Origins of Tamils?[Where are Tamil people from?] PART :49

[Compiled by: Kandiah Thillaivinayagalingam]

Indus Valley[Mohenjo Daro & Harappa] civilization

Excavations in 1920 - 22 at Harappa & Mohenjodaro (which lie in what is now Pakistan) confirmed the existence of a unknown civilization in the Indus Valley.These great cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro, built of brick, including well constructed houses, a regular city plan and an elaborate covered drainage system.

Indications exist that Harappa and Mohenjodaro which were strongly fortified citadels with rectangular watchtowers at regular intervals were seats of centralized government resembling that of autocratic priesthoods or priest-kings who combined the secular and religious administration similar to temple rulers of Ur in Mesopotamia.

Excavations have revealed nine occupation levels,one above the other,indicating long periods of prosperity and then decline.It was finally abandoned around 1700 BC.    

The most characteristics of all objects found are the seals and sealings.Some Indus Valley seals found in Mesopotamian sites have helped to establish the close connections between the two cultures and to fix a date for the Indus Valley civilization.The date of the Indus Valley has been fixed as about 3000 - 1800 B.C.

Reputed archaeologists such as Sir John Marshall,Sir Mortimer Wheeler,Father Heros,Dr. H.R. Hall,Iravatham Mahadevan,Asko Parpola have published their Discoveries and Findings about Indus valley civilization.Indus valley civilization could be called as Tamil civilization,as More evidences are found from the artefacts  excavated,Type & style of the buldings found and the coins & seals used.Because of the different opinions on different characters so far none of the Indus Valley Civilization,could not read completely as no bilingual inscription[or so called rosataston inkiripsan] available for this purpose.However many believe that Harappan is a form of Tamil-Brahmi script.Also the Russian team headed by Yuri Valentinovich Knorozov[November 19, 1922 – March 31, 1999] suggested that  the language of the Indus Valley civilization was probably an older Dravidian.

This Indus Valley is contemporary with the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt.The civilization is famous for its large and well-planned cities and Hygiene,including world's first known urban sanitation systems.Also the evidence suggests that the Indus Valley Civilization had social conditions comparable to Sumeria and even superior to the contemporary Babylonians and Egyptians.Over 1,052 cities and settlements have been found so far.Most of these are small,but amongst them are some of the largest cities of their time,especially Harappa and Mohenjo-daro.The huge Indus river system waters a rich agricultural landscape and this Indus plain is surrounded by high mountains, desert and ocean, and at that time dense forest to the east.The total length of the Indus river is about 3,180 km (1,980 mi) 

Further,the Indus Valley civilisation left no temples or tombs like the Pyramids of Egypt,or Ziggurat of ancient Sumeria[Mesopotamia] and no great statues of kings or gods.Indus Valley people made small figures of people and animals using metal and clay.Only a few small statues survive.One is the Priest-King,with his beard and his patterned robe.Another figure is a 'dancing girl' in bronze,only 11 cm high.This shows that Indus Valley people liked to dance.The dancing girl wears very little,but has lots of bangles on her arms.Her hair is in a plait.

This Indus Valley civilization also raises few unresolved questions.such as:Why did this civilization,considering its sophistication, not spread beyond the Indus Valley?,Why did this civilization not develop agriculture on any large scale?Why did this civilization not practice canal irrigation or did not have the heavy plough? and. Most significantly, under what circumstances did the Indus Valley cities undergo a decline?

PART :50 WILL FOLLOW