List of inventions and discoveries of the Indus Valley Civilization
The list of inventions and discoveries of the Indus Valley Civilization refers to the technological and civilizational achievements of the Indus Valley Civilisation, a lost civilization which flourished in the Bronze Age around the Indus River basin in what is today mainly Pakistan and northwest portions of the Republic of India. It is also called the Harappan Civilization, after one of its the centres, Harappa.
Inventions
- Button, ornamental: Buttons—made from seashell—were used in the Indus Valley Civilization for ornamental purposes by 2000 BCE.[1] Some buttons were carved into geometric shapes and had holes pieced into them so that they could attached to clothing by using a thread.[1] Ian McNeil (1990) holds that: "The button, in fact, was originally used more as an ornament than as a fastening, the earliest known being found at Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley. It is made of a curved shell and about 5000 years old."[2]
- Cockfighting: Cockfighting was a pastime in the Indus Valley Civilization in what today is Pakistan by 2000 BCE.[3] The Encyclopædia Britannica (2008)—on the origins of cockfighting—holds: "The game fowl is probably the nearest to the Indian red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus), from which all domestic chickens are believed to be descended...The sport was popular in ancient times in India, China, Persia, and other Eastern countries and was introduced into Greece in the time of Themistocles (c. 524–460 BCE). The sport spread throughout Asia Minor and Sicily. For a long time the Romans affected to despise this "Greek diversion," but they ended up adopting it so enthusiastically that the agricultural writer Columella (1st century CE) complained that its devotees often spent their whole patrimony in betting at the side of the pit."[4]
- Plough, animal-drawn: The earliest archeological evidence of an animal-drawn plough dates back to 2500 BCE in the Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan.[6]
- Ruler: Rulers made from Ivory were in use by the Indus Valley Civilization in what today is Pakistan and some parts of Western India prior to 1500 BCE.[7] Excavations at Lothal (2400 BCE) have yielded one such ruler calibrated to about 1/16 of an inch—less than 2 millimeters.[7] Ian Whitelaw (2007) holds that 'The Mohenjo-Daro ruler is divided into units corresponding to 1.32 inches (33.5 mm) and these are marked out in decimal subdivisions with amazing accuracy—to within 0.005 of an inch. Ancient bricks found throughout the region have dimensions that correspond to these units.'[8] Shigeo Iwata (2008) further writes 'The minimum division of graduation found in the segment of an ivory-made linear measure excavated in Lothal was 1.79 mm (that corresponds to 1/940 of a fathom), while that of the fragment of a shell-made one from Mohenjo-daro was 6.72 mm (1/250 of a fathom), and that of bronze-made one from Harapa was 9.33 mm (1/180 of a fathom).'[9] The weights and measures of the Indus civilization also reached Persia and Central Asia, where they were further modified.[9]
- Stepwell: Earliest clear evidence of the origins of the stepwell is found in the Indus Valley Civilization's archaeological site at Mohenjodaro in Pakistan.[10] The three features of stepwells in the subcontinent are evident from one particular site, abandoned by 2500 BCE, which combines a bathing pool, steps leading down to water, and figures of some religious importance into one structure.[10] The early centuries immediately before the common era saw the Buddhists and the Jains of India adapt the stepwells into their architecture.[10] Both the wells and the form of ritual bathing reached other parts of the world with Buddhism.[10] Rock-cut step wells in the subcontinent date from 200-400 CE.[11] Subsequently the wells at Dhank (550-625 CE) and stepped ponds at Bhinmal (850-950 CE) were constructed.[11]
See also
- ^ a b Hesse, Rayner W. & Hesse (Jr.), Rayner W. (2007). Jewelrymaking Through History: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. 35. ISBN 0-313-33507-9.
- ^ McNeil, Ian (1990). An encyclopaedia of the history of technology. Taylor & Francis. 852. ISBN 0-415-01306-2.
- ^ Sherman, David M. (2002). Tending Animals in the Global Village. Blackwell Publishing. 46. ISBN 0-683-18051-7.
- ^ Cockfighting. Encyclopædia Britannica 2008
- ^ Dales (1974)
- ^ Lal, R. (August 2001). "Thematic evolution of ISTRO: transition in scientific issues and research focus from 1955 to 2000". Soil and Tillage Research 61 (1-2): 3–12 [3]. doi:10.1016/S0167-1987(01)00184-2.
- ^ a b Whitelaw, page 14
- ^ Whitelaw, page 15
- ^ a b Iwata, 2254
- ^ a b c d Livingston & Beach, 20
- ^ a b Livingston & Beach, page xxiii
Sources
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- Bell, John (2000). Strings, Hands, Shadows: A Modern Puppet History. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-89558-156-6.
- Brown, W. Norman (1964). "The Indian Games of Pachisi, Chaupar, and Chausar". Expedition, 32-35. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. 32 (35).
- Dales, George (1974). "Excavations at Balakot, Pakistan, 1973". Journal of Field Archaeology 1 (1-2): 3–22 [10]. doi:10.2307/529703. JSTOR 529703.
- Davreu, Robert (1978). "Cities of Mystery: The Lost Empire of the Indus Valley". The World’s Last Mysteries. (second edition). Sydney: Readers’ Digest. ISBN 0-909486-61-1
- Encyclopedia of Indian Archaeology (Volume 1). Edited by Amalananda Ghosh (1990). Massachusetts: Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 90-04-09264-1.
- Ghosh, S.; Massey, Reginald; and Banerjee, Utpal Kumar (2006). Indian Puppets: Past, Present and Future. Abhinav Publications. ISBN 81-7017-435-X.
- Iwata, Shigeo (2008), "Weights and Measures in the Indus Valley", Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures (2nd edition) edited by Helaine Selin, Springer, 2254–2255, ISBN 978-1-4020-4559-2.
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- Livingston, Morna & Beach, Milo (2002). Steps to Water: The Ancient Stepwells of India. Princeton Architectural Press. ISBN 1-56898-324-7.
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- Possehl, Gregory L. (2002). The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective. Maryland: Rowman Altamira. ISBN 0-7591-0172-8.
- Pruthi, Raj (2004). Prehistory and Harappan Civilization. New Delhi: APH Publishing Corp. ISBN 81-7648-581-0.
- Rao, K. Anantharama (2000). Vision 21st Century. India: Vidya Publishing House [Michigan: University of Michigan]. ISBN 81-87699-00-0
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- Upadhyaya, Bhagwat Saran (1954). The Ancient World. Andhra Pradesh: The Institute of Ancient Studies Hyderabad.
- Varadpande, Manohar Laxman (2005). History of Indian Theatre. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. ISBN 81-7017-430-9.
- Whitelaw, Ian (2007). A Measure of All Things: The Story of Man and Measurement. Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-37026-1.