History of Indus Valley

Palaeolithic Age :-

• This age is the foremost age of human being.
• Palaeo means old and Lithic means stone.
• In this age hunting and food gathering was the only culture.
• Man mostly used hand-axe, choppers and cleavers which were made by stones.
• A variety of blades, points and scrappers were also used by Man.

Mesolithic Age:-

• This age period was about 10000 – 4000 BC.
• People lived on hunting, fishing and food gathering.
• Rock Paintings and carvings have been found in Bhimbetaka.
• Animals based on their hunting lives like bisons, elephants tigers, boars etc. were the subjects of these paintings.
• Their activities like dancing, running, hunting, playing games and quarreling were described in these paintings, too.
• Man had started domestication of animals in this age.

Neolithic Age:-

• This age started about 6000 – 1000 BC.
• Farming and domestication of animals were found in this age.
• There are four chief characteristics of this age :-

1. Animal Domestication
2. Agricultural practice
3. Grinded and Polished stone tools
4. Pottery manufacture.

• Because of farming Man had settled at one place in this age.
• Animals like cow, dog, ox, goat etc. were domesticated.
• In this age Man knew the art of producing fire by the friction of stones.
• First time in this age man started to eat roasted food.
• Bows d arrows were invented for hunting.
• Man learnt art of pottery, art of spinning and weaving.
• Practice of burial started.
• People of this age are known as cattle herders and agriculturists.
• They produced ragi, wheat, burley, masoor, kulthi etc.
• Tool making was also accepted as a occupation in this age.
• Later on their economy was converted into subsistence agriculture, stock raising, hunting and fishing.

Bronze Age:-

• Broadly between 3000 BC and 1500 BC this age started.
• In this age there was a developed civilization with well planned and populous cities.
• These cities in the valley of Indus are popularly known as the Indus Valley Civilization.
• This civilization is also called the Harappan Civilization because it was first discovered in 1921 at Harappa in Sahiwal district of Punjab province of Pakistan.
• Town planning is the most striking feature of this civilization.
• People of Indus didn't know the use of iron.

Impressive Town Planning:-

• All roads and streets were straight from north to south or from east to west.
• The drains were made of mortar, lime and gypsum. They were further covered with loose bricks which could be lifted easily to clean the drains.
• The actual bathing pool measures 39 feet by 23 feet with a depth of 8 feet. It is situated in the middle of a quadrangle having verandahs on all sides.
• Burnt bricks were lavishly used to build. The bricks were made of alluvial soil.