In the course of study of the famous Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilization, new light has been thrown by the recent phase of excavation at Rakhigarhi – Largest site of Indus Valley Civilization. The new and valuable information which surfaced in this excavation shall significantly change our perspective of Indus Valley Civilization, or, more correctly Indus-Saraswati Civilization.
Table of Contents
Basic Introduction about Harappan Civilization
Of the three earliest known civilizations of the world – Ancient Egyptian civilization, Mesopotamian civilization, and the Harappan civilization (all three contemporary), the Harappan civilization is the most widespread. It is also the first known civilization of Indian subcontinent.
The first site of this civilization i.e. Harappa came to light in during the excavations carried out in 1921. This first site gave this Civilization its name i.e. Harappan Civilization. The next site discovered was Mohenjodaro in 1922. Both these places are now in Pakistan.
As these initially discovered sites lie in the Indus river valley, this civilization was also called Indus Valley Civilization. However, with the discovery of more and more sites far away from Indus valley and in the ancient Saraswati river valley, this civilization is now widely known as Indus – Saraswati Civilization. As of now, more than 2000 Harappan Civilization sites have been discovered in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan combined.
It is generally considered that the Harappan Civilization, a Bronze Age Civilization, evolved in 3 phases:
- the Early Harappan Phase from 3300 to 2600 BCE,
- the Mature Harappan Phase from 2600 to 1900 BCE, and
- the Late Harappan Phase from 1900 to 1300 BCE
But latest excavations reveal that this civilization began much earlier in 5th millennia BCE.
Chief features of Harappan civilization are urbanized settlements and remarkable town planning, on the the lines of grid system – that is streets and lanes cutting across one another almost at right angle. This divided the city into several rectangular blocks. Another remarkable feature was the underground drainage system, connecting all houses to the street drains, which were covered by stone slabs or bricks. Further, there was large scale use of burnt bricks which was a major transformation from mud brick houses of Neolithic era.
However, all the sites of Harappan Civilization are not well developed cities. It consists of an entire range including big cities, smaller towns, agriculture settlements, port towns. The 5 biggest cities are Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Ganweriwal (all three in Pakistan), Rakhigarhi and Dholavira (both in India). Of these, Rakhigarhi has emerged as the largest site. The big cities were built as a stratified settlement consisting of a citadel, middle town and lower town.
Harapans were very advanced in in all spheres of economic activity such as agriculture, industry, crafts and trade. A large number of Harappan seals (with various carvings), bronze and copper vessels, pottery, gold, silver and copper ornaments, beads, terracotta figurines from Harappan period has been found, which indicate high degree of workmanship and artisanship achieved by Harappans.
Many seals of Harapan civilization has been found in Mesopotamia, which signifies the trade between the two regions.
About Rakhigarhi
Rakhi Garhi, a village in Hisar district, Haryana, is one of the most important Harappan sites discovered so far. Rakhigarhi is located just 27 km from the Ghaggar river, in the Ghaggar-Hakra river plain (ancient Saraswati river basin). This seasonal river made this area fertile and led to growth of a well developed agricultural settlement.
Rakhigarhi, as a site of Indus Valley Civilization was first reported in 1969, during which were recorded the mature Harappan traditions in town planning, architecture and in arts and crafts at Rakhigarhi.
However, the first phase of excavation could only be carried out in 1998-2001, by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) During this excavation, a large number of artefacts, Harappan seals and structural remains were found. These findings revealed that at Rakhigarhi, before the mature urban Harappan phase, there was an agrarian Early Harappan phase. Thus the chronological span of Rakhigarhi was found to be much large – 4000 BCE to 1900 BCE.
Second phase of excavation was caried out during 2013-16 by Deccan College, Pune, headed by famous archaeologist and prof Vasant Shinde. The DNA study of remains unearthed during this excavation brought new information to light about the Harappan Civilization. The conclusions drawn by Prof Shinde may seem to be a bit far fetched (in want of more evidence), but he presents valuable insights about the Harappan civilization.
In 2020, Rakhigarhi was identified by Govt of India as one of the 5 iconic sites of archaeological significance, to be developed with on-site museums. Thus, the third and latest round of excavation was carried out in 2022 by ASI, under Dr Sanjay Manjul, Joint Director General, ASI, in collaboration with Haryana Government. The objective was to make the archaeological site of Rakhigarhi accessible to people by exposing the structural remains and conserving them for future viewing, and also, to understand the settlement of Rakhigarhi.
So far, seven mounds have been excavated in Rakhigarhi, each of which has revealed a range of artefacts and various structural remains. In the recent phase of excavation, three of the seven mounds – RGR 1, 3 and 7 – were taken up for further excavation and investigation .
Major findings in Rakhigarhi Excavation
Rakhigarhi – Largest site of Indus Valley Civilization
Till now, Mohenjodaro, which is spread over around 300 hectares, was considered the largest site of Harappan Civilization. However, In 2021, archaeologists discovered total 11 mounds at Rakhigarhi (named RGR-1 to RGR-11). GPR survey of the mounds revealed that this Harappan site spreads across almost 550 hectares (almost double that of Mohenjodaro). This has established Rakhigarhi as the largest site of Indus Valley Civilization discovered so far.
Rakhigarhi site spanning across a vast extent of time
Excavations at Rakhigarhi has revealed various occupational phases, ranging from 5th millennia BCE to 3rd millennia BCE. Thus Rakhigarhi had both Early Harappan as well as mature Harappan phase, spanning over a vast extent of time. Notably, Rakhigarhi doesn’t have a Late Harappan phase. It collapsed around 2000 BCE. This may be due to the drying up of river Saraswati river circa 2000 BCE.
Rakhigarhi – A well planned township
The excavation at Rakhigarhi has unearthed remnants of a well planned township such as streets cutting at right angle, mud brick and burnt brick houses, proper drainage system, cemetery. Remnants of a residential complex has also been discovered.
A very remarkable Harappan street that was discovered at RGR-1 mound was 2.6 meter wide and 18 meter in length. The street is between 2 mud-brick structures. These lanes intersected at right angles. Also, at the intersection of lanes, soakage jars were placed to keep the streets clean.
All these evidences reveal the sophistication of Town Planning that was reached at this place.
Two Female skeletons excavated
Two female skeletons, who were buried with a plenty of pottery and adorned jewellery like jasper, agate beads and shell bangles, have been excavated. DNA analysis of these skeletons reveal new information about the chronological extent of this settlement and ancestry and dietary practices of its inhabitants.
Jewellery making factory discovered
One of the major discoveries at Rakhigarhi is a 5000 year old jewellery making unit. Bronze, copper and gold jewelleries were manufactured at this unit.
Apart from this, hearths, kilns, steatite seals with engravings, terracotta figurines of dog and bull, semi-finished and finished beads, jasper, agate, thousands of clay pots, semi-precious stones etc. have also been discovered.
All these evidences reveal that Rakhigarhi was a major metropolis with multifarious activities and a complex society, and also an important trade center.
Evidence of transformation from Early to Mature Harappan phase
Rakhigarhi excavation, for the first time, provided comprehensive evidence of transformation from Early to Mature Harappan Phase, owing to large scale cultural continuity in this area for at least 3000 years. Evidences like changes in crafts, residential arrangement, construction material like mud bricks to burnt bricks, etc show gradual evolution of this site from Early agrarian phase to mature Urban phase.
Major Conclusions
Harappan Civilization much older than what is currently believed
The remnants unearthed from Rakhigarhi, upon radio carbon dating, reveal that the agrarian or Early Harappan phase of this Harappan site began in around 5000 BCE. This has pushed back the antiquity of Harappan Civilization. Thus Harappan Civilization is much older than what is presently believed.
Further, multiple habitation levels, different from Harappan, were discovered while digging deep at RGR-7. This points to a still earlier settlement existing at this site, predating the Harappan Civilization. More information in this regard can prove to be a watershed.
Harappan Civilization started at Saraswati basin and later spread to Indus Valley
Due to the presence of a much earlier Early Harappan phase (5th millenia BCE), experts like Prof Shinde believe that Harappan Civilization was born in this region i.e. Saraswati-Drishadvati basin, and it spread to Indus Valley at a later stage. This is in line with an ASI finding from 2015, which revealed that the Bhirana village excavation site in Haryana is in fact the oldest settlement of Harappan civilization.
This new theory challenges the traditional view that Indus Valley civilization originated in the Punjab and Sindh region of Pakistan, and gradually spread from there.
It must be noted that about 2/3rd of Harappan sites are located in Saraswati basin. Further, apart from River Saraswati and its tributaries, availability of copper in Khetri Mines, Rajasthan, would have contributed to the origin and growth of Bronze age Harappan Civilization in this region.
No Ancestry from Central Asian Pastoralists or Iranian Farmers
DNA analysis of female skeleton excavated from Rakhigarhi reveal that it had majorly two ancestry – Ancient Indian Andamanese (primitive Indians) and Ancient Iranians, and no Central Asian ancestry. This shows that Harappan Civilization was indigenous and it developed before the arrival of Indo-Aryans from Central Asian region.
Indigenous Farming in south Asia
It was also proved that the Iranian ancestry appeared in this female individual around 11,000 years ago, long before the advent of farming in Iran. Thus it was confirmed that agriculture in Harappan Civilization developed indigenously, and farming technology was not brought by migrants from outside.
East to west movement of people
DNA data of the female individual of Rakhigarhi was also found to match with DNA of 11 individuals from two sites in Central Asia – Gonur in Turkmenistan and Shahr-i-Sokhta in Eastern Iran. This proved, for the first time, movement of people from Indus-Saraswati region to Central Asia (i.e. East to west movement). It was also proved that this movement was unidirectional. This was also confirmed by similarity in material culture of these central Asian regions and Harappan Culture.
Thus , these are the evidences of first out of India migration and it shows that there was interaction or trade between the Harappans and people of Central Asia.
However, as acknowledged by the researchers who conducted this study, “there are limitations to our ability to accurately reconstruct the past population structure of an entire civilization based on genome-wide data from a single individual. This may be particularly true of the cosmopolitan Indus Valley Civilization, whose urban centres were spread across thousands of kilometers, over an extensive time period”.
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