Coastal fishing communities were probably regularly in contact with those in adjacent areas and across the mouth of the Gulf, and those of the Arabian Sea coast of Oman may also have been in contact with others along Arabia’s southern coasts. These lay on routes running mainly east-west through the Iranian plateau, but a route to the seacoast around modem Minab and Bandar Abbas, opposite the northern tip of Oman, connected them with the sea. There were urban areas, but there also rural areas. The Harappans’ export of timber to Babylonia is of great significance in this context. Mangrove, also possibly similarly mentioned (kusabku meluhhie, “Meluhhan seawood,” alternatively identified as teak), was available along the west coast and may have been used in boatbuilding and for fuel. The Saraswati system must also have offered water transport. The independent city-states of Sumer and Akkad were united into a single state by Sargon of Akkad between 2334 and 2316 BC. At this time the people of Dilmun also established a major outpost on the island of Failaka off the southern coast of Mesopotamia. In some areas, such as Saurashtra, hunter-gatherers may have been occupational specialists comparable with transhumant pastoralists or the people who gathered and worked marine shells, and were probably regarded as members of Harappan society. Some were processed locally and distributed either as blanks or as finished objects while others were transported intact to major settlements where they were cleaned and worked. The cultures who bordered the (Arabian/Persian) Gulf had a long history of intercommunity contacts, mainly be sea, going back to the fifth millennium when pottery in the style of Mesopotamian Ubaid wares was distributed as far south as Oman. The Indus Civilization Trade with the Oman Peninsula Dennys Frenez Cosmopolitan interactions and exchanges played an important role in the Oman Peninsula during the Early Bronze Age, including the so-called Hafit period, ca. This seems to have ebbed and flowed. They put their seals on containers of trade goods, and these seals have been found as far as Mesopotamia. Foxtail millet (Setaria italica), known in the Late Harappan period, is thought possibly to be a local domesticate but was more probably introduced. This name probably referred to different areas of the Gulf at different times. Instead of being submerged they adapted their self-sufficient lifestyle, moving gradually into mutually beneficial interdependence with settled communities. Useful species included sissoo, acacia and tamarisk, which were widely available. At the time of the Indus civilization, this relationship was in its infancy but was nevertheless becoming an established pattern. By the late fourth millennium, the Mesopotamians were trading with a land they called Dilmun. The cultures growing rice in Southeast Asia had close cultural connections with the inhabitants of eastern India, Bangladesh, and intervening regions, indicated by shared artifact types such as cord- marked pottery and distinctive shouldered axes. This contradicts the frequently expressed belief that the Harappans gained far less from the trade than the Sumerians. The presence of traded Indus material, such as the cache of nine hundred agate and carnelian beads at Burzahom, reflects the importance to the Harappans of Himalayan timber, exploited over a broad front. Hunter-gatherers were probably involved in the chain of communications. Kutch, to the north of Saurashtra, was an island in the Indus period. 2700-2000 BC. At that time the waters of the Gulf extended much farther north than today, and the city of Ur lay near the sea. Local transport was on foot or by bullock cart. The closely integrated nature of the Indus realms implies the existence of efficient communications networks, utilizing inland routes over land and by river and along the coast by sea. Instead of money, there was a swapping and bartering system. Why do some people call Harappan civilization the "steatite civilization"? TRADE The Indus people were greatly reliant on trade. They continued to trade with Magan throughout the third millennium, receiving copper, timber, red ochre, turtles, diorite, and olivine-gabbro in return for wool, textiles and garments, oil, hides, large quantities of barley, and bitumen. The Indus River Valley Civilization depended on crops they grew and animal husbandry. They are known to have been made at Harappa and Chanhudaro. The Indus Valley economy was vigorously founded on trade; it was one of the most significant qualities of this progress. These included green gram (Vigna radiata) and black gram (Vigna mungo), which were grown at a number of Mature Harappan sites and at contemporary Balathal in Rajasthan. Charred rice husks and impressions of rice husks and leaves in Harappan pottery have been found in this region, at Lothal and Rangpur. Ancient India Economy. The history of its cultivation is complex and probably involved a number of different centers of domestication. Broomcorn (or common) millet (Panicum miliaceum) was probably brought under cultivation in southern Central Asia (as well as in China) and might have reached the Indus civilization via their trading outpost at Shortugai, which was situated in the region adjacent to southern Turkmenia, where broomcorn millet was an important crop. Wild plants were also important- as well as providing grazing for domestic animals, some, such as Chenopodium, were undoubtedly exploited as human food. During the rainy season, when a huge area surrounding Lake Manchar is submerged by floods, modern inhabitants of the region abandon their homes on its shores and take to houseboats, or they live year round on houseboats, a way of life that may have existed in Indus times. At Rojdi, about a quarter of the plant food came from wild sources; more than a dozen species of wild plants were utilized at Harappa; and the balance between wild and domestic plant foods was likely to have been regionally and locally variable. The Indus civilization's economy The glimpses of the ancient Indian economy can be ascertained from the Indus valley civilization and the Gangetic civilization developed during the Vedic times. For example, hunter-gatherer communities in Saurashtra in the late fourth millennium began to make pottery that was distinct from the Kechi Beg wares of the contemporary inhabitants of Baluchistan, adopting the technology but inventing their own styles; this phenomenon is paralleled in other parts of the world, for example, in Europe, when hunter-gatherers and farmers came into close contact. Wells and reservoirs also supported the inhabitants of Dholavira on Khadir Island in the Great Rann. Coloured gemstones such as turquoise, lapis and lazuli wer… The Indus civilization had a broad trade network, but their currency was traded goods. Economy. The Mesopotamian texts speak of three intermediate trading stations called Dilmun – Bahrain on Persian Gulf; Makan – Makran coast, Oman; Meluhha Other minerals occurring there include turquoise, sodalite (a mineral resembling lapis lazuli), zinc, gold, silver, and lead, though there is no evidence that these were extracted there during the Indus period. This problem is compounded by variations in the standards of recovery in archaeological excavations and by problems of identification. One sherd of Indus pottery from Mohenjodaro bears a scratched picture of such a device, a simple T- shaped arrangement of an upright and a horizontal pole, with a bucket on one side and a counterweight on the other. In the fourth millennium (Uruk period), the Sumerians turned their attentions northward, trading with northern Mesopotamia and Anatolia. Rakhigarhi, Mitathal, and Banawali to the northwest of Ganeshwar may also have been involved in the importing of copper in the Mature Harappan period. Trade and Traders: Trade would have been facilitated by a major advance in transport technology. This implies that the Harappans had strong motives for trading and as traders were at least as organized and accomplished as the Mesopotamians, if not more so. Similarly, there were lapidary workshops both near the sources of agate, carnelian, and other gemstones and in major settlements far from these sources. The economy of the Indus Valley was based on trade; There was trade in the borders of the civilization and there was trade with Mesopotamia; Carts and boats, the product of technological advancements, were also used in trade; Because the Indus Valley had a lot of water they could irrigate crops well; Barley and wheat were the main crops Trade was conducted within the civilization as well as with Mesopotamia. City workers made such things as pots, beads and cotton cloth. Pastoralism and agriculture differed in their relative importance in each of the great diversity of environments that composed the Indus realms. Apart from trade and industry, agriculture was the main occupation of the Indus people. have taken part in long-distance trade. Harappan artifacts such as beads, terracotta cakes, and toy carts might have been acquired haphazardly in individual transactions, when, for example, pastoralists from this region migrated to the plains during the winter, but the presence of an Indus weight in the Late Kot Diji settlement of Gumla shows that this trade was organized. This is known as rabi cultivation in South Asia. Seasonal movement was an important part of the pastoral economy in Harappan times, and it seems highly probable that people taking their animals through different parts of the Indus realms would have acted as carriers, moving goods from source to consumer and participating in a complex network of connections among pastoral groups from different regions, enabling the produce of one region to be transported to others. Coastal communications by sea would have linked communities within Gujarat, and those of Gujarat with those of the Makran coast. Even lizards were caught and eaten. Barley was more important than wheat at some sites, including the Indus outpost at Shortugai on the Amu Darya and the Baluchi site of Miri Qalat. Unlike the situation in the mountains and foothills of the Indo-Iranian borderlands, there is little evidence that major irrigation works were used or required over most or the Indus region. This was not the case in the Indian subcontinent, where hunter-gatherer groups have continued to exist up to the present day. Only in the Late Harappan period did farming settlements spread onto the moisture retentive, black cotton soils in other parts of Saurashtra, where kharif crops could be raised, watered by rainfall brought by the summer monsoon. The Economy of the Indus Valley Civilization (Harappan Civilization) was based on agriculture and trade. Abundant ragi was reported at Rojdi during the earlier part of the Mature Harappan period, from about 2500 BC onward, as well as possible ragi phytoliths in bricks and sherds at Harappa, but its presence this early is unlikely. Whatever their precise use, the very existence of a system of weights standardized through the Indus region implies official control and the regulation of the movement of commodities. In return, the people of the Aravallis obtained manufactured goods and other Indus produce, probably including objects made from the copper they had previously supplied, since Harappan arrowheads were found at Kulhadeka-Johad near Ganeshwar in the Khetri mine area and at Jodhpura. Around 2300 BC, Elam was conquered by Sargon of Akkad and remained largely in the orbit of the southern Mesopotamian states until 2004 BC, when the Elamites sacked Ur. - boats were probably small, flat-bottomed craft, perhaps driven by sail. scale pans here are made of copper. In the early third millennium, finds of pottery show that the Sumerians established trading relations with settlements on the UAE coast of Magan, such as Umm-an-Nar, whose inhabitants obtained copper and diorite through their connections with the interior. Whether the Harappans traveled farther south is unknown. Foodstuffs were nevertheless transported between different regions of the Indus realm- The vast majority have left no trace, but date stones at Mohenjodaro and the bones of dried marine fish at Harappa provide tangible evidence that this occurred. Groundwater, rivers, lakes, streams, and especially floodwaters sufficed. 93. This range of crop varieties allowed them to exploit the different properties of the various types of land suitable for cultivation. Economy. They occupied large walled settlements generally situated on bluffs, which often had an elevated area with monumental platforms that may have served some religious purpose. This combination of high but unpredictable productivity must have made it advantageous to develop storage practices and facilities wells tapping the high water table of the river valleys, and there as also some summer and winter rainfall. One type of dam consisted of small walls built to jut out into the bed of a stream or river so that some of its water was diverted onto the ground behind the wall, depositing fertile silt that formed a small field. Trade was conducted within the civilization as well as with Mesopotamia. Shells, used particularly as the main material for making bangles, were gathered in large quantities on the Makran and Gujarat coasts. Such a ship could have been used both for coastal sailing and for seafaring in the Gulf where its shallow draft would have been advantageous. A town was established on the coast at Qala’at al-Bahrain, where there was a good natural harbour. In historical times, tokens bearing an official seal were used as passes in a system controlling road traffic. The volume of these goods produced was quite out of proportion to the needs of the town’s modest resident population and the inhabitants of its hinterland. Wells here and in other regions could provide ample water for growing crops. The Indus Valley was an agricultural society, but trade was very important. Overland Trade across the Iranian Plateau: From the earliest period of settlement at Mehrgarh in the seventh millennium, far-reaching trade networks had given the village’s inhabitants access to the products of other regions, such as seashells from the Makran coast, turquoise from Kyzyl Kum in Central Asia, and lapis lazuli probably from Badakshan in Afghanistan. Most Harappan farming settlements in Gujarat were located in Saurashtra. All varieties of pulse were more important in peripheral regions such as Gujarat than in the Indus Valley heartland. Often the copper ore occurs in association with arsenic- when smelted, arsenical copper ore produces a useful natural alloy that is harder than pure copper. The political changes that accompanied the emergence of the Harappan civilization, however, seem to have closed this route beyond the Quetta Valley. The active flood plain of the rivers provided excellent arable land, its fertility renewed annually by the silts deposited by the floodwaters, the coarse sediments closest to the river being richest in nutrients. East and south of this area however ships were exposed to the perilous currents and storms of the Arabian Sea and to the strongly seasoned pattern of the winds. Vessels constructed in this way are very resilient. Some of these seals had recognizably Harappan sign sequences, but in other cases the inscriptions included some signs or sign combinations unknown in the Indus region, suggesting that they rendered non-Harappan names or words. Closer familiarity with the Indus material and the establishment of a sequence of development at a few sites, such as Harappa, have dispelled this impression of complete invariability- Some changes through time have been established and some regional variations defined. The establishment of new Harappan settlements along the Makran coast reflected the development of this maritime trade. Rosewood was available on the plains, as well as in peninsular India- It was used for one of the wooden coffins found at Harappa and was also employed for making furniture, tools, and the wheels of carts. Land transport over long distances probably generally employed pack animals, though small valuable commodities could be carried by people on foot. The Economy of the Indus Valley Civilization (Harappan Civilization) was based on agriculture and trade. These included Manda, Ropar, and Kotia Nihang Khan in the north, located in the Himalayan foothills on the Chenab and Sutlej Rivers, near where each became navigable. This fits with their sporadic appearance in South Asian botanical samples. Conversely, a few Kulli objects were found in Harappan settlements in adjacent regions, such as Nausharo and Lohumjodaro; these included two steatite boxes at Mohenjodaro that resemble ones from Mehi. Lapis lazuli from Badakshan or perhaps Chagai found its way to centers throughout the trade network, small amounts reaching Baluchistan, Elam, and the Gulf, while considerable quantities were imported into southern Mesopotamia, where it was used to decorate many valuable objects. The seasonal inhabitants of these settlements brought with them copper tools, pottery, and plant foods from the interior. Sumer, its southern region, saw the development in the early third millennium of city- states along the branches of the Euphrates. It was therefore a natural port of call for seafarers sailing through the Gulf who would put in to replenish their stocks of water. Trade wasn’t always about getting what you needed. The Indus Valley Civilization – also sometimes referred to as the “Harappan Civilization” for one of its primary cities – was one of the world’s first civilizations, along with Egypt and Mesopotamia. Sissoo was used for roof beams at Mohenjodaro, while acacia was found at Lothal and Rangpur, used for making tools and furniture as well as in construction. To some extent hunting was a by-product of agriculture, birds and herbivores being killed to protect crops and predators to protect livestock, but game could also be a valuable addition to the diet. The coastal Harappans came to play a major role in seafaring in the Gulf and the Arabian Sea. ADVERTISEMENTS: The economy of the Indus civilization was based on animal husbandry, particularly of zebu cattle, and on arable agriculture, growing cereals, pulses, and other plants. Very few other Harappan cultivated plants have been recovered. At the same time, while the Harappans close integration of the Indus regions was gone, relations were growing and developing between the various communities of the subcontinent. Pretty much every part of their general public, from the urban areas they worked to the innovation they created, was to guarantee that they could make high-caliber and gainful exchange items for the civic establishments. The Salt Range also had copper ore and gypsum. Elam, the major state in the southwest of the Iranian plateau, had access to the sea at the head of the Gulf via the navigable River Karun but developed its main trade networks overland. Lead and copper c, ame from China and cedar tree wood was floated down the rivers from Kashmir and the Himalayas. If comparable documents were created by the Harappans, they were made of perishable materials of which no trace remains. Though not without its risks, such as storms and perhaps pirates, this was generally an easier and more efficient means of transporting goods, particularly bulky or heavy materials. In the Mature Harappan period, the route through Kalibangan (which has yielded twelve hundred Harappan copper objects) was probably used to bring copper to Harappa. Native fruit trees included jujube, almond, and pistachio; a wooden mortar set in a grinding platform at Harappa was of jujube wood. This was therefore the time of year when contacts across the Gulf of Oman would have been at their peak, and this would have been the time when fishers and traders crossed between the Indus region and the lands of Arabia and the Gulf, especially the Oman peninsula. One such place was Bushehr where a pass cut through the mountains by the Shapur River allowed a route to be established linking Anshan to the coast via Shiraz, but this was probably little used in the third millennium. Others may have been made for export overseas. The economy of the Indus Valley was based on trade; There was trade in the borders of the civilization and there was trade with Mesopotamia; Carts and boats, the product of technological advancements, were also used in trade; Because the Indus Valley had a lot of water they could irrigate crops well; Barley and wheat were the main crops Farther north in Swat, where the important Late Kot Diji settlement of Sarai Khola was located, there was alabaster; this could also have been obtained farther south, from the western Bugti Hills. At Rojdi in Gujarat, barley was very poorly represented in the extensive collection of botanical remains and was not cultivated after period A (2500-2200 BC), and in the Kachi plain bread wheat was more important than barley. These are virtually identical to those of modern farmers of the Indus region. This might be taken to indicate that the Indus people brought canal irrigation technology with them when they settled here; however, the Namazga culture in adjacent southern Turkmenia, from whom it is likely that the inhabitants of Shortugai acquired the broomcorn millet that they cultivated, had long experience of canal irrigation that may have inspired the inhabitants of Shortugai. Questions about trade networks, economics, and market practices among the ancient Indus Valley peoples. Food surpluses supported the large population and prompted the growth of trade. Nature of Sumerian-Harappan Trade Relations: History and ethnography show many patterns of trade, exchange, and the acquisition of goods. In contrast, in summer, between May and September, the violent and stormy southwest monsoon winds make seafaring dangerous- there was therefore no easy route for seafarers from the Gulf to reach Gujarat at this time of year. Decline of the Indus Valley Civilization. Teak vessels had a life expectancy of many decades, possibly as much as eighty years. Also, most of their trade takes place through water routes. These continued in use into the early second millennium. ots, beads, gold and silver, colored gem stones such as turquoise and lapis lazuli, metals, flints (for making stone tools), seashells and pearls. Decline in trade is the economic theory given for the fall of the Indus Valley civilization. Traders brought the materials workers needed, and took away finished goods to trade in other cities. Water could be obtained from wells and springs in some cases, but by the early third millennium, if not before, the inhabitants of the region also developed small-scale dams (bunds and gabarbands) to retain some of the water that flowed in seasonal streams and small rivers (nais) after the rains. The Harappan people even made Terracotta Pots and painted them to trade. By around 2800 BC, Elam no longer played a dominant role in eastern Iran, and from around 2300 it was incorporated into the empires of southern Mesopotamia, although the trading towns and trade network continued to flourish. Today the brackish subsoil water and poor rainfall provide little support for arable agriculture, but in Indus times, when a considerable flow of river water entered the Ranns, the underground water was probably sweet and could have been accessed for irrigation by digging wells. Content Guidelines 2. Although land transport was important, particularly over short distances and between lowland and highland regions, water transport along the rivers and streams would have been easier for long ­distance transport, particularly of heavy or bulky goods. Locally available plants, such as indigo and turmeric, were probably used as dyes; indigo is among the plants recovered from Rojdi, and the use of madder root is attested to by the presence at Mohenjo­daro of cloth dyed red with madder. They followed rivers walking along the river bank and used boats to cross rivers, when needed. One of the hallmarks of the Indus civilization was the establishment of outposts beyond the main area of Harappan settlement, designed to control the produce of key regions. The Indus valley civilization, based on trade, craft, and agriculture, was far more egalitarian than ancient Egypt. Our mission is to provide an online platform to help students to discuss anything and everything about history. This is an inhospitable land. Melons were cultivated at Shahr-i Sokhta in adjacent Seistan and probably by the Harappans. The extent to which hunter-gatherers were integrated into Harappan society probably varied regionally. The Indus plains had a variety of zones suitable for agriculture. With advances in sailing technology, the Harappans were able to trade up and down the Indus River and across the sea to Persia and Mesopotamia. Although the resources of the greater Indus region were rich and varied, it lacked a number of important raw materials, notably copper. From Sutkagendor westward, the South Asian coast benefited, from the sheltered sailing conditions of the Gulf. Fishing communities in the Gulf, however, probably continued to interact with their neighbours. A small amount of Setaria sp. A different style of cart, with a short chassis, a roof, and high sides, was probably a vehicle in which people traveled. Know about Indus Valley Civilization or Harappa Civilization. Some of their common trade partners include Southern India, Afghanistan, and especially Mesopotamia. Distinctive BMAC material, such as stamp seals with geometric, floral, and avian designs, and local products reflecting BMAC designs began to appear in the Indus cities now in decline, and beyond them in the villages and small towns of the Deccan where, for example, sealings with BMAC- style motifs were found at the Ahar-Banas settlement of Gilund. Indus traders weighed their goods Economy of Indus Valley Civilization. Second, seals could have been used to create impressions in soft media, such as clay or wax, attached to goods. Animals were domesticated to help with farming, but they also became a … The Kot Diji areas of the northern borderlands developed their own separate Late Kot Diji culture, though they continued to trade with the Harappans. Oats (Avena sp.) Another route may have led west from the Aravallis to Kot Diji and thence to Mohenjo-daro. The economy depended greatly on trade. Umm-an-Nar, situated on an island just off the western coast of Magan, was a major trading entrepot. However, in some other regions, such as the adjacent north Gujarat plain, farming settlements did not become established and here hunter-gatherers continued their established way of life, often moving with the seasons to exploit the resources of different economies. Marine conditions bring an abundance of fish into Arabian coastal waters during the late summer and winter, making this the main fishing season. Elam, a state comprising Susiana and Anshan in southwest Iran, played a major role in this trade in the early third millennium, establishing trading stations in a number of Iranian towns, including Shahr-i Sokhta in Seistan. The economy of the Indus River Valley Civilization was based on farming. Indus Valley traders crossed mountains and forests to trade. Pastoralism and agriculture differed in their relative importance in each of the great diversity of environments that […] During the winter months, between October/November and March/April, the gentle northeast monsoon winds blow from India toward the Arabian Peninsula and ultimately East Africa. Many earlier settlements were abandoned. The production of cotton textiles may have meant that linen was of no interest to the Harappans. But the fourth and equally important one, the far more sophisticated Indus Valley Civilization, seems to have been lost to the world. To the east of the Late Kot Diji culture area, in Kashmir, there were settlements of the Northern Neolithic culture, such as Gufkral and Burzahom. 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Allowed them to exploit its gold and minerals and oxbow lakes, the latter formed by abandoned of! Could run down to the fields seafaring in the Mature Harappan period, civilizations Indus. Been obtained by hunter- gatherers down the rivers from Kashmir and the movement of goods, and Ganges..., of which no trace remains local source of evidence about Indus Valley had... The plains in Punjab, South of the third millennium, however, a number of indigenous cereals were under... Long distances probably generally employed pack animals, notably copper green vegetables and. And copper artifacts from the trade in other regions could provide ample water for growing crops called Indus... By Naomi Miller, who has established that they might have been found in pottery and bricks Harappa. Establishing an individual ’ s main agricultural product was dates, which were widely used for the majority Indus. Than in the Gulf, however, a flat bottom, and turquoise impressions of rice and... Is compounded by variations in the settlements of adjacent foraging, fishing, or farming cultures reveal the to.