What is Harappan culture? What was the status of Harappan culture in ancient India?

The earliest Indian civilization is also the proof that India can be among the four ancient civilizations.

The Harappan culture originated in the valley of the two rivers in India from 2300 to 1750 BC, but was subsequently replaced by the primitive Indian culture due to natural disasters and foreign invasions.

It should have been the Greek culture that replaced the Harappan culture, because later the Greek culture was very good and more acceptable.

In place of the Harappan culture was a new cultural system brought by the Aryans who entered India from the northwest, and this culture (sometimes called the Vedic culture by its sacred name) was the origin of classical Indian culture.

Bronze Age culture of the South Asian subcontinent. The Harappan culture got its name from Harappa, the site of its main city. The distribution center is in the Indus River Valley, so it is also called the Indus River civilization.

The distribution of individual sites extends from the eastern border of Iran in the west, the Jamuna River in the east, the mouth of the Gulam River and the Indus River in the north, and the coast of Cambay Bay in the south. It dates from about 2350 BC to 1750 BC. Archaeological research began with the excavations of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro by the British archaeologist Marshall in the 20s of the 20th century.

Mohenjo Daro and Harappa are two typical sites of this civilization, both of which are already on a large scale. The ruins of Mohenjo Daro are located in Larkana, Sindh, Pakistan, and the ruins of Harappa are located on the left bank of the Ravi River in Punjab, India. With an area of about 2,5 square kilometers and an estimated population of 3 to 40,000 each, it was probably the capital of two independent states or the center of a union of city-states.

This is followed by the ruins of Kalibangan in northern Rajasthan, India, and the ruins of Rotal, on the west side of Kambay Bay.

The building materials are mostly burnt bricks and adobe, and stone is used in the near mountainous areas. The layout of the city is generally divided into two parts: the Acropolis in the west and the Lower City in the east. The acropolis was a rectangular residence of the ruler, surrounded by walls and moats, and several watchtowers were built on the walls.

The main gate is mostly in the southwest corner. Buildings in the city generally have rammed earth or adobe foundations. In Moshzodaro, a large bath was built in the northern half of the Acropolis, with an area of 12 meters x 7 meters and a depth of about 2 meters, which may have been some kind of religious ceremonial building.

The east and north of the pond may have been built with the mansions of the supreme ruler of the region, and there were large barns in the west of the pond. In the southern part of the Acropolis, there were buildings such as synagogues and temples.

In Harappa, the most important discoveries were the remains of six barns and several metallurgical furnaces north of the Acropolis, as well as two rows of laborers' quarters, estimated to have accommodated hundreds of hired hands and slaves. Rotal is a port, and there is no distinction between the Acropolis and the Lower City. Within the city walls there are houses, workshops and the ruins of barns.

Residences are usually multi-storey buildings, sometimes with two floors. Some of the houses were large, including several courtyards, while others were simple one-room huts, and the class division was very obvious. In addition to the residences, the lower town also has a dedicated industrial and commercial area, with shops and workshops for pottery, cloth dyeing, beading, metal and shell processing.

There are well-established drainage channels under the streets, which are connected to the drainage branches and ditches of the wealthy houses.

There are two main theories about the origin of this culture, one of which is that it originated in West Asia, especially Iran, and reached the Indus River Plain via Balochistan and Afghanistan. The second is that it mainly developed from the pre-Harappan culture, and there was a West Asian influence in the development. At present, it is more popular in the future.

As for the creators of this culture, they are generally believed to be the Dravidian tea people, but some scholars speculate that they were Sumerians, Aryans, or other peoples mentioned in texts such as the Vedas.

There are also different opinions as to the reasons for the decline of the culture. Some hold the Aryan doctrine that the Aryans are encroaching; Others use geological and ecological factors to explain, such as flooding, river diversion, desert encroachment, and retreat of seawater. There are also cracks that some people attribute to internal weakening. The age of this culture is also inconsistent, with some suggesting that it dates between 2550 and 2000 BC.

These issues require further study.

The reason for the rise of the Harappan culture was that it began to interact with the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and other flowing areas and Western countries through the Haipi sedan road, and exported commodities such as timber, cotton, spices, ivory, jewelry, etc.

The Harappan culture of ancient India refers to the presence of small groups near the Harappan site.

The Harappa Silver Culture records the culture of ancient India from 2300 to 1750 BC. This is also discovered by examining the ancient times. Some representative bronzes have been unearthed in the stuffy hall.

The Harappa culture is the culture of the Bronze Age of ancient India, and it represents an urban civilization. During this period, the state was formed by combining one or several cities with surrounding villages. The big cities are Haraba, Mohenjo Daro and Ganwariwala.

All three cities cover an area of about 1 square kilometre and have about 35,000 inhabitants each. There are also smaller cities such as Kalibangan with only square kilometers. Despite the size of the cities, their architectural layouts are similar.

The city is divided into two parts, the acropolis and the lower city, and even the small bricks used to build houses and the large bricks used to build the city walls, the ratio of length, width and height is roughly the same, which is 4 2 1. This is not an accidental coincidence, but a strong indication of the close and frequent exchanges that existed between different parts of the Harappan culture.

The city of the Harappa culture has many relics of Mohenjo Daro, which best reflects the characteristics of the city of this period. Mohenjo Darrow's acropolis was built on a high hill and surrounded by brick walls. In its central area there is a large brick bath, 12 meters long, 7 meters wide and deep, with a waterproof asphalt layer on the walls.

Stairs at both ends lead to the bottom of the pool. This bath is probably a place where people bathe and cleanse themselves during religious ceremonies. To the east of the Acropolis is a group of buildings, one of which is a hall with an area of about 170 square meters.

To the south there is a row of buildings, including a 25-square-meter hall. These buildings are undoubtedly the city's office locations and public meeting places. On the west side of the Acropolis there are 27 rows of buildings with ventilation openings, which are warehouses for storing grain.

Around the warehouse, there are a number of small houses for laborers. Judging by the architecture of the Acropolis, it was the ruling center of the city.

According to archaeological data, it is known that the Harappan culture was composed of a variety of cultural components. Judging by the remains in the ruins, there are Mediterranean people, southern ancient people, Mongols, and so on. The burial styles of the residents have a variety of different burial methods of Zheng He of the Heng nationality, showing different characteristics of social customs.

There are also many differences in religious practices. Cities such as Mohenjo Daro and Kalibangan built large baths with religious rituals related to bathing, while those such as Haraba and Lothar did not. Lothar has an altar of fire, which is also found in Kalibangan.

However, it is still difficult to determine which of the Harappan civilizations, which is composed of multiple cultural components, is dominant.

Harappha's handicrafts include pottery of various colors, animal figures on seals are rich and colorful, and funerary goods are varied, indicating the different cultural backgrounds of its inhabitants. The culture of Mohmanjo Darrow shows a strong unity.