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SSC CHSL Exam
General Awareness
Harappan Civilization

Harappan Civilization

🏛️ Harappan Civilization – Easy Study Guide with Emojis

Here’s a simple, emoji-filled summary of all the key points from your Harappan Civilization PDF for SSC CHSL:

🗺️ Discovery & Geography

  • 🏛️ Discovered: 1920-21 at Harappa (by D.R. Sahni) & Mohenjo Daro (by R.D. Banerjee)12.
  • 🌍 Spread: Over 1,250,000 sq km, covering parts of modern India & Pakistan—much larger than Egypt or Mesopotamia13.
  • 🏞️ Sites: 1,400+ settlements, including Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, Dholavira, Kalibangan, Lothal, Rakhigarhi, and more13.
  • 🏞️ Location: Most settlements on river banks, especially the now-dry Saraswati river system1.

🏙️ Town Planning & Architecture

  • 🧭 Grid Layout: Streets and buildings aligned east-west and north-south123.
  • 🏙️ City Design: Well-planned cities with large gateways, citadels, and public buildings123.
  • 🧱 Materials: Mud bricks, kiln-fired bricks, wood, stone; bricks in 1:2:4 proportion12.
  • 🪟 Houses: Private homes, large houses, and public structures; doors/windows faced side lanes for privacy1.
  • 🏛️ Public Buildings: Great Bath at Mohenjo Daro (12x7m, 3m deep), granaries, and Lothal’s dockyard for trade123.

🚰 Sanitation & Drainage

  • 🚿 Advanced Drainage: Covered drains, bathing platforms, and latrines connected to main sewers123.
  • 🧹 Civic Sense: Even small towns had impressive sanitation systems12.

⚒️ Crafts, Tools & Technology

  • 🛠️ Bronze Age: Tools of copper, bronze, and stone; simple but effective (axes, chisels, knives, saws, etc.)123.
  • 🎨 Artifacts: Seals (often with animals), pottery, jewelry, terracotta figurines, toys, and the famous bronze “Dancing Girl”123.
  • 🪙 Standardized Weights: Cubical/spherical weights made of chert, jasper, agate; used for trade (based on 16 and its multiples)14.
  • 🏺 Pottery: Wheel-made, painted with geometric and animal designs12.

🚢 Trade & Commerce

  • 🚢 Trade Centers: Lothal had a dockyard; extensive internal and overseas trade with Mesopotamia and Egypt143.
  • 🛤️ Transport: Bullock-carts, boats, and ships1.
  • 💎 Imports: Copper (Rajasthan), stones (Sindh, Gujarat), lapis lazuli (Afghanistan), etc.1.

📜 Script & Language

  • 📜 Script: 400–500 pictographic signs, still undeciphered1453.
  • 🗣️ Language: Possibly Dravidian or Indo-Aryan, but not confirmed13.

🌾 Agriculture & Food

  • 🌾 Crops: Wheat, barley, rice, millets, peas, beans, cotton (world’s oldest evidence), sesame, mustard, dates152.
  • 🐄 Domesticated Animals: Sheep, goats, cattle, buffalo, elephants, camels, pigs, and possibly horses15.
  • 🍽️ Diet: Included grains, milk products, vegetables, fruits, fish, and meat2.

🛕 Religion & Beliefs

  • 🧑‍🦰 Mother Goddess: Terracotta figurines found in many homes123.
  • 🧘 Male Deity: Seals show a yogi-like figure (possibly Shiva as Pashupati)123.
  • 🌳 Nature Worship: Trees, animals, stones, and fire-altars123.
  • 🧿 Amulets & Charms: Used for protection; swastika symbol common12.
  • 🧘‍♂️ Yoga: Figurines in yogic postures suggest yoga practice12.

🏛️ Society & Politics

  • 🏰 Social Structure: Elite (citadel), middle class, and lower class (outside fortifications)1.
  • 🏛️ Political Setup: Possibly regional capitals; no evidence of kings or palaces13.
  • 👩‍🔬 Fashion: Ornaments (gold, silver, beads), different hairstyles, cosmetics like cinnabar, face-paints, and collyrium2.

⚰️ Burial & Decline

  • ⚰️ Burial: Extended burials, cremation, grave goods (food, ornaments)13.
  • 📉 Decline: Gradual, due to environmental changes (floods, droughts, river shifts), resource overuse, and possibly Aryan migration (debated)13.
  • 🕰️ Chronology: Early (c. 3500–2600 BCE), Mature (c. 2600–1900 BCE), Late (c. 1900–1300 BCE)1.

🎯 Quick Recap Table

EmojiKey Feature
🏛️Discovered in 1920-21
🌍Largest ancient civilization area
🏙️Planned cities & drainage
🛁Great Bath at Mohenjo Daro
🚢Lothal dockyard, maritime trade
⚖️Standardized weights/measures
🛠️Bronze/copper tools, jewelry
🎨Seals, pottery, terracotta art
📜Undeciphered script
🌾Wheat, barley, rice, cotton
🛕Mother Goddess, yoga, fire-altars
🏛️Social classes
⚰️Burial & cremation
📉Gradual decline

Use these emojis and points for quick, easy revision of the Harappan Civilization for SSC CHSL! Good luck! 🍀 164523

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  1. Harappan-Civilization.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. https://ignca.gov.in/harappan-civilization-an-analysis-in-modern-context/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilisation ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldcivilization/chapter/harappan-culture/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. https://web-archive.southampton.ac.uk/cogprints.org/6179/1/icons-and-signs-harappa.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. education.study_materials ↩︎

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