Sunday, September 14, 2003		Books

Cold water on Indus Age theories
Jaswant Singh

The Indus Civilisation
by Gregory L. Possehl. Vistaar Publications, New Delhi. Pages 276. Rs 495.

THE Archaeological Survey of India made epoch-making discoveries in the twenties of the last century at Harappa on the left bank of the Ravi (now in Pakistan) and Mohenjo-daro in Sind to reveal that in the third millennium BC, there existed in India, a full-fledged civilisation based on a highly developed urban economy. Since then a large number of sites have been discovered from the foot of the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea, mainly lining the course of the Indus and its tributaries, and also along the former course of the Ghaggar which passed through Bahawalpur and Bikaner.

This discovery pushed India’s claim to antiquity far back into the past and gave it a place among the countries of the ‘most ancient East.’ The Indus Valley culture became as distinctive as the Sumerian, Mesopotamian and Egyptian cultures. But unlike the other West Asian countries that built magnificent temples for their gods and palaces and tombs for their kings, the Indus Valley civilisation raised structures for the convenience of its citizens.

Who were these peoples of the Indus Valley who interacted and traded with contemporary civilisations? Had they come from outside or was their culture indigenous with roots in the country? What did these urban people do for a living? What did they manufacture and trade in? How did this magnificent civilisation come to an end? Was it an unexplained catastrophe or was it a changing climate that brought about a decline in agricultural production? Did the advancing desert overwhelm the cultivated areas?

These are riddles that have remained mostly unsolved. Experts the world over are trying to find acceptable explanations for the decline, rather disappearance of this culture. This book by a well-known anthropologist puts together all that is known about this fascinating culture. He examines the economic, agricultural, religious and artistic aspects of this ancient civilisation and draws some startling conclusions.

He comes out with theories that would upset scholars and writers of textbooks. His first point of difference with the early writers is about how these urban settlements were ruled. He asserts that this civilisation was not ruled by any priest-kings. The image that has been accepted as that of a priest-king, he says, has not been correctly described. He maintains that there is no definite evidence about the nature of the political set-up of this age and finds it more reasonable to believe that they had a corporate system of governance without kings or emperors.

He also contests the theory that the high mounds at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa were citadels and makes the point that the elevated area at Mohenjo-daro has no fortification. But his most startling observation is that what have all along been described as ’ at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, offer no evidence of being grain-storage facilities. He describes them as warehouses.

On the question who the Indus people were and what language they spoke, he maintains that all of them were not dark-skinned Dravidians though some of them might have been dark-skinned, given the hot tropical environment of the area. As far as their language is concerned, he finds it difficult to make a correct assessment on the basis of archaeology alone, unaided by texts. He finds it more reasonable to believe that the Indus people spoke many languages, probably from different language families.

But the real bombshell comes when he discusses the causes of the disappearance of this civilisation without leaving any trace behind. He hotly contests the theory of early historians that an Aryan invasion destroyed the Indus civilisation. He finds no evidence of an invasion and opines that the arrival of the Aryans was more in the nature of a movement of cattle pastoralists looking for pastureland for their cattle than a military conquest. The Aryans, he points out, did not come to Punjab in a rush as an invasion would require, but they came over a long period, maybe centuries. He refuses to accept the description of battles in the Rig Veda as evidence of the sacking of the Indus civilisation. These battles, he maintains, relate to life in ancient Punjab during the early Iron Age, almost a millennium after the disappearance of the Indus civilisation.

These and several other explosive observations of the author, who has been associated with excavations at many sites in the sub-continent and has done extensive research on the Indus civilisation, make this volume valuable for scholars, students and lay readers alike. If anything, he makes the riddle of the Indus Age all the more enigmatic.