The Harappan heritage

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE INDUS CIVILIZATION: Nayanjot Lahiri — Editor; Published by Permanent Black, D-28, Oxford Apartments 11, I.P. Extension, Delhi-110092. Rs. 650.

THE INDUS Valley Civilization, also known as Harappan Civilization, is one of the most popular and well-researched themes in the archaeology of South Asia. Thanks to numerous excavations in the Harappan sites since 1927, much valuable evidence has come to light on its extent, chronology, material culture, town planning etc. Still there are many grey areas like its origin and its script. One such riddle is regarding the reasons of its decline and fall.

Did the Harappan cities dramatically collapse or was there a steady decline? Was it due to the depredation of some invaders? How did rivers, earthquakes and climatic shifts contribute to the process of disintegration? What is the legacy it had left behind? The scholarly debates, the issues, and various hypotheses have been reproduced in this volume with a learned introduction by the author.

There are 30 papers under three broad sections: (I): Indus cities and the Aryans, Historical conquerors, Mythical marauders or Vedic Harappans? (II): Environment and collapse; Silt and sediment; Evidence and interpretation; (III): From a city civilization to a phase of devolution. Each part contains 10 papers culled out from the writings of the leading scholars in the field. But as the author points out some theories are "bygone theories" no longer seriously debated like the Wheeler's "Massacre of Mohenjadaro" theory (1946), which is rejected as "mythical" by George F. Dales (1964). He best sums up the position: "A pattern of contributing factors is taking shape. This pattern does not include invasion and massacre as basic factors. On the contrary, it appears that a series of natural disasters occurred... more devastating than any hypothetical invasion".

In section II, there are articles by scientists on the "Environment and collapse", bio-geological evidence bearing on the decline of Indus Civilization (M.R. Sahini); the consequences of river changes for Harappan settlements (by M.R. Mughal); Kalibangan — death by natural causes (by Roberts Raikes); Climate, a factor in the rise and fall of the Indus Civilization (by V.N. Misra). Walter A. Fairservice, JR. (1967) an authority on the subject, in his long article concludes: "The evidence points to precarious economic situation as a significant reason for the downfall... the vagaries of a mature river (Indus) in its flood plain would be sufficient to cause the abandonment of the sites".

Section III contains 10 papers concerning the spread and devolution of this civilization to other regions like Gujarat, Maharashtra as brought by scholars like S.R. Rao (Rangpur and Bet Dwaraka sites), B.S. Bhisht (The mighty site of Dholavira in Quat Rann of Kutch in Gujarat).

Kuldeep K. Bhan and Dilip Chakrabarti have written on the late Harrappan settlements and their urban decadence. There are also papers on the pattern of crops and rice and ragi cultivation and raw material usage and trade routes.

Did the Harappan heritage contribute to the cultural continuum that followed its decline? Even early scholars like Marshall recognised its legacy in the religious sphere — like the worship of Mother Goddess, Pasupati, sacred tank etc. Stuart Piggot even traced the Mauryan State system to the Indus civic tradition. Now scholars discern greater and greater links with the Harappan legacy.

K. V. RAMAN

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