Social Science -Earliest cities HISTORY GRADE 6

History NCERT grade 6

1. History-Our Pasts I Chapter: 3 In the Earliest Cities

2. We will learn The settlement pattern of the Harappan Civilization The unique architectural features Craft production The meaning of urbanism

3. Some 150 years ago, engineers laying railway tracks in Punjab discovered the city of Harappa.

4. They found that the buildings there were built of very high-quality clay bricks.

5. The Discovery of the Indus Valley Civilisation It was only about 80 years ago that archaeologists came to know about it, and they now believe that the city of Harappa is around 4700 years old.    It is one of the oldest cities of the Indian subcontinent, and all sites with similar buildings were named after it.

6. The Earliest Cities

7. The Architecture: Houses, Streets, and Drains What was special about these cities? Cities in the Indus Valley Civilisation cities were divided in two parts. The western part, called citadel by the archaeologists , was smaller and higher, and it had important buildings, and  The eastern part was known as the lower town.  These towns were surrounded by strong walls made of baked bricks placed in an interlocking pattern. https://youtu.be/RLqUuCB6qu8

8. Major Buildings In some cities special buildings were constructed on the citadel. The Great Bath built in the citadel area of Mohenjo-daro  had rooms on all sides. It was made of bricks and coated with plaster and natural tar to make it watertight. Fire altars in Kalibangan (present-day Rajasthan) and Lothal (Gujarat) were probably built to perform sacrifices. Big store houses used to store grains were also found in Harapppa , Lothal, and Mohenjo-daro .

9. Houses, Drains and Streets Houses: The cities of Indus Valley Civilisation had houses with one or two storeys. Those houses had separate bathing areas and rooms built around a courtyard, and some also had wells. Drains and Streets: The drains were laid in straight lines, had gentle slopes for easy flow of water, were covered, and had inspection holes for cleaning. Major drain pipes were directly connected to each house and formed a network of smaller drains merging with the larger ones.

10. Life in the City Power in the city was controlled by three types of people:  The rulers who planned the construction of new buildings and areas in the cities. The scribes who knew how to write, and they helped in preparing seals (a device used to make an impression in wax, clay, on paper, etc).  The craftspeople who travelled in search of raw materials and made different things out of them.

11. Arts and Crafts Most of the things which have been found, such as tools, weapons, ornaments, and vessels, were made from stone, shells, and metals. Copper and bronze a were used to make tools ,weapons, ornaments and vessels. Gold and silver were used to make ornaments and vessels. Beads, weights and blades have also been found. Seals for official documents were made from stone. Beautiful p ots made of clay with beautiful black designs have been found. Spindle whorls (made of terracotta and faience) were used to spin fibers into thread. Actual pieces of cloth have been found. Things were made by specialists, people who were trained to do only one kind of work. For example- craft persons.

12. In search of raw materials Raw materials to make things came from either natural or human-made resources. Some of the raw materials (wood, cotton etc.) were available locally. Some of those were brought in from distant places, such as copper from present-day Rajasthan and Oman, tin from present-day Afghanistan and Iran, gold from present-day Karnataka, and precious stones from present-day Gujarat, Iran, and Afghanistan.

13. Food for people in the cities The farmers and herders lived on the outskirts of cities (mainly rural areas), and their only occupation was agriculture and rearing of animals. They supplied food to all the rulers, scribes and craftspeople in the cities. Harapans mostly grew wheat, barley, pulses, peas, rice, sesame, linseed, and mustard.  In those times, the plough was a new device invented to till the soil and sow the seeds. Water was stored and used for irrigation in times of scarcity as this area doesn’t receive heavy rainfall. People also reared cattle such as sheep, goat, and buffalo, gathered fruits like berries, and caught fish, antelopes, etc.

14. Harappan Towns in Gujarat Dholavira It was located on Khadir Beyt in the Rann of Kutch, and it had fertile land and a good supply of fresh water. Unlike other Harappan cities i t was divided in three parts , and each part was surrounded by huge stone walls and had large open areas for public ceremonies. Most important find of the place- Large letters of Harappan scripts written carved on white stones, wood carvings, seals have been found.

15. The port City Lothal It was a port city located on the bank of a tributary of the Sabarmati river in Gujarat, close to the Gulf of Khambat . A dockyard at Lothal has been found where boats and ships came in from the sea and through the river channel. Goods were probably loaded and unloaded here. It was an important centre where many different things were made out of stone, shells, and metals (easily available local raw materials). Buildings such as a storehouse containing many seals and their impressions, and also a bead-making workshop were found in Lothal .

16. The mystery of the end The end of the Harappan Civilization began about 3,900 years ago, when the locals move out of there. They stopped using their seals, weights, writings, and raw materials, their buildings fell out of repair, drainage systems broke down, and new houses were built by new people almost 1400 years later. The reasons for the fall of the Harappan Civilization Deforestation as wood was used up for fuel and smelting ores. Floods or drying up of all the rivers Excessive grazing by the cattle destroyed the green cover. The other reason might have been the loss of control by its rulers.

17. Key Terms 1. citadel 2. Scribe 3. Seal 4. Irrigation 5. plough 6. specialist 7. faience

18. Mark Important Harappan sites

19. Let’s recall 1. Match the columns a. Copper Rajasthan , Oman b. Gold Karnataka c. Tin Afghanistan, Iran d. Precious stones Gujrat, Afghanistan, Iran 2. Why were metals, writing, the wheel and the plough important for the Harappans ? 3. How do you know that cloth was used in the Harappan civilization? 4. Mention five important features of the Harappan cities.