The Harappan civilisation for UPSC

In 1921, excavations at Harappa in western Punjab revealed a civilisation that nobody had known existed — contemporary with Mesopotamia and Egypt, larger in area than either, and remarkably uniform across hundreds of kilometres. A century of archaeology later, we know a great deal about how Harappans built, traded and lived, and still very little about how they thought, because no one has read their writing.

For UPSC, the Harappan civilisation is a steady source of Prelims questions on sites and features, and an occasional Mains theme on urban planning, trade and the question of decline.

When and where

Archaeologists divide the Harappan tradition into phases:

Geographically, it extended from Balochistan and Sindh through Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan into Gujarat and western Uttar Pradesh. The dried-up Ghaggar–Hakra river system had an unusually dense concentration of sites, which is why some scholars prefer the name "Indus–Sarasvati" or simply "Harappan" civilisation.

The sites that matter most

Town planning: the Harappan signature

What most distinguishes the Harappans is the planning of their cities.

• Grid layout — main streets running roughly north–south and east–west, dividing the city into blocks.
• Citadel and lower town — many cities had a raised, walled western part (often called the citadel) and a larger residential lower town. Dholavira had a three-part plan.
• Standardised bricks — baked and unbaked bricks in a consistent ratio of about 1:2:4 across sites hundreds of kilometres apart.
• Drainage — covered drains along streets, connected to house drains, with inspection holes. Few ancient civilisations matched it.
• Public structures — the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro, large "granaries" at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro (though their exact function is debated), and reservoirs at Dholavira.

The uniformity suggests some form of coordinating authority, but — strikingly — there is no clear evidence of palaces, royal tombs or monumental temples. How Harappan society was governed remains an open question.

Economy and trade

• Agriculture — wheat and barley were staples; also peas, sesame and, at some sites, rice. Cotton was cultivated — among the earliest evidence anywhere.
• Crafts — bead-making, shell-working, metalwork in copper and bronze, pottery with black designs on red.
• Standardised weights — cubical weights, usually of chert, following a binary system for smaller units and a decimal system for larger ones.
• Trade — with Mesopotamia, where texts refer to a region called Meluhha, widely identified with the Harappan region. Harappan seals and beads have been found in Mesopotamia; Lothal and other coastal sites point to maritime trade.

Seals, script and religion

Seals, usually of steatite, carry animal motifs — the "unicorn" is the most common — and short inscriptions. They were probably used in trade and administration.

The script has not been deciphered. It has several hundred signs and is usually read right to left. Inscriptions are short, which makes decipherment extremely difficult.

Religion has to be inferred from objects:

• terracotta female figurines, often interpreted as a mother goddess;
• the so-called "Pashupati" seal, showing a figure seated in a yogic posture surrounded by animals, often linked to later Shiva imagery — an interpretation that is debated;
• the importance of water, suggested by the Great Bath;
• fire altars at Kalibangan and Lothal;
• burial practices, with grave goods.

Why did the cities decline?

From around 1900 BCE, the large cities were gradually abandoned. There is no single agreed explanation. The main theories:

Most historians now describe a gradual de-urbanisation caused by a combination of environmental and economic factors, not a sudden collapse. Harappan traditions continued in regional village cultures.

What the Harappan legacy means for Mains

Mains questions on the Harappans are usually thematic: urban planning and its relevance today, the absence of a visible ruling class, the role of trade, or continuity with later Indian culture — in crafts, weights, bathing practices and perhaps some religious symbols. Use specific sites as evidence, and keep your claims measured.

Practice questions

1. Prelims-type: Match the sites with their features: Lothal, Kalibangan, Dholavira, Banawali — (a) water reservoirs and a tripartite plan, (b) dockyard, (c) ploughed field, (d) terracotta plough model.
2. Mains-type (150 words): "The Harappan cities show a high degree of planning but little evidence of kingship." Discuss.
3. Mains-type (150 words): Evaluate the major theories of the decline of the Harappan civilisation.