INTRODUCTION

1.1 Overview

Indus Valley Civilization, a name that is written in history with golden words not only because it
is an old civilization that provides us information about that time but also because of its culture
and heritage. This civilization was established around 3300 B.C. and flourished between 2600
and 1900 B.C. and in around 1900 B.C. it entered a period of decline and ultimately disappeared
around 1400 B.C. All that archeologists know about this civilization is through archeological
evidences. Two of its most important cities are Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. The artifacts that are
found include seals with different animals carved on them such as Unicorns, Bulls, Rhinoceros,
etc. The artifacts also include male and female figurines, well craved and perfectly shaped
pottery. The archeologists have also found Great bath, College of priests, Great granary, and a
figure of a dancing girl. Despite of all these things the archeologists haven’t found evidences of
any kind of weapon.
The reason for decline of this civilization as stated by K.U.R. KENEDY was natural calamities
such as floods as the whole civilization was situated near the river Indus River, he stated this
because while he was researching in Indus Valley Civilization he found layers of slit. He also
stated that plague might be another reason as there might not be proper sanitation. But according
to R. MORTIMER WHEELER the reason for the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization was
the advent of the Aryans. He stated this because when he was researching on Indus Valley
Civilization he found some evidences of trade which might be done between the people of Indus
Valley Civilization and the Aryans or the other outside peoples. That might have attracted the
Aryans towards them. And as the Aryans arrived they might have destroyed the Indus
Civilization as the Indus Civilization did not have any sort of weapons so they probably could
not have been able to protect their rich heritage and culture. The research on decline of the Indus
Valley Civilization is still ongoing, So stating something exact is not possible right now.

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1.2 LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Gregory L. Possehl; The Mohenjo-Daro Floods: A Reply; Wiley (February 1967):

This article largely tells about the life style of the people of Indus Valley Civilization. It also
gives a brief description about the various archeological facts and evidences that tells about the
history of Indus Valley Civilization. This article mainly focuses on the decline of the Indus
valley civilization. It tells about the various factors due to which the Indus Valley Civilization
lapse.

2. Robert L. Raikes; The End of the Ancient Cities of the Indus; Wiley(April 1964):

The article mainly talks about the origin of the various cities of the Indus Valley Civilization like
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. It tells us how the cities developed their culture and heritage. Then
it focuses on the fall of the Indus Civilization as stated by E.J.H. Mackay and Dr. Frankfort who
some years back started researching on the Indus Valley Civilization.

3. Upinder Singh; A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone
Age to the 12th Century; Pearson Education (2006):
This book talks about the rise of Indus Valley Civilization, their life style, trade, architecture,
crafts and many more theories. It emphasizes on the decline of Indus Valley Civilization. It tells
us that the decline started in 2200 B.C.E. and finally the civilization came to an end in 2000
B.C.E. The reasons that are given by different scholars are Attack on walled cities by Aryans,
flood due the movement of tectonic plates, decline in trade and many more. It also tells us that
there was a sudden decline in Kalibangan and Banawali, but cities like Mohenjo-Daro and
Dholavira declined gradually.

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1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Q1. What kind of life style did the people of Indus Valley Civilization follow?

Q2. What are the different theories of Decline of Indus Valley Civilization?

Q3. Were the Aryans responsible for Decline of the Indus Valley Civilization?

Q4. What were the probable reasons which made archeologists think that flood was one of the
reasons for decline of Indus Valley Civilization?

Q5. Was Plague or any other epidemic responsible for decline of Indus Valley Civilization?

1.3 SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES

SCOPE:

The scope of this project is limited to the reasons of Decline of the Indus Valley Civilization due
to floods, earthquakes, plague and invasion of Aryans and the Life Style of the people residing in
Indus Valley Civilization.

OBJECTIVES:

The objectives of this project are as follow:

 To study the various reasons of Decline of Indus Valley Civilization.

 To study the life style of Indus Valley Civilization.

 To study about Aryan Invasion on Indus Valley Civilization.

 To study the role of Plague as a reason for decline.

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1.4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this project, researcher has adopted Doctrinal research. Doctrinal research is essentially a
library-based study, which means that the materials needed by a researcher may be available in
libraries, archives and other data-bases. Various types of books were used to get the adequate
data essential for this project. Researcher also used computer laboratory to get important data
related to this topic. Researcher also found several good websites which were very useful to
better understand this topic.

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 CHAPTER – 2
LIFE STYLE OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Two cities, in particular, have been excavated at the sites of Mohenjo-Daro on the lower Indus,
and at Harappa, further upstream. The evidence suggests they had a highly developed city life;
many houses had wells and bathrooms as well as an elaborate underground drainage system. The
social conditions of the citizens were comparable to those in Sumeria and superior to the
contemporary Babylonians and Egyptians. These cities display a well-planned urbanization
system.1

Lifestyle of the people of Indus Valley Civilization was very systematic and organized. Their
houses were mainly of one or two stories and all were made either of sun burnt bricks or of mud
bricks. This all is based on the town planning of that civilization i.e. Citadel town and Lower
town. Citadel town was for high class and lower town was for lower class. Citadel town uses sun
burnt bricks whereas lower town used mud bricks. They also have great granary which was used
for storing extra grains which was afterwards given to the upper class as a tax. They have great
bath and temple of priest which was used by the upper class and the priests for performing
rituals. They have a well-designed sewage system which takes all the waste water outside the
city also the sewage system was covered by big stones.

The Indus Valley Civilization was an agricultural society this fact has been made clear with the
help of evidences such as ploughed field and terracotta figurine of plough. They use to hunt also
as some evidences of fishing hooks are also found. So their meal might have included vegetables
grown by them and meat of fish and other animals. The very famous thing of this civilization is
its craft which include pottery such as red on black and many more. It also includes weaving and
metalworking such as using of Bronze and silver to make figurines such as Dancing girl and
daily use utensils also. Some terracotta figures of animals such as bull, tiger and many more have
also been found which indicates the presence of these animals at that time. Archeologists have
also found some seals which indicate the presence of trade at that time.

1
Cristian Violatti, “Indus Valley Civilization”, https://www.ancient.eu/Indus_Valley_Civilization/ (accessed
October20,2018)
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Indus Valley traders did not use money, so they probably exchanged goods. They might swap
two sacks of wheat for one basket of minerals.Archaeologists discovered flat pieces of stone with
writing carved into them. At first they were confused, but then they realised these stones
were seals. Over 3,500 have now been found!If you pressed the seal into soft clay, it left a copy
of itself on the clay. When the clay dried hard, it could be used as a tag, which could then be tied
to a pot or basket.Archaeologists think that the Indus traders might have used seals like labels, to
show who owned a sack of grain, or that the correct city tax had been paid.Lots of seals
have pictures of animals on them, including elephants, rhinoceros, tigers and fish-eating
crocodiles.2

Also the seals are beautifully engraved with pictures of some animals such as unicorn, bull, tiger
etc. which is another example of excellent craft work. There were some evidence of ornaments
such as carnelian beads, terracotta bangles, girdles, bracelets and anklets. There were also some
evidences of wheels and carts which depict presence of trade. They use animals such as bulls and
ox to pull the carts for long distance trade. This shows that people of Indus Valley Civilization
lived a lifestyle which is equally good as the lifestyle of people living in today’s world. They
already set an example for the present society.

There is evidence of some level of contact between the Indus Valley Civilization and the Near
East. Commercial, religious, and artistic connections have been recorded in Sumerian
documents, where the Indus valley people are referred to as Meluhhaites and the Indus valley is
called Meluhha. The following account has been dated to about 2000 BCE: "The Meluhhaites,
the men of the black land, bring to Naram-Sin of Agade all kind of exotic wares."3

The Indus Civilization had a writing system which today still remains a mystery: all attempts to
decipher it have failed. This is one of the reasons why the Indus Valley Civilization is one of the

2
“What was everyday life like in the Indus Valley”, https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/zghy34j (accessed
October20,2018)

3
Haywood, The Curse of Agade, p. 76

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least known of the important early civilizations of antiquity. Examples of this writing system
have been found in pottery, amulets, carved stamp seals, and even in weights and copper tablets.

Another point of debate is the nature of the relationship between these cities. Whether they were
independent city-states or part of a larger kingdom is not entirely clear. Because the writing of
the Indus people remains undeciphered and neither sculptures of rulers nor depictions of battles
and military campaigns have been found, evidence pointing in either direction is not conclusive.

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 CHAPTER - 3
ARYAN INVASION THEORY

Aryans were considered the people with whom the Hindu tradition has been long associated. It
was believed that Aryans might have attracted towards Indus Civilization due to the overseas
trade that they use to carry out at that time. It was believed by the historians such as Sir Mortimer
Wheeler that the Aryans ventured into the Indian sub-continent from central Asia and conquered
the dark skinned Indus dwellers. Many people from the Indus civilization were killed and the one
who survived were either changed to Indo Aryan culture or were started treating as slaves. There
was another theory which suggests that Aryans started growing inside the Indus Valley
Civilization as a new culture. And then some of them started moving towards east ward and
some towards south. Some said that Aryans was not the reason for the decline of Indus Valley
Civilization. As it is believe that Indus valley was already at a fall before the arrival of Aryans.
So it is possible that Aryans would not have found any people from the Indus Valley
Civilization.

Although historians afterwards said that the theory of Aryan invasion is vague as they don’t find
any evidence of weapons or any tool in the excavation of Indus Valley Civilization that can be
used for war. According to K.U.R. KENEDY, the skeletal remains of the people of Indus Valley
Civilization bear no wounds or cuts which show that Aryan invasion theory was vague.
Furthermore it was believed that before the invasion of Aryans the people of Indus Valley
Civilization might have moved towards east India or South India and the Aryans would have
found an empty land and no people remaining to fight with. Historians such as R.L. RAIKES and
many more firstly seemed to have believed that decline of Indus Valley Civilization was due to
Aryans afterwards proved this theory a vague one because they were not able to find any
evidences related to this fact. So at the end the theory of Aryan invasion was totally vague.

Opponents of the invasion theory make a somewhat plausible case that the sacrificial rites and
rituals described in some of the Vedic texts bear a resemblance to practices that may have been
common during the Harappan period. The similiarity of Harappan and Vedic altars is indeed

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intriguing. This would bolster the argument that Brahmins of the Vedic age emerged from the
Harappan priesthood, and not from any Aryan invasion. But a link between the Harappan
priesthood and Vedic Brahminism does not preclude the possibility of an invasion or foreign
migration. It is not inconceivable that the Vedic Brahmin developed as a composite of the
Harappan priest and the priest of an invading (or migrating) tribe or clan. Animal sacrifices were
common amongst many tribes in that age - and it is not entirely implausible that some kind of
synthesis may have taken place.4

4
The Aryan Invasion: theories, counter-theories and historical significance

http://www.archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/aryan-invasion-theories
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 CHAPTER – 4
THEORY OF FLOODS

A theory which is widely accepted by the historians is of Flood. It was said that due to the
Tectonic changes in the earth’s crust, the gradient of the Indus River must have created an
artificial dam in the river bed, which would have made the flood water move towards Mohenjo-
Daro and other sites of Indus Valley Civilization as most of them were situated near the Indus
River. This must have cause a massive destruction in the civilization.

According to M.R. SAHNI, a tectonic uplift in the lower Indus plain causing the decline of the
Harappan settlements situated in that area. The evidence according to him consisted of the
bedded alluvial soil above the cities of Indus Valley Civilization. At the time of excavation it
was found out not only by SAHNI but by other archeologists also that there have been several
layers of soils above the cities of Indus which is possible only when the cities continuously got
hit by flood. Due to flood there had been soil erosion also which could have decreased their crop
production, this could have decreased there trade with outer world.5

The theory that RAIKES provided was that the slit that was deposited by flood was of 30 – 20
feet on which he said that there might have been 5 to 7 continuous floods at that time.As the sites
were situated near the Indus River, the intensity of flood would have been so much that it could
have destructed the whole civilization at once.

The archaeologist George F. Dales, who excavated at Mohenjo-daro in 1964, and hydrologist
Robert L. Raikes propose a theory around the decline of the Indus civilization which involves
large flooding and a back-up of the Indus for perhaps a century in ancient times. While not much
evidence for this theory has since emerged, it does raise questions and point to the enormous

5
Malati J. Shendge,” Floods and the Decline of Indus Valley Civilization”,Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental
Research Institute,Vol. 71, No. 1/4 (1990), pp. 219-263

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importance of water, river behaviour and water storage during Indus times, a phenomena that we
see of great import in most ancient Indus sites.6

6
George F.Dales, “The Decline of the Harappans”, https://www.harappa.com/content/decline-harappans
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 CHAPTER – 5
OTHER REASONS FOR DECLINE

Apart from continuous floods, Aryan invasion theory and other reasons behind the decline of
Indus Valley Civilization, outbreak of the plague epidemic is shown as another reason for the
decline of Indus Valley civilization. The theory of plague was given by K.U.R. KENEDY after
he carefully examined the remains of skeleton which shows that there was no sign of injury on
their skull which proves the theory of Aryan Invasion vague. After that he showed some
evidences of remains of a rat which showed that plague infected the people of Indus Valley
Civilization and would have killed half of the population of Indus. It is considered to be one of
the most abominable and deadly cause.

Other theories of decline that are given by other authors are that, there might have been a sudden
increase in no. of population which could have made it impossible for the people of Indus to
survive as they were mainly agricultural society so it is almost impossible to produce food for a
large number of population, they use to hunt also but that doesn’t contribute much also. Another
reason was decline in trade. This was because after the continuous floods the fertility of the soil
was washed away because of soil erosion which would have decreased the production of crops,
which decreased the export of agricultural products to the outer world. There were traces of other
trades also but after the floods and other causes they also went down which made their survival
more difficult and finally led to Decline of Indus Valley Civilization.

All these reasons, that is, increase in number of population; decline in trade and other reasons
would have caused scarcity of food. The theory which was accepted rarely was that after all
these instances the people of Indus Valley Civilization would have moved towards South or East
and would have settled there permanently. Another cause given was that there might have
earthquakes which made the tectonic plates move and collide and which caused flood the main
reason of decline of Indus Valley Civilization.

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 CONCLUSION

The researcher would like to conclude the research work by stating that the life of Indus Valley
People was more like of the modern life style. They had a proper town planning with a well
planed sewage system. They also did town division in which citadel town was for upper class
and lower town was for ruling class. They also used sun burnt bricks and mud made brick to
build their houses and the bricks were of the same dimension. They also used copper utensils.
They were having seals made of clay which have depiction of animals which according to
archeologists were used for overseas trade. All this depicted that the life style of the people of
Indus Valley Civilization was better than that of today’s world because of their planned system
and hygienic style of living.

The theories for decline of Indus Valley Civilization that were given by different scholars
include Aryan invasion, Flood theory, earthquake, plague, rise in population, decline in trade and
scarcity of food. Aryan invasion theory was proven wrong by K.U.R. KENEDY as when he
examined the skeleton of the people of Indus he was not able to find a single sign of injury or
any sought of break. So the Aryan Invasion theory was stated vague. But after this the study
performed by R.L. RAIKES and M.R. SAHNI came with a new theory that was of flood.
According to them there were several layers of soils above the ground level of Indus Valley
Civilization which resembles that the Civilization was hit by several floods continuously.

The theory of flood was supported by the arguments that there was some tectonic plate collision
which caused flood. Because of flood the other theories that came up was decrease in production
which ultimately lead to scarcity of food. Another theory was of plague which was to an extent
considered true because plague is caused due to rats and unhygienic living conditions. And these
conditions are possible after flood. So plague is also considered as the reason of decline of Indus
Valley Civilization.

The researcher supports the theory of flood, plague, earthquake and scarcity of food. Aryan
invasion theory according to researcher is wrong as it is not supported by any evidence like other
theories.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gregory L. Possehl; The Mohenjo-Daro Floods: A Reply; Wiley (February 1967).

Robert L. Raikes; The End of the Ancient Cities of the Indus; Wiley (April 1964).

Upinder Singh; A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th

Century; Pearson Education (2006).

Akkaraju Sarma; Decline Of Harrapan Culture A Re-Look; IsIAO (December 1977).

Malati J. Shendge; Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (1990).

Mark W. Muesse; The Hindu Traditions; Fortress Press (2011); pp. 26-28.

George F.Dales, “The Decline of the Harappans”,

https://www.harappa.com/content/decline-harappans

The Aryan Invasion: theories, counter-theories and historical significance

http://www.archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/aryan-invasion-theories

“What was everyday life like in the Indus Valley”,

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/articles/zghy34j

Cristian Violatti, “Indus Valley Civilization”, https://www.ancient.eu/Indus_Valley_Civilization/

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