Agriculture in Harappan Civilization

What was the status of agriculture in Sindhu Civilization?

As we know that human started cultivating crops with the starting of Neolithic Age and till Harappan period they might have reached some more heights in this field. So, this article is basically about the status and condition of the food production in the Indus Valley Culture. We people often wonder how all this process started first and how it evolved later on, so Harappan period was the time in which the major changes happened in this field. What were the crops grown by them, how do the cultivated it, what was the time to harvest it, and many other questions like this will be answered in this article. Also do check our article on Religion of Harappan Culture.

So lets have a look on the agricultural status of the Indus Valley Civilization:

Crops Grown -

Mainly wheat and barley was grown in all parts of the Sindhu Civilization while some other food and cash crops were also grown by the people. Horse gram, peas, melon, watermelon, sesame, dates, millets, grapes, henna(also known as Mehandi), garlic, and mustard were some other crops grown in that period. Cotton was first produced by the harappan people in the world and they were the sole exporter of cotton cloths to he contemporary civilizations. While they not only grew cotton first but also first in spinning thread from it and afterwards weaving it to make fresh fine cloth. In Lothal, people also started cultivating rice in the post harappan period. Even they people also ate molluscs as food in the costal area of Gujrat.

Crop Pattern -

The cropping pattern was far different then from today as the climate conditions had much changed in this phase of 5000 years, thus, the cropping pattern had also changed with the change in climate cycle. The major change had come in the number of crops per year in this time. As by some revolutionary changes in the field of technology, we can now grow and harvest 3 crops in a year but long time ago, in indus culture farmers used to grow only a single crop in a year. It was basically because of the floods which occurred then which resulted in no agricultural activities from May to October. Thus, the people sowed seeds in November when the flood water retreated and harvested the crops in April just before the advent of the next year floods.

Technology Used -

The technology was not as developed as it is in the present time but they people were really innovative in nature as they discovered new techniques of growing crops which were really effective. They not only discovered wooden ploughs but also came with the idea of ploughing fields with the help of some big animals like camels and horses. A clay model of plough was excavated at Banawali. Also, some ploughed fields were also discovered at Kalibangan during its excavation. The technique of using animals for ploughing fiels are still practiced in many parts of the world but it is gradually decreasing as modern vehicles are replacing it. The use of animal cart was very popular and also animals were also used for pulling out water from wells for irrigation purpose. The discovery of small pieces of cotton clothes suggest that the harappan people also knew how to weave and that might have been done by some complex looms and spinners. Thus, the one cannot deny the fact that the harappan people were also very advanced in the field of technology.

Domestication of Animals -

The domestication of different animals was very much popular in the Indus Valley Culture. There is a long list of animals which were domesticated in the Indus Culture. The cattle like camels, goats, oxen, buffalos, humped bulls, sheep, pigs, and asses were domesticated on large scale. Also, pets like cats and dogs were also domesticated by the people of Sindhu civilization. The relationship of dog and humans was the same as it is today. Even horses were not regularly used but in the later phase of the civilization, they were also common. The existence of Unicorn has no proofs but it is found on many seals of the period. Animals and birds like monkeys, pigeons, wild fowl, peacock, ducks, rabbits, and tigers were also known to the people at that time. The Sindhu people were also acquainted with elephants and rhinoceros. Dog might was very much loved as it is todays thus dogs remains were also find at many burials of humans. Animals were also represented on almost all the seals excavated of that period which shows the love of Sindhu people for animals and nature.

Agricultural Taxes -

As per the major historian, no direct taxes were imposed on the agriculture, however, many indirect taxes were to be given in order to obtain profit from the production. If a farmer used to grow crops for his sole use no taxes were imposed on him, however, several duties and taxes were imposed on selling the food grains. Thus, it is clear that agriculture was free from taxes as long as it was not done on commercial scale. All the sales taxes were taken in the form of that particular product which was brought for sale in the market as no money or coins were introduced till that time and thus whole system was a kind of barter system. And the collected food grains were stored in large granaries built in all the major cities of the culture. The seals played important role in trade as well as in taxcation process. The Tax Rates were very low which shows that civilization was really well developed in economical terms as it is said in economics that, "If a country is developing then it's tax rates starts getting lower and the revenue starts increasing while if a country is moving towards downfall then it's tax rates starts increasing and the revenue still starts decreasing". Also how the land was divided among the people is not known till now.

This is all we know about the agriculture of Indus Valley Civilization. Yet many more facts are not discovered yet. Also, the contemporary civilizations' record also suggest that the Harappan Culture was much ahead of them in terms of agriculture.

Read about what more was better in the harappan culture than the contemporary civilizations at Contemporary civilizations and the Harappan Culture.

These articles are mainly based on the preparation of UPSC CSE Mains and various other competitive exams. Students of various boards can also refer to these articles for long answer type questions.

Also check out this article on the Harappan Culture and It's role in the modern urbanisation at Harappan Culture and the Modern Urbanisation.

Religion of Harappan people  can be studied at this article.