Ancient History of Punjab

Ancient History Of Punjab -1

Indus Valley Civilization

(2500 B.C-1750 B.C)

➢ John Marshall was the first to use the term-”Indus Valley Civilization”.
➢ Other names :
○ Harappan Civilization as Harappa was first site discovered
○ Bronze Age Civilization as Bronze was the most prominent metal used
➢ Harappa was discovered by excavator “Dayaram Sahni” in 1921.
➢ 2nd site discovered was Mohenjodaro, by “RD Bannerjee” in 1922.
➢ An important characteristic of the Indus Civilization was its urban
➢ Copper, bronze, silver, gold present but iron was not known.
➢ Raw materials were imported.
➢ Contemporary civilizations:
○ Egyptian Civilization: Along river “Nile”
○ Mesopotamian Civilization: Along river Tigris and Euphrates
○ Chinese Civilization: Along river Huang Ho
➢ Earliest people to produce cotton.

IVC Sites in Punjab

➢ Bara, Dt Rupnagar
○ 6 km from Ropar
○ Findings :
■ Pottery ;
■ bones of indian elephant, domesticated humped cattle of
India , buffalo, domesticated goat, domestic sheep, spotted deer and
pig

➢ Kotla Nihang Khan , Dt Rupnagar
○ Discovered first in 1929 by Vats and again in 1955 by Y.D. Sharma on behalf of the ASI.

➢ Rupnagar, Dt Rupnagar
○ Excavated by YD Sharma in 1952-53.
○ Ropar has the distinction of being the site where the remains of the Harappa civilization were excavated for the first time in post-partition India.
○ Findings :
■ beads and bangles
■ Weights
■ Seal made of steatite
■ A cemetery

➢ Sunet, Ludhiana district
○ Inhabited over an ancient mound
○ Findings :
■ seals
■ Coins
■ Coin moulds
■ Human and animal figurines

➢ Sanghol, Fatehgarh Sahib district
○ Findings :
■ Large no. of terracotta figurines
■ Pottery
■ Copper objects

Vedic Era

(1500 B.C-600 B.C)

➢ The Vedic Age started with the coming of the Aryans or Indo-Aryans.
➢ Some say they originated from the area around the Caspian Sea in Central Asia (Max Muller), while others think they originated from the Russian Steppes.
➢ Bal Gangadhar Tilak was of the opinion that the Aryans came from the arctic region (book- The Arctic Home in the Vedas)
➢ The four Vedas are: Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva. 

➢ Early Vedic Period or Rig Vedic Period (1500 BC – 1000 BC)
○ Rig Veda was composed during the Early Vedic Age.
○ Rig Veda – this is the oldest religious text in the world. It contains 1028 hymns and is classified into 10 mandalas.
○ The women held a high position in the Aryan society.
○ There was no child marriage in the Rig-Veda society.
○ There was no caste system and Social distinctions existed but were not rigid and hereditary.

➢ Later Vedic Period

○ Yajur Veda – this deals with the ways to perform rituals.
○ Sama Veda – deals with music. Indian music is said to be originated from Sama Veda.
○ Atharva Veda – contains spells and magical formula.
○ The Varna system : Brahmanas (priests), Kshatriyas (rulers), Vaishyas (agriculturists, traders and artisans), and Shudras (servers of the upper three classes).
○ This became less based on occupation and more hereditary.

Punjab during Vedic period

Punjab in ancient times was known as the Sapt-Sindhava,
or land of the seven rivers.
➢ Satluj - Satlutri
➢ Beas - Vipash
➢ Ravi - Parushani
➢ Chenab - Asikni
➢ Jhelum - Vitasta
➢ Indus - Sindhu
➢ Saraswati - Sarusti

➢ It is believed that mother of Lard Rama (the great hero of Ramayana- written during Aryan period) belonged to Punjab.
➢ Guru Gobind Singh ji in Dasam Granth has connected Ghuram in Patiala district as the birth place of Mata Kaushalaya- mother of
Lord Rama.

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