Class 3 | Indus Valley Civilization: Complete Ancient Indian History for UPSC CSE/IAS 2026-27

Hello and welcome hardworking aspirants to the class of Indus Valley Civilization. That's what we are going to discuss today guys and along with that we'll be seeing the map in detail and we'll be seeing the seals, the motifs in the seals, the terracotta figurines and the other ecological excavations that have been done and that have been provided to us. This figure here, this lady was asked this year also in the exams of UPSC CSE brilliance 2025 but before we go to our topic this is very important for you right now we are running a mentorship program for UPSC TSPSC APPSC along with that TSPSC group one and group two and guys UPSC CSE 2026-27 batch is available why should you join now there is a discount of 50 percent and you'll get the mentorship guidance by Deepika ma'am well the batches are starting very soon so you should not delay so let's get started guys first thing first you must know that along with Indus Valley Civilization there were other civilizations also in the world which were surviving at that time if you see there was Chinese civilization here and there will be one thing very common okay all the civilizations will be having a prominent river okay so the Chinese civilization will have the yellow river the yellow river is also called guys Hawangbo okay so Hawangbo is the yellow river Indus Valley Civilization obviously which river was there Indus river was there then you will have Mesopotamian civilization that you are seeing here and what are the rivers guys it's Tigris and you should remember the names Euphrates and beside Mesopotamian you will find Egyptian civilization and the river the very famous Nile river okay so that was about the civilizations that were there and this map here is saying to us that there were trade relationship between Indus Valley Civilization and the Mesopotamian civilization as well as the Egyptian civilization okay so let's now come to the map and let's see some of the very important parts of Indus Valley Civilization first and foremost you must know that there were more than 50 hundred sites okay and still the numbers are increasing only it's not decreasing and the area which it covered was guys 1.5 million square kilometer if you want to have an idea the area of India almost half of the area of India today that's 1.5 million square kilometer okay now the first size first site that was excavated was in 1921 and that was Harappa okay and there is a reason why it was called Harappa and it was excavated by whom guys it was excavated by Dayaram Sahni that was the individual please note down the name Dayaram Sahni and he did not wanted to name his own to the site that's why Harappa also because the neighboring places there were known as Harappa and coincidentally in Rig Veda there is a place named as Hariappa okay it is mentioned in the Rig Veda so maybe that's why the name somewhere the other has been changed to Harappa and that is what was talked about now Dayaram Sahni in 1921 when excavated it was told to be known as Harappa civilization because the first site okay along with Indus valley civilization we also call it as the Harappa civilization also it was mentioned by John Marshall there okay now along with that let's see this Indus valley civilization actually this Indus river if you can see the Indus river that's very important here is the Indus river okay if it is visible the Indus river and along the Indus river if you'll see there are four main sites that if you can see Mohenjo-daro here then you have Koddizi then you have Chanudaro and then you have this Allen river and Harappa is here if you see guys Harappa and Harappa is beside which river Rabi okay the Rabi river as is visible here now this Indus valley civilization had extensions what were the extensions of this Indus valley civilization when you see the topmost point okay that's here that's in Manda Manda in Jammu and Kashmir okay that is the northernmost point you can say and then when you see the southernmost side guys that's Daimabad in Maharashtra somewhere here it will be Daimabad in Maharashtra now when you see the eastern and westernmost side the easternmost side is Alamgirpur okay it's in UP somewhere here Alamgirpur and the westernmost side guys obviously it's very visible here if you can see Sukta Jindo okay this is this is Sukta Jindo okay and that's obviously now not in India it's in Baluchistan that's part of Pakistan okay so this is the northern the southern the eastern and the westernmost sides that we have seen okay now let's come back and let's see some of the other points related to the origin of Indus valley civilization you must remember that Indus valley civilization has its tributaries and the tributaries should be known by you like the Jhelum the Chhena the Rabi the Piyas and the Satlasht and that comprises this and if you see if it is visible to you here you see Ghagra and Agra okay these rivers this zone had a lot of settlement here because of these rivers okay maybe the fertility of the land and all those things would have been the reason for it and if you see the sides of Kali Bangal okay and Banawali okay the part in Haryana in there we had a lot many settlements okay a lot of settlement was there major sites that we have seen till now were Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Dholavira, Kali Bangal, Lothal and Rakhigiri okay and others also and let's see the time period guys the mature phase is 2500 BC to 1750 the pre-Harappan phase is obviously before 2500 BC and the late Harappan is 1750 to 1300 BC now what is the origin theory there are two theories one is indigenous theory the indigenous theory suggests that from the cultures like Mehrgarh okay that's in Baluchistan today this has been slowly and gradually developed that's the indigenous theory the foreign origin theory says guys that there must have been migrations from Mesopotamia or the other civilizations but now that is largely rejected why because there is strong archaeological continuity in the region okay if someone would have traveled from Mesopotamia to here then you might have seen discontinuity but there is a continuity so what we can say we can say that it was developed from the earlier cultures like Mehrgarh and etc okay along with that the very famous thing which is you know of most important when we are talking about the Indus valley civilization is the town planning guys the town planning was very excellent because the city was or the place was divided into two parts one was high raised and the other was low the high raised or the citadel or the upper town that that was the western side and the eastern side was the side where the residential area was there the streets if you can see these were cutting each other at right angle okay proper roads proper drainage system properly if you'll see at all the places the houses that were made that were made of big burnt bricks okay that was quite very rare other civilization at that time were not using the burnt bricks so that is also an important feature of Indus valley civilization this is a sort of a display that has been tried to create to make you understand how the Indus valley civilization was at that time and if you see one more thing which you should find here you are seeing some large building here okay these were non-residential buildings and that were made for granaries for other purposes okay for the public purposes and if you see the depiction here it is showing you the burnt bricks the burnt bricks that were used to make these houses and obviously it was marble at that time and this is again very interesting few years back okay in the places where this drainage system still exists it's now in Pakistan there was flood and in this area within two hours within two hours still this drainage system is working and the water was cleared within two hours so that was the marble that they created at that time that this drainage system along with the drainage system you had these soak pits you know along the main roads they were there and houses had individual bathrooms and toilets connected to the drainage system that's something to be wow okay the water management uh unique feature Dholavira world's earliest water conservation system is found there the reservoirs dams and check dams were built there public and private well in cities like 700 wells in Mohenjo-daro alone would have been found public building and structures when we talk about guys in Mohenjo-daro we see the great path and we are not completely sure whether it was used for some ritual for religious purpose or for the community purpose but we are sure that so it was a public water tank and it must have been used for some community purpose together then the granaries granaries have been found in Harappa Mohenjo-daro and other places also obviously used for food storage assembly halls wells and market areas found in several cities along with that when we talk about the residential architecture we have talked that it was made with the bricks and the presence of windows ventilation and private wells in the houses made it look very special when we are talking of that time that is the most special part here that we should understand okay these are few of the pics that you can see this gentleman uh here this is a pic of a priest okay this this is a rope that he's wearing the designer rope you can see it has a design on it he's having beard also this was made of steatite guys steatite was also used to make the seals okay and this steatite was also used to make this sort of sculpture this sort of idols okay and at the top if you see guys you're seeing okay why steatite was used for making the seals steatite was soft stone okay most of it it has the talc okay the talcum powder if you might know it like the powders in johnson's baby and others that talc was present in steatite which made it very soft and that's why it was very easy to be okay that's why steatite was used but not only steatite along with steatite there were other materials also used for making the seals like you had agate you have charred you have copper silver gold ivory all these were used to make the seals and there were some features of these seals if you can see the seals at the top has something written over here okay at the top you see the seals have something written okay and then at the bottom you will have a motif like an animal representation okay and then there is one more thing if you see below the face or the mouth of the animal you have a feeding trove also there you have a feeding trove it is displaying the feeding well unfortunately this script has not yet been deciphered guys still we don't know what was written there and we are trying to assume but these seals obviously were used for trading purpose some of the seals that we have found were having hole in between maybe they were used like amulets okay and these seals might have also been used for identity purpose these are uh the conclusions that we have drawn from there and you'll see some marvel character this terra figurines here you can see them okay and these pots uh you know having extensive art done over here and now let's talk about one specific seal that i wanted to talk to you and that seal here is the seal uh which is called proto shiva or the pasupathi seal if you see the headgear here if it is possible for you to see the headgear it is like a trishul okay it's like a trishul that's why it is said that this individual who is sitting is sitting also in like a yogi posture if you see like he is doing yoga unfortunately this is broken from here but just from your imagination try to just build it up so at the bottom if you see guys at the bottom you're seeing there are two deer okay one deer is here also which is missing okay and there are two deer at the top if you see this side you are seeing there is a tiger and just above the tiger this is the tiger here just above the tiger this is the elephant here okay and at the opposite side if you try to see guys you'll see a rhino here at the top and here you see a buffalo at the bottom so this is displaying that this individual this yogi who is sitting he is sitting along with these many animals and that is why this seal is called as pasupathi seal there is something engraved at the top also but we don't know what is engraved at the top but we understand one thing that maybe the thing at the top was written for the ones who can understand but these motifs these images these animals picturization all this must have been used for the people who don't know what's written but they can see the image and understand okay along with that guys one more important thing related to these seals we'll discuss but let's see some of the part of harappa harappa guys it's in modern day pakistan on the banks of river abhi first site obviously we have discussed uh that's why it it is it was the first site that's why we called hindus valley civilization as harappan civilization also now dayaram sani was an individual and gave the civilization its name the key features were the granaries the citadel and the residential areas seals with animal motifs and script symmetry as culture was found in later phases okay the next is mohenjo-daro location sindh pakistan on the banks of indus river the significance one of the most well-planned cities that we have seen till now it was excavated in 1922 and by whom it was excavated guys by rd banerjee mohenjo-daro actually means what it means mound of dead many dead were found there that's why it was known as mohenjo-daro we have you know many most of the things that we have found is found from mohenjo-daro like we have the great bath like we have the great granary the pasupathi seal that you have seen it's from mohenjo-daro the dancing girl that you have seen is from mohenjo-daro the priest king that you saw okay that is also from mohenjo-daro so all those were from mohenjo-daro so that is why it's very important and uh one thing more related to the priest king if we can find priest king again where is the priest king yes here this priest king that we are talking about that was found in mohenjo-daro guys it was in india but while the simla agreement in 1972 it was given to pakistan so you must know this fact it might be asked so you should be aware with that okay now let's get ahead and let's see kalibangan kalibangan location is rajasthan india on the banks of gharghar river significance important for early and mature arapan phases we have found the fire altars here that suggested ritualistic practices flaw filled earliest evidence of agriculture and no drainage system as seen in mohenjo-daro as in kalibangan now dholavira the location is in khadir island that's very important it was excavated by jp joshi in 1989 best preserved water management system that we can see and found was in dholavira one of the first in the world we can say water reservoirs stone architecture and inscriptions divided into citadel middle town and lower town and last stadium like structure is also found there that is very important lastly we are seeing lothal the location is in gujarat india near the gulf of khambat it was excavated by sr rao important for trade and maritime activities dockyard possibly the world's earliest known okay the first you can say uh the dockyard that was was in lothal evidence of indo and mesopotamian trade we can see fire altars and warehouse were also there so that was the point for lothal guys now what was the society of indus valley civilization urbanized society we have seen the plant society we have seen there was a upper half that was known as the citadel and the lower town but no evidence of rigid caste system that is very important when the europeans when the britishers when the people uh talk about the caste system we see it's not evident from the very beginning it came a bit more later and in any ways it was not on the basis of birth rather it was on the basis of work what you are doing and that's for another day for us to discuss absence of palaces or temples suggest egalitarian social structure again please remember there were no temples found occupation agriculture wheat barley cotton that's what was their trade both internal and with mesopotamia they were doing and please understand what were they importing in this very civilization people were importing gold and silver and what were they exporting guys this in this very civilization people what they had to export they had stones okay semi-precious then they had these metals then they had the food grains and they also had cells and all those things okay so they that was being exported so this is something which you should remember that's so important and with that the dress and ornament at that time men had this robe salts women had skirts jewelry okay if you see this picture that we were seeing actually he is wearing a robe like this this sort of a robe is being worn by him and people also used to have a lot of jewelry okay a lot of jewelry was used by them and if you see this also at the bottom you know recreation of clothing from female figurine so this is the skirt type of clothing you can see that was used by them okay what was the food and the diet at that time that we're having wheat barley milk vegetable feast and meat etc animal domestication included cattle buffalo sheep goats normally you'll see we are not finding any instance of any cow being said here use of cooking utensils and storage jars was also very common okay now there is one thing more which i like to have you remember this seal that you're seeing guys this is a humpless bull okay this also called a unicorn whatever you want to call it this was found most when when we talk about the seals in mohenjo-daro almost 60 to 70 seals were of this particular image okay this particular one has been found to be most in number in mohenjo-daro itself almost 60 to 70 percent okay some people call it a unicorn seal or the humblest or the humble seal okay so that is what you must remember when we will talk about the seals there is something more to the seals that you should also remember the rectangular the square seals that we have seen the square seals had something written at the top and then you have a figure okay there is a figure but in the rectangular seals you will not see there is no motif there is no image there is no figure rather only it is written all the rectangular seals that you will see guys there is something written in it but when you see this seals this square seals when you're seeing guys the square seals are unfortunately again it is not decipher so we don't know the religion obviously there was no temple religious belief centered around figurine and natural worship okay please remember this there was nature worship how can we say that worship of mother goddess we have seen the that is the proto-siva figure was founded by us then there were sacred animals like the bull unicorn trees where the like people and symbols like swastik that was also find if you can see here guys this all this this proto-siva or the the that we were seeing that's also evident so no evidence of idol worship like later hinduism was there but along with that you should please write or you know remember that the animals that were used in this seals what were the animals number one that we have talked humble okay along with the humble the animals which we saw where the rhino we saw tiger we also saw elephant we saw buffalo along with buffalo we saw if you remember basin then good then here sorry guys then crocodile okay so if you will count it you will see that there are nine animals and these nine animals where they are represented in the sea okay there is an assumption for the seals also that these nine animals had nine different communities there were other communities and every community was represented by an animal and if that was the case then this humble community was the most powerful because these seals are most evident okay that's the conclusion that we can reach here the art and craft that you will see guys the terracotta figurine of animals humans and toys have been found throne sculptures that is dancing girl of manjodaru we have already seen pottery redware with black geometry and floral designs have been found at that this is the dancing girl if you see guys she's in three position where she has moved herself or her body in three positions the things which are you know specific here first you don't find any feet here that's specific secondly she's having slightly longer hands these hands if you can see guys this is elongated and legs also if you see it is looks like elongated okay and you have these bangles here in this hand if you see and she's wearing something in the neck and with that this hand is on the hips and this hand is on the thighs you can see so you know john marshall was the one who named it as dancing girl okay and this is the has been found most in mohenjo-daro and there are the other figures that you can see here the technology we have already seen that they were using advanced metallurgy because if you have to create a bronze somewhere that you have to use copper and tin and the other things first use of cotton cloth in the world please don't forget that was in indus valley civilization everything was there what the world was going to discover in coming up years it was already being used in the indus valley civilization the trade and commerce we had with the mesopotamia oman and central asia that we have already seen seals were used as trade tokens and markers use of standardized weight cubicle in shape burial practices what was the burial practice mostly simple burials with grape woods some secondary burials and unburials were also find and it indicated belief in life after death that was very important this we have already seen it is displaying that there was relationship there was some trade relationship between indus valley civilization and mesopotamian civilization and the egyptian civilization as well so we have seen the urban planning the architecture economy of society it was very good and with that we have seen this religion art script technology burial what was very specific we have seen all those points and with that we have come to a question the question here says that with reference to the difference between the culture of regvedic aryans and indus valley people which of the correct regvedic aryans used the coat of mail and helmet in warfare whereas the people of indus valley civilization did not leave any evidence of using them and number two it's saying regvedic aryans came gold silver and copper whereas indus valley people knew only copper and iron but right now we saw indus valley people knew about the gold and silver so what's the right answer the correct answer is one only okay you can pause the video and see the explanation then which one of the following is not a harappan site if you have seen the maps very nicely you come to know that sogora is not it's not a harappan site it's related to the mauryan period and known for the sogora copper plate inscription the next question they possessed great palaces and temples did indus valley civilization possess any palaces or temple we have right now seen it does not they worship both male and female deities yes a proto shiva was also there and mother goddess was also there so this is correct they employed horse drawn chariots in warfare we have not seen or written anything about or the chariots or the war even so number three