People of Indus Civilization
There is a lot of difference among scholars regarding the origin and caste of Indus Civilization.
According to Sir John Marshall, the creators of the Indus Civilization were the people of the Dravidian caste.
According to Prof. Garden Child, the builders of the Indus civilization were Sumerians.
According to Lakshman Swarup, Ramachandran, Shankarananda, Dikshitar and Pusalkar, the builders of the Indus civilization were Aryans. Among these races, the Adi-Austrian, Mediterranean, Mongolian and Alpine were notable. Therefore, it cannot be said with certainty that who were the builders of the Indus civilization.
Animal husbandry
The people here also did animal husbandry. Animal bones found from Harappan sites included bones of cattle, sheep, goats, buffaloes, and pigs. All these animals were domesticated. Bones of wild species like boar, deer and gharial have been found. Bones of fish and birds have also been found. From this it can be ascertained that the Sandhav people also used to eat meat.
Agriculture
Harappans also used to do agriculture, we have got evidence of this from many Harappan sites. Evidence of plowing fields from Kalibanga and earthen plows from Banawali and Cholistan and terracotta figurines of Taurus indicate that agriculture was the main source of subsistence for the Saindhav people. Evidence that grain was produced in large quantities is found from granaries found at Harappa and Mohenjodaro. Most of the Harappan sites are located in semi-arid areas, from which it can be inferred that irrigation was needed for agriculture. The remains of canals have been found from the Harappan site, but not from Punjab and Sindh. It may be that the ancient canals were filled with laps long ago. Irrigation is done with water obtained from wells. The reservoirs found in Dholavira (Gujarat) were used for water harvesting for agriculture.
Dress
The Sandhavas used to wear cotton and woolen clothes. Women used ghagra and tunic was used for special protection. Men had mustaches and beards. They used to tie a bandage around their waist. Both men and women wore jewellery. Necklaces, hair ornaments, bracelets, rings were used by both, but only women used tongs, nose hooks, anklets. Rich people used to wear ornaments made of gold, silver, ivory and precious pearls. The poor people wore jewelry made of shells, bones, copper and stones. A copper mirror has also been found in the excavation. From this it can be ascertained that women must also be doing makeup.
Entertainment
The Harappans preferred to entertain themselves while staying at home. They were not interested in chariot races and hunting. He liked dancing and singing more. He was good at playing dice. Toys have been received from Mohenjodaro. These toys were made of clay. Rattles, whistles, birds, bullock carts, ghosts of men and women have been received in the form of toys. The toys were made of tarricotta.
Art
The people of this civilization were also skilled in art, their skill is known from the pictures of animals carved on the seals. The art of some of the Harappa sculptures is as excellent as that of the Greeks. The pottery of this valley was made on chalk only. They were painted red and black. Some utensils were made smooth and carved. Such (glazed) utensils are the oldest of the utensils in the world. Household utensils were made of clay. Bronze, copper, and silver utensils are also found except iron utensils.
Weapons
The only thing we can say about the weapons of the Saindhav people is that they used weapons like ax, spear, sling, chob, etc. to protect themselves. Most of the weapons are made of copper and bronze. Arrowheads are found in very small quantities. Some weapons have also been found of stone. Evidence of any weapon like shield, headstand has not been found.
Building
Mohenjodaro, the site of Harappa, appears to be a planned city. Mackay says that the arrangement of the roads was such that the wind itself kept cleaning the roads. Those roads intersect each other at right angles. Their houses were made of solid bricks. Simplicity is reflected in the houses, windows have not been used. There was no purdah system among the people. There were huge jars inside the floor to keep grains. Food items like wheat etc. were kept in them. There were brick drains to drain the dirty water from the streets. Each house had one or more bathrooms. From all these things it can be concluded that the Sandhav people kept their houses clean and orderly.
Cremation (funeral)
People of Indus Valley Civilization used to cremate dead bodies in three ways. In some tombs pottery and ornaments have been found, ornaments have been found from the crematoriums of both men and women. Excavations at the Harappa cemetery in the mid-1980s have found three conch rings, jasper (a type of gemstone) beads and hundreds of beads of an ornament near the skull of a male. In some places the dead were buried with copper mirrors. From this it is inferred that the Sandhavas did not believe in burying valuables with the dead.
Many types of evidence have been found for the burial of dead bodies.
Complete burial- In this the entire dead body was buried in the ground.
Partial burial – In this, after the animals and birds have eaten, the remaining part of the dead body was buried in the ground.
Cremation- In this, after burning the dead body completely, the ashes were buried in the ground.
The cemetery located in the south-west of Harappa fort has been named as H. Cemetery.
The head of the dead body found from Lothal is facing east and west and the body is on its side.
Two dead bodies have been found wrapped in a grave from Lothal itself.
The remains of an elliptical tomb have been found at Surkotada.
The remains of a dog along with a man have also been found from a tomb in Rupnagar (Roped).
The evidence of some mass male skeletons found from the last level of excavation of Mohenjodaro has been found.
Both vegetarianism and non-vegetarian food were prevalent.
Evidence of slavery is considered to be the reason - the availability of labor houses near the granaries.
There was no Sati system at that time.
Exceptionally, a joint burial of a woman and a man has been found from Lothal.
The Harappans used to wear embroidered clothes.
The stone idol from Mohenjodaro has a tipatiya (three-leaf) shawl.
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