DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INDUS
CIVILIZATION & VEDIC CULTURE
SOURCES
Our
sources of information of the Harappan civilization are mainly archaeological, while the Vedic culture is mostly known from
the literary sources - the Vedas.
WHERE
THEY CAME FROM
Harappans are said to have been the
original inhabitants of India while
the Aryans, the founders of
Vedic culture, are believed to have come to India from Central Asia.
CHARACTER
The Harappan civilization was urban in
nature as is evidenced by its town-planning, drainage system, and granary and
so on. The Vedic culture was rural. There is almost complete absence of towns in
the Rigvedic period. At best the Rigvedic Aryans lived in fortified places
protected by mud walls; and these cannot be regarded as towns in the Harappan
sense. The
Indus towns were well-planned, divided into two well- laid out parts - the
citadel and lower town with elaborate gateways.
TRADE/OCCUPATION
In the Indus civilization trade,
internal and external, crafts as well as industries were the main sources of
economy, while the later- Vedic economy had predominance of agriculture and cattle
rearing.
AGRICULTURE
The various agricultural operations,
including the ploughing of fields, were better known to the later-Vedic people
and they owed this knowledge to the non-Vedic people. For early Vedic people
pastoralism was the more prestigious profession. In the
Harappan civilization the only instance of furrowing the fields has been found
from Kalibangan.
METAL
Indus people did not know the use of
iron. It was purely a 'copper-bronze' culture, while the
Vedic culture in its later phase is replete with references to iron.
HORSE
The horse, which played a decisive role
in the Aryan system of warfare, was not known to the Indus people. A few bones
of horse and terracotta figure of a 'horse-like animal' have been unearthed
from Surkotada (Gujarat) and still it has not been convincingly proved that the
horse was employed by the Harappans.
WAR
Indus people were basically peace
loving. Their arms (swords, daggers, arrow-heads, and spears) were primitive in
nature. No evidence of armour, helmet, body armour or shield is available. The Aryans, on the contrary, were warlike people and were conversant with
all kinds of traditional arms and armour and had devised a full-fledged
'science of war'.
KINSHIP
Vedic society was primarily based on kinship whereas the Harappan culture could not be
basically kin-based.
RELIGION
The Vedic religion differed from that
of the Harappans. The Aryans
worshiped Varuna, Indra, Aditi and a large number of other deities which stood
for the principal phenomena of nature. They performed sacrifices and offered
milk, ghee, etc., to their gods. The Harappans worshipped Pashupati, Mother Goddess,
animals, snake and nature. The fire-altars were discovered from only one
Harappan site at Kalibangan. The Harappans practised earth burials whereas the Aryans practised cremation.
POTTERY
The
Harappan pottery called 'black or red pottery' was wheel made and very
distinctive in nature. From all the Harappan sites fragments of this typical
pottery have been collected in large numbers. The distinctive Aryan pottery is
known as PGW (Painted Grey Ware).
PHYSICAL APPEAREANCE
The facial features and the physical
types differed considerably. The
Harappans were short stature, black in complexion and comparatively thin with
short nose, thick lips and tiny eyes. The Aryans were tall, well-built and handsome with long and
pointed nose, thin lips, pointed chins, broad shoulders and fair complexion.
EATING HABITS
The life style was also different. The Harappans ate all birds and
animals including cow and calf. They attached great importance to individual
and community bathing as is witnessed by the private bathrooms and great Bath
at Mohenjodaro. They ate wheat, barley and bread. The Aryans preferred milk and its
products, specially ghee or butter and enjoyed Soma drink. Meat of the animals
scarified was eaten.
DRESSING SENSE
The dress and costumes, the hair-do's
and the cosmetics, the jewellery and the ornaments etc. of the two cultures
differed. The Harappan
women put on a skirt and men used a band of cloth round their loins. The Aryans used embroidered cloth
along with the ones made of leather, hide or skin. Cotton was the basic fabric
of the Harappans while the Aryans put on woollen garments too.
LANGAUGE
Vedic
Sanskrit is the mother of all non-Dravidian languages of India and almost all
Indian Languages were deeply influenced by it, but the Indus script still
remains undeciphered and we are completely in the dark about its literary
developments. However, it is clear that the Indus people were literate whereas the Vedic people were illiterate. We do
not have any word for writing in any of the Vedic texts.
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN
IVC AND AC
Indus valley civilization script though not understood till date
has symbols such as 'OM' and 'swastika' which are used extensively in vedas. IVC script is actually pre
sanskrit script.
Worshiping of idols, trees, animals, snakes and
animal sacrifices to please gods are found to be common
in two civilizations.
Yoga postures found in Vedas and
pictures of god in same position found in ruins of IVC are similar.
Love for jeweler, bathing in large pool etc., Are still practiced in india today gives weight
age to cultural continuance.
2500 archaeological sites of IVC have no literature
associated with them which implies IVC transferred their knowledge orally; this
form of passing knowledge from one
generation to another orally was started more than
10,000 years ago in India.
