Civilisation
Topic: Harappan (Sindhu-Sarasvati) Civilisation · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 6 "The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation"
Meaning
A civilisation is a society that has reached a complex, organised stage of life. NCERT lists seven features that a society needs to qualify:
- government and administration
- urbanism, meaning planned towns with water management and drainage
- crafts, including managing raw materials and making finished goods
- trade, both internal and external
- writing
- cultural ideas, such as art, architecture, literature and customs
- farming productive enough to feed cities, not just villages
Example
The Harappan (Sindhu-Sarasvati) Civilisation, at its peak c. 2600–1900 BCE, meets all seven features. It had planned cities such as Mohenjo-daro and Dholavira. It used standard bricks and weights, traded with Mesopotamia and wrote in a script that has not been read. Its rise is called the First Urbanisation of India.
Don't confuse with
- Culture: A culture can be a simple village way of life, with its own pottery, tools and customs. A civilisation needs cities, writing, trade and organised government. The rural Late Harappan "successor cultures" were cultures, not a civilisation.
Related concepts
- Harappan civilisation
- First Urbanisation
- Harappa
- Dholavira
- Manda
- Alamgirpur
- Daimabad
- Sutkagen Dor
- Ropar
- Surkotada