The Indus Valley, in northern India, is a significant place in the early history of agriculture in the ancient world. The terrain, ecology, and history of the Indus Valley are unique to the region and distinguish it from other agriculturally significant areas. Many plants and animals were tamed in the Indus Valley, and technical improvements were required due to the area's vulnerability to floods. This article will explain to you the Agriculture during indus valley civilization which will be helpful in Ancient History preparation for the UPSC Civil service exam.

Indus Valley Civilization - Agriculture

• Indus Valley was once a densely populated agricultural region( along the Indus River, which is fed by the Himalaya mountains and other river tributaries, resulting in catastrophic floods).
• Agriculture originally arose in the area some 3000 BC, and while technical advancements were made to try to regulate the region's topographical peculiarities.
• In the later Vedic texts (c. 3000–2500 BP) there are repeated references to agricultural technology and practices, including iron implements.
• The cultivation of a wide range of cereals, vegetables, and fruits the use of meat and milk products; and animal husbandry.
• Farmers plowed the soil several times, broadcast seeds, and used a certain sequence of cropping and fallowing. Cow dung provided fertilizer, and irrigation was practiced where necessary.
• A more secular eyewitness account is available from Megasthenes (c. 2300 BP), a Greek envoy to the court of the Mauryan empire.

Agriculture - Features

• The irrigation system was utilised by the Indus people to irrigate their crops.
• It allowed them to grow crops according to the demands of the population, rather than following the ancient nomadic traditions, and instead use contemporary technology to meet the city's needs.
• Agriculture was so crucial to the Indus people that it was their only means of subsistence.
• Those who were unable to trade turned to farming and agriculture.
• It was one of the main reasons why the Indus valley civilization was able to thrive for so long.
• Agriculture in the Indus Valley was entirely reliant on good soil and technological improvements.
• Wheat, barley, peas, lentils, linseed, and mustard seeds were planted in the winter, while millet, sesame, and rice were planted in the summer.

The Plough

• The Sumerians taught the Harappans how to utilise the plough.
• Wood was used to make all primitive ploughs, yet wood is a perishable material.
• As a result, discovering a genuine wooden plough from a Harappan site is impossible.
• At Kalibangan, where a furrowed field was discovered during excavation, the Harappan pattern of cropping was recognised.
• The mixed farming system was present throughout Harappan periods, according to the furrow markings.
• It's the earliest evidence of a plough field ever discovered anywhere on the planet.

The Wheeled cart

• When the archaeological record started around 2300 B.C., wheeled carts were in use in the Indus Valley.
• Cart models in bronze have also been discovered at Harappa and Chanhu-daro.
• The wheels of these bullock carts were solid.
• A toy cart from Mohenjo-daro had a basket-like body, implying that it was intended to transport farmyard excrement.
• The bullock cart combines two crucial ideas: the utilisation of animal power and the wheel.
• All Harappan excavations have yielded terracotta slingballs. Farmers may have used sling-balls to frighten away insects.
• The first equipment used to impart force and range to a missile thrower's arm was the sling.
• Farmers in northern India's submontane areas continue to protect their maize harvests using slings and sling-balls.

Saddle-quern

• A lady kneads flour in a Mohenjo-daro terracotta.
• Sil and vatta, successors of the saddle-quern found from the Harappan site, are used for grinding spices in Indian households.
• Saddle-querns might have been used to crush roasted barley.

Granaries

• Granaries unearthed in Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Lothal, and Rakhigarhi provide the greatest evidence of agriculture in the Harappan sites.
• The significance of the Harappa platforms is that they indicate that this activity was focused and probably organised there.
• They are erected on a 4 foot high rammed mud platform that is riveted along the eastern and western edges.
• The separate granaries' flooring were carried clear of the ground on sleeper-walls, three to each unit.
• The Indus granaries and an Akkadian building at Susa have structural similarities.
• The size of the granaries also suggests that the peasants paid their dues to the government in kind, which then utilised it to pay different personnel.

Food Crops

• Harappans grew bread wheat, barley, sesame, peas, melons, date palm, and Brassica species.
• Cotton was a significant crop, and Gossypium arboreum originated in the Indus Valley.
• Wheat and barley were among the grains discovered at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro.
• Rice is indigenous to South and East Asia, especially the Indus Valley and the Ganges Valley.
• Rice cultivation involves multiple separate domestication centres. Charred rice husks and imprints of rice husks and leaves in Harappan pottery have been discovered in Gujarat at Lothal and Rangpur.
• Ragi was initially discovered in Rojdi during the early Mature Harappan era, as well as ragi phytoliths, bricks, and shards in Harappa.
• The oldest evidence of the usage of wood in the Indian subcontinent comes from Harappan culture sites in Gujarat.
• Coffins at Harappa were made of deodar and rosewood.
• Other wood artefacts discovered at Harappa included a wooden mortar used for crushing grains.

Conclusion

The inhabitants of the Indus Valley had mastered the art of irrigation and water delivery. It allowed people to supply for themselves and others in a fixed manner, and to grow crops according to their requirements, rather than relying on ancient nomadic ways and instead employing modern technology to meet urban demands. This is why the inhabitants of the Indus valley valued agriculture so highly.