Harappan agriculture
Topic: Harappan (Sindhu-Sarasvati) Civilisation · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 6 "The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation"
Meaning
Harappan agriculture was the farming that fed the villages and also the cities. Farmers grew wheat, barley, lentil, chickpea, sesame, pulses and vegetables. Millets were grown at Gujarat sites, and rice was rare. Farmers also grew cotton. They kept cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo and pigs, and they used oxen to pull ploughs. This farming produced enough extra food to feed the cities.
Example
At Kalibangan in Rajasthan, archaeologists found a ploughed field from the Early Harappan phase. It has two sets of furrows (plough lines) at right angles, which suggests two crops were grown together. Scientists have also studied food remains left inside pots. They show dairy products, turmeric, ginger and banana.
Don't confuse with
- Harappan irrigation: Agriculture means the crops and how they were grown. Irrigation means how fields got water, through wells, reservoirs and, at Shortughai, canals.
Related concepts
- Harappan subsistence
- Harappan cotton
- Rangpur
- Terracotta plough
- Cholistan
- Ploughed field at Kalibangan
- Harappan irrigation