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Indus Valley Civilisation

By TNPSC Guide editorial team · Last updated:

Key numbers

Key facts

Period of the civilisation3300-1900 BCE (Std 6, pp. 132, 134)
Extent13 lakh sq km = about 1.3 million sq km (Std 6 p. 134; Std 9 p. 27)
Large cities, villages6 cities, more than 200 villages (Std 6, p. 134)
Early, Mature, Late Harappan3300-2600, 2600-1900, perhaps to 1700 BCE (Std 9, p. 30)
Bricks used for the railway1856, Lahore-Karachi (Std 6, p. 133)
ASI1861, Alexander Cunningham; HQ New Delhi (Std 6, p. 134)
Excavation begins; John Marshall1920; 1924 (Std 6, pp. 133-134)
MehrgarhBolan valley, Baluchistan; evidence from around 7000 BCE (Std 6, p. 136)
Assembly hall20 pillars in 4 rows, Mohenjo-daro (Std 6, p. 138)
Lothal ivory scalesmall divisions up to 1704 mm (Std 6, p. 139)
Sargon's cuneiform records2334-2279 BCE; Meluhha, Magan, Dilmun (Std 9, p. 21)
Ratio of weights1:2:4:8:16:32 (Std 9, p. 29)
Inscriptionsabout 5000; still unread (Std 9, p. 29)
Melaperumpallam signsMay 2007, near Poompuhar (Std 9, p. 30)
Decline beginsabout 1900 BCE (Std 9, p. 30)

Easy to confuse

13 lakh sq km / 1.3 million sq kmthe same area; Std 6 gives one, Std 9 the other
Std 6 boundaries / Std 9 boundariesMakran, Ghaggar-Hakra, Afghanistan, Maharashtra / Sutkagen-dor, Shortugai, Alamgirpur, Daimabad; do not mix
Great Bath / granaryGreat Bath Mohenjo-daro / granary Harappa (one at Rakhigarhi too)
Lothal / Kalibangandockyard, ivory scale, Gujarat / fire altars, Rajasthan
Horse / elephantthe horse was not known / the elephant was known
Cuneiform / hieroglyphicsMesopotamian script, in which Meluhha = the Indus region / the script of Egypt
மெலுக்கா / மெலுஹாthe Std 6 and Std 9 spellings of one place
ASI 1861 / excavation 1920 / Marshall 1924three different events; Mortimer Wheeler's work is not in the pages we read
The dancing girl's age / the civilisation's perioddo not make a question of the age in Marshall's quotation / the period is 3300-1900 BCE
Mother-goddess worship"may have existed" is the book's phrase, not a certainty
The full note

Ancient civilisations and the names

The Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Indus and Chinese civilisations are the main ancient civilisations. The Standard 6 timeline: Indus 3300-1900 BCE, Mesopotamia 3500-2000, Egypt 3100-1100, China 1700-1122; all were river-bank civilisations. "Civilisation" comes from the Latin "civis", city. Harappa was found first, so the civilisation is also called Harappan; as it spread beyond the Indus, "Indus Valley" became "Harappan". Example: the first site found gave its name to the whole civilisation, as one town's name can come to stand for a whole area.

How it was found

Charles Masson, an Englishman, first described the ruins of Harappa in his book. In 1856, while digging for the Lahore-Karachi railway, engineers used the baked bricks they found for the line without knowing their value. The ASI was founded in 1861 with the help of the surveyor Alexander Cunningham; its headquarters is New Delhi. Excavation of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro began in 1920; in 1924 John Marshall, the ASI's director, found common features in both. Scholars conclude that Harappa is older than Mohenjo-daro (Standard 6 book). Example: the railway story reminds us that an old pot found while digging a house foundation should be reported, not thrown away.

Period and extent

Standard 6: South Asia; Bronze Age; 3300-1900 BCE (radiocarbon dating); 13 lakh sq km; 6 large cities and more than 200 villages. Radiocarbon (carbon-14, C14) dating uses the radioactive isotope carbon-14 to find an object's age. Standard 9: Early Harappan 3300-2600 BCE, Mature 2600-1900, Late perhaps until 1700; about 1.3 million sq km in India and Pakistan, the same area as 13 lakh sq km. Example: like one sum said in lakhs and in millions, the two books give one area in two ways.

The boundaries: two books, two lists

Standard 9: Sutkagen-dor in the west, Shortugai (Afghanistan) in the north, Alamgirpur (Uttar Pradesh) in the east, Daimabad (Maharashtra) in the south. Standard 6: the Makran coast of Baluchistan in the west, the Ghaggar-Hakra valley in the east, Afghanistan in the north-east, Maharashtra in the south. Do not mix the two lists into one answer; see whose words the question uses.

Main sites and their states

The Standard 9 book lists eight sites: Harappa (Punjab, Pakistan), Mohenjo-daro (Sindh, Pakistan), Dholavira (Gujarat), Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Lothal (Gujarat), Banawali (Rajasthan), Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Surkotada (Gujarat). Gujarat has three, Rajasthan two. Mehrgarh, in the Bolan valley of Baluchistan, Pakistan, is the forerunner: Neolithic people lived there, with evidence from around 7000 BCE.

Town planning

The citadel was in the west, on high ground, used by the administrators, with the Great Bath and granaries; the lower town was in the east, on low ground, where the common people lived. Streets ran straight north-south and east-west in a grid and crossed at right angles. Houses were of baked brick and lime mortar, each with a toilet and a bathroom. Almost every city had covered drains of brick and stone slabs. No evidence settles whether palaces or places of worship existed. Example: new housing layouts in our towns, with straight streets at right angles and covered drains, follow the same planning.

Great Bath, granary and assembly hall

The Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro is a rectangular tank with baked-brick walls coated with natural bitumen against leaks, and steps on the north and south. The Standard 6 book calls it the world's first public bath. The granary at Harappa is a large structure on a brick base; wheat, barley, millets, sesame and pulses were found in its floor cracks. A mature-Harappan granary with brick walls was found at Rakhigarhi, Haryana. The assembly hall of Mohenjo-daro is a wide hall of 20 pillars in 4 rows. Example: like the steps of a temple tank in our towns, the Great Bath has steps on the north and south.

Lothal: the dockyard and the scale

At Lothal, on a tributary of the Sabarmati in present-day Gujarat, a dockyard for building and repairing ships was found; it confirms sea trade. Its ivory scale has small divisions up to 1704 mm, the smallest division among the scales of its contemporary civilisations. Example: like a boat-repair yard at a port such as Thoothukudi.

Figures and art

A seated male figure from a building at Mohenjo-daro wears a headband, a small ornament on the right upper arm and a robe over the left shoulder patterned with flowers and rings. A Mohenjo-daro figure is identified as the 'priest-king', but this is not confirmed; the steatite 'priest or king' is a major work of art (Standard 9). The small bronze female figure from Mohenjo-daro is called the 'dancing girl'; the Standard 6 book says Sir John Marshall marvelled at it. The dancing girl shows that they knew the lost-wax process of casting. Example: bronze idols in our towns are still cast by pouring metal into a wax mould.

Farming, tools and ornaments

They grew wheat, barley and millets and practised double cropping. They knew many animals including the elephant, but did not use horses; the zebu bull is common on seals. They did not know iron or the horse. They used chert blades, copper objects and bone and ivory tools; chert from Rohri, Pakistan, was used for sharp tools. Ornaments were of red carnelian beads and of gold, silver, ivory, shell, copper and terracotta. Pottery was made on the wheel and fired; it was red with black designs. Example: a village potter still throws pots on a wheel and fires them in a kiln.

Worship

They worshipped nature and the pipal tree; some terracotta figures look like a female deity; fire altars were found at Kalibangan; they buried the dead (Standard 9). The Standard 6 book is careful: no evidence tells us about their worship; the female figures suggest that mother-goddess worship may have existed. Learn "may have", not "did". Example: worship under the pipal tree is still common in our villages.

Trade and weights

There was wide sea trade with Mesopotamia; Indus seals were found in Sumer. The epic of the Akkadian king Naram-Sin says he bought ornaments from Meluhha in the Indus (Standard 6 spells it மெலுக்கா). Cuneiform records show the Mesopotamia-Harappa link; "Meluhha" in them means the Indus region; Harappan seals were found in Oman, Bahrain, Iraq and Iran. Sargon's cuneiform records (2334-2279 BCE) tell of ships from Meluhha, Magan and Dilmun at Akkadian ports. Weights were standard; cubical chert weights rose in the ratio 1:2:4:8:16:32. Example: with weights that keep doubling, any weight can be made up at a market.

Seals and script

Seals were of steatite, copper, terracotta and ivory. The script is still unread; about 5000 short inscriptions are known. Writing appears on seals, terracotta tablets and pottery; inscriptions are very short, averaging fewer than five signs, and run from right to left. The Russian scholar Yuri Knorozov sees a word order like the Dravidian family; Iravatham Mahadevan finds the roots of the Harappan language in South Indian Dravidian languages; Parpola matches the signs to Dravidian roots. In May 2007 the Tamil Nadu archaeology department found pots at Melaperumpallam near Poompuhar with arrow-like signs like the Mohenjo-daro seals; Mahadevan says the same of a stone axe from Mayiladuthurai.

Decline and continuity

Decline began around 1900 BCE. Climate change, falling trade with Mesopotamia, drought or floods of the river and foreign invasion are thought to be the causes. The civilisation did not vanish; it went on as a village culture. The excavation site at Mohenjo-daro is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Pakistan still has places named Korkai, Vanji, Thondi, Mathrai, Urai and Koodalgar; the river names Kavri and Poruns (Afghanistan) and Kaveri Wala and Porunai (Pakistan) echo Tamil words (Standard 6). Example: Korkai, Thondi and Vanji are town names we meet in our Tamil lessons.

Source: சமூக அறிவியல், ஆறாம் வகுப்பு, முதல் பருவம், தொகுதி 3, தமிழ் வழி (Social Science, Standard VI, Term I, Volume 3, Tamil medium; Samacheer Kalvi) (6ஆம் வகுப்புச் சமூக அறிவியல், பருவம் 1, வரலாறு அலகு 3 (சிந்துவெளி நாகரிகம்), பக்கம் 132-144; 9ஆம் வகுப்புச் சமூக அறிவியல், வரலாறு அலகு 2 (பண்டைய நாகரிகங்கள்), பக்கம் 17, 21, 27-31)

PYQ (2012-2025 papers)

Provisional key: until TNPSC publishes the final key; the answer may change.

Free questions

  1. Question 1

    Match the limits of the Harappan civilisation as the Standard IX book gives them. (a) West - 1. Daimabad (b) North - 2. Alamgirpur (c) East - 3. Shortugai (d) South - 4. Sutkagen-dor

    1. A. (a) 4, (b) 3, (c) 1, (d) 2
    2. B. (a) 3, (b) 4, (c) 2, (d) 1
    3. C. (a) 4, (b) 2, (c) 3, (d) 1
    4. D. (a) 4, (b) 3, (c) 2, (d) 1
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: D. (a) 4, (b) 3, (c) 2, (d) 1

    By the Standard IX book the limits were Sutkagen-dor in the west, Shortugai (Afghanistan) in the north, Alamgirpur (Uttar Pradesh) in the east and Daimabad (Maharashtra) in the south.

    Source: சமூக அறிவியல், ஒன்பதாம் வகுப்பு, தமிழ் வழி (Social Science, Standard IX, Tamil medium; Samacheer Kalvi) (வரலாறு அலகு 2 பண்டைய நாகரிகங்கள், p. 27 (PDF p. 33))

  2. Question 2

    The word 'civilisation' comes from the ancient Latin word 'civis'. What does 'civis' mean?

    1. A. City
    2. B. River bank
    3. C. Fort
    4. D. Trade
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: A. City

    The word 'civilisation' comes from the ancient Latin word 'civis', which means city.

    Source: சமூக அறிவியல், ஆறாம் வகுப்பு, முதல் பருவம், தொகுதி 3, தமிழ் வழி (Social Science, Standard VI, Term I, Volume 3, Tamil medium; Samacheer Kalvi) (வரலாறு அலகு 3 சிந்துவெளி நாகரிகம், p. 133 (PDF p. 137))

  3. Question 3

    Which Englishman first described the ruins of Harappa in his book?

    1. A. John Marshall
    2. B. Charles Masson
    3. C. Alexander Cunningham
    4. D. Yuri Knorozov
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: B. Charles Masson

    The Englishman Charles Masson was the first to describe the ruins of Harappa in his book.

    Source: சமூக அறிவியல், ஆறாம் வகுப்பு, முதல் பருவம், தொகுதி 3, தமிழ் வழி (Social Science, Standard VI, Term I, Volume 3, Tamil medium; Samacheer Kalvi) (வரலாறு அலகு 3 சிந்துவெளி நாகரிகம், p. 133 (PDF p. 137))

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