Class: 6

Subject: History/Civics

Chapter Title: The River Valley Civilization

Chapter Number: 1(a)

Key points:-

● Development of early civilizations.

● Major river valley civilizations.

● Sources to study these civilizations.

● Compare the society then and now.

● Comparative analysis of Indus Valley civilization, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Chinese

civilizations.

● Contribution of these civilizations in today's world.

Neolithic Age- This age is also known as new Stone Age, is the period of human history

extending from 8000 BC to 4000 BC.

https://youtu.be/H-4w13aFvAM

Civilization- It may be explained as that stage of man's development when he started thinking

beyond the simple satisfaction of his basic needs of food, clothing and shelter.

https://youtu.be/IAQAAJo1fI0

WHY PEOPLE STARTED SETTLING NEAR RIVERS?

Most of the early civilizations flourished around river banks because:

1. People needed water for drinking and to irrigate their crops.

2. The soil near rivers is very fertile so good for cultivation or with plenty of plant food.

3. Water was also used to transport goods.

https://youtu.be/AJ2FeWvCRjI

MAJOR ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

1. The Indus valley civilization

2. The Tigris-Euphrates civilization in Mesopotamia

3. The Nile valley civilization in Egypt

4. The Hwang-Ho valley civilization in China

5. Greek civilization

6. Iranian civilization

https://youtu.be/7731tIe2aYU

Explanation of Indus Valley civilization in detail

https://youtu.be/KhDY4KJuvc0

KEY FEATURES OF THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

https://youtu.be/Pf73aFKB77Y

* Indus Valley civilization extended from 2600-1900 BC.

* Found in Indian subcontinent around river Indus.

RIVER INDUS: It is one of the prominent rivers of Pakistan. It is the birth place of one of

the ancient civilizations of the world.

* It includes the modern day provinces of Sindh, Punjab and Baluchistan of Pakistan and Indian

states of Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.

* Traces also have been excavated from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Iran.

* The mature phase is technically known as the Harappan civilization.

DISCOVERY OF HARAPPA

https://youtu.be/CLyqXrmUITY

In 1921 R.B. Dayaram Sahni an Indian archaeologist found a number of seals from the village

Harappa next year in 1922, a huge city was excavated under the sands and bricks of Harappa.

The same year R.D Banerjee made similar excavations in Mohenjodaro in Sindh.

EXCAVATED: To uncover something by digging away and removing the earth that covers

it.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS: The scientists who study the remains of the past civilizations or

groups of people.

Archaeological survey of India(ASI)

It is the premier organization under the Ministry of Culture responsible for protection and

researches of cultural heritage of the Nation.

It was founded by Alexander Cunningham in 1861 who also became its first director general.

https://youtu.be/uq5cQmKp5S8

Sources

https://youtu.be/juc3msgLMoc

● Ruins of ancient cities

● Buildings

● Toys

● Weapons

● Seals

● Weights and measures

● Pottery

● Ornaments

Major Sites of the Indus valley civilization

Apart from Mohenjodaro and Harappa ruins of Indus valley civilization were found at the

Following:

● Lothal (Gujarat)

● Ropar (Punjab)

● Alamgiri (Uttar Pradesh)

● Kalibanghan (Rajasthan)

● Hisar (Haryana)

● Kotdiji (Pakistan)

CHIEF FEATURES OF HARAPPAN CULTURE

https://youtu.be/WyunP13Le4w

1. TOWN PLANNING:

*They had an excellent skill in town planning.

*The streets and lanes of their towns were laid out according to a set plan.

*They were straight and cut each other at right angles.

* The roads were wide enough.

* The streets were paved with fire-burnt bricks.

*There were covered drains running under them.

* There were lamp posts at regular intervals.

2. DRAINAGE SYSTEM:

*They were having good drainage system.

* House drains emptied into main drains.

*Inspection manholes were provided at regular intervals.

* Water supply was also good.

3. BUILDINGS AND HOUSES: They had three categories of buildings as follows:

● The large buildings

● The public bath

● The people's dwelling houses

The cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa were divided into two parts:

i) It was built on a raised ground called citadel. It had large public buildings which includes

granaries, workshops, assembly hall and the factories.

ii) It was built on a lower level.

Let us know more about some of these:-

A) The Great Granaries

● It was the most important building of citadel located at Harappa.

● It was 46 meters long and 15 meters wide.

● Granaries were used to store food grains.

B) The Great Public Bath

● It was the most important structure in the city of Mohenjodaro.

● It had large quadrangle in the centre with a large swimming enclosure 40 ft

length 23 ft width and 8 ft depth.

● It had galleries and rooms on all sides with arrangements for hot water baths.

● It had a flight of steps on either end and was fed by well in one of rooms.

● It was used at religious occasions and festivals.

C) The Assembly Hall

● It was another huge public building at Mohenjodaro used for general public meetings by

the ruler.

D) The Lothal docks

● At Lothal, near Ahmedabad a naval dockyard was discovered which shows that

people of that period carried out some maritime activities.

DOCKYARD :- An enclosure with docks for building and repair of ships.

E) People's dwelling houses

● It was in the lower town of the city of Mohenjodaro.

● The houses size varies from one room to palatial.

● They were made up of baked bricks and mud-mortar.

● Sometimes lime and gypsum mortar was also used to add strength to the

structure.

FOUR SOCIAL GROUPS OF PEOPLE

1. The learned or the ruling class who lived in the citadel area

2. The rich merchants and the warriors.

3. Traders and artisans who worked in factories and workshops.

4. Manual labourers who lived in the single roomed houses in the lower town.

ART OF SCULPTURE

https://youtu.be/DGFkfdYeIiw

● They made beautiful artistic sculptures of clay, stones and different metals.

● The workers were quite skilled in their art.

Examples are:

● Statues and figurines of a young bull.

● A stout watch dog

● A shawl wearing yogi

● A dancing girl

(A bronze statue of dancing girl is shown relaxing after dance

performance. Her right hand is on her hip and her left hand is dangling. She is

wearing a number of bangles. She had large eyes, flat nose and big lower lip

shows features of a metroid.)

● Figures of mother goddess and bull are made in terracotta.

SCULPTURE : The art of shaping figures in the round or in relief, as by chiseling marble,

modeling clay or casting in metal.

TERRACOTTA: A hard, brownish red fired clay, that is used for architectural ornaments,

pottery and as a material for sculpture.

NEGROID: Relating to the divisions of the human kind by the indigenous peoples of

Central and Southern Africa.

ART OF POTTERY:

* The Indus valley people know the use of potter's wheel with its help they produced articles of

different shapes and designs.

* The clay pottery was baked and surfaces were painted with glazed colors using designs of

birds, animals and human figurines.

CARVING:

● Indus Valley people were very good in art of carving. Their animal carving on seals were

really praiseworthy.

● They made figures in ivory, leather, soapstone, metal and wood with artistic skills.

SEALS:

● More than 2000 seals have been found at various sites of Indus Valley Civilization.

● These were made up of different materials such as pottery, seatite, glazed earthenware,

ivory, terracotta , copper, etc.

● Most of these were square or rectangular in shape.

● Figurines of animals and human beings were engraved on SEALS.

● Most important seals were of Shiva or Pashupati discovered at Mohenjodaro.

FROM THE SEALS WE GET TO KNOW ABOUT:-

1. Dress, hairstyle and ornaments of these people.

2. Their religious beliefs, commercial activities and trade relations of these times.

3. The script of these people.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE OF THE PEOPLE

A) Dress and ornaments:

● Indus valley people were the first to spin cotton and woollen yarn.

● Discovery of a number of spindles of different sizes were done at different sites.

● Needles and buttons were also found it shows that they knew the art of weaving

and stitching.

● Cotton clothes were in common while woollen was used during winter.

● Men kept short beards and whiskers their hair were combed backwards it was

either cut short or coiled into a knot on the top of the head.

● Whether rich or poor they all were ornaments. Necklaces, fillets, armlets and

finger rings were common for both men and women.

● Rich made ornaments of gold, silver, ivory and semi-precious metals while poor

made of terracotta, shell and copper.

● People also used cosmetics in those days.

B) Food

https://youtu.be/xgbXDX4IZx4

● They ate wheat and barley. They grind them in milestones and baked them into bread.

● Rice was also their food.

● They also are milk and milk products, fruits, fresh vegetables, fish and meat.

C) Occupations

https://youtu.be/AOJY3JQWiTc

● Agriculture was the most important occupation. Their fields were near rivers, they built

dams and embankments to control supply of water.

● Domestication of animals was another important occupation. Oxen, bull, pigs, buffaloes

and elephants were domesticated. Camels and assess were used as beast of burden.

● There were carpenters, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, silversmiths, potters, weavers,

toymakers, bead making, tool making, weapon making were other occupations.

D) Trade and commerce

● Trade and commerce were important occupation of merchant class people.

● They import precious stones, different metals and other articles from southern

and eastern India, Kashmir and from central Asian and western countries.

● The goods were shipped and received at Lothal dockyard.

E) Play and Amusements

* A large number of dices were found which shows that they played games in their free

time.

● They were also fond of dance and music.

● Gambling, hunting, keeping animals and birds as pets, watching bull fight were other

pastimes.

● A number of toys and dolls were found which shows that they cared for playthings of

children. Toys include toy carts, Whistles, clay carts, toy animals with moving head, toy

birds with wheels.

● Toys were made up of baked clay or terracotta.

DICING: A game in which the dice is thrown. A dice is a small cube of wood or

bone marked with 1 to 6.

WHISKERS: a long projected hair

Religion of the Indus Valley People

https://youtu.be/sW_Dks_fmLA

● They worshipped a female deity, similar to shakti or mother goddess. She was regarded

as the source of all power and creation.

● A sealed figure of male God carved on a stone seal was found. It is three faced God

resembling Shiva or Pashupati. So they worshipped Shakti and Shiva.

● They also worshipped people tree, stones and animals.

● They believed in some form of life after death.

● They also believed in magic and charms to keep evil spirits away.

● They also started worship of fire.

MOHENJODARO- In Sindhi Language it means, "MOUNDS OF THE DEAD". During

excavation skeletons of men, women and children were uncovered from the topmost

layer of the city. The bones bear sword or axe marks this shows that they met with

violent death.

https://youtu.be/KHmiBNWLqOQ

ART OF WRITING

● They used pictographic script. Their script is still a mystery for scholars to decipher.

DECIPHERED: READ OR INTERPRET

PICTOGRAPHIC: A script written in the form of pictures.

CONTRIBUTION OF THE INDUS VALLEY PEOPLE ,

1. Being world's first urban civilization they were first to start urban town planning,

architecture in stone, sanitary engineering, sewerage work and civic administration.

2. They also have the credit of producing pottery and wheel cart and harnessing animal for

man's use.

3. The worship of Shakti and Lord Shiva, respect for certain trees like peepal, animals like

cow and bull could be regarded as the legacy of the Indus Valley People.

END OF THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

https://youtu.be/5XFkmV7b3Wk

● The people of Indus Valley came to Sudden end and nothing certain can be said about

its sudden end. The following is a guess work may be:-

1. Invasion by conquering tribes like Aryans.

2. Either a natural calamity like flood of river Indus or its gradual drifting away from

the cities could have made the valley unfertile.

WORKSHEET-1

Q.1 ) ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

1. Name any four cities connected with Indus Valley civilization.

2. Mention the period during which the Indus Valley civilization flourished.

3. Give names of the two contemporary civilizations of the Indus Valley civilization.

4. Mention two reasons to show that Indus Valley people had a good sense of town

planning.

5. Give evidence to prove that the people of the Indus Valley were having efficient civic

administration.

6. Mention two indoor games in which Indus Valley people took interest.

7. Give a reason to suggest that Indus valley people cared for the children's amusement.

8. Give two main features of the religion of the Indus Valley people.

9. What was the most important occupation of the Indus Valley people? Mention any other

two occupations.

10. Give to possible reasons for sudden and abrupt end of the Indus Valley civilization.

Q.2 FILL IN THE BLANKS

1. Harappa is situated in _____ district of Pakistan.

2. The two large public buildings of the Indus Valley civilization are ______ at Harappa and

_______ at Mohenjodaro.

3. The people of Indus Valley ate ______ and _____.

4. The Indus Valley civilization flourished around ______ to ______ BC.

Q.3 MATCH THE COLUMNS A And B

A

1. Citadel

2. Terracotta seals

3. Lothal

4. Three faced God

5. The great bath

B

a. resembled Lord Shiva

b. looked like swimming pool

c. Found at Mohenjodaro

d. An important seaport

e. A part of the city on high level

Q.4 TRUE OR FALSE

1. The Harappa civilization was rural.

2. The Indus Valley people used bronze and other metals.

3. The Indus Valley people did not believe in life after death.

4. The Harappa Culture developed far away from the river Valley.

5. The Harappan people knew the art of carving.

WORKSHEET-1 SOLUTIONS:

Q.1 ) ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

1 .i) Lothal (Gujarat)

ii) Ropar (Punjab)

iii) Alamgiri (Uttar Pradesh)

iv) Kalibanghan (Rajasthan)

2. 2600 to 1900 BC.

3. Mesopotamian and Egyptian

4. A) the roads were wide enough

B) the streets were paved with fire burnt bricks.

5. The well planned buildings and houses and adequate supply of water showed that Indus

Valley people were having efficient civic administration.

6. Dicing and Gambling

7. A large number of toys and dolls were excavated which shows that Indus Valley people cared

for playthings of children.

8.i) the people seemed to have worship Lord Shiva and Shakti, peepal tree, stones and animals.

ii) they believe in life after death.

9. Agriculture was the most important occupation. Pottery and carpentry were other

occupations.

10. i) invasion by conquering tribes like Aryans.

ii) either a natural calamity like a flood of the river Indus or its drifting away from cities.

Q.2 FILL IN THE BLANKS

1 Sahiwal

2 great granaries and great public bath

3 wheat and barley

4 2600 to 1900

Q.3 MATCH THE COLUMNS A And B

1-e

2-c

3-d

4-a

5-b

Q.4 TRUE OR FALSE

1. False

2. True

3. False

4. False

5. True