My second lecture, The Meluhhan City State, on the INDUS VALLEY civilization, is now available online. (My lecture begins about 5 mins after the recording starts.) Check it out! Below are the notes followed by the link to the lecture. Please do leave a comment if you hear the lecture! ARCH 251 WORLD ARCHITECTURE Notes on THE MELUHHAN CITY STATES. © Vikramāditya Prakāsh 1. Geography, 30Ma years ago +. The great continental collision produces the Himalayas, the Monsoons and the drainage of the Indian ‘subcontinent’. The rivers establish the primary zones of inhabitation: 1. Indus-Ghagger Hakra 2. Gangetic. 3. The Deccan (Southern) river valleys (mostly East flowing, except Narmada). The Western Ghats and also in part the Eastern coast are special zones, of much less agricultural value and become zones of international trade and co-mingling. Khyber and Bolan Passes and coastal routes connect India to the Eurasian and African world. 2. Out of Africa, 50,000BP Old Theories of civilizational migration out of Africa vs. newest DNA mapping evidence. Humans are nomadic beings as much as they are settling. India gets ‘M130’ + ‘M20’ strand DNAs. 3. Bhimbetka, primarily around 8000 BCE – 0: located at the crossroads of the South Asian subcontinent, on the Narmada. Consists of shallow rock-shelters, rather than deep protected caves = locational advantage vs. sense of shelter. Usual compendium of hunting art. Exceptionally, a larger than life orange boar, juxtaposed next to frail human stick figures, can be interpreted as a manifestation of the primacy of the ‘larger than personal life’ naturalistic realm, in the mythic imagination of the settlers. 4. Mehrgarh, 7000 – 3000BCE Long in habited site, precursor to the Indus civilization. Again, locational advantage is key; trade connectivity to Mesopotamia (and China?). Bolan river and Bolan Pass. “Doorless” dwellings. Shared outdoor common spaces. Retained importance as ancestral places of burial even after the Meluhha moved. (‘Meluhha’ is the presumed name of these people, deducted from Sumerian inscriptions.) 5. The Great Transformation of 2800BCE Eurasia flourishes (bump in coastal shipping technology?). The Meluhhans build an interconnected urban civilization. 5 major cities: Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Rakhigarhi, Ganweriwala and Dholavira (modern names). 100s of smaller towns and villages. Excavations still significantly incomplete. Two major river systems: the Indus and the Ghagger-Hakra. Trade and connectivity. Seals and language. Specialized towns like Lothal, likely a inland port/dry dock. There does not seem to have been one dominant state, or an overall capital, suggesting a kind of a political scape of competitive ‘city- states’ (term usually used to describe northern Italian Renaissance cities.) 6. Hydraulic Engineering: Mohenjodaro and Harappa City building as, first and foremost, hydraulic engineering. Local mounds + built up platforms + thick mud and mud brick walls + efficient drainage systems. Efficient drainage was not just to keep the cities clean, but to ensure rapid drainage after flooding since the city was always in danger of became a ‘swimming pool’ (remember New Orleans?). Bigger cities had distinct hierarchy called by archaeologists (badly) as consisting of a ‘citadel’ and the ‘lower town’. Major and minor streets. Gridded layout. Inward looking courtyard based housing; some double storied. Wells for fresh water. Made from fired mud bricks. Cities literally built over the same walls (up to seven times) after flooding. 7. Persistent Modernity: a ‘secular’ civilization The Meluhha had an active metaphysical system, that was likely precursor to Arya- Hinduism. But, the great USP was that the civilization was distinguished by its lack of monumental sacred structures in spite of significant access to excess wealth, technology and social hierarchy. This makes the civilization ‘secularist’ in that it seems to have maintained rigorous segregation between expenditure of collective wealth and religion. (Governmental practices are unknown due to lack to conclusive decipherment of language.) Best known large public space is the ‘Great Bath’ of Mohenjodaro, a well engineered, communal bathing space (precursor to the Ghats?) 8. Dholavira, hydraulic engineering v2.0 Again, ingenious hydraulic engineering, but for opposite use: system to retain water in a brackish zone (sustainability). Beautiful city in an pool of water in the middle of a brackish, inhospitable landscape. Huge ‘billboard’ above doorway – but undeciphered. 9. End of the Meluhha. The irascible Sutlej river, located on the water divide, likely shifted loyalty following a seismic event and began to drain into the Indus catchment around 2000BCE. The Ghagger-Hakra starts drying up around 1800BCE. Briefly, it formed a lake in the desert to which many flock in a doomed drive. After that the civilization simply dispersed, peacefully. Most likely to have moved to the Gangetic plains, continuing to thrive with the Aryas. Some may have moved back to West Asia, and perhaps Africa? There are many other theories of/contributing factors in the end of the Meluhha: shift in monsoons? Loss of trees? Occasional bands re-inhabit cities, but only for short periods. All cities abandoned by 1400BCE.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 17:21:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015