A quarter of a century ago, when the preceding period was much less well known than today, the Harappan Civilization was treated as appearing on the scene suddenly, in full matur- ity. Despite considerable research, this view has not been re- futed. Although a number of cultural traits thought to be rep- resentative of the mature civilization are now known to have an earlier origin, not a single site has as yet yielded a complete sequence in which the earlier phase grades into the later. The racial composition of the population was mixed, judging from available skeletal remains, the most numerous types resembling the modern Proto-Australoid and Mediterranean subraces.

The temporal relationship of the Harappan Civilization sites is also now the subject of much research. For the present the only reliable internal chronology places the Saurashtran sites and those in eastern Punjab at a somewhat later time than those of the Indus Plain. There are only a few ¹⁴C dates avail- able for the period, of which a series from Mohenjo-daro cen- ters on c. 2500–2000 B.C. (corrected). The archaeological syn- chronization with the Mesopotamian ruler Sargon I (c. 2371 B.C.) is in satisfactory accord with these.

Wherever one looks at the Harappan Civilization, taken as a whole, one notes striking homogeneity and firm adherence to established standards. This is most apparent in settlement planning, but the observation extends to the small finds as well. Throughout a territory larger than modern Pakistan, stone weights are accurate and uniform in accordance with a binary- cum-decimal system, as are linear measures; finely engraved seals are virtually indistinguishable from one site to the other. Such uniformity led several scholars to posit strongly central- ized political control, and this idea finds support in the layout of the settlements. The two major urban centers, as well as lesser settlements at Kalibangan and Lothal, are based on the citadel/lower township model taken over from the preceding period (plate II.3, maps (e)–(h)). The citadel area, always in the west, contains public and perhaps some few private structures. Commercial activities and most residences, how- ever, were located in the lower town, which was laid out in a grid, the streets and lanes crossing one another at orderly right angles. Both parts of the city were fortified with thick walls of mud bricks or sometimes baked bricks. The citadel areas of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro have remains of several large structures that, because of their poor state of preservation, have not been satisfactorily identified. It is assumed, however, that a spacious pillared hall at Mohenjo-daro was used for public ceremonies. Perhaps these were of a religious nature, but no structure has been unambiguously identified as a temple. At several sites large granaries, in some cases with adjacent work- men's quarters, provide impressive evidence of a centrally planned economy (plate II.4. fig. 1). These granaries all front on rivers, from which it is clear that inland waterways were used for transportation.

Many writers on the subject believe that the government was theocratic, and several lines of evidence point to the pervasive influence of religion in the culture. Best known is the Great Bath, located centrally on the citadel at Mohenjo-daro (plate II.4, fig. 3). This is a rectangular depression measuring 30 × 23 feet, with stairs at each end. Its brick sides and flooring were kept watertight by a bitumen lining. Surrounding the bath is a series of small cells, possibly for the use of priests. Something of the priest's appearance—the full beard, shaven upper lip, and hair kept in place by a fillet, is perhaps indicated by small steatite busts of the kind shown in plate II.4, fig. 9. In the resi- dential areas of the lower city numerous female figurines in terra-cotta were found (plate II.3, illustration on map (c)). Though stylistically different, they may be related to the so- called mother goddess figurines found in the farming commu- nities of Baluchistan (cf. plate II.3., illustration on map (b)). Other objects associated with the religion of the Harappan Civilization are stone phalli, recovered from several sites, and flat, triangular terra-cotta cakes which, at Kalibangan, were in association with fire altars and are considered to be votive of- ferings (plate II.4, fig. 7).

Burial practices were varied. At a number of sites the dead, often wrapped in reed shrouds, were placed in rectangular pit graves (plate II.4, fig. 10). At Lothal there was a double burial of a male and a female in the same grave. At Kalibangan, in addition to extended burials, there were also urn burials ac- companied by copper rings, beads, and pottery.

The individual houses of the lower area of Mohenjo-daro were designed around an inner courtyard with rooms on three sides. Many had upper stories and probably flat roofs that were used, as today, for sleeping during the hot season. Remarkable features in these cities were the water supply and sewage sys- tems. In addition to scattered wells accessible to the public, most moderate and larger houses had private wells inside the main entrance (plate II.4, fig. 6). The widespread use of bath- rooms, from which water ran off through a drainage channel that emptied into the street sewers (plate II.4, fig. 2), was a sanitation feature unique in the Orient of the day. The more rural settlements of the Harappan Civilization lacked the ex- tensive canalization, although the use of cesspits marks them as advanced.

In the lanes and streets of the lower areas, merchants, small shopkeepers, artisans, laborers, and peasants rubbed shoul- ders. Generally the products of the craftsmen were compe- tent, though uninspired. Kilns show that pottery was locally produced. Most common was a hard ceramic ware, well baked and covered with a plum red slip. The black-painted decoration consisted predominantly of floral or fish-scale motifs or inter- secting circles. Zoomorphic depictions are rare, in marked con- trast to representations on the splendidly executed seals dis- cussed below. Pottery forms occur in fair variety (plate II.3, illustration on map (c)) and include the dish-on-stand. The flourishing production of beads has been traced to centers at Chanhu-daro and Lothal. Semiprecious stones, especially car- nelian and frit, were the most favored material for these orna- ments, which were worn in strings around the neck and waist.

Metallurgy, despite its practical applications, remained un- derdeveloped. Tools and utensils were limited to simple chisels, knives, fishhooks, small razors, and some food containers (plate II.5. panels (c) and (d)). There was a curious reluctance to adopt either a strengthening midrib for swords or the wedge- shaped shaft-hole type of ax in place of the flat celt. Both these technological advances were firmly established in contempo- rary Mesopotamia and Iran; but only in the very last phase of Mohenjo-daro did the shaft-hole ax appear. A cast bronze fig- urine of a nude dancing girl observes special mention for its realism (plate II.4, fig. 11).

The seal cutter, in contrast to other artisans, demonstrates the highest mastery of his craft. Rectangular stamp seals (II.5, panel (a)) with pictorial and symbolic engravings occur in quantity at the urban sites but are scarce at the rural settle- ments. The motifs often are evidently taken from mythology. Composite animals, fabulous creatures such as the unicorn, anthropomorphic and semizoomorphic deities, and heroes in combat with tigers fall into this grouping. In addition, how- ever, there are many seals that depict real animals such as the bull, elephant, rhinoceros, and crocodile. A third group con- sists of geometric motifs in which the swastika and Greek cross are prominent. Much has been written about one seal (num- ber 6) identified by Sir John Marshall, the original excavator of Mohenjo-daro, as an early form of the Hindu deity Śiva in his aspect Paśupati, the protector of animals and the supreme yogi. However this may be, it is well to note that in more than 2,600 seals this particular motif occurs only four times.

Apart from actually being used to secure objects, it is likely that the seals also served as amulets. Most have pierced bosses on the back so they can be suspended on a string worn around the neck. These seals, together with a small number of copper tablets, provide the only surviving examples of writing. That such a complex society required extensive record-keeping for administrative and commercial functions is evident. Yet no records have been found, which suggests that they were writ- ten on perishable materials. The inscriptions usually run hori- zontally across the face of the seal above the pictorial element. The symbols are read from right to left, though when there are two or more lines, which is exceptional, the direction alter- nates. Many attempts have been made to read this script, but none of the putative decipherments has been generally ac- cepted. There is, however, agreement that the script is ideo- syllabic, and the currently preferred working hypothesis is that it represents an early Dravidian language.

Most of the raw materials used by the Harappan Civiliza- tion were available from not-too-distant sources: copper from Rajasthan, semiprecious stones from the region of the Narmada River and Badakhshan. Farther afield, gold may have come from the south of the peninsula; but as yet little research has been done on the nature of intra-Indian trade at this time. To the west of the Indus Plain, villages such as those revealed at Kulli and Nindowari continued to experience "Indianization," though they retained their individuality, and may still have played a role in the diminishing overland trade. But the height of the civilization brings maritime commerce briefly into its own, as the fortified outpost at Sutkagen Dor on the Makran Coast shows. (Lothal in Saurashtra has frequently been cited as a port; but, since technical considerations precluded the large basin there [plate II.4, fig. 8] having served as a dock- yard, this identification lacks evidence.)

The cities of the Harappan Civilization at this time repre- sented the eastern limits of a Persian Gulf ecumene that also included southern Mesopotamia and Iran. But Indian bottoms reached the farther western shores only irregularly, if at all; for at the close of the 3d millennium B.C. Oman and Bahrein (the "Dilmun" of the Sumerians), achieved their greatest de- velopment as emporia. A vessel setting sail from a port of the Harappan Civilization is likely to have gone no farther than one or the other of these centers, from which their cargoes were then transshipped. Seals from the Persian Gulf trading centers faithfully reflect this intermediary role, for their quite distinctive appearance is the result of a skillful blend of both Mesopotamian and South Asian elements.

The mechanics of trade within the ecumene are problematic. The overland aspect seems to have involved the transport of crude and semiprecious stones, carried perhaps in donkey cara- vans or, more simply, by porters. (Camel remains have been identified at Mohenjo-daro, but it is doubtful that this animal was yet domesticated.) The sketchy evidence for shipping shows only country craft. Whatever more seaworthy vessels there may have been would have been confined to coasting, for the sailor's challenge to the open seas in this region came some fifteen centuries later. The bulkier articles of trade were more profitably sent by sea than by land. The cities probably im- ported woolens in exchange for cotton by that route. Maritime contacts were short-lived, however; by the 19th century B.C. they came to a close as a result of dislocations in the west brought about by the movement of Indo-European-speaking peoples from Central Asia.

The food staples of the Indus Civilization were wheat and barley, supplemented by various pulses. Sesame, mustard, and dates were also grown. Domestic animals, apart from cats and dogs, included cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, pigs, and possibly fowl. Clay models of two-wheeled carts such as are still in use today, pulled by oxen and buffalo, show how the harvests were brought in from the fields. These fields must have been depen- dent upon the annual floods of the Indus system for sufficient moisture, since the river itself could not be harnessed for canal irrigation until modern times and the present-day rainfall is both inadequate for the needs of agriculture and unreliable. (The possibility of a former, significantly moister climatic phase, first accepted, then rejected, and again reopened—see text for I.C.1, may require modification of this assessment. But for the time being the supposition of flood irrigation tech- niques, supported by the use of wells in those areas more dis- tant from the floodplains, fits the evidence.) The shaduf (a weighted lever lift) was used to raise water from the wells; the plough, as noted above, was already known in the preurban periods; and the seed drill, in use in contemporary Mesopo- tamia, had probably also found its way eastward.

At its height the city of Mohenjo-daro, covering 600 acres, had an estimated population of 25,000 to 30,000 persons; Ha- rappa was somewhat smaller, and centers such as Kalibangan or Lothal numbered perhaps 5,000 persons. Other potentially important sites still awaiting excavation have been identified at Dabar-kot and Judeijo-daro in Baluchistan, Gharo Bhiro in southeast Sind, and Surkotada in Kutch. At this last site, the usual division of citadel and walled lower town has already been confirmed, and there is evidence for the existence of an earlier period there as well.

Several explanations have been offered for the decline and ultimate fall of the cities of the plains. One emphasizes the extensive sediment deposits in upper strata at Mohenjo-daro and assumes from this a widespread flood devastation from which that city and nearby population centers never recov- ered. Another holds responsible shifts in the Indus River sys- tem and consequent desiccation. In a similar vein, a third line of reasoning holds that centuries of inefficient farming prac- tices finally led soil fertility to fall below the requirements of the population. These are not necessarily mutually exclu- sive, nor can any single explanation cover all the settlements throughout the vast extent of the civilization. Moreover, these references to environmental factors are all to be understood within the context of an already weakened social organiza- tion that was no longer able to withstand external challenges. Toward the end, it can be shown at Mohenjo-daro that estab- lished zoning practices were no longer strictly heeded. Housing fronts encroached upon the street areas, and potters' kilns— formerly kept well on the settlement outskirts—were allowed to belch smoke into nearby dwellings. The decline of organized life, most evident in Sind, is also apparent in the Punjab: at Harappa itself, at Rupar, at Alamgirpur, and at sites along the Saraswati River.

In such circumstances marauding nomads from the Balu- chistan uplands may well have been the agents of destruction that account for two separate groups of contorted skeletons that lay unburied where they fell in the final (or even post- Harappan Civilization) levels at Mohenjo-daro. The peripheral sites of Gumla and Hathala in the Baluchistan foothills have also been seen to end in violence. A convenient historical con- tinuity would be established if some of the aforementioned groups of marauding nomads could be identified as Vedic Ar- yans (cf. plate III.A.1 and relevant text), who on their own testimony were "destroyers of forts." One such destroyed place, "Hariyupiya," could equate etymologically with "Ha- rappa." There is, however, an unresolved chronological diffi- culty with such an identification, since the earliest plausible dating for the &Rtod;g Veda is generally put in the mid-2d millen- nium B.C., while the latest levels at Mohenjo-daro are some five centuries earlier. On the other hand, rejection of the iden- tification would leave the account of warfare in the &Rtod;g Veda without an identifiable context, since it is not until the early 1st millennium that fortified settlements reappear in the Punjab.