BA/BSc Annual Exam 2011 Date Sheet Announced by University of Punjab, Lahore

BA/BSc Annual Exam 2011 date sheet announced

LAHORE : (Tuesday, March 08, 2011): Punjab University Examinations Department has issued the written and practical examination date sheet of BA/BSc Annual Examination 2011. According to the details, written exam will commence from April 7 and conclude on May 2 while practical exam will commence from May 9 and conclude on June 21, 2011.  For direct view of BA/BSc Annual Exam 2011 date sheet on your PC use the link below: University of Punjab  Download BA/BSc Annual Exam 2011 date sheet Download Datesheet Download BA/BSc Annual Exam 2011 date sheet (Practicals) Click here for Datesheet of Practical

NANKANA SAHIB… It is a fashionable place for Sikhs from all over the world.

Introduction:

About thirty miles south-west of the city of Lahore, the capital of the Punjab, and on the borders of the civil districts of Gujranwala and Faisalabad (formerly called Lyallpur), stands the town of Nankana Sahib. In the 15th century, this town was called Talwandi and was surrounded by a deep and lonely Bar or raised forest tract in the centre of the Punjab (or Panjab as it was called then). The town is now girdled by a broad expanse of agriculture and vegetation, which, wears through all seasons a cheerful appearance. The jal (Salvadora Persica) predominates, except there are also found the phulahi (Acacia modest a) and the jand (Prosopis spicigera). The wild deer though not seen any longer were seen irregularly to come out startled at the travellers who uneasy the solitude of its domain, and the hare and the partridges used to cower cautiously among the thickets, deprecating molestation.

History:

Talwandi is said to have been originally built by a Hindu king called Raja Vairat. It was sacked and shattered by fire and crowbar. The Punjab was parceled out to Muslim warrior chiefs in switch over for peace by the sovereigns of Delhi (Delhi Sultanate). One of these chiefs was Rai Bhoi Bhatti, a Muslim of the Bhatti Rajput tribe. Rai Bhoi along with his son salvaged Talwandi and restored it and built a fort on the summit of the tumulus, in which he lived the secure and happy ruler of his estate with quite a lot of thousand acres of educated land, and a boundless wilderness. Nankana was subsequently known then as Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi (or Rai Bhoi's Talwandi). After Rai Bhoi's death, his heritage descended to his only son Rai Bular Bhatti , who governed the land and town at the birth and for the duration of the youth of Nanak.

During Rai Bular's rule, Talwandi did not share the tumults and excitement of the outer political world. Rai Bular was a 'gentle giant', immense in stature, but quiet and private. Talwandi became a reflection of his individuality. It was a quiet place for the training of a prophet or religious teacher who was to lead his countrymen to the sacred path of truth, and disenthrall their minds from the superstitions of ages. In this retreat was born Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh belief. His birth took place on the third day of the light half of the month of Baisakh (April–May) in the year 1526 of the Vikramaditya period, corresponding to A.D. 1469.

Holy places:

Nankana Sahib being most sacred Sikh place; the position of the birth of the Sikh initiator, Guru Nanak is one of the fastest growing towns in Punjab, Pakistan. It is a fashionable place for Sikhs from all over the world. At the time of Guru Nanak's birth the town was called Rai Bhoe's Talwandi and was also referred to as Raipur. Rai Bular Bhatti was the ruler of this part and Baba Nanak's father was Rai Bular's worker. The discover qualities of Baba Nanak were first exposed by his sister Nanaki and Rai Bular Bhatti . Rai Bular gifted approx. 20,000 acres (81 km²) of land all around the city of Talwandi to Guru Nanak and the town began to be called Nankana Sahib. The town currently has nine gurdwaras as one with the Gurdwara Janam Asthan which marks the birth place of Guru Nanak Dev. Each of the gurdwaras is related with important events in Guru Nanak's life. Annually, just about 30,000 Sikh pilgrims visit the town, with about 15,000 gathering during the peak season around the birthday celebrations of Guru Nanak.

In 2006 a bus service between the Sikh consecrated city of Amritsar in India and Nankana Sahib was inaugurated by Manmohan Singh, India's Prime Minister, who himself is a Sikh.

Historical Background:

The Sikh trust was founded by Guru Nanak in the fifteenth century and his divine torch was carried on by nine gurus who followed in sequence. The concepts of Sangat, Pangat, Dharamshala (an early word for Gurdwara) and Kirtan took firm roots during this period and became important constituents of Sikhism. Congregations in Gurdwaras had played crucial roles in the religious and social affairs of the early Sikhs.

Later, they assumed wider dimensions by transforming into a religion-political organisation. The peaceful and non-political budding Sikh brotherhood was misshapen into a proud and fiercely martial nation through the baptismal.

process of Amrit-pan. After a long and continuous resistance of several decades against the tyrannies of Mughal rule, the brave Sikhs finally emerged victorious and succeeded in carving out 12 Khalsa principalities in Punjab which soon led to the creation of a unified Khalsa kingdom with Ranjit Singh at the helm.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh reconstruct the Gurdwaras prior destroyed by the Moghuls and also raised many new ones at the sacred places related with the Sikh Gurus. For the sustenance of the Mahants, Maharaja Ranjit Singh had friendly handsome landed properties too many of these Gurdwaras. The earlier Mahants were devoted Sikhs and true missionaries who did a lot for the spread of Sikhism. As the times rolled by, the Gurdwara incomes swelled enormously and the enormous money corrupted and degenerated the later-time Mahants into slack lived folks. They started treating the Gurdwara properties as if they were their personal fiefs. This changed the things for the Sikh Panth.

Dissolute Activities with in Nankana:

Gurdwara Nankana Sahib was managed by Mahant Narayan Das in the in the early hours 20th century. This Gurdwara had a huge property of over 19000 acres of highly fertile land fond of to it which yielded enormous income per year. Money-power made the Mahant corrupt and him in full swing using the Gurdwara's money for wrongful deeds. The Mahant was a very desolate and wicked person who also used Gurdwara premises for immoral and highly objectionable activities. He had kept a Muslim girl as his mistress and all kinds of possible debauchery were committed within the Gurdwara premises. Dance girls were brought to the Gurdwara and dances were held and obscene songs were sung within the holy property. In 1917, he arranged a dance-show by a prostitute near the holy Gurdwara. In 1918, a retired A.A.C. officer paid a visit to the Gurdwara with his 13 years old daughter to offer prayers to the Guru. As the Rehraas was being read in the Gurdwara, a Pujari rogue was raping the minor girl in another room within the Gurdwara premises. When the father lodged a complaint with the Mahant to take action against the Pujari rogue, the Mahant simply ignored his request. In the same year, six young female devotees from Jaranwal village (Lyallpur) visited the Gurdawara on Puranmashi (full Moon) to pay their offerings at Gurdwara and they too were similarly raped.

Sikhs Nation Awakens:

All this went on before the very eyes of the Sikhs which had sent surprise waves across Punjab. The issue was effectively raised in the The Akali (Punjabi), in print from Lahore by Master Sunder Singh Lyallpuri (q.v.), a true patriot and the founder-father of the Akali Movement and Shiromani Akali Dal . Lyallpuri belonged to Bohoru village close to Nankana Sahib and he personally preached against the shamelessness of the Mahant in the nearby villages and also continued to organise the Sikhs for a dynamic movement to bring reforms into the Gurdwaras.

In October 1920, a worshipper was held at Dharowal in Sheikhupura for reform in Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. The misdeeds committed within Gurdwara by Mahant were made known to the Sangat. On January 24, Shiromani Committee held a general meeting and took decision to hold a Dewan in Nankana Sahib on March 4, 5 and 6 and advise Mahant to mend his ways.

Mahant's Feedback:

Mahant was a very shrewd and sneaky person. He tried to play politics. Publicly, he wanted to leave the thought that he was very peace-loving person and anxious to settle the issues with the Panth. On February 14, Mahant held a surreptitious meeting with his associates to chalk out a secret plan to kill the Sikh leaders on March 5 at Nankana Sahib. Mahant recruited 400 hooligans including fierce Pathans paid at twenty Indian rupees per month to oppose the Sikhs. With government's help, Mahant also collected guns, pistols and other arms and bullets. He also arranged and stored fourteen tins of paraffin and further got the Gurdwara gate strengthened and the holes made in it so that he could use them for firing bullets at the Sikhs.

Mahant Narayan Das had the full help from the Mahants of other Gurdwaras in Punjab. The Bedi Jagirdars who had homeward bound Jagirs from the English Government by virtue of their past connections with Guru Nanak also supported the Mahant. Sardar Sunder Singh Majithia also maintained double standards. But Maharaja of Patiala flatly refused to back Mahant and offered him a healthy advice not to rebel against the Panth. He further advised the Mahant to create a committee of prominent Sikhs and hand over the Gurdwara charge to them. But Mahant uncared for the well-intentioned advice of Patiala Royal house. The Shiromani Committee extended request to Mahant for talks at Gurdwara Khara Sauda to resolve the issue but he did not show up at the given time. Then he offered to hold talks with the Sikh leaders in Sheikhupura on February 15, 1921, but again he disastrous to show up. Third time he promised to meet the Shiromani Committee leaders at the dwelling of Sardar Amar Singh Lyall Gazette on February 16, but once again he failed to turn up.

Nankana Sahib Bloodbath:

The Nankana Sahib Massacre refers to the grim affair during the Gurdwara Reform Movement/Akali Movement in which a peaceful batch of reformist Sikhs were subjected to a murderous assault on 20 February 1921 in the holy shrine at Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

In October 1920, a congregation was held at Dharowal, area Sheikhupura to inform the sangat of the misdeeds being dedicated inside Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. This shrine along with six others in the town had been under the control of Udasi priests ever since the time the Sikhs were driven by Mughal oppression to seek safety in remote hills and deserts. The priests not only treated the Gurdwaras as their secret properties but had also introduced practices and ceremonial which had no sanction in Sikhism.

At the meeting, it was commonly resolved that the Mahant be asked to mend his ways. When Mahant Narian Dass was asked upon to do so, he in full swing making preparations to oppose the Panth instead. He did not feel it necessary to pay heed to the suggestions of the Committee. He was the owner of the estate attached to the Gurdwara with an income of one hundred thousand rupees besides the offerings of the Gurdwara.

Almost at the same time a Sikh shrine, Gurdwara Babe di Ber, at Sialkot, was free-thinking from priestly control and taken over by the Sikhs on 5 October 1920, which marked the beginning of the Gurdwara Reform movement. Darbar Sahib and the Akal Takht were occupied on 13 October 1920.

Narain Das, with the help of the Government started recruiting a private army and laying in arms. The Government was using every available weapon to make Akali movement of Gurdwara reform, a failure. Narain Das got the Gurdwara gate strengthened and got holes made in it so that bullets could be fired through them.

In the meeting of Parbhandak Committee on 17 February 1921, it was decided that two jathas one led by Bhai Lachhman Singh and the other by Bhai Kartar Singh Virk (alias Jhabbar) should meet at Chander Kot on 19 February. From there they were to reach Nankana Sahib early in the morning of 20th February, to talk to the Mahant, Narain Das. Upon seeing the preparation of the Mahant, the Parbhandak Committee held a meeting on 19th February, in which it was, set on that the jathas should not be taken to Nankana Sahib on the 20th February. Bhai Kartar Singh Jhabbar was present in the meeting. He was informed about the changes and was told to inform Bhai Lachhman Singh. Bhai Kartar Singh Jhabbar immediately dispatched Bhai Waryam Singh to Chander Kot so that other jatha could be stopped.

Bhai Lachchman Singh, in accordance with the original programme had reached Chander Kot on the night of 19th February with his jatha of 150 Singhs and waited for Bhai Kartar Singh Jhabbar and his jatha.

Bhai Waryama Singh arrived with news not to lead the jatha to the Gurdwara; Bhai Lachchman Singh said to the Singhs of his jatha, “When we have started for a good cause, we should not waste time.” All members of the jatha agreed. Bhai Lachhman Singh got a undertake from the Singh’s not to strike and stay put peaceful no matter what. After that the jatha prayed for their success of their noble resolve. After the prayer, as the jatha was about to move forward, Bhai Waryam Singh arrived. He showed them the letter about the new judgment of the Committee. Bhai Tehal Singh Said, “Dear Khalsa, we have taken our resolve at the prayer (Ardaas) and cannot turn back now. It is imperitive for us to move forward.” The jatha as a whole moved forward following Bhai Tehal Singh.

Thus on the morning of 20 February 1921, the jatha of 150 Sikhs lead by Bhai Lachhman Singh entered the sacred precincts. The Mahant had got the news of their arrival at Chander Kot on the evening of 19th February. He had gathered his men at night and briefed them about their duties.

After the jatha of Singh’s had sat down, the Mahant signalled his men to carry out the prearranged plan. The Sikhs were chanting the sacred hymns when the attack started. Bullets were mercilessly rained on them from the roof of an adjoining building. Bhai Lachhman Singh was struck down sitting in attendance of the Guru Granth Sahib. Twenty-six Singhs became martyrs to those bullets in the courtyard while another sixty or so sitting inside the Darbar Sahib became targets of bullets. When the Mahant’s men saw no one moving, they came down with swords and choppers. Any Singh they found breathing was cut to pieces.

Outside the main gate, Narain Das, pistol in hand and his face quiet up, pranced up and down on horseback directing the operations and all the time shouting, “Let not a single long-haired Sikh go out alive.” Bhai Dalip Singh, a much-respected Sikh who was well known to him, came to intercede with him to stop the bloody carnage. But he killed him on the spot with a shot from his pistol. Six other Sikhs coming from outside were butchered and thrown into a potter’s kiln. Firewood and kerosene oil were brought out and a fire lighted. All the dead and injured were piled up on it to be consumed by the flames. The body of one a live Singh said to be Bhai Lachhman Singh was fastened to a tree near by and burnt alive. The total number of Sikhs killed has been variously estimated between 82 and 156.

As news reached back to Panjab, 20 pathans had been arrested, the Gurdwara had been locked and the city was handed over to Army which cordoned it to restrict any Akali movement to take over Gurdwara. Sardar Kartar Singh Jhabbar arrived with his jatha on 21st February. Commissioner, Mr. King, informed him that if he tried to enter city with his jatha army will open fire. Kartar Singh Jhabbar and his jatha of twenty two hundred Singhs did not listen to the Commissioner and kept on moving towards city. At end, Commissioner Mr. Curry handed over the keys of Gurdwara to Bhai Kartar Singh Jhabbar.

On the 22nd/23rd February, the bodies were cremated according to Sikh tradition. Charred, mutilated bodies were collected and torn limbs and pieces of flesh picked from wherever they lay in the blood stained chambers. A huge memorial service pyre was erected. Bhai Jodh Singh, in a calculated oration, advised the Sikhs to remain cool and patient and endure the catastrophe with the fortitude with which their ancestors had faced similar situations. The Sikhs, he said, had cleansed by their blood the holy precincts so long exposed to the impious influence of a corrupt regime.

An urdu newspaper called ‘Zamindara’ wrote in its editorial of 23 February 1921, “what more proof of shamelessness of muslims is required than that they have helped the Mahant. O, Shameless Muslims, isn’t the cup of your shamelessness and impudence full as yet? You used your guns and swords against those who went to Nankana Sahib to perform religious duties. You are not fit to be called Muslims. You are worse than infidels.”

Mahant, 20 Pathans and other of his group were sentenced by British. Only Mahant and couple of Pathans got death decree for this crime of more than 50 murders. (The High Court delivering on 3 March 1922, its judgement on Narain Das’s appeal, reduced his sentence to life imprisonment.)

News of the Nankana Sahib carnage shocked the country. Sir Edward Maclagan, Governor of the Punjab, visited the site on 22nd February. Mahatma Gandhi, along with Muslim leaders Shaukat ‘Ali and Muhammad ‘Ali, came on 3rd March. Princess Bamba Duleep Singh, daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh, came accompanied by Sir Jogendra Singh, to offer her homage to the memory of the martyrs.

Multan Fort is considered as one of the best forts of the sub-continent

Location:

The Multan Fort was built on a detached, rather, high mound of earth separated from the city by the bed of an old branch of the river Ravi. There is no Fort now as it was destroyed by the British Garrison which was stationed there for a long time but the entire site is known as the Fort. The Fort site now looks as a part of the city because instead of the river it is now separated by a road which looks more like a bazaar and remains crowded throughout the day. Nobody knows when Multan Fort came into being but it was there and it was admired and desired by kings and emperors throughout centuries'.

It was considered as one of the best forts of the sub-continent from the defense as well as architectural points of view. When it was intact its circuit was 6,800 feet or, say, about one and a half mile. It had 46 bastions including two flanking towers at each of the four gates named as the De, the Sakhi. The Hareri and the Khizri Gate.

Khizri Gate:

The Khizri Gate was called so because it led directly to the river which was considered to be under the protection of the saint Khawaja Khizer. Description of the Multan Fort as recorded by John Dun top, who visited the city and the Fort on the eve of the British occupation in 1849 is reproduced below: "The Fort stands on the highest part of the mound on which the town is built it is an ancient formed by a hexagonal wall from forty to seventy feet high, the longest side of which faces the north-west and extends for 600 yards, and which isolates it from the town. A ditch twenty-five feet deep and forty feet wide is on the fort side of the wall, behind which is a glacis exhibiting a face of some eighteen feet high, and so thick as to present an almost impregnable rocky mound. Within the fort, and on a very considerable elevation, stands the citadel, in itself of very great strength. The walls are flanked by thirty towers, and enclose numerous houses, mosques, a Hindu temple of high antiquity, and a Khan's palace, the beauty of which was severely damaged by the battering it got from the guns of Ranjeet Singh in 1818. This fortification is said to be more regular in construction than any other laid down by native engineers. Mr. Vans Agnew-the unfortunate political agent whose murder, with that of his companion, Lieutenant Anderson, gave rise to the recent hostilities to the British Resident at Lahore, that he had seen many forts in India, but one that could compare with Multan the ramparts of which bristled with eighty pieces of ordnance”. A correspondent of Bombay Times, who also visited the Multan Fort around the same time recorded: "The Fortress was filled with stores to profusion. I think Multan is the beau ideal of a Buneca's Fort, or rather fortified shop: Never perhaps in India have such depots existed of merchandise and arms, amalgamated as they with avarice. Here opium, indigo, salt, sulfur, and every known drug, are heaped in endless profusion-there apparently ancient in the bowels of the earth disclose their huge hoards of wheat and rice; here stacks of leather ghee vessels, brimming with the grease, fill the puck a receptacles below ground. The silk and shawls reveal in darkness, bales rise on bales, here some mammoth chest discovering glittering scabbards of gold and gems-there reveals tiers of copper canisters crammed with gold Mohurs: My pen cannot describe the variety of wealth displayed to the inquisitive eyes". Once this was the position of the Multan Fort but during the British occupation everything was lost an finished forever. With the passage of time the British stronghold over India grew stronger and stronger.

History:

Multan Fort was built on a mound separating it form the city by the old bed of river Ravi. There is no Fort now as it was destroyed by the British Garrison which was stationed ,there for a long time, but the entire site is known as the Fort .The walls of the fort were built by Murad Baksh, the son of the Shah Jahan, when he was the viceroy of Multan in the early 17th, century. The Fort site now looks as a part of the city, because instead of the river it is now separated by a road which looks more like a bazaar and remains crowded throughout the day.

The Fort stands on the highest part of the mound on which the town is built, it is an ancient structure formed by a hexagonal wall from forty to seventy feet high, the longest side of which faces the north-west and extends for 600 yards, and which isolates it from the town. Within the fort, and on a very considerable elevation, stands the citadel, in itself of very great strength. The walls are flanked by thirty towers, and enclose numerous houses, mosques, a Hindu temple of high antiquity, and a khan’ s palace the beauty of which was severely damaged by the bettering it got from the guns of Ranjeet Sing in 1818.

Structure:

When intact, its circumference was 6,600 ft. having 46 bastions, including two towers at each of the four gates i.e., Delhi Gate, Khizri Gate, Sikhi Gate and Rehri Gate. The fort was ravaged by the British to avenge the murder of one Mr. Agnew in 1848. At present it is survived by some parts of the old rampart and bastions besides the shrines of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakaria and Shah Rukn-e-Alam, an obelisk in memory of Agnew and a Hindu temple.

Harappa

Location:
One of the two sites of the Indus Valley Civilization, Harappa is located in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and the site lies some 35 kilometers southwest of Sahiwal. Harappa is the first site of the Indus Valley Civilization that was discovered in the 1920s. Harappa is located about 250 kilometers from Lahore.






Harappa has been the center of curiosity and interest among history students, historians and archaeologists since its discovery some 85 years ago. A date with history is what takes many tourists to Harappa. Excavations in Harappa have revealed a civilization, which was excellent in town planning and other sphere of every day life.
But it is the excellent town planning that have received kudos from the historians and archaeologists. The houses at Harappa were built in burned brick and had excellent drainage system. Every house had a well as an integral part of it. Roads were wide and were well connected to the streets. Excavations have unearthed a number of artitacts that provide a glimpse of the way of life and various customs and traditions prevalent in Harappa. The cemeteries found in Harappa gives a clear indication that the Harappan people used to burry their dead. They were fond of wearing necklace, ring, bangle and other jewellery. As, many skeletons found in Harappa had beads and anklets in their grave.
History:
The earliest imprints of human activities in India go back to the Paleolithic Age, roughly between 400,000 and 200,000 B.C. he remains of famous Indus Valley Civilizations were first discovered in 1920-21 when engraved seals were discovered near present-day. It was from here that archaeologists in their quest to find more remains finally bumped into the remains of Moenjodaro in Sind. In fact the Harappan and indus valley civilizations extend to the Yamuna along the bed of the river Ghaggar in Rajhastan, Gujrat and upto the mouths of the rivers Narbada and Tapati. Most of the the major sites of this civilization are in Pakistan. The ruins of Harappa lie 35-km southwest of Sahiwal (about 250 km from Lahore). Situated besides an earlier course of the Ravi River, the remains of Harappa were ravaged by brick-hunters using the material as blast when the railway tracks between Lahore and Multan were laid. However, several cemeteries, which escaped the attention of vandals, have been excavated to reveal the richness and sophistication of its culture. The Hrappan excavations reveal a series of cities, stacked one upon another. The site, with its citadel and great granary, seems similar in many ways to Moenjodaro and like its southern sister-city appear to have thrived around 2000 to 1700 B.C. with an economy based largely on agriculture and trade. The Harappan society seems to have been egalitarian, pursuing a rather simple way of life. The cemeteries discovered at Harappa confirm that the Indus Valley people buried their dead, many of them wearing finger rings, necklaces of steal tile beads, anklets of paste beads, earnings and shell bangles. Copper mirrors, antimony rods, shell spoons and vessels and urns of various shapes and size lay in the graves. Some of the female skeletons had anklets of tiny beads and girdles studded with semi-precious stones.





Structure:
The major cities contained a few large buildings including a citadel, a large bath--perhaps for personal and communal ablution--differentiated living quarters, flat-roofed brick houses, and fortified administrative or religious centers enclosing meeting halls and granaries. Essentially a city culture, Harappan life was supported by extensive agricultural production and by commerce, which included trade with Sumner in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). The people made tools and weapons from copper and bronze but not iron. Cotton was woven and dyed for clothing; wheat, rice, and a variety of vegetables and fruits were cultivated; and a number of animals, including the humped bull, were domesticated. Harappan culture was conservative and remained relatively unchanged for centuries; whenever cities were rebuilt after periodic flooding, the new level of construction closely followed the previous pattern. Although stability, regularity, and conservatism seem to have been the hallmarks of this people, it is unclear who wielded authority, whether an aristocratic, priestly, or commercial minority.
By far the most exquisite but most obscure artifacts of Harappa unearthed to date are steal tile seals found in abundance at Mohenjo-daro. These small, flat, and mostly square objects with human or animal motifs provide the most accurate picture there is of Harappan life. They also have inscriptions generally thought to be in the Harappan script, which has eluded scholarly attempts at deciphering it. Debate abounds as to whether the script represents numbers or an alphabet, and, if an alphabet, whether it is proto-Dravidian or proto-Sanskrit (see Languages of India, ch. 4).

Civilization:
Like the civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece, Harappa grew on the floodplains of a rich and life-giving river, the Indus. The original cities and many of the towns seemed to have been built right upon the shores of the river. The Indus, however, is destructive and unpredictable in its floods, and the cities were frequently leveled by the forces of nature. Mohenjo-Daro in the south, where the flooding can be fairly brutal, was rebuilt six times that we know about; Harappa in the north was rebuilt five times.

The people of Harappa had an economy almost entirely dominated by horticulture. Massive granaries were built at each city, and there most certainly was an elaborate bureaucracy to distribute this wealth of food. The Indus River valley is relatively dry now, but apparently it was quite wet when the Harappans thrived there. We know this because the bricks that they built their cities with were fired bricks; since sun-dried bricks are cheaper and easier to make, we can only assume that over-abundant humidity and precipitation prevented them from taking the cheaper way out. In addition, many of the Harappan seals have pictures of animals that imply a wet and marshy environment, such as rhinoceroses, elephants, and tigers. The Harappans also had a wide variety of domesticated animals: camels, cats, dogs, goats, sheep, and buffalo.


The Harappan civilization was mainly urban and mercantile. Inhabitants of the Indus valley traded with Mesopotamia, southern India, Afghanistan, and Persia for gold, silver, copper, and turquoise. The Mesopotamian model of irrigated agriculture was used to take advantage of the fertile grounds along the Indus River. Earth-links were built to control the river's annual flooding. Crops grown included wheat, barley, peas, melons, and sesame. This civilization was the first to cultivate cotton for the production of cloth. Several animals were domesticated including the elephant which was used for its ivory. Most of the artwork from Harappan civilization was small and used as personal possessions. The first objects unearthed from Harappa (and also Mohenjo-Daro) were small stone seals. These seals were inscribed with elegant portrayals of real and imagined animals and were marked with the Indus script writing. The seals suggest a symbolic or religious intent. Stone sculptures carved in steal l, limestone, or alabaster depict a male figure who may have represented a god. Pottery figures were shaped into humans and animals. Very few bronze figures have been recovered.


The similarities in plan and construction between Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa indicate that they were part of a unified government with extreme organization. Both cities were constructed of the same type and shape of bricks. The two cities may have existed simultaneously and their sizes suggest that they served as capitals of their provinces. In contrast to other civilizations, burials found from these cities are not magnificent; they are more simplistic and contain few material goods. This evidence suggests that this civilization did not have social classes. No hard evidence exists indicating military activity; it is likely that the Harappans were a peaceful civilization. The cities did contain fortifications and the people used copper and bronze knives, spears, and arrowheads.

Fashion:

The exact origins of the IVC people is disputed but appears to belong to four ethnic types including the Protectionists, Mediterraneans, Mongoloids and Alpines. People enjoy a comfortable life with a variety of luxuries like ornaments in agate and gold, cosmetics (kajal) and elaborate toys for children. Painting on pottery is skillful and covers various themes while small sculptures in terracotta (animals, toys), soft stone (bearded man) and metal jewels abound.

The greatest artistic skill is in the seals. These engravings of animals, flowers and other symbols have artistic, religious and economic value .

Town Planning:

The city of Mohenjo Daro is testimony to the town planning activities of the IVC. Cities are divided into lower dwellings & the Citadel which houses important buildings. The streets form a grid system and are of modulated width. Bricks of fixed sizes are used for building while stone and wood are also used.Municipal authorities who are responsible for the whole of the valley also regularly maintain a highly efficient drainage system.Buildings in the lower area are rather monotonous, being mainly functional rather than decorative. But many houses are 2 stored.

Architecture:

Great Bath: Mohenjo Daro has a sophisticated system of water supply & drainage and its brickwork, is highly functional and the amazing part of it is - that it is completely waterproof. The granaries are also intelligently constructed, with strategic air ducts and platform are divided into units.
The Dock at Lothal is to be used for inland & foreign trade.

Religion:

The culture and religion of the IVC overlap and perhaps repetitive symbols such as the pupal leaf and swastika have religious significance. Human die ties include a "proto type of Shiva" and a mother goddess. Animal symbols such as the bull and unicorn and those of tree spirits and water deities are also common.

These are images from the Harappan culture which existed in the Indus River Valley and which reached its peak around 2600 BC, shortly after the development of urban societies in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Additional information can be found on the " India and South Asia " Chronology.