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The Decline and Fall of the Indus Civilization
This work constitutes essential reading for all those who are interested in the decline and fall of india’s first civilisation students of ancient indian history and archaeology will find it an indispensable source of information
- GenresHistoryIndiaNonfiction
410 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2000
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About the author
Nayanjot Lahiri
20 books37 followersNayanjot Lahiri is a historian and archaeologist of ancient India and a professor of history at Ashoka University. She was previously on the faculty of the department of history at the University of Delhi
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July 10, 2019
In the dearth of any written material or historical evidence, scholars have made an assortment of conjectures a propos the reasons for the decline or obliteration of the Harappan culture. The occurrence in the habitation area at Mohenjo-Daro of some human skeletons, including one of which' the skull bears the mark of a cut, has been interpreted as evidence of a massacre at the hands of the invading Aryans. This view seems to be untenable. The reason is that the skeletons do not all belong to one and the same occupation level, 'which should also be the latest, marking the end of the Indus settlement. Another reason is that at the site there is no substantiation of an alien culture instantly overlying the Indus one. To save the situation, the post-Indus Cemetery at Harappa has been brought into the picture. However, it has been demonstrated that there was a substantial time-lag between the end of the Indus civilization and the beginning of Cemetery. Thus the Cemetery H people can hardly be regarded as invaders if those invaded had ceased to exist at the time. To regard the Cemetery H people as Aryans is laden with still greater difficulties.
This intriguing book by Nayanjot Lahiri, a historian and archaeologist of ancient India and a professor of history at Ashoka University constitutes indispensable reading for all those who are interested in the downfall of India’s first civilisation. Students of ancient Indian history and archaeology will find it an obligatory spring of information.
There are more than a few theories pointing towards the likely end of the Indus civilization. A theory attributes the end of the Indus civilization to massive flooding. This can be partially accurate. There is some verification of devastation by flood at Mohenjo-Daro and Lothal but there is no such substantiation in respect of other cities, for example, Kalibangan. At this site, neither the invader nor the flood can be invoked. Here perhaps, the drying up of the Ghaggar river - steady or sudden, owing either to climatic changes or to the diversion of waters from factors at or near their source-may have been the cause of the abandonment of site. Pestilence and the erosion of the surrounding landscape owing to over exploitation may also be reasons for the end of certain settlements.
Indian archaeologist and Director General of the ASI from 1968 to 1972 Braj Basi Lal, holds for instance that there is adequate evidence to demonstrate that the civilization did not come to a hasty end. For example, at Lothal from its Period A (Indus) to B (Post-Indus), there is a gradual change in the pottery and the disappearance or replacement by others of certain kinds of antiquities. This devolution is continued at the neighbouring site of Rangpur. Likewise, a change of face is indicated by the evidence from sites in Eastern Punjab and North-Western Uttar Pradesh. Again, scholars suggest that Hariyupiya mentioned in the Rig-Veda was the city of Harappa. The date of the Battle of Ten Kings which signifies the death of Harappa, comes out to be 1735 B.C. This date is in tune with MASCA corrected radio-carbon dating of the end of the Harappa civilization. The upper and lower limit of the Battle of Ten Kings as computed is given as 1909/1735/l562 B.C. Cayamana attacked the city of Harappa from the East by covering it with a rapid encircling movement. This earned him the title of Abhyavanina which means one who comes to the battle with an enveloping and encircling movement as speed is the essence of tactics. The remains of Harappa also stand on the Parushni which means the Ravi river. That the Battle of the Ten Kings was fought for the prize city of Harappa is clear from the nature of the grand alliance which entered into a confederation to win it. The Rig-Veda devotes several hymns to it. Cayamana, the father of Sudas, was about 30 years of age when Harappa fell.
Prof. Dwijendra Narayan Jha holds for instance that the extent of Harappan culture has been variously estimated. The view of Sir John Marshall was that it flourished from 3250 B.C. to 2150 B.C. In recent years, the new methods of dating adopted by archaeologists have led to the revision of the earlier opinion. The period now fixed is between 2300 B.C. and 1750 B.C. Around 1750 B.C., the Harappan culture broke up, although decline seems to have set in earlier. At almost all the Harappan sites, planning and construction became inferior in the upper levels. Brickbats from former houses were reused and new motifs appeared on pottery.
At Mohenjo-Daro, more than anywhere else, clear indications of a progressive degeneration are available. It is generally held that calamitous alterations in the course of the Indus and the Ravi rivers led to the desiccation of the surrounding countryside. The city of Mohenjo-Daro became weak under the pressure of' population which was forced to migrate. Excavations revealed’ that Mohenjo-Daro itself was flooded more than once. Traces of at least 3 main phases of deep flooding can be detected. Chanhudaro was also twice destroyed by colossal floods. The devastating floods were perhaps due to violent geomorphologic changes in the lower Indus region and obstructed the normal processes of irrigation, leading to the economic decline of some of the Harappan settlements.
The final blow to Harappan civilization was given perhaps by groups of barbarians' who began to migrate into India a little before the middle of second millennium B.C. At several places in North Baluchistan, thick layers of burning imply the violent destruction of the whole settlement by fire. Half a dozen groups of human skeletons at Mohenjo-Daro indicate that the city was invaded. Indirect evidence of invasion and displacement of the Harappans by peoples from the West is available from several places. To the South-West of the citadel at Harappa, a cemetery, known as cemetery H, has come to light. It is believed to have been of an alien people who destroyed the older Harappa. At Chanhu-daro more extensive, though indirect, evidence of the super-imposition of barbarian life is available. Recent research has not only thrown more light on the antecedent of the Indus civilization, it has also helped to explain the reasons for its sudden decline. All excavations support the conclusion that this occurred rather suddenly between 1800 and 1700 B.C. but they do not support the theory of a violent end as no traces of "last massacres" were found in any of the centres, apart from Mohenjo-Daro. Recent research has also exculpated the Vedic Aryans who probably arrived in the Indus Valley almost after a millennium after its great cities had been extinguished. The excavations have revealed many striking symptoms of endogenous decay in those cities during the Late-Harappa period. Some settlements seemed to have been abandoned rather suddenly as kitchen utensils have been found scattered around fire places. Other places were resettled for a short period in a rather rudimentary fashion before they were finally abandoned. Historians have also suggested ecological reasons for the decline: over-grazing and deforestation caused by the operation of innumerable fire places and kilns for burning bricks. Palaeobotanical research in Rajasthan has provided another explanation of the decline of the Indus Valley. There were violent changes in rainfall. Socio-economic factors may have also contributed to the decline. At their height around 2000 B.C. the centres of the civilization had become far removed from their agricultural roots," and yet they were more dependent than ever on the produce of land. The traces of obliteration at Kot Diji and the abandonment and reconstruction of Kalibangan show that in their prime the great cities were able to hold sway over a vast hinterland, but a perennial control of trade routes and the agricultural base would have required the maintenance of a large army and a host of administrators. The excavations have shown no evidence of the existence of such armies. The agricultural surplus of the countryside was probably used for trade or for some kind of religious obligations. The cities depended on the well being of their immediate hinterland. When climate changed and agricultural production declined, the cities were not in a position to appropriate surplus from the countryside. The result was that the people had to leave the city and that led to the decline of the cities. Perhaps some inhabitants of big cities migrated to new and smaller towns and the big cities lost their importance. Small places like Amri and Lothal survived for a few generations in the Post Harappa period when the big cities were already extinct. Finally, the smaller places also became simple villages and thus the Indus civilization disappeared.
All such key scholarly interventions which cover these questions and disputes have been reproduced within this volume. The readings are prefaced by a long new Introduction by the editor. A fine read I would say.
This intriguing book by Nayanjot Lahiri, a historian and archaeologist of ancient India and a professor of history at Ashoka University constitutes indispensable reading for all those who are interested in the downfall of India’s first civilisation. Students of ancient Indian history and archaeology will find it an obligatory spring of information.
There are more than a few theories pointing towards the likely end of the Indus civilization. A theory attributes the end of the Indus civilization to massive flooding. This can be partially accurate. There is some verification of devastation by flood at Mohenjo-Daro and Lothal but there is no such substantiation in respect of other cities, for example, Kalibangan. At this site, neither the invader nor the flood can be invoked. Here perhaps, the drying up of the Ghaggar river - steady or sudden, owing either to climatic changes or to the diversion of waters from factors at or near their source-may have been the cause of the abandonment of site. Pestilence and the erosion of the surrounding landscape owing to over exploitation may also be reasons for the end of certain settlements.
Indian archaeologist and Director General of the ASI from 1968 to 1972 Braj Basi Lal, holds for instance that there is adequate evidence to demonstrate that the civilization did not come to a hasty end. For example, at Lothal from its Period A (Indus) to B (Post-Indus), there is a gradual change in the pottery and the disappearance or replacement by others of certain kinds of antiquities. This devolution is continued at the neighbouring site of Rangpur. Likewise, a change of face is indicated by the evidence from sites in Eastern Punjab and North-Western Uttar Pradesh. Again, scholars suggest that Hariyupiya mentioned in the Rig-Veda was the city of Harappa. The date of the Battle of Ten Kings which signifies the death of Harappa, comes out to be 1735 B.C. This date is in tune with MASCA corrected radio-carbon dating of the end of the Harappa civilization. The upper and lower limit of the Battle of Ten Kings as computed is given as 1909/1735/l562 B.C. Cayamana attacked the city of Harappa from the East by covering it with a rapid encircling movement. This earned him the title of Abhyavanina which means one who comes to the battle with an enveloping and encircling movement as speed is the essence of tactics. The remains of Harappa also stand on the Parushni which means the Ravi river. That the Battle of the Ten Kings was fought for the prize city of Harappa is clear from the nature of the grand alliance which entered into a confederation to win it. The Rig-Veda devotes several hymns to it. Cayamana, the father of Sudas, was about 30 years of age when Harappa fell.
Prof. Dwijendra Narayan Jha holds for instance that the extent of Harappan culture has been variously estimated. The view of Sir John Marshall was that it flourished from 3250 B.C. to 2150 B.C. In recent years, the new methods of dating adopted by archaeologists have led to the revision of the earlier opinion. The period now fixed is between 2300 B.C. and 1750 B.C. Around 1750 B.C., the Harappan culture broke up, although decline seems to have set in earlier. At almost all the Harappan sites, planning and construction became inferior in the upper levels. Brickbats from former houses were reused and new motifs appeared on pottery.
At Mohenjo-Daro, more than anywhere else, clear indications of a progressive degeneration are available. It is generally held that calamitous alterations in the course of the Indus and the Ravi rivers led to the desiccation of the surrounding countryside. The city of Mohenjo-Daro became weak under the pressure of' population which was forced to migrate. Excavations revealed’ that Mohenjo-Daro itself was flooded more than once. Traces of at least 3 main phases of deep flooding can be detected. Chanhudaro was also twice destroyed by colossal floods. The devastating floods were perhaps due to violent geomorphologic changes in the lower Indus region and obstructed the normal processes of irrigation, leading to the economic decline of some of the Harappan settlements.
The final blow to Harappan civilization was given perhaps by groups of barbarians' who began to migrate into India a little before the middle of second millennium B.C. At several places in North Baluchistan, thick layers of burning imply the violent destruction of the whole settlement by fire. Half a dozen groups of human skeletons at Mohenjo-Daro indicate that the city was invaded. Indirect evidence of invasion and displacement of the Harappans by peoples from the West is available from several places. To the South-West of the citadel at Harappa, a cemetery, known as cemetery H, has come to light. It is believed to have been of an alien people who destroyed the older Harappa. At Chanhu-daro more extensive, though indirect, evidence of the super-imposition of barbarian life is available. Recent research has not only thrown more light on the antecedent of the Indus civilization, it has also helped to explain the reasons for its sudden decline. All excavations support the conclusion that this occurred rather suddenly between 1800 and 1700 B.C. but they do not support the theory of a violent end as no traces of "last massacres" were found in any of the centres, apart from Mohenjo-Daro. Recent research has also exculpated the Vedic Aryans who probably arrived in the Indus Valley almost after a millennium after its great cities had been extinguished. The excavations have revealed many striking symptoms of endogenous decay in those cities during the Late-Harappa period. Some settlements seemed to have been abandoned rather suddenly as kitchen utensils have been found scattered around fire places. Other places were resettled for a short period in a rather rudimentary fashion before they were finally abandoned. Historians have also suggested ecological reasons for the decline: over-grazing and deforestation caused by the operation of innumerable fire places and kilns for burning bricks. Palaeobotanical research in Rajasthan has provided another explanation of the decline of the Indus Valley. There were violent changes in rainfall. Socio-economic factors may have also contributed to the decline. At their height around 2000 B.C. the centres of the civilization had become far removed from their agricultural roots," and yet they were more dependent than ever on the produce of land. The traces of obliteration at Kot Diji and the abandonment and reconstruction of Kalibangan show that in their prime the great cities were able to hold sway over a vast hinterland, but a perennial control of trade routes and the agricultural base would have required the maintenance of a large army and a host of administrators. The excavations have shown no evidence of the existence of such armies. The agricultural surplus of the countryside was probably used for trade or for some kind of religious obligations. The cities depended on the well being of their immediate hinterland. When climate changed and agricultural production declined, the cities were not in a position to appropriate surplus from the countryside. The result was that the people had to leave the city and that led to the decline of the cities. Perhaps some inhabitants of big cities migrated to new and smaller towns and the big cities lost their importance. Small places like Amri and Lothal survived for a few generations in the Post Harappa period when the big cities were already extinct. Finally, the smaller places also became simple villages and thus the Indus civilization disappeared.
All such key scholarly interventions which cover these questions and disputes have been reproduced within this volume. The readings are prefaced by a long new Introduction by the editor. A fine read I would say.
Displaying 1 of 1 review