Natural calamities and the change in the course of River Indus would have buried things.
- The Aryans would have destroyed these towns in order to succeed
- The heap of bones discovered in Mohenjo-Daro is evidence of the invasion of the foreigners
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