INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION TOWN/URBAN PLANNING UPSC 2023 -24

URBAN TOWN PLANNING OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION (UPSC)

  

  The remains of Harappa and Mohenjodaro reveal a remarkable sense of town planning.The towns were laid out in a ractangular grid pattern. 

∆ Buildings:  Three types of buildings hve been found in the excavation sites- dwelling houses , public buildings , and public baths.

∆ Materials used :  Burnt mud bricks were used for construction purposes and joined together with Gipsum mortar. Stone slabs   were lso used for covering manhole.

 Generally the IVC was divided into two parts that is lower and upper town.

A. CITADEL :

* Upper town in western part  was known as citadel.

Granaries  - Granaries were also created in this part which were ment for storage of grains.It is created in a scientific pattern, strategic holes and reaised platform were created for exchange of gases and protecting them from pests.

Common bath - One of the most important structure in this part of the town was common bath ment for rituals (ablutions).This baths also had an array of galleries and rooms surrounding it. Most famous exampel of a public bath is the Great bath in the excaveted remains of Mohenjodaro .Stears were created in north and south direction and made from burnt bricks.

Administrative buildings , Piller halls and courtyard ate also created in citadel.Some of the buildings are ment for the residence of the rulers and aristocrarts.It did not have large monumental structures.

B .LOWER PART :

The lower town was ment for habitation of the commoners.This part of the town was divided in meny sectors .

∆ Drainage :

- Drains were created  on boath sides of road 

- They were covered with stone slab and brick slab .

- Inside the drains the provision of man hole to clean the drain and the Gypsum coating is used in man hole for filtered water which was discharged into ground. 

∆ Streets :

*Straight and cut each other with right angles.

*13-34 feet wide.

*Well lined.

*Devided the city into ractangular blocks .

* Street lights existed.

* Dust beens also provided on the streets  that depicts good municipal administration.

∆ Houses:

* There were instances of single storey , double storey, and triple storey houses.

* All houses were created with burnt bricks f same shape and size.

* Inside  the house there were bedrooms, separate kitchen, wash rooms, and courtyard.

* Generally the main gates of the houses were created not facing main road so as to save guard their privacy .

* Some rich people also had separate well. 

* All the houses were connected with the main drainage .

* There were gates in house but no doors are there . 

        The importance placed on hygiene both personal and public , is quite impressive.

ORNAMENTATION AND COSMATICS IN IVC UPSC 2023-24

ORNAMENTATION AND COSMATICS IN IVC 

1)    Indus valley people used many types of ornaments like necklaces, finger rings , pendants, bangles, wrist bands, fillets, armlets, gridless earings .Both the sexes used these ornaments.

2) . Material used :- Large variety of ornaments are used made up of every conceivable material ranging from precious metals and gemstones to bone and backed clay .All ornaments are well crafted .

A. Semi-precious stones-       amethyst, carnelian , lapis-lazuli, quartz, steatite ,crystal.

B. Metals-    copper, bronze, gold

3) There were well developed bead making industry in Chanhudaro, Lothal and made up of carnelian, amethyst, quartz, steatite,turquoise, gold, Bronze,copper.

Bades are varying in shapes - disc-shaped , cylindrical, spherical , barrel-shaped and segmented  . Brilliantly  naturalistic models of animals are used as pin heads and beads .

4) There was a bangle making industry in kalibangan .

 

5) Cosmetics - 

 

∆Cinnabar was used as cosmetics and face paint .

∆ They used soap, lipstick, sindoor, kajal(collyrium).

∆Mercury is the common ingredient in all these.

∆ Calomel was used as tincture( antiseptic) to clean and heal the wounds .

6)Fabric :-

Cotton and wool are used as fabric.

7) Different types of hear styles and wearing of a beard was popular among them .

IMPORTANT PLACES FOR MAP-

∆  KALIBANGAN RAJASTHAN.

∆  LOTHAL GUJRAT.

∆  DHOLAVIRA GUJRAT.

∆  FARMANA IN HARIYANA.

∆  MOHENJODARO. 

∆  CHANHUDARO.

SCULPTURE OF INDUS VALLY CIVILIZATION UPSC 2023-24

SCULPTURES OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

SCULPTURE:    Itis the branch of the visual arts that operates in three-dimensions .

It is relatively small work from architecture.

A single piece of sculpture is usually made of  single type of material.

It involves creativity and imagination and may not depend on heavily on accurate measurement.

TYPES OF SCULPTURE:

There are 4 types of sculpture i.e.

 a.   stone carving 

b.   bronze casting

c.  Wood carving 

d.   clay firing

   

IMPORTANT  EXAMPLES OF SCULPTURE IN IVC :

A.STONE SCULPTURE:-

 

1) Bearded priest. -

* Found in Mohenjodaro.

* Made up of steatite or soapstone

* It is the figure of a bearded man drapped in a shawl with trifoil pattern.The eyes are elongated and half closed as in meditation.

2) Male torso harappa :-

* Found in Harappa 

* Made up of red sandstone

* There are socket holes in te neck amd shoulders for the attachment of head and arms .

*It has slightly prominent abdomen.

* It has the frontal pousture with well backed shoulders.

B.  BRONZE SCULPTURE :-

*Bronze sculptures was created using lost wax techniques (cireper due). Tin and copper combined made bronze.

*Lost wax technique- in this technique, wax figures are first coated with wet clay and allowed to dry . The clay coated figures are them heated , allowing the wax inside to melt .The wax is then poured out through a tiny hole and liquid metal is poured inside the hollow mould. After the metal has cooled down and solidified, the clay coat is removed and a metal figure of the same shape as the wax figure is obtained .Even now in many parts of the country  the same technique is practiced.

 

Eg.of bronze sculpture -

1)Bronze bull of kalibangan :-

2)Dancing girl of Mohenjodaro: 

* It is the oldest bronze sculpture found in mohenjodaro.

*The 4 inch figure dipicts a nacked girl wearing only ornaments which includes bangels in the left arm and amulet and bracelet on the right arm.

* It stands in  tribhanga (3bend) dancing posture with the right hand on her hip. 

3) Buffalo of Mohenjodaro:-

* Found in mohenjodaro and deserves mention because of its massiveness of the bull and the fury of the charge are eloquently expressed 

*  The animal is shown standing with his head turned to the right and with a cord arround the neck.

C.. TERRACOTTA SCULPTURES 

* It was made from clay backed on fire .

* Compared to the bronze figures the terracotta sculptures found are less in number and crude in shape and form. 

*They were made using pinching method and have been found mostly in the sites of Gujrat and kalibangan .

Examples- 

 1) Mother godess:-

*It is the most abundant image found from indus valley which highlights its importance.

*It is a crude figure of a standing female adorned with necklaces hanging over prominent breasts .

*She is wearing a loin cloth and a girdle.

*She also wears a fan shaped headgear.

*The facial features are also shown crudely and lacks finensse 

*She was probably worshipped for prosperity.

 *She might also have been a godess of fertility cults.

 2)Mask of horned deity:- 

Miniature mask from mohenjodaro of bearded horned deity.

The faceis made from a mould and thumb impression from pressing the clay are visible on the back.

The mouth is romber and the eyes are almond shaped and open.

It has two horns in forehead and two long ears lay against the horns.

POTTERY OF IVC UPSC 2023-24

seals of IVC   POTTERY OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION  

The pottery of indus valley civilization is wheel made wears very few being hand made .Pottery  developed in the IVC in 3500Bc .Types of Pottery -

1. General Ware Pottery(plain pottery): 

   A. It was red in colour made up of read clay and mainly used for cooking ,storage of grain ,storage of water etc

   B. With or with out red or fine gray slip.

2. Miniature vessels :

 A. It is a narrow and elongated pottery with beautyful designs in black in colour .

B.It was marvellously crafted.

C.Mainly ment for the purpose of decoration.

D . Many of these vessels were also found in the graves of dead.

E. Inside these vessels many articles were kept perhaps they believed in otherworldly things and they must have thought that the dead person will use these articles in another world.

3. Perforated vessels:

A.Contains large holes in bottom and small holes in wall .

B. It was ment for straining liquor or beverages 

4.Faience pottery:

 A.Made for decorative purposes .

B. Considered as precious nd luxury  item.

  

5.  Inside ware 

   Rare and the inside decoration was confined to the bases of the pans.

6. Polychrome pottery 

. Rear and mainly comprises small vases decorated with geomatrical pattern in read black and rarely white and yellow.

7.  Black painted wear

 Fine coating of read slip on which geomatrical and animal designs are extracted in glossy black paint. LP

SEALS OF IVC AND IT'S PURPOSES UPSC 2023-24

                                              SEALS OF INDUS VALLY CIVILIZATION 

           

         Seals are squar ,ractangular or circular or triangular pice of (geomatrical shaped) object mainly made up of soft river stone known as steatite .They are also made ou of Copper,Bronze ,Ivory,Gold,Agate,Chert,Faience and Terracota.

Standered Harappan seal was a square plaque2×2 square inches .

Seals are pictografic in nature.They are the !most important artifacts found in Indus towns .Agreat number of information about IVC can be traced from seals..

 Inscription in oneside both side ,on third side also can be found . Written mainly Right to left and bidirectional writing style also be found.q

   

1. PASHUPATI SEAL- 

a)It is a steatite seal discovered at Mohenjodaro. 

b)From these seal it can be said that there was respect to the nature and mail gods are worshipped.

c)It can be inferred that meditative processes were known to Indus valley people.

d)some historians compare this image with Proto-shiva or Adi-shiva.

  

2.  PEEPAL LEAF SEAL - 

a)It indicates natures worship .

b)A seal from Mohenjodaro found by wheeler in the 1920s.

3. UNICORN SEAL- 

a)It is the most abundant seal .This is the image of the horned animal called unicorn .

b) It indicates the respect towards the nature .

c) made up of white fired glazed steatite.

d)found in Mohenjodaro.

 

PURPOSES OF SEAL -

A)They were used as a stamp of Indus valley authority.

B) They facilitated in trade and used for comarcial purposes.

C) Seals are also used as shamanic- objects to ward off evil.

D) Symbols like pie (π)indicate that may be it was also used as an educational tool.

E)They are also used as amulates(identity card).

F) Helped in communication also.