Decline of the Harappan Civilisation:theories and analysis

What brought Indus civilisation to an end has long been an area of mystery for most scholars. The civilisation has been thought of as a social, economic and cultural phenomenon involving a delicate balance of internal relations between cities, towns and villages, and of external relations with the neighbouring peasant societies and with more distant urban societies. It takes a lot to disintegrate the entire consistency and essence of a civilisation as major as Harappa. This could have been because of a variety of causes, acting either singly or in combination. It is basically the character, coherence of the civilisation as an overarching system with its regional crafts, modes of elite control and long distance procurement of materials which collapsed or rather I must say, faded gradually.
Explaining the expression-“DECLINE OF THE HARAPPAN CIVILISATION”
The expression “end of civilisation”- does not literally refer to a social death of all that existed within the Harappan paradigm. It means the gradual or sudden disappearance of all those factors which gave Harappa its special character of being a civilisation. In other words, the urban aspect of Harappa which formed the crux of the civilisation was lost. Not that the Harappan people stopped existing. What stopped existing was the Harappan aspect of their existence.

What it meant by “DE-URBANISATION”
The character and features that we are talking about here need to be sort of defined in the context of Harappa. According to A Ghosh, the ten abstract features listed down by Gordon Childe are apt enough to describe an urban civilisation. Though he mentions that all of these criterions must not be primarily met but most of them should form an integral part of the prevailing community to qualify as a civilisation. The character varies from civilisation to civilisation. And de-urbanisation would mean simply the reversal of these criteria. Let us just briefly cover this bit of the thing mentioning the various aspects of de-urbanisation of a civilisation which sort of hold true for Harappa:
1. POPULATION DENSITY-Thus the settlements extensive and densely populated would become thinner and smaller.
2. LESSER SURPLUS-The non food producing people such as full time specialists in crafts, art architecture would dwindle in number and so the food producing community would be left will much lesser incentive to produce surplus.
3. MONUMENTAL BUILDINGS-sign of social surplus would no longer dominate a settlement.
4. SCRIPT-Usage of script would become obsolete unless it is adopted by some other urban community.
5. LONG DISTANCE TRADE relations would not survive though import concept prevalent even in Neolithic times would continue to exist.
6. Fall in MATERIAL PROSPERITY
7. CENTRALISED STATE-Need for central enforcement would be reduced.

Another thing that we need to remember is that in the case of Harappa we cannot attribute a single theory to explain its decline. Each of the regions sees their own separate reasons to decline. This is simply because of the diversity that the entire civilisation exhibits throughout its course. Urban decline can be explained only in terms of multiple causes as none of the theories are uniformly applicable to all the regions of the mature Harappan stage.

The origin of an idea like this is the archaeological evidence which shows that cities and towns began being abandoned. Mohenjo-Daro was abandoned, Harappa saw people living in squatters or removing bricks from proper buildings to form crude structures and using the cemetery for their own burials. Other sites which we know of being abandoned were-Ganweriwala, Dholavira, Rakhigarhi. The Hakra belt- only one village site out of the 80 sites continued to be inhabited in the Cemetery H culture period. The question then arises-Did the inhabitants shift to pastoralism, or did the villagers start going upstream in search of places with more assured availability of groundwater resources?

THE THEORIES OF DECLINE:
Because of the large scale desertions the scholars have thought about some kind of holocaust or calamity or a catastrophic event like maybe the Aryan invasion. This is a very simplistic way to interpret. Though I don't think it must have such a trivial thing that led to the decline of such a massive civilisation.
FLOOD THEORY BY LAMBRICK IN 1967:
This applied basically to Mohenjo-Daro. The flood is often referred to as ‘the catastrophe’. Disastrous changes in the course of Indus resulting in desiccation of areas which were essential for the feeding of city’s population, could have been a more believable cause. Mohenjo-Daro was in some way the epicentre of the entire balance that held the whole of Harappan structure together. Therefore such an event would lead to depredations by tribesmen from the nearby hills and might have well brought about the desertion of the city and of the outlying settlements. The latest levels of Mohenjo-Daro show a marked decadence in the civic control (clear signs of de-urbanisation). It is only after the complete abandonment of the sites that we see new squatter populations moving in. The famous Cemetery H occupation at Harappa and Jhukar occupation at Chanhudaro. Terming these cultures as being the continuation of the Harappan people seems to a little problematic. The Sind area is prone to earthquakes as well as floods. 15 floods in a century is not a surprising figure. In 1818 there was a major up thrust of the ground at Sehwan, downstream of Mohenjo-Daro and upstream of Amri and Chanhudaro, which pushed the Indus River back and a gigantic lake was formed for about two years. It is this kind of phenomenon that the scholars suggest might have the cause of the decline of Harappan culture in Mohenjo-Daro and the adjoining areas.
Another problem with this theory was that there wasn’t enough archaeological evidence to back the validity of this theory. Definitive evidence for 3rd millennium floods. What some archaeologists took to be laid by still water on the southern edge of Mohenjo-Daro is now believed to be the remains of mud platforms.

CLIMATE CHANGE
We have seen earlier that evidence for climatic change comes from pollen in Rajasthan lake deposits. This evidence prompted that there was more winter rainfall during Harappan times than later, and that summer rainfall was appreciably higher. But when did the rainfall begin to decrease? We cannot, especially without evidence say that, the eventual decrease in rainfall essentially began during the later years of the late Harappan phase. That would be moulding an ‘indefinite archaeological evidence’ according to our own convenience. In fact it has been earlier stated that 1800 bc, a time when Harappa wasn’t exactly flourishing, the rainfall was fairly higher. Also we must remember that climatic change is a world phenomenon. And all the Bronze age civilisations or cultures would have met the consequences equally, in terms of collapse.
At this juncture if we compare it with the Mesopotamian civilisation then we will see that a civilisation as ancient and around the same time as Harappan civilisation could withstand the climatic changes and also the other ecological changes that took place for example-in spite of westward shifts of the channel of the Euphrates, soil salinity brought about canal irrigation and repeated invasions and immigrations of pastoralists from the desert, retained its language, writing methods, literary forms and texts, pantheon and temple architecture well into the 1st millennium BC, while there were no changes in the social and economic structure.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTOR
The environmental aspect of the reasons for decline was a theory that was formulated by Walter Fairservis decades ago. He studied Mohenjo-Daro and the settlement and population patterns of the area. And based on all his data he formulated his theory on the argument that the needs of the ‘over-sized’ population forced people into over exploiting the natural resources around the place. A specific piece of information that we got to know from his studies is about the population of Larkhana town near Mohenjo-Daro in the 19th century was somewhere near 11000, which is fairly low for Mohenjo-Daro’s standards. What this leads us to think is that maybe, some areas were over populated and in years of inhabitation-depleted of natural vegetation. The last stage of Mohenjo-Daro expresses trouble quite explicitly. The structure of the finely paved pillared hall was altered; the granary went out of use; shell-cutting was done in the northern citadel area; kilns encroached in the northern residential area; 2 different sizes of bricks were used for the same wall and were laid out without precision; scored goblets roughly made on the wheel and shaped so that they could be tied with a string have also been found frequently in the later levels. Several massive columns of limestone bases were gathered together in one room, which Fairservis assumes was gathered after the city’s final desertion.
At Kalibangan neither the flood nor the invader can be invoked. Here perhaps the drying up of Ghaggar-gradual or sudden, owing to either climatic changes or to sudden diversion of the waters resulting from the factors at or near their source-may have been the cause of desertion of the site. But this hypothesis does not hold true for the other Mature Harappan sites. Pestilence, erosion and over exploitation of surrounding landscape may have also been the reason for the end of certain settlements.
Population during the peak time runs over 8000 people. He calculates ratio available. And calculates d food requirements of the population. 2200 and 2100 BCE. Estimated food requirement is calculated a grade croops each yr. So much more area would have to be cultivated. Ratio bw available food resources and the over growing population. Steady increase in demand. Would have
But again, Fairservis takes only Mohenjo-Daro into account. And again I must re-stress the fact that one theory does not hold valid for the diverse Harappan Civilisation.
THE WARFARE OR THE much talked ARYAN INVASION
Mortimer Wheeler-The argument supporting the invasion was based on the subsequent culture of Vedic corpus using a language- indo Aryan that had affinity with the central Asian Indo-European particularly the Old Iranian. That this language gained currency in northern India was thought to be the result of a conquest of the local population by the Indo-Aryan speakers, the evidence being drawn from the hostility of the ‘arya’ towards ‘dasa’ from the ‘Rigveda’. The reference to ‘Indra’ attacking the purs, enclosed settlements of dasas was erroneously read as referring to the Indus civilisation. The later stages of Mohenjo-Daro, as pointed out by many scholars, depicted signs of tension and uncertain possibilities of warfare/strife/invasion. For example-the jewellery and the semi precious items (caches of gold, strings of etched carnelian beads, silver foil, a silver lump and bracelet, jade and long carnelian beads) began being hidden away under the floor and for some reason never recovered by owners. The nature of the feared group could not be determined whether they were Kirthars from the hills, or the enemies in the plains, or the local rebel factions. The head of the much known ‘priest-king’ seems to have been broken and to have fallen together with a wall, into a passage. The archaeological contexts of such desecrated sculptures “speak for internal dynastic feuds or ideological confrontation in the last days of Mohenjo-Daro.” Jewellery and vandalised stone statuaries left behind, give us an idea of the urgency of abandonment that dawned on the people of Harappa.
35 skeletons have been found from the last level of Mohenjo-Daro some though not belonging to the last occupation phase of the city. Some of them were hastily buried. Northern part of the city-2 skeletons lay on some steps of a well room. South-western part of the city 5 more skeletons have been found which lay at the place where the person had died. Other unburied skeletons indicate that marauders from outside or city gangs themselves fought over the last spoils. If the nerve centre of the political system suffered a serious blow, the repercussions could have spread far and wide.
The early theory about Aryan invasions has been dismissed on the following grounds. This view however seems untenable.
1. The skeletons do not all belong to one and the same occupational level, which should also be the latest, marking the end of Indus settlement.
2. At the site there is no evidence of an alien culture immediately underlying the Indus one.
3. The post Indus cemetery at Harappa has been brought into picture. It has although elsewhere demonstrated by some writer that this cemetery had come years after the Indus civilisation had collapsed. (There had been a considerable time-lag b/w the end of Indus civilisation and the beginning of Cemetery H. Thus the people of Cemetery H can hardly be regarded as those people who had invaded Indus civilisation if the invaded had ceased to exist at the time. Also evidences of these Cemetery H people is absent from other Harappan sites like Ghaggar, Satluj, and upper Ganga valleys-regions from where the early Aryans are known from their own literary sources to have resided.
4. There is evidence for movements out of Central Asia, the homeland of the Indo-Europeans and their Indo-Iranian branch, after about 2000 BC. We had seen that settlements like Yarim Tepe and Hissar were abandoned, so too the settlements in southern Turkmenia. In southern Baluchistan we find new kinds of pottery, seals and burial practices which point to newcomers. At Sibri and Pirak we had seen the influx of Central Asian elements. None of this, is however the proof of movement of people speaking a particular language. There is no necessary link between a particular kind of material culture and its geographic relied on elite/taste sponsorship or demand, experience with different soils and rainfall regimes, knowledge of different varieties of crop, observation of animal breeding behaviour, and the fuel properties of different trees, these would be a part of popular sciences and would endure. So the house forms and construction techniques of Mohenjo-Daro did not endure.
TRADE FACTOR
The long distance trade between Harappa and Mesopotamia is an aspect that has been well covered in Shereen Ratnagar’s works. Around 1800 BC the trade between Mesopotamia, Bahrain, Kuwait and India came to an end. Discoveries at-Lothal(seals), Oxus(Afghanistan), Makran Coast. The sort of accepted identification of the repeatedly mentioned “meluhha’ in the Mesopotamian texts as the Harappan civilisation. The trade relations are said to have declined with the decline of the 3rd dynasty of Ur and virtually stopped in the Isin-Larsa period. In southern Mesopotamia there had been an agricultural decline due to shifts of the Euphrates and soil salinity. Therefore individual settlements as well as total settled area shrank appreciably in the south and the political gravity moved northwards. The newly formed important centres of Iraq developed links with Levant and Anatolia for their wood and metal requirements, the routes moving along the Euphrates. Therefore a source of wealth for the Harappan elite thus declined. Quoting Shereen Ratnagar in her work “Understanding Harappa” We could say economic structure was dependent on foreign trade if there was an expansion of settlement to, or colonization of, mineral resource areas, the establishment of sea ports, the institution of ancillary activities like forestry and shipbuilding, the deployment of labour for the manufacture of craft items for export and so on. The end of the trade would mean that the population would relocate over the land with changed economic imperatives. Reversions to individual households engaged in subsistence agriculture and/or pastoralism is a likely consequence.
It would suffice to point out that in all the regions-Sind, Gujarat and Rajasthan-the catastrophe took place in the early centuries of the 2nd millennium BC and it is not insignificant that Harappan trade ceased at about the same time. The people must have been heavily caught up in their troubles so it bothered them to worry about an ongoing luxuries trade relation outside.

A LITTLE ON THE MATERIAL CULTURE AND SITE WISE ANALYSIS-as in what happened after the decline
1. Kathiawar-had very few major mature Harappan sites like Lothal and Rangpur. But for the early 2nd millennium there have been more than 100 sites found here. Ragi and Jowar were to become the main stay of Kathiawar agriculture, being better suited to the soil and climate of the area. The changes in agriculture may be connected with the proliferation of the villages. Meanwhile in this period the dockyard of Lothal had gone out of use; no Rohri chert was available; small blades of local jasper came into use. Weights and shell; faience gold and carnelian became scarce. Therefore disappearance of Harappan traits gave way to a more sustainable form of subsistence. Though it still meant the decline of the great urbanised Harappan culture. There is also a spread of sites towards Saurashtra and it was surprising to find people choosing rocky areas and elevated grounds to settle.
2. Cemetery H sites on Hakra plains-the drying of Hakra could have been one reason for the abandonment of the site though, as M.R. Mughal suggests it was certainly not the exact cause of the decline of the Harappan civilisation.
1. Mainland coast of Gujarat S.A. Sali discovered 50 sites in the Tapti valley, Dhule district. 2 of them have only Late Harappan material while the others have Harappan mixed with the Salvada and Jorwa wares. And there’s a site where only the red ware was found which is so strongly characterised by a Harappan culture. It is thicker, sturdier, made of finer fabric here and plus the typical Harappan shapes such as the dish on stand and the vase continue to feature in this Red ware case as well. But the paintings consist of monotonous geometric designs and lack the varied designs of the “Indus” and “provincial” styles, thus signifying the urban discipline of the mature Harappa at these sites.
2. Further south- Dogavari valley, Daimabad- reveal late Harappan culture overlying the Salvada culture, followed successively by the Malwa and Jorwa cultures. Mud walls give place to mud brick walls and an excavated grave is lined with mud bricks of two sizes-the continuation of the Harappan tradition. The late Harappan pottery shows a marked degeneration over that of the Tapti valley, but the painting continues to be of the monotonous geometric designs. Despite the occurrence of three Indus signs on the rim fragments of a pot the deurbanisation process now seemed to be complete.
4. Recent discoveries in the north like Jammu, Punjab and Haryana show that the late Harappans lived with even the very different Painted Gray Ware people. Further east in western uttar Pradesh- at sites like Bargaon and Ambkheri the admixture of the late Harappans with the so-called Ochre Colored ware is also found though at other OCW sites, Harappan traits are absent. Could this mean that local cultures were taking over the centralised and fairly uniform culture of the Harappans gradually?
“Abandonment”
It is difficult to differentiate between the gradual house by house depopulation and the sudden desertion of a city. If abandonment is quick and due to a calamity then the people would have probably left behind jewellery, wooden doors and heavy grinding stones. It is also noted that when social coherence is weak or absent then it is easier to depopulate villages. The causes can range from sudden deaths in the residential area due to an epidemic or famine or floods or maybe because the inhabitants found a better place to live elsewhere. Village abandonments are not the same as civilizational collapse.
CONCLUSION
Ratnagar- To sum up, the Harappan people after 1800 BC had failed to see sustained occupation, and people seemed to have emigrated. In settlement form, metallurgy, writing system, house construction, crafts using ivory or carnelian or in the use of seals, as also in major aspects of city life and maritime orientations, there was very little continuation of the Bronze way of life. There was instead a reversion to rural, tribal cultures, of what we call the chalcolithic stage, where metal may have been used, but was definitely not a primary raw material for the making of tools. It still remains that the Harappan was a remarkably cosmopolitan and outward looking phase of South Asian history. The Harappan world was an open one with foreign trade, external influences and migrations. The urban centres had interaction with the hunters of Rajasthan, tribesmen in Makran and settlers in Kashmir. Meluhha entered the literary tradition of Mesopotamia as a source of exotic wares and fine boats. We could say that cultural dynamism lies in openness, interaction, inert-marriage and bilingualism, not in cultural closure and ethnic purity.
Basham- The Indus civilisation no doubt fell; all the same it left many inedible imprints on the latter-day cultures of the subcontinent.