History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c12.2

c12.2

A prehistoric settlement of a different type from those of the more or less self-contained little peasant communities of Baluchistan and the neighbouring regions of Sind developed itself since 2500 B. C. on the flood plains of the Indus (Sind) and its five tributaries (the Punjab). This was symbolized by populous cities, highly skilled industries, extensive commerce with river communications; a pictographic script and definite standards of weights and measures, as revealed by excavations at Mohenjo-daro in Sind and Harappa in the Punjab. It embraced a vast territory extending from the Makran coast to Kathiawar, bounded on the west by the mountains of Baluchistan and Waziristan, on the north by the Himalayan Hills and on the east by the Thar desert (*cf.* Fig. 5). The recent exploration in the valleys of the rivers Saraswati and Drishadwati in Bikanir by A. Ghosh of the Archæological Department of India shows that Harappan Civilization extended further east beyond the Thar desert into Rajputana. The pottery specimens, as well as the copper and bronze objects, found here resemble closely those of the Harappan Culture. This is also supported by the excavations of painted grey wares in an ideal setting and sequence at Hastinapur near Meerut in 1951-52. It represented a civilization as uniform as that of Sumer in Mesopotamia and of the Nile Valley in Egypt. Some forty different settlement sites with two great citadel cities at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro have already been disinterred. Findings of the excavations demonstrate a surprising uniformity in the construction and technique of its pottery vessels produced on a mass scale, in its houses built of baked bricks of standard dimensions, and in the stamp seals with an yet undeciphered uniform script. Some of the settlement sites are villages and the others appear to be small towns with the two large citadel cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro as twin capitals. The entire settlement area can be viewed, in the opinion of some archaeologists, as representing a vast kingdom or empire of the early Bronze Age in India (Fig. 5). The civilization that was evolved here is known as the Indus Valley Civilization or Harappan Culture. It is believed to be allied to the Sumerian and Egyptian Cultures, and there are evidences of contact and trade exchanges between the people of the Indus Valley and those of Sumer and Egypt. Archæological finds in and around the two citadel cities show an absolute uniformity in their articles, well-planned streets, magnificent systems of drains regularly cleared out, commodious two storied houses of baked bricks, granaries of large size, public baths, pillared halls, etc. They suggest, as Piggott concludes, a highly efficient centralized government by a divine monarch or a small priestly caste, and a regular local municipal administration. Monotonous rows of miserable mud-brick tenements outside the city walls suggest quarters for labourers or artisans. According to the opinion of some competent authorities, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro are the twin capitals of one and the same kingdom linked by a continuous river thoroughfare and controlled by a common authority having a dual seat of government.