Introduction
The Indus Valley Civilization is one of the biggest ancient and medieval civilization eras. The civilization population was about five million people. The Indus cities are famous for the urban status. Also, the Indus Valley civilization is known of its political process, infrastructure and architectural urban buildings as well as drainage systems. The Indus society had about 1,052 cities with about five million people (Bhat, 106). The government operations of the civilization cannot be understood since the writing of the time has not been deciphered. The Indus Valley civilization practiced trade and they have their own culture, language and religion. Therefore, this paper discusses the Indus Valley civilization of Ancient India which is under world history topics.
Overview
The Indus Valley civilization on ancient India is regarded as one of the earliest civilization in world. The civilization took place in the north-western region of Indian. The Indus Valley is similar to Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt civilizations. The civilization is known due to its well-planned cities, and it was made of 1,052 cities and settlement. Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were the largest cities in the civilization.
Geography
The Indus Valley civilization geographical location is what today known as Pakistan and parts of India which include the following states Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. The huge Indus river system enabled the settlers to cultivate and farm. The Indus plain environs were surrounded by mountain and desert.
Well-Planned Cities
The Cities of Indus Valley Civilization were well-planned and the cities had efficient governments in place. The existence of the government can be placed by the availability of water system. Hygiene priority to the communities who lived in the cities of Indus Valley; thus, the world earliest sanitation systems can be traced to this civilization. The source of the water for the town inhabitants was wells. In the city rooms, the waste was directed to covered drains, which lined with the major streets. Thus, the cities had advanced drainage and sewerage systems.
The granaries, warehouse and Massive protective walls help the historians to understand the architecture and construction skills and techniques of the civilization.
Most city dwellers specialized in trading. Thus, traders and artisan were the main occupation of the city dwellers. The city houses had access to water and drainage systems showing that standard of living was average for everyone in the cities.
Although there were large house in Indus Cities, the palaces and government mansions buildings did not exist. However, key cities were identified by the large walled citadel.
Writing
The writing of the Indus civilization historians have not managed to decipher the writing of time. There are over 400 different symbols, which have been recovered from the city of Indus Valley cities. The writing during civilization can be compared to the writing of the ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. The typical inscriptions contain four to five characters and they are very tiny. Thus, most of writing of Indus civilization was written in perishable materials which didn’t survive. Therefore, inability to decipher texts of the civilization has made it possible to understand government and politics of the time (Keth).
Agriculture, trade and transportation
Agriculture was one main source of income and occupation during the Indus Valley civilization. The people produced different types of staple foods as well as kept different animals for the meat. They grow wheat, millets, melons rice and they also kept cows, goats and sheep. The people of the practice irrigations since the valley civilization had source of water River Indus. The city had water control systems which prevented floods and wells which helped in preserving the water.
Also, the civilization valued trade. The specialization during the civilization led to trading. Thus, the people exchanged and traded with one another like any modern cities. Since the civilization was urban in nature most of the people in cities were business persons (Bhat, 109). There was presence of manufactured materials in the cities such as copper and gold, which were traded by animals and food produced. Also, the people of the cities traded within and outside the cities, which made it possible for the people to manufacture beads and other objects. The civilization traders reached out to far wide area including Mesopotamia, Afghanistan and many other different places. The writings of the Indus valley are on clay seals which seen as traded good. The trade was possible due to developed means of transport.
The Indus Valley Civilization is regarded as the first civilization to use wheeled transport in world history. The wheeled transport was bullocks’ charts. Also, the boat used in time was small boats. Thus, the society had craftsmen’s. The trade between the Indus valley people and Mesopotamia was conducted through maritime trade.
Religion
The people of Indus civilization didn’t have organized religion. The historians have not been able to identify the religion that Indus civilization society practiced. But there are indications that there was a relationship between civilization religions and ancient India religion (Bhat, 107). This proved by the seals used during the time such as swastikas, which can traced into Hinduism as well as Buddhism. Also, the Indus valley seals showed animals presenting format which seen in Hindu gods such as Shiva. Therefore, the religion of Indus valley community is related to most of the Asia religion of Hinduism and Buddhism. Their belief influenced Aryan people who came after the civilization collapsed. Also, the people within the city believed in the ghosts evil forces.
Language
The Indus writings materials have not been deciphered since there are no comparable symbols. Therefore, the language is not known whether it is South Indian or Indo-European language.
Conclusion
The Indus Valley Civilization is one of the biggest ancient and medieval civilization eras. The civilization took place in the north-western region of Indian. The Indus Valley civilization geographical location is what today known as Pakistan and parts of India which include the following states Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. The huge Indus river system enabled the settlers to cultivate and farm. The Cities of Indus Valley Civilization were well-planned and the cities had efficient governments in place. The existence of the government can be placed by the availability of water system. Hygiene priority to the communities who lived in the cities of Indus Valley; thus, the world earliest sanitation systems can be traced to this civilization. The source of the water for the town inhabitants was wells. The availability of the water led to irrigation and agriculture practices. . Also, the people of the cities traded within and outside the cities, which made it possible for the people to manufacture beads and other objects.
Works Cited
Bhat, Aashaq Hussain. “The Indus valley civilization.” International journal of research and review 4.7 (2017): 106-109.
Keth. (2018). “Archaeology of ancient civilizations” Retrieved from http://libguides.pierce.ctc.edu/c.php?g=705796&p=5012690
