6.Chapter 10.Development of Civilisation.History

Chapter 10

Development of Civilisation

Many important changes took place in the evolution of human society from the period when man was a food gatherer, to the time when he became a food producer.  These changes laid the foundation of civilisation.  Civilization is that stage in human development when a lot of progress took place in the fields of art, science, social, political and economic institutions.  The early civilisations flourished on the banks of the rivers because of the need of water, fertile soil and clay to make bricks for building houses, moreover, the water bodies provided opportunity for fishing, transport, trade as well as a moderate climate.  22 Do You Know?  Man had learnt the art of extracting and smelting of copper in the later Neolithic Period.  His experiments helped him to produce a new metal called bronze, which is an alloy of two metals, i.e.  tin and copper, and is stronger and more durable than both.  This period, thus, came to be known as the Bronze Age.  Smelting means to heat and melt an ore to obtain metal from it.  River Valley Civilizations Lake al De Lake 1300 MILIS 1300 KILOMETRE YLE R MEDIA TIGRIS EUPHRATES (ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA AND BABYLONIA) CIVILIZATIONS SWIN SH YARA YELLOW RIVER (CHINESE WAR CIVILIZATION) NILE (EGYPTIAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN CIVILISAN INDIVISION CIVILISAN CIVILISAN INDIVISION CIVILISAN  PACIFIC OCEAN Four major ancient civilisations 84

and production.  Moreover, this period saw the development of new skills and crafts.  The village settlements started exchanging goods.  The progress in the field of trade and growth of cities led to hence, it helped the man to make better tools and implements to increase the efficiency the rise of civilisations.  Remains of ancient civilisations have been found in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southern Turkey and eastern Syria), Egypt, China and India.  The study of civilisations enriches our knowledge and helps us to understand the common characteristics as well as the differences among different cultures.  Civilisations Religions Occupations Funkar Inventions Mesopotamian Worshipped Forces of Agriculture, Cuneiform script, Process of Civilisation nature in forms of many Pottery, multiplication, division, square and gods.  Glass and cube root, System of weights and Cloth - making measures, use of herbs, water clock, lunar calendar, Code of Hammurahi .. Egyptian Worshipped Sun God - Ra, Agriculture, Hieroglyphic script, Papyrus, Solar Civilisation Worshipped nature in the Domestication  of calendar.  foto form of moon, floods, animals, Chinese Worshipped nature in the Pictographic script, Paper, Calendar Agriculture, that was a combination of lunar and civilisation domestication of form of earth, oracles.  animals, painting.  Solar dates, Use of herbal medicine Sericulture and Acupuncture.  371s1 raron Reshamla The Ancient Civilisations of Bronze Age developed in river valleys.  Let us study about the Ancient Civilisation, i.e.  Indus Valley Civilization or Harappan Culture that existed in India (some areas are now parts of Pakistan).  Subsidiary rivers INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION OR HARAPPAN CULTURE en (The remains of this oldest and largest ancient - urban civilisation were found in Mohen - jo - daro, Chan - hu - daro, Rupar, Lothal, Kalibangan and many other places on the banks of river  Indus and its tributaries in India (before partition) the coins and other materials were excavated first at Harappa in Punjab (now a part of Pakistan) 'in 1921 by Shri RB Dayaram Sahawney. He proved that 5000 years ago, there lived a civilized race  in India. 85

AFGHANISTAN Lahore Quetta Rupar.  Dabar Kot Haroppo Sutel Kalibangan.  Judetowo, Pakistan Cha99 Sibi Santhanawala Indus Alamgirpur Delhi IRAN Mohenjo - daro Koty INDIA Sutkagen Dor Lund Chambal Am Makran Coast Chanhu - daro Karachi Arabian Sea Rajasthan Hal Kuto Lothal Narmada U - Cities • Towns and villages Gujarat o Other prehistoric sites.  Modern cities Saurastra 100 200 300 400 mi Gulf of 200 400 600 km Cambay 2010 EB, In E Indus Valley Civilization This civilisation came to be known as Indus Valley Civilization or Harappan Culture as all the cities and objects found in Harappa, resembled it.  The City Planning The excavations prove that the cities were well - planned.  Most cities were divided into two parts.  The upper (raised) part was called citadel and the lower part was known as the lower town.  The citadel was the central part of the city.  It enclosed important buildings like the great bath, the granary and the town hall.  The lower town was the residential area.  A huge Great Bath has been discovered at Mohen - jo - daro in the middle of a citadel.  It is a deep bath 12 meters long and 7 meters wide, with a maximum depth of 2.4 meters with steps leading down into it.  Perhaps people used it for religious purposes as they believed the Great Bath 86

Pott water to be a great purifier.  The great bath had a well - planned system of water supply and drainage built with gypsum, plaster and a thick layer of bitumen (natural tar).  system.  The amazing fact is that its brickwork was completely waterproof.  The floor of the tank was The citadel also housed the ruling classes, the priests and the merchants.  A high and thick wall protected the citadel from the frequent floods of the Indus Valley.  Small merchants, craftsmen and labourers inhabited the lower town.  Here, the houses were built on either side of the street, with baked bricks, stones and wood.  Each house had two or three storeys with stairs.  All the streets cut each other at right angles.  street, drainage oranaries, arest Do You Know?  building the streets were made in such a way that the blowing winds cleaned them from one end to the other!  Street with drainage The citadel also had large structures of granary.  Granaries have been found at Harappa, Lothal and Kalibangan.  They were built to store the surplus grain.  In Harappa alone, six granaries have been found though the biggest one has been found in Mohen - jo - daro.  Most granaries also had small barracks for the labourers which were located close to the threshing platform.  zzr 1147) The elaborate drainage system was highly efficient to drain the dirty water out of the city.  They were covered with bricks and stones which could be removed.  The small drains of bathrooms and kitchens were joined with main drains, which in turn fell into the big drain of the city.  Occupations The main occupations of people of Indus Valley Civilization were farming, weaving, pottery, toy making, metal work and trading.  The annual floods in indus renewed and enriched the soil for good harvests of cotton, wheat and barley.  The farmers were aware of the different methods of irrigation.  Traces of canals have been found in some of the sites of Harappa.  Other sources were water reservoirs, wells, etc.  The farmers used ploughs, sickles, etc.  , for farming.  The cultivation of cotton encouraged textile industry and the people became expert in the art of spinning and weaving) The people domesticated a large number of animals like ox, buffalo, goat, sheep, pig and camel.  was also a popular industry.  The pots were baked, glazed and decorated) The people of 87

Terkata and ATT faltar Indus Valley were also expert in making terracotta (unglazed and reddish - brown) toys and sculptures of animals.  But, the greatest artistic skill is found in the seals.  The engravings of animals, flowers and other symbols on seals have artistic and religious significance.  Many bronze tools and statues have been discovered, they were the mastery of the artisans in bronze casting.  D3 (Cthe Indus valley had moist climate and thick forests) which provided sufficient timber for kilns and for building boats.  02. The boats helped in a flourishing internal and external trade, internal trade was also carried out on land routes by bullock carts and camel carts.  ) 228 Yogi figurine Pots The people used weights and measures of slate and stones.  The seals of Mesopotamian Civilization, excavated from Indus cities and the remains of a dockyard discovered at Lothal in Gujarat, prove that people of Indus Valley had trade relations with Mesopotamia, Egypt and other countries.  Bronze statue (dancing girl) 28 Do You Know?  Seals are used even today for sealing packets and envelopes to ensure their security.  Seals 88)

people.  The people worshipped nature in the form of animals, birds and trees.  The animal figures depicted on the seals are humped bull, unicorn Diama Religion The seals have been the main source of information about the religious beliefs of the mxx ox and the rhinoceros.  The people worshipped the pipal tree.  They also worshipped human deities that included Shiva or Pashupati and Mother Goddess.  The people of Indus Valley Civilization believed in life after death.  They buried the dead with the earthen pots, food, ornaments and other articles used during life.  Humped bull script The script of Indus Valley Civilization was known as Pictography as it involved of pictures and signs (approx. 375 to 400 signs).  But, this script has not been deciphered (cannot be read).  XTAR (EYT Indus valley script Do You Know? Thras 1 Weighing and Measuring System: The weight usually made of stone was known as Chert. They were cubical in shape with no marks on it. Metal scale pan was used to measure the things / objects  . Life of the People The quality of life of the people was better in the Bronze Age as compared to the Neolithic period. They had more ease and leisure. They amused themselves by singing and dancing. They also played a game which was similar to chess  . They made beautiful toys for children. Toys 89

The men dressed themselves in a long cloth tied like a dhor were mostly made of cotton.  They were fond of ornaments Oy and the women wore a long lehngo with a shawl.  Their clothes ornaments like necklaces, rings and bangles which were made of shells bones of animals, ivory, etc.  They are also used cosmetics like face powder and kajal END OF THE CIVILIZATION No one knows how this great civilization came to an end after continuing for over a thousand years.  The excavation of Mohen - jo - daro proves that the city was destroyed and rebuilt nine times at the same site.  It is believed that the cause of the decline may have been a natural disaster like an earthquake, a flood, or a change in the course of the Indus river.  The strong high wall around the citadel of the Harappan civilisation indicates that frequent invasions by the Aryans might have brought the end of Indus Valley civilisation keywords civilisation: the stage of human development.  drainage system: an intervention to control water logging granary: a storeroom / house for grains.  90