Harappa History

Terra cotta toy carts from the Harappan period site of Nausharo in Baluchistan.
Holes
along the length of the cart serve to hold wooden side bars and at the center of the cart two of the wooden side bars can be extended below the frame to hold the axle. A long stick inserted into the holes at the end of the cart would have been used to support a yoke. The two wheels were found lying next to the cart frame. Period III, Harappan, 2300-2200 B. C. Similar carts are still used in rural areas of Pakistan and India
Harappa Seals
A collection of seals and tablets from a single house along the main street
leading to the southern gateway of Mound E at Harappa. The association of these different types of objects together in one house show that some people, possibly merchants, were using a wide variety of inscribed objects.
Harappa ornaments A collection of faience ornaments from Harappa. The Harappans developed a very
compact glassy faience that was produced in a variety of colors, ranging from white, to blue green, deep blue and even red-brown. On the left is a disc shaped ornament of blue green faience. Parallel ribbing of light blue green alternates with white paste in the bottom of each groove. This unique ornament may have been sewn onto cloth or inlaid onto a
metal ornament. At the top center is a bead made of red-brown and white faience. This bead is possibly an imitation of the bleached carnelian eye beads. The fragments on the lower right are banded with dark blue and come from small jars, possibly used to hold perfume or medicines.
Harappa Art
The earliest recorded artistic expression of man in India comes from Mohenjo-daro, the Harappan period. It includes steatite seals impressed with diverse animals like the unicorn bull, the Brahmani bull, rhinoceros etc., earthenware jars painted with birds, and stylized flowers, leaves, and terracotta toys, animals and figurines and the occasional copper and stone sculpture. The demise of the Harappan civilization is believed to have been brought about by a major tectonic shift as proved by hydrological studies, which caused wide continuos floods. Following this, came the Aryan culture which is well known for it's Vedic religion.
Harappa Painted burial pottery.
Painted burial pottery from Harappa. The two largest vessels were found in the same
burial and are described below. The other smaller vessels were found in an earlier burial and represent an older style of pottery.
Tall jar with concave neck and flaring rim:
The rounded base was originally supported in a ring stand. The black painted
geometric designs are arranged in panels with a red slip as background. After initial firing, the entire painted design was obliterated with a red slip and fired again at a low temperature that turned the exterior layer of the slip red through oxidation, but the inner layer remained gray. This overslip was not well bonded to the previously slipped surface and was partially eroded when first discovered. After initial conservation and documentation, one half of the overslip was removed to reveal the original painted design. The lid and ring stand with this vessel were also covered with an overslip. This tall jar was located at the foot of the burial pit for burial 148a.
harappa clothing
Textiles are rarely preserved and Harappan figurines are usually unclothed, so there is not much evidence of Harappan clothing. Small fragments of cloth preserved in the corrosion products of metal objects show that the Harappans wove a range of grades of cotton cloth. Flax was grown and may have been used for fibres (alternatively it was grown for its oilseed). Native Indian species of silkworm may have been utilised for silk (inferior to Chinese silk), as they were a little later in South Asia.
harappan agriculture
The Indus or Harappan Civilization was based on agricultural surplus
like all other contemporary river-valley civilizations of the Bronze Age. The annual flooding in the Indus and the rivers of the Punjab brought down rich silt making irrigated lands very fertile. There must have existed administrative machinery to collect the grain as taxes due to the State or offerings to the temples. The grain would have been stored in large granaries for distribution as wages, especially to the army of workers employed in the construction of massive public works like the brick platform at Mohenjodaro, fortifications at Harappa, city drainage systems, irrigation canals etc.

Harappa History

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Terra cotta toy carts from the Harappan period site of Nausharo in Baluchistan.

Harappa Painted burial pottery.

Tall jar with concave neck and flaring rim:

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