Life at Indus Valley Civilization

Life at Indus Valley Civilization Most knowledge about the life at Indus Valley comes from the remains of the cities of Harappa and Mohen-Jo Daro Important aspects of social, economic and religious life are discussed below:
Administration: Was there any central authority in Indus Valley?
Cities are the symbols of the Indus Valley civilization characterized by the density of population, close integration between economic and social processes, tech-economic developments, careful planning for expansion and promotion of trade and commerce, providing opportunities and scope of work to artisans and craftsmen etc This was a sort of urban revolution, which could not have been possible without the strong central authority, specialized economic organization and socio- cultural unity
The size and architectural complexity of all large Harappa cities mean something in terms of a socio- cultural development The lay-out of the streets, the presence of a large-scale drainage system with its requirement for constant tending, the monumental citadels, all can be taken asan indication of tendencies toward a strong central government
Another feature of Harappan urbanization was the elaborate craft specialization and the contacts with other reasonably distant parts of Asia But the greatest challenge to the archaeologists is their failure to get any idea of the Harappan urban institutions For example, we almost know nothing about the form of the state and the economic institutions
Maritime commerce with Mesopotamia was a part to their life, but the knowledge of inner working of these complex Harappan urban economic institutions completely eludes us
Language
Not a great deal of knowledge we have because the Harappa script has not been deciphered In the Indus Valley Civilization, the style of script seems to be Boustrophedon ie written from right to left in first line and from left to right in second line This language was pictographic and was engraved on seals, copper tablets, bone, ivory etc However, such scripts is not seen on bricks
Religion
Most prominent religious figures are Unicorn, so called Pashupati / Proto-shiva,, seven mothers (sapta matrika) and compound creatures The later three are now inculcated in Hindu religion The mother goddess was dominant shows that thesociety was predominantly matriarcftal There was a division of labour and society was diversified and stratified The people were scholars, artisans, traders, warriors and businessmen The protoshiva or pashupati seems to be the only one male deity as depicted on seals He is surrounded by four wild animals viz an elephant, a tiger, a buffalo and a rhinoceros Apart from this there 2 deer’s beneath the seat of the deity The headdress of the deity has two horns It wears a number of bangles There is an inscription of seven letters on top
This representation has at least three concepts which are usually associated with Shiva viz, that he is (i) Trimukha (three-faced), (ii) Pashupati (Lord of animals), and (iii) Yogisvara or Mahayogi The first two aspects are apparent from the seal itself The deity is sitting cross-legged in a Padmasana posture with eyes turned towards the tip of the nose which evidence the Yogisvara aspect of the deity The deity is always nude save for a cincture round the waist