The massive Indus-Sarasvati civilization (as the Indus civilization should properly be called) was discovered in the early 1920s, just after the savant world had settled down to the comforting belief that, with the surprise discovery of the Hittite empire, they had discovered the last of the ancient world's great civilizations.
The Indus Sarasvati civilization surpassed even modern scholarship's wildest dreams.
- Only around 60 of the more than 2,500 identified sites have been excavated thus far.
- Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Ganweriwala, Rakhigarhi, Kalibangan, Dholavira, and the harbor city of Lothal (found on the Kathiawar peninsula near Ahmadabad in Gujarat) are the most important sites.
- Mohenjo Daro, in the south, and Har appa, 350 kilometers north, are the most remarkable cities.
- The Indus River was formerly their primary means of communication.
- The larger of the two metropolises discovered in the Indus valley, Mohenjo Daro, spanned an area of approximately a square mile, providing housing space for at least 35,000 people.
- Both cities exhibit careful planning and a high level of uniformity, implying a complex sociopolitical structure.
The excavations uncovered a complex drainage system, replete with rub bish shoots, that is unique to pre-Roman periods.
- They also discovered a plethora of bath rooms, which indicates the sort of ceremonial ablu tion associated with modern Hinduism.
- Kiln-fired bricks, one of the best known construction materials, were used to construct the largely windowless structures, which included three-story homes.
The center of these major towns is a massive castle, measuring 400 by 200 yards and constructed on an artificial hill.
- It contains a huge bath (230 by 78 feet), halls of assembly, a large building that was most likely a college for priests, and a vast granary in the case of Mohenjo Daro (grain storage was a governmental function).
- The uniform brick sizes and weights, as well as the urban plan, indicate to a centralized authority, most likely of a priestly character.
- Despite the fact that no temples have been discovered, we must infer that religion played a significant part in the lives of these early people.
- This is mostly supported by discoveries, including patterns on soapstone seals, that bear striking resemblances to later Hindu religious themes while also agreeing with early Vedic symbolism.
Apart from that, the Vedas include no mention of temples, owing to the fact that the Vedic people practiced their religion at home and only met in public for major official events affecting their tribe or clan.
Given the prominent importance of religion in other similar societies at the time, archaeologists' reluctance to declare some sites as having been intended for ceremonial or holy use is difficult to comprehend.
- Recent excavations at Lothal and Kalibangan have uncovered fire altars whose construction fits in principle with what we know about Vedic fire altars—an important discovery that should not be overlooked.
- Not unexpectedly, the seven major rivers that nourished the Indus-Sarasvati civilization spurred shipbuilding as well as marine commerce with Middle Eastern civilizations like Sumer and perhaps farther afield.
As one would anticipate, active sailing is represented in the Rig-Veda, which has been misinterpreted as the work of an uneducated seminomadic people who lived as herders and enriched themselves by raiding the affluent towns of the Indus on a regular basis.
The two major cosmopolitan settings of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, which share a similar ground plan, thrived for about 800 years, with remarkably little change in technology, written language, or creative innovation throughout that time.
This feature prompted British archaeolo-gist Stuart Piggott to remark:
- "There is a terrible efficiency about the Harappa civilization that recalls all the worst of Rome," he said, "but with this elaborately contrived system comes an isolation and stagnation hard to parallel in any known Old World civilization."
- Continuity, on the other hand, does not always imply stagnation.
- It may also be the polar opposite—a symbol of power.
- Perhaps the Indus-Sarasvati people were rooted in such a deep spiritual heritage that no significant changes were needed to provide purpose and succor to successive generations.
The Rig-Veda, the literary equivalent of the archaeological items discovered in the Indus-Sarasvati towns, has such a spiritual tradition.
We can make greater sense of both the tangible and textual evidence when we analyze cultural objects discovered by archaeologists in light of the Vedas.
- The many steatite seals (employed by traders) depicting animals, vegetation, and mythical creatures evocative of later Hinduism are of particular significance.
- Several of the more over two thousand terra-cotta seals discovered so far depict horned deities sitting in the manner of the later yogins.
- One seal in particular, the so-called pashupati seal, has piqued archaeologists' interest and piqued historians' imaginations.
- It depicts a deity seated on a low throne surrounded by four animals: an elephant, tiger, rhinoceros, and buffalo.
- A pair of antelope-like animals may be found under the seat.
God Shiva, the arch-yogin and lord (pail) of the animals Soapstone sculpture of a senior priest or nobleman (pashu).
- While some of the theories put forward do not stand up to examination, there is no doubt that the figure (whether male or female) symbolizes a holy deity in a ritualized position that has yet to be definitively named 17 but resembles bhadraor goraksha-asana.
- There is also strong evidence that a Goddess cult existed at the period.
- One seal shows a female from whose womb a plant develops, implying early agricultural culture reproductive beliefs and ceremonies.
Objects like the later Tantric male generative sign (linga) and female generative symbol (linga) are associated with this (yoni).
- Seals showing the fig tree, which is still considered holy in India, and trees with a humanoid figure standing in their branches make it easy to link to the Vedic hymns.
- Most significantly, all of this is still true in rural India's religious world today.
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