SUBSISTENCE STRATEGIES OF

HARAPPANS

What is subsistence strategy? निर्वाह क्या है ? Imagine you wake up one day and find that you and your family are

the last humans on the planet. What would you do? Your first concern might be safety, but if you found that you were quite
safe, and there was plenty of fresh water, your mind may turn to acquiring food for your family. How will you continue to
subsist?

Subsistence means to support life. For example, subsistence farming literally means farming for the purpose of supporting
life. We learn in school that early man lived a lifestyle of subsistence.

Harrappans did the following:

1. Agriculture

2. Pastoralism

3. Hunting & Gathering

4. Foraging

5. Fishing
New Words: नए शब्द

Palaeobotonist परु ा वनस्पतिज्ञ 2. Palaeozoologist परु प्राणिविज्ञानी

1.
What Harappans ate?

wheat
a.
Barley
b.
lentils
c.
Gram
d.
Til (sesame)
e.
fish
f.
Meat
g.
 The nature of the Indus civilization's agricultural system is still largely a matter of conjecture due to the paucity
of information surviving through the ages. Some speculation is possible, however.

 Indus civilization agriculture must have been highly productive; after all, it was capable of generating surpluses
sufficient to support tens of thousands of urban residents who were not primarily engaged in agriculture.

 It relied on the considerable technological achievements of the pre-Harappan culture, including the plough. Still,
very little is known about the farmers who supported the cities or their agricultural methods. Some of them
 undoubtedly made use of the fertile alluvial soil left by rivers after the flood season, but this simple method of
agriculture is not thought to be productive enough to support cities. There is no evidence of irrigation, but such
evidence could have been obliterated by repeated, catastrophic floods.

Technological innovation in Harappan Times: हड़प्पाई प्रायोद्योगिकी

Remember: Indus valley was a Bronze age civilization i.e. No iron technology
1. Plough हल (clay model at Banawali and ploughed field at Kalibangan)

2. Animal Power (Oxen) पशु शक्ति (बैल)

3. Blades (फ़लक) made up of bones and stone to harvest

4. Canal making (सिंचाई के लिए नहरों का प्रयोग shortughai in Afghanistan)

5. Wells (कुएं)

6. Tank/Reservoir (जलाशय at Dholavira)

SOME CLUES OF HARAPPAN AGRICULTURE