Chapter 4 — In The Earliest Cities

What this topic is about
The topic "Introduction and Discovery" explains how historians and archaeologists came to know about the earliest cities of the subcontinent (often called the Indus or Harappan civilization). It shows where and when these sites were discovered, what kinds of evidence were found, and the methods used to recover and interpret that evidence.

How the earliest cities were discovered

• Surface finds and surveys: Farmers, railway builders and locals sometimes noticed potsherds, bricks or seals on the ground. These surface finds led archaeologists to investigate further.
• Excavations: Teams dug carefully in layers to uncover houses, streets, drains, and objects. Excavation reveals the layout of a site and the sequence of occupation.
• Analysis: Objects such as pottery, seals, tools, beads and bones were studied to understand daily life, craft, trade and diet. In the 20th century, methods such as radiocarbon dating and chemical analysis helped give dates and sources.

Key discoveries and people
Major sites like Harappa and Mohenjo-daro were investigated in the 1920s by archaeologists from the Archaeological Survey of India (for example, Daya Ram Sahni, R. D. Banerji, and under the direction of John Marshall). Excavations revealed city planning (streets and wells), public buildings (like the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro), seals with script, and a rich material culture of pottery, beads and ornaments.

Types of evidence

• Architectural remains: brick houses, streets in a grid, drainage systems, public baths.
• Objects (artefacts): pottery, tools (stone and metal), beads, seals with carved symbols, toys and weights.
• Ecofacts: animal bones, plant remains and food residues that tell about diet and agriculture.
• Inscriptions and seals: short symbols whose full meaning is still debated but which indicate some form of writing and administration.

Why these discoveries are important
They changed our understanding of ancient Indian history by showing that large, well-planned urban settlements existed around 2500–1900 BCE. The finds show advanced craft production, trade links (within the subcontinent and with regions like Mesopotamia), and systems of civic planning and sanitation.

Methods in simple terms

• Survey: look for signs on the surface and map sites.
• Excavate carefully, layer by layer, recording where objects are found.
• Classify objects (pottery types, seals, tools) to compare with other sites.
• Use dating methods (relative dating by layers and typology; scientific dating like radiocarbon for organic remains) to estimate ages.

How discoveries continue today
New sites and evidence are still found—often when construction or road-building exposes buried remains. Modern techniques such as aerial photography, satellite imagery, ground-penetrating radar and laboratory analyses make it easier to locate and understand sites without always doing large-scale digs.

Major Harappan Sites

The Harappan (Indus Valley) Civilization flourished in the north-western part of South Asia during the Mature Harappan period (c. 2600–1900 BCE). Archaeologists have uncovered many urban centres that show advanced town planning, craft specialization, trade and water management. Below are the major sites and their distinctive features.

• Harappa (Punjab, Pakistan): One of the first excavated sites and the civilisation's namesake. Features include a citadel mound, large brick structures, granary-like buildings (debated), standardized weights and seals.
• Mohenjo-daro (Sindh, Pakistan): Known for the Great Bath (a large public bathing tank), a well-planned street grid, multi-storeyed houses and sophisticated drainage systems.
• Dholavira (Kutch, Gujarat, India): Famous for its unique water conservation system — large reservoirs, stepped water channels, and clear division into citadel, middle town and lower town. A large inscribed signboard was also found.
• Lothal (Gujarat, India): A port-town on a now-dry estuary. It has a well-built dockyard, warehouses and evidence of bead-making and maritime trade with West Asia.
• Rakhigarhi (Haryana, India): One of the largest Harappan cities by area. Excavations show planned streets, large houses and craft workshops; important for recent human remains and settlement studies.
• Kalibangan (Rajasthan, India): Shows evidence of ploughed agricultural fields and fire altars; divided into citadel and lower town with brick architecture.
• Chanhudaro (Sindh, Pakistan): A specialised manufacturing centre (especially bead-making, metallurgy and shell work) without a big citadel.
• Banawali and Kot Diji (Haryana / Sindh): Early Harappan and mature Harappan layers show the transition to urban life. Fortified mounds, pottery and craft production are common finds.
• Mehrgarh (Balochistan, Pakistan): Pre-Harappan (Neolithic to Chalcolithic) site that shows the origins of farming, herding and early crafts leading up to urbanisation.

Common features seen across these sites include standardised fired bricks, planned streets, covered drains, public buildings, craft workshops (bead-making, metallurgy), seals and weights for trade, and evidence of long-distance exchange (with Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf). Excavations use methods like stratigraphy and scientific dating to understand chronology.

Why these sites matter: they reveal how people organised cities, managed water and waste, specialised in crafts, and traded over long distances — lessons that connect to modern urban planning and resource management.

What is Town Planning?
Town planning means designing the layout of a town or city — where roads, houses, public buildings, drains, wells and open spaces are placed — so that people can live safely, healthily and comfortably.

Town Planning in the Earliest Cities (Indus Valley)
The people of the Indus Valley (for example Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira, Lothal) practised advanced town planning more than 4,000 years ago. Their towns show:

• Grid pattern of streets: Streets were laid out in straight lines crossing each other at right angles — like a checkerboard. Main roads were wide and smaller lanes branched off them.
• Citadel and Lower Town: Many cities had a raised citadel (with public buildings, granary, and sometimes the Great Bath) and a lower residential town for ordinary dwellings and workshops.
• Well-planned houses: Houses were made of baked bricks, had rooms around a central courtyard, flat roofs, and separate kitchens. Most houses had private wells and bathing areas.
• Drainage and sanitation: Covered drains ran along streets, connected to soak pits or public sewers. Drains were often rectangular and had manholes for cleaning.
• Water management: Wells, reservoirs and sometimes water channels were used to supply and conserve water (Dholavira had large reservoirs).
• Public buildings and storage: Granaries, public baths and dockyards (Lothal) show organised storage, trade and civic life.

Why this planning was important
The design helped control floods, keep towns clean and prevent disease, support trade (wide straight streets for carts), and ensure efficient use of space and water. It also shows central organisation — people worked together to build and maintain towns.

Simple comparison with modern planning
Modern planned cities (for example Chandigarh or the grid plan of New York) follow the same basic ideas: straight roads, zones for housing, markets and public buildings, good drainage and water supply. The Indus towns were early examples of such systematic thinking.

How to study or draw it
When you study or draw the town plan, mark the citadel, lower town, main streets, small lanes, drainage lines, wells, and important public buildings (granary, bath). Use arrows to show the flow of stormwater in the drains and label materials such as "baked bricks".

What it is and why it mattered

Drainage, water supply and sanitation are systems that provide clean water for drinking and washing, remove used water and waste, and keep cities clean and healthy. In the earliest cities of the Indus Valley (about 2500–1900 BCE) these systems were advanced and show how people thought about public health and urban planning long ago.

Features in the earliest cities (Indus civilisation)

• Wells and reservoirs: Many houses had private wells. Cities also had larger public reservoirs or tanks to store water for use in dry periods.
• Bathrooms and toilets: Some houses had private bathing rooms and toilets built of brick. Toilets were often connected to drains that carried away waste.
• Covered drains and street drainage: Streets often had brick-lined drains to take away wastewater. These drains were sometimes covered with slabs so the streets could be used and kept clean.
• Great Bath (Mohenjo-daro): A large public bathing tank with steps and waterproof plaster — shows importance of communal bathing and ritual cleanliness.
• Use of baked bricks and careful levels: Bricks and careful slope planning helped water flow by gravity into drains and away from houses.

How these systems worked (simple explanation)

These systems relied mainly on gravity: wastewater and sewage flowed through brick-lined channels that sloped gently downhill so water moved away from houses to soak pits, larger drains, or outside the city. Clean water was drawn from wells or stored in tanks. Covered drains protected the flow and prevented open sewage on the streets.

Importance for health and city life

• Removing waste and stagnant water reduced smells and the breeding of insects that spread disease.
• Ready access to clean water helped with personal hygiene and cooking.
• Organised drainage allowed cities to grow larger because many families could live close together without spreading disease easily.

Connection with modern systems

Modern cities use the same basic ideas: pipes or drains to carry wastewater away, treatment plants to clean sewage, and piped water supplies from treatment reservoirs. Early cities showed that planning and basic engineering make living in towns healthy.

Simple tips for students

• Keep household drains clean and avoid throwing waste into them.
• Save water when possible; collect and use rainwater for gardens.
• Use toilets and wash hands—these simple acts prevent disease.

What are public buildings and works?

Public buildings and works are structures and facilities built for use by the whole community rather than by individuals. In the earliest cities of the Indus (Harappan) civilisation they include baths, granaries and warehouses, wells, drains, streets, platforms or citadels, dockyards and storehouses. These show how cities were planned and how communities managed water, storage, trade and public health.

Key features in earliest cities

• Planned streets and houses: Streets were laid out in straight lines running north–south and east–west. Houses were made of baked bricks and joined to drains.
• Drainage system: Covered drains ran along streets; household drains connected to them. This helped keep cities clean and control disease.
• Wells and water supply: Many houses had private wells; public wells and reservoirs supplied water for daily use and public baths.
• Great Bath and public baths: Large brick-lined bathing tanks (e.g., the Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro) indicate ritual or communal bathing and attention to public hygiene.
• Granaries and storehouses: Large storage buildings for grain suggest organised food storage and redistribution, important for food security and trade.
• Citadel and public platforms: Higher, fortified areas contained important public buildings — possibly for administration, craft production and ceremonies.
• Dockyard and docks: Sites like Lothal had a dockyard showing maritime trade and goods handling.

Construction and technology

Public works used standardised, well-fired bricks, planned foundations and waterproofing (e.g., bitumen or fine masonry in baths). The uniform brick ratio (commonly 1:2:4 in length:width:height) made building faster and compatible across sites. Engineering knowledge appears sophisticated: drains sloped for gravity flow, baths were watertight, and warehouses had raised floors for protection from moisture.

Social and economic significance

These buildings show organised labour, central planning and an economy that supported specialists (brickmakers, masons, engineers). Granaries and storehouses point to surplus production and long-distance trade; wells and drains show concern for hygiene and public health. The presence of public works across many sites suggests shared civic values and administrative coordination.

What archaeologists learn from them

Archaeologists use the size, layout and construction of public works to infer population size, administrative systems, trade intensity and everyday life in earliest cities. The relative absence of monumental temples or royal palaces (as seen in some other ancient cultures) suggests different political and religious organisation—public needs appear emphasised.

Overview
Houses and daily life in the earliest cities (like Harappa and Mohenjo-daro) show careful urban planning and a settled lifestyle. Archaeological remains tell us how people organised living spaces, stored food, worked, and managed water and waste.

House structure and materials
Most houses were built of uniformly sized baked bricks laid in straight rows. They often had flat roofs supported by wooden beams. Houses ranged from small one-room dwellings to large multi-room houses with courtyards. Some buildings were two-storeyed. Floors could be of compacted earth, bricks or plaster.

Layout and neighbourhood
Cities were planned on a grid with broad streets and narrow lanes. Houses opened onto lanes; larger houses faced wider streets. Neighborhoods had workshops, markets and storage spaces close to homes, showing an integrated pattern of domestic, craft and trade activities.

Courtyards, rooms and furniture
Many houses had a central courtyard used for light, ventilation, cooking and small-scale craft work. Rooms around the courtyard served as sleeping areas, storage rooms and workshops. Furniture was simple: low platforms (for sleeping or sitting), storage jars, and small stools. Evidence of beds, baskets and wooden boxes has been found.

Water supply and sanitation
Houses often had access to private or shared wells. Many homes had bathrooms and drains. Bathrooms and latrines were connected to covered drains along the streets, showing an organised system of wastewater removal. This is one of the earliest examples of planned urban sanitation.

Daily activities and occupations
Daily life included cooking, grinding grains, weaving, bead-making, pottery, and metalworking. Tools like grinding stones, spindle whorls and copper tools appear in houses and workshops. Food remains (wheat, barley, pulses), bones and fish remains give clues to diet. Children’s toys (terracotta dolls and carts) indicate family life and recreation.

Differences in houses
We see social differences in house size and amenities: larger houses had multiple rooms, private wells and bathrooms; smaller houses were narrow with one or two rooms and shared facilities. This suggests economic differences but not necessarily extreme inequality visible in later civilizations.

Why this matters
Studying houses and daily life helps us understand social organisation, technology, hygiene practices and the economic activities of early urban communities. The presence of standardised bricks, weights and measures shows concern for uniformity and trade regulation.

The topic "Crafts, Technology and Industry" in the Class 6 chapter "In the Earliest Cities" studies how people in the Indus Valley (Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Lothal, Dholavira and other sites) produced goods, the tools and techniques they used, and how craft production affected trade and urban life.

Main crafts and industries

• Pottery: Wheel-thrown pottery was common. Kilns and the potter’s wheel allowed faster production and more uniform shapes. Painted and burnished pottery was used for storage, cooking and ritual.
• Metallurgy: Craftspeople worked copper, bronze and lead. They used furnaces, molds and hammering techniques to cast tools, ornaments and vessels. Evidence shows alloying to make stronger bronze items.
• Bead-making and gem work: Carnelian, agate, steatite and shell beads were produced in large quantities using drills (bow drills), polishing and heat-treatment (to improve color and shine).
• Weaving and textiles: Though textiles rarely survive, tools like spindle whorls and impressions on seals show organised textile production and trade in cloth.
• Leather, shell and bone work: Craftspeople produced combs, bangles and tools from shell, bone and ivory.
• Standardized weights and measures: Cubical stone weights and balanced scales show precision and regulation in trade and industry.

Technology and organization

• Tools: potter’s wheel, furnaces, molds, drills and chisels improved quality and speed.
• Specialisation: Some crafts were household-based; others were workshop-level industries producing large quantities for trade.
• Raw-material networks: Cities acquired raw materials from distant regions — copper from Rajasthan/central India, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, shells from the coast and carnelian from Gujarat — showing long-distance exchange.
• Impact on cities: Craft production supported marketplaces, craft clusters, and long-distance trade. Standard weights and seals helped ensure reliable trade transactions.

Evidence from archaeology

• Workshops and debris: Concentrations of slag, bead-making debris, kilns and molds at sites (e.g., Lothal’s bead workshops) indicate specialised production areas.
• Seals and weights: Standardized seals and weights show administrative and commercial control.
• Tools and finished goods: Terracotta models, metal tools, and finished ornaments give direct evidence of skills and products.

Why it matters

Crafts and technology show how early urban societies organised labour, managed resources, developed trade networks, and increased economic complexity—factors that shaped the growth of cities and cultural contacts across regions.

What was trade and economy in the earliest cities?

The earliest cities of the Indian subcontinent (often called the Indus Valley Civilization) developed between about 2600–1900 BCE. Their economy was based on farming, craft production and both local and long-distance trade. People produced food and many goods, exchanged them in markets, and transported valuable items by land and sea.

Main features

• Agriculture and surplus: Farmers grew wheat, barley, peas and other crops near rivers and canals. Surplus food allowed some people to become craftworkers or traders instead of farming.
• Craft production: Skilled workers made pottery, beads, metal tools, cloth (cotton), and ornaments. Cities had specialized workshops for bead-making, metallurgy and pottery.
• Standard weights and measures: Archaeologists found finely made stone weights and balance scales. These helped traders measure goods fairly and consistently.
• Barter and value: Most exchange was by barter (goods for goods). For fairness, people compared values (for example, several pots for a quantity of grain). The existence of weights and seals suggests a controlled system of trade.
• Long-distance trade: The Indus cities traded with regions far away. Lothal (a port) shows evidence of sea trade across the Arabian Sea. Indus seals and goods are found in Mesopotamia; Mesopotamian records call the Indus region 'Meluhha'.
• Transport and ports: Boats, carts and well-planned roads helped move goods. Lothal’s dock and the presence of harbors and river routes made maritime trade possible.
• Role of cities: Cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-daro were centers of production, storage (granaries and warehouses) and trade. Urban planning—wide streets and marketplaces—supported economic activity.

Why this mattered

Trade and a strong economy allowed specialization (different people doing different jobs), cultural contacts with distant lands (ideas and new materials), and growth of cities. The system of weights and seals suggests administration and rules that kept trade reliable.

Evidence archaeologists use

• Seals and seal impressions used to mark goods and owners.
• Standardized stone weights and balance scales for fair exchange.
• Beads, metal items, pottery types traced to specific workshops.
• Dock structures and harbors (e.g., Lothal) showing maritime activity.
• Goods of Indus origin found in Mesopotamia and vice versa.

Simple modern comparison

Think of the earliest city as a modern town where farmers bring grains to a market, craftsmen sell pots and jewellery, and a port sends and receives items from other countries. Instead of money, people traded items using agreed weights, measures and trusted marks (seals).

What it means
Agriculture is the growing of crops and management of land to produce food, fibres and raw materials. Animal husbandry is the rearing and care of domestic animals for milk, meat, wool, hides, labour and manure. In the earliest cities (like those of the Indus Valley Civilization), both activities were central to people’s survival and to the growth of towns.

Crops grown in earliest cities
Archaeological evidence shows people cultivated wheat, barley, peas, lentils, sesame, mustard and cotton. Some regions also had pulses and millets. These crops supplied food, oil, and raw material for cloth (cotton).

Tools and methods
People used simple tools such as wooden or stone ploughs, sickles (often of flint), hoes and grinding stones to make flour. They sowed seeds, harvested with sickles, and used hand-threshing and grinding to process grain. Storage structures (granaries) in some sites show they stored surplus grain for future use.

Irrigation and water management
Farming near rivers and in fertile floodplains gave good harvests. Wherever needed, people managed water by diverting river channels, using wells, or relying on seasonal rains. Good water control increased reliability of crops and supported larger populations in towns.

Animal husbandry
Domesticated animals included cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, pigs and dogs. Animals provided:

• Food: milk, meat
• Materials: wool, hides
• Labour: pulling ploughs, carts, transport
• Manure: natural fertilizer for fields

Archaeological finds — animal bones, terracotta figurines, and seal images — show the importance of animals in daily life, craft and trade.

Economic and social effects
Agriculture plus animal husbandry produced a food surplus. Surplus allowed some people to specialize as potters, weavers, metalworkers and traders. Surplus storage and trade helped towns grow, led to craft production and connected cities by trade routes.

Continuity with today
Many techniques remain similar: crop choices suited to season and soil, use of animal power in some regions, cotton for textiles. Modern improvements (tractors, chemical fertilizers, irrigation canals) increased productivity, but the basic relationships among land, crops and animals started in these early agricultural communities.

Introduction

In the earliest cities such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro people used scripts and seals to record information and to communicate. These helped merchants, administrators and craftspersons to send messages, show ownership, and keep records of trade and goods.

Script

Archaeologists have found short signs carved on seals, pottery and tablets. This set of signs is called the Indus script. The signs are mostly pictorial (pictures or simple symbols). Important points:

• The script appears in very short groups of signs (often 3–5 signs).
• It has not been deciphered yet because no long texts or a bilingual inscription (like the Rosetta Stone) have been found.
• Scholars think the script was used for short messages such as names, place-names, or trade marks rather than long stories.

Seals

Seals are small objects, usually carved from stone (often steatite), with an image (for example, an animal) and signs of the script on one side. They probably served several purposes:

• As stamps to print images and signs on clay or textile packages (to show ownership or contents).
• As identity markers for individuals, families, or workshops (like a modern logo).
• As objects with religious or symbolic meaning (some show animals or motifs important to the people).

How seals were used

Seals could be pressed into wet clay to seal a bundle, container or door. The impression showed who sent the goods and protected the contents from tampering. String or cords might be tied around packages and the seal impressed over the knot so that if the knot was broken it was obvious the package had been opened.

Communication in the earliest cities

Communication in these cities was both written and oral. Written communication included marks on seals, pottery, and tablets used for accounting or trade. Oral communication included messengers, traders, and face-to-face talks in markets and administrative centres. Key features:

• Short written messages for trade and ownership.
• Use of symbols and pictures that could be recognized by many people (helpful in multi-lingual trade).
• Physical methods to secure messages and goods (seals on bundles, knots, packed goods).

Why this matters

Script and seals show how organized life in the earliest cities was. They tell us there were systems for trade, property, and administration. Although we cannot fully read the Indus script, seals and their contexts give important clues about social and economic life.

Simple model of communication (how a seal fits in)

Sender (merchant/official) → Message (name, goods, instructions) → Medium (seal impression on clay/packaging) → Receiver (buyer/official) → Feedback (opening package, acknowledgement).

Limitations and open questions

• Short texts limit our ability to understand grammar or language.
• No clear bilingual texts exist to help decipher the script.
• Some seals may have been symbolic or religious, not only administrative.

Conclusion

Script, seals and communication were central to life in the earliest cities. They helped people trade, manage property, and identify goods. Even today we use logos, stamps and signatures for similar purposes — showing continuity in how humans organise economic and social life.

What this topic studies
The chapter looks at how people of the earliest cities (the Indus or Harappan civilization, c. 2600–1900 BCE) expressed religious beliefs and ideas through buildings, objects and symbols. Since they left no readable texts, historians and archaeologists study material remains—buildings, seals, terracotta figures, pottery and burials—to understand religion, art and symbolism.

Major kinds of evidence

• Public and ritual structures: The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro is a large, waterproof brick pool with steps and drains. Its care and position suggest possible ritual bathing.
• Household and altar-like features: Small platforms, hearths and fire-altar-like structures (e.g., at Kalibangan) indicate domestic or local ritual activities.
• Figurines and terracottas: Numerous female figurines (often called Mother Goddess) and male figures indicate worship or ritual use—many suggest fertility or household cults.
• Seals and motifs: Stone stamp seals carry animal motifs (unicorn bull, rhinoceros, elephant), a seated horned figure (the so-called Pashupati seal), trees, and geometric signs like the swastika. These repeated images are symbolic and may reflect religious beliefs, clan marks, or ownership signs.
• Burial practices and votive objects: Graves sometimes contain goods placed with the dead, showing beliefs about afterlife or respect for ancestors.

How scholars interpret these remains
Interpretation relies on context and comparison. For example, the presence of a large carefully built bath suggests communal or ritual use (not just recreation). Repeated motifs on seals and pottery indicate commonly shared symbols—animals, trees and geometric designs likely had special meanings. The seated horned figure with animals has been compared by some scholars to later depictions of a lord of animals (sometimes linked to a proto-form of Shiva called Pashupati), but such identifications are tentative.

Art of the earliest cities
Artistic production was skilled and wide-ranging: engraved steatite seals, painted pottery, fine beads (carnelian, faience), metalwork (copper and bronze), terracotta toys and figurines, and a famous small bronze statuette known as the Dancing Girl (found at Mohenjo-daro). Art served everyday, administrative (seals for trade), decorative and possibly religious purposes.

Symbolism and continuity
Some symbols continue into later Indian traditions. For example, tree and animal motifs and the swastika persist in later art and religion. However, exact meanings may have changed over millennia. Archaeologists are careful not to assume direct continuity without evidence.

Limitations and caution
Because there are no deciphered written records from the Harappan script, conclusions remain hypotheses based on material evidence. Different scholars may offer different interpretations; a cautious approach relies on multiple kinds of evidence and avoids over-claiming.

Summary
Religion, art and symbolism in the earliest cities are visible through public baths, altars, figurines, seals and motifs. These objects show concern with water, fertility, animals and repeated signs that likely had shared meanings. Art was skilful and widely used for trade, ornament and possibly ritual. Interpretations should be careful because they are based on material remains without accompanying texts.

What the topic studies
This topic looks at how people in the earliest cities (mainly the Indus Valley/Harappan cities) lived together, who did what work, how social differences appear in the ruins, and how the cities were planned and managed.

Social organisation — evidence and meaning

• Housing: Archaeologists found houses of different sizes, from small single-room homes to multi-room houses with courtyards. This suggests social differences — not necessarily kings and palaces, but richer and poorer households.
• Occupational specialization: Finds of beads, pottery, metal tools, seals and workshops show many specialised craftspeople — potters, bead-makers, metal-workers, brick-makers and carpenters. Markets and trade (local and long-distance) connected producers and buyers.
• Community life and beliefs: Public buildings (for example the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro), wells and bathing platforms suggest collective or ritual activities. Burials and figurines give clues to family life and beliefs.

Administration — evidence and functions

• Town planning: Well-laid streets in grid patterns, separate citadel and lower town, standardized baked bricks, and sophisticated drainage show planned construction — implying coordinated decision-making and sustained public works.
• Standards and regulation: Uniform weights and measures and standardized bricks indicate control and regulation of trade and construction.
• Storage and redistribution: Granary-like structures and large public store-rooms suggest organised storage of food—possibly to manage scarcity, trade or redistribution.
• Records and seals: Seals and tokens (though script is undeciphered) and seal-impressed goods point to systems of identification, ownership and trade administration.
• What kind of authority? There is no clear evidence of large palaces or royal tombs. The pattern suggests collective or bureaucratic management (city councils, merchant groups or administrative elites) rather than an obviously centralized monarchy.

Key administrative functions in early cities

• Urban planning and building regulations (streets, drainage, water supply)
• Management of trade and weights, collection and storage of surplus grain
• Maintenance of public works (granaries, baths, wells, drains)
• Coordination of specialised crafts and distribution of goods

Limits of our knowledge
Because the Indus script is undeciphered and many organic records have not survived, many conclusions are inferred from material remains and comparisons with later and modern systems. Archaeology shows organized systems but not exact titles or laws.

Decline of the Harappan Cities

The Harappan (Indus) civilisation flourished roughly between 2600 BCE and 1900 BCE. After centuries of well-planned urban life in cities such as Harappa, Mohenjo‑Daro and Dholavira, many Harappan cities were gradually abandoned. Historians and archaeologists believe the decline was not due to one single cause but to a combination of environmental, economic and social factors.

Main reasons (simple explanation)

1. Changes in rivers and water supply: Many Harappan settlements depended on river systems. Shifts in river courses (for example, drying up or the Saraswati/Ghaggar-Hakra becoming less reliable) reduced water availability for drinking, farming and transport.

2. Climate change and drought: A long-term decrease in rainfall (weaker monsoons) would lower crop yields, reduce food supplies and force people to move to better areas.

3. Floods and earthquakes: Some cities show signs of flood damage and rebuilding. Earthquakes may have changed river channels and damaged irrigation or urban structures.

4. Resource depletion and environmental degradation: Cutting of trees for fuel and brick-making could have led to soil erosion, lowering agricultural productivity.

5. Decline in long-distance trade: Harappan cities traded with regions like Mesopotamia. When trade decreased, urban economies lost an important source of wealth, affecting artisans and merchants.

6. Social and economic changes: As farming became more difficult, people may have left cities for rural areas or smaller settlements; urban institutions and craft specialisation declined.

7. Disease and population movement: Health problems or migrations (internal movements of people) could have added to urban decline. Earlier ideas of a single "Aryan invasion" causing collapse are not supported by current archaeological evidence; today scholars favour multiple interacting causes.

What the evidence tells us

Archaeologists find fewer large, well-planned buildings and less standardisation (for example, fewer uniform weights and seals) in the later Harappan phases. Some cities show layers of flood deposits and then abandonment. Trade goods from Mesopotamia become rarer. All these point to gradual decline rather than sudden destruction across the whole region.

Conclusion (for class 6)

The decline of Harappan cities was likely caused by a mix of environmental stress (like river changes and reduced rainfall), damage from floods/earthquakes, dwindling resources, and economic changes that made city life hard to sustain. It was a slow process of change, not a single dramatic event.

What are sources and evidence?

Sources and evidence are the materials that help us learn about the past. For the earliest cities (like those of the Indus Valley), written records are few or undeciphered, so historians and archaeologists rely heavily on material remains and a few contemporary writings. These remainings are studied carefully to reconstruct how people lived, worked, and governed.

Main kinds of sources

• Archaeological/Material sources (primary): artefacts (pottery, tools, beads), structures (houses, drains, walls), monuments (Great Bath), ecofacts (seeds, animal bones), human remains.
• Written sources: inscriptions, ancient records, and later texts (some may be secondary). For the Indus cities most writing remains undeciphered, so inscriptions are limited.
• Visual sources: seals, paintings, sculptures, reliefs and carving designs that show dress, animals and symbols.
• Oral traditions and later histories: stories or memory preserved in communities; useful but need careful checking against physical evidence.

How historians and archaeologists use evidence

• Collection: Excavation recovers objects layer by layer.
• Classification: Grouping finds by type (pottery, tools, bones) and by context (where found).
• Dating: Determining the relative or absolute age: stratigraphy (layers) gives relative dates; scientific methods (like radiocarbon dating) give absolute dates for organic remains.
• Corroboration: Comparing different kinds of evidence (e.g., matching pottery styles with settlement layers and animal bones) to arrive at reliable conclusions.
• Interpretation: Explaining what the evidence tells us about daily life, trade, craft production, social organisation, and beliefs.

Important principles

• Provenance: Knowing exactly where an object was found is crucial for reliable interpretation.
• Context: Objects must be read in the context of the site—its layer, nearby structures, and associated finds.
• Multiple evidence: Single objects can be misleading; historians look for patterns across many finds.
• Limitations: Many materials decay over time (like wood or textiles), some evidence is missing, and interpretations can change with new discoveries.

Example of the process: From the Great Bath and covered drains at Mohenjo-Daro, archaeologists infer advanced town planning and concern with water management. Seals with animal motifs and script suggest craft specialisation and trade, while animal bones and seeds tell us about diet.

Why this matters for Class 6 students: Understanding sources and evidence teaches how knowledge about the past is built — not invented. It trains careful observation, asking questions about where information came from, and weighing different types of proof.

What are artifacts? Artifacts are objects made, used or modified by people in the past. In the context of the earliest cities (Indus Valley or Harappan civilisation), artifacts include seals, pottery, beads, tools, weights, toys, terracotta figurines and architectural remains. These remain the main sources for reconstructing how people lived, worked and traded.

Why these artifacts matter

• Evidence of craft and technology: beads, metal tools and pottery show skills in craftsmanship and metallurgy.
• Evidence of trade and economy: standardised weights, seals and foreign materials (like carnelian) indicate long-distance trade and market regulation.
• Urban life and planning: drains, brick houses and the Great Bath show knowledge of town planning, water management and public architecture.
• Social and religious life: terracotta figurines, seals with animal motifs and possible ritual structures suggest beliefs and social roles.
• Writing and administration: inscribed seals provide the earliest evidence of an Indus script and administrative control.

How archaeologists use artifacts

• Typology and comparison: grouping objects by shape and style to establish sequences (which objects are earlier/later).
• Stratigraphy: deeper layers usually contain older artifacts; this helps build a relative timeline.
• Scientific dating: methods like radiocarbon dating give calendar ages (used for wood, charcoal and organic remains).

Key illustrative examples from Harappan sites

• Seals (steatite seals): small carved tablets with animal motifs and short script inscriptions. They probably served as identification, ownership marks and for trade documentation.
• Bronze 'Dancing Girl' (from Mohenjo-daro): shows skill in metal casting and gives an idea of clothing, jewellery and artistic taste.
• Priest-King statue (steatite sculpture): suggests portrait-style art and possibly elite or religious figures.
• Great Bath (Mohenjo-daro): large public tank with drains — evidence of planned public architecture and water management.
• Standardised weights (cubical stone weights): indicate regulated trade; many weights were found with precise sizes and shapes.
• Beads and bead-making workshops (Lothal, Harappa): show specialised craft and trade in semi-precious stones like carnelian.
• Pottery and painted designs: everyday use and stylistic variation help date sites and show cultural links.
• Toy carts and terracotta figurines: suggest aspects of childhood, play and domestic life.

Putting it together — By studying the form, material, manufacturing marks and find-place of artifacts, historians and archaeologists infer economic systems, technological levels, social structures and cultural practices of early cities. Artifacts are therefore not just objects: they are clues that, when combined, create a fuller picture of life in the earliest cities.