Saturday, 29 April 2017

INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION

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INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION IN INDIA
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Ancient Civilizations in India

  • The Indus Valley Civilization was an ancient civilization thriving along the Indus River and the Ghaggar-Hakra River in what is now Pakistan and north-western India. Among other names for this civilization is the Harappan Civilization, in reference to its first excavated city of Harappa.
  • An alternative term for the culture is Saraswati-Sindhu Civilization, based on the fact thatmost of the Indus Valley sites have been found at the Halkra-Ghaggar River.
  • R.B. Dayaram Sahni first discovered Harappa (on Ravi) in 1921. R.D. Banerjee discovered Mohenjodaro or ‘Mound of the Dead’ (on Indus) in 1922. Sir John Marshal played a crucial role in both these.
  • Harappan Civilization forms part of the proto history of India and belongs to the Bronze Age.
  • Mediterranean, Proto-Australoid, Mongoloids and Alpines formed the bulk of the population, though the first two were more numerous.
  • More than 100 sites belonging to this civilization have been excavated.
  • According to radio-carbon dating, it spread from the year 2500 – 1750 BC.
  • Copper, bronze, silver, gold were known but not iron.

Geographical Extent

  • Covered parts of Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Gujarat, Rajasthan and some parts of Western UP. It extended from Manda in Jammu in the north to Daimabad in the south and from Alamgirpur in W. UP to Sutkagendor in Baluchistan in the west.
  • Major sites in Pakistan are Harappa (on Ravi in W Punjab), Mohenjodaro (on Indus), Chanhu-Daro (Sindh), etc. In India, major sites are Lothal, Rangpur and Surkotda (Gujarat), Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Banwali (Hissar), and Alamgirpur (Western Uttar Pradesh).
  • Largest and the latest site in India is Dholavira in Gujarat. Dr. J.R Joshi and Dr. R.S. Bisht were involved in it.

Indus Valley Civilization Town Planning

  • Elaborate town-planning. It followed the Grid System. Roads were well cut, dividing the town into large rectangular or square blocks. Lamp posts at intervals indicate the existence of street lightning. Flanking the streets, lanes and by-lanes were well planned houses.
  • Used burnt bricks of good quality as the building material. Elsewhere in the contemporary world, mud-bricks were used.
  • Houses, often of two or more storey, varied in size, but were quite monotonous a square
    courtyard, around which were a number of rooms. No window faced the streets. The houses had tiled bathrooms.
  • Good drainage system. Drains were made of mortar, lime and gypsum and covered with large brick slabs for easy cleaning. Shows developed sense of health and sanitation.
  • The towns were divided into 2 parts: Upper part or Citadel and Lower Part. The Citadel was an oblong artificial platform some 30-50 feet high and about 400-200 yards in area It was enclosed by a thick (13 m at Harappa) crenelated mud-brick wall. In Citadel public buildings, granaries, important workshops and religious buildings were there. In lower part
    people used to live.
  • In Mohanjodaro, a big public bath (Great Bath) measuring 12m by 7m and 2.4m deep, has been found. Steps led from either end to the surface, with changing rooms alongside. It was probably used for ritual bathing.

Cities of Indus Valley Civilization


Indus Valley Civilization Agriculture

  • The Indus people sowed seeds in the flood plains in November, when the flood water receded, and reaped their harvests of wheat and barley in Apr, before the advent of the next flood.
  • Grew wheat, barley, rai, peas, sesamum, mustard, rice (in Lothal), cotton, dates, melon, etc.
  • The Indus people were the first to produce cotton.
  • In Kalibangan, fields were ploughed with wooden ploughs.
  • Domesticated animals on large scale. Besides the cattle, cats and dogs were domesticated.
  • Horse wasn’t in regular use but elephant was. Remains of horse at Surkotda and dogs with men in grave at Ropar have been discovered.
    Produced sufficient to feed themselves.
  • Food grains were stored in granaries.

Trade and Commerce in Ancient India

  • Well-knit external and internal trade. There was no metallic money in circulation and trade was carried through Barter System.
  • Weights and measures of accuracy existed in Harappan culture (found at Lothal). The weights were made of limestone, steatite, etc and were generally cubical in shape.
  • 16 was the unit of measurement (16, 64,160, 320).
  • Flint tool-work, shell-work, bangle making, pottery making, etc were practiced. Raw material for these came from different sources: gold from N.Karnataka, silver and lapis lazuli from Afghanistan and Iran, copper from Khetri and Baluchistan, etc.
  • Bead making factory existed in Chanhudaro and Lothal. They were items of export.
  • A dockyard has been discovered at Lothal. Rangpur, Somnath and Balakot functioned as seaports. Sutkagendor and Sutkakoh functioned as outlets.
  • The inland transport was done with bullock carts.
  • Every merchant or mercantile family probably had a seal bearing an emblem, often of a religious character, and a name or brief description, on one side. The standard Harappa seal was a square or oblong plaque made of steatite stone. The primary purpose of the seal was probably to mark the ownership of property, but they may have also served as amulets.
  • The Mesopotamian records from about 2350 BC onwards refer to trade relations with Meluha, the ancient name of the Indus region. Harappan seals and other material has been found at Mesopotamia. Also traded with Sumer.

Indus Valley Civilization Art and Craft

  • The Harappan culture belongs to the Bronze Age.
  • Bronze was made by mixing tin and copper. Tools were mostly made of copper and bronze.
  • For making bronze, copper was obtained from Khetri in Rajasthan and from Baluchistan, and tin from Afghanistan.
  • Cotton fabrics quite common. Woolen in winter.
  • Very fond of ornaments (of gold, silver, ivory, copper, bronze, precious stones) and dressing up. Ornaments were worn by both men and women. Women wore heavy bangles in profusion, large necklaces, ear-rings, bracelets, fingure-rings, girdles, nose studs and anklets. The Harappans were also an expert bead makers.
  • Potter’s wheel was in use. Their pottery was red or black pottery. Played dice games. Their favourite pastime was Gambling.
  • The Harappans most notable artistic achievement was their seal gravings, esp. those of animals. The red sandstone torso of a man is particularly impressive for its realism.
  • However, the most impressive of the figurines is perhaps the bronze image of the famous dancing girl (identified as devadasi), found at Mohenjodaro.
    For their children, they made cattle-toys with movable heads, model monkeys which could slide down a string, little toy-carts, and whistles shaped like birds, all of terracotta.

The Indus Valley Civilization Religious Life

  • Main object of worship was the Mother Goddess. But the upper classes preferred a god, nude with two horns, much similar to Pasupati Siva. Represented on the seal is a figure with three horned heads in a yogic posture. He is surrounded by an elephant, a tiger and a rhinoceros, and below his throne is a buffalo. Near his feet are two deer. Pashupatinath
    represented male deity. Phallus (lingam) and yoni worship was also prevalent. Many trees (pipal), animals (bull), birds (dove, pigeon) and stones were worshipped.
  • Unicorn was also worshipped. However, no temple has been found, though idolatry was practiced.
  • At Kalibangan and Lothal fire altars have been found.
  • Although no definite proof is available with regard to the disposal of the dead, a broad view is that probably there were three methods of disposing the dead – complete burial, burial after exposure of the body to birds and beasts, and cremation followed by burial of the ashes.
  • The discovery of cinerary urns and jars, goblets or vessels with ashes, bones and charcoal may, however, suggest that during the flourishing period of the Indus Valley culture the third method was generally practiced. In Harappa, there is one place where evidence of coffin burial is there. The people probably believed in ghosts and evil spirits, as amulets were worn. Dead bodies were placed in the north-south orientation.

Indus Valley Civilization Script

  • The script is not alphabetical but pictographic (about 600 undeciphered pictographs).
  • The script has not been deciphered so far, but overlaps of letters show that it was written from right to left in the first line and left to right in the second line. This style is called ‘Boustrophedon’.

Indus Valley Civilization Political Organization

  • There is no clear idea of the political organization of the Indus Valley people. Perhaps they were more concerned with commerce and they were possibly ruled by a class of merchants.
  • Also, there was an organization like a municipal corporation to look after the civic amenities of the people.

List of Indus Valley Civilization sites


Friday, 28 April 2017

INDIAN PRE-HISTORY


INDIAN PREHISTORY
  • The fossils of the early human being have not been found in India. A hint of the earliest human presence in India is indicated by stone tools of about 250,000 BC obtained from the deposits.
  • However, recent reported artifacts from Bori in Maharashtra suggest the appearance of human beings in India around 1.4 million years ago.
  • From their first appearance to around 3000 BC humans used only stone tools for different purposes.
  • This period is, therefore, known as the Stone Age, which has been divided into Paleolithic (early or Old Stone) Age, Mesolithic (Middle Stone) Age, and Neolithic (New Stone) Age.

Paleolithic Age (500,000 BC – 8000 BC)
  • In India it developed in the Pleistocene period or the Ice Age.
  • The earliest traces of human existence in India go back to 500,000 BC.
  • The Paleolithic sites are spread in practically all parts of India except the alluvial plains of Indus and Ganga.
  • The people of this age were food gathering people who lived on hunting and gathering wild fruits and vegetables.
  • Man during this period used tools of unpolished, undressed rough stones and lived in cave and rock shelters.
  • They had no knowledge of agriculture, fire or pottery of any material.
  • They mainly used hand axes, cleavers, choppers, blades, scrapers and burin. Their tools were made of hard rock called ‘quartzite’. Hence Paleolithic men are also called ‘Quartzite Men’.
  • Homo sapiens first appeared in the last of this phase.
  • It has been pointed out that Paleolithic men belonged to the Negrito race.
  • The Paleolithic Age in India has been divided into three phases according to the nature of stone tools used by the people and also according to the nature of change in the climate – Early or lower Paleolithic, Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic.
  • The Early Paleolithic Age covers the greater part of the Ice Age. Its characteristic tools are hand axes, cleavers and choppers. Such tools have been found in Soan and Sohan river valley (now in Pakistan) and in the Belan Valley in the Mirzapur district of UP In this period climate became less humid.
  • Middle Paleolithic Phase is characterized by the use of stone tools made of flakes mainly scrapers, borers and blade like tools. The sites are found in the valleys of Soan, Narmada and Tungabhadra rivers.
  • In the Upper Paleolithic Phase, the climate became warm and less humid. This stage is marked by burins and scrapers. Such tools have been found in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Bhopal and Chhota Nagpur plateau.

Mesolithic Age (8000 BC – 6000 BC)
  • In this age, climate became warm and dry. Climate changes brought about changes in fauna and flora and made it possible for human beings to move to new areas. Since then, there haven’t been major changes in the climate.
  • The characteristic tools of the Mesolithic Age are known as Microliths-pointed, cresconic blades, scrapers, etc, all made of stone.
  • The people lived on hunting, fishing and food gathering; at a later stage they also domesticated animals.
  • The last phase of this age saw the beginning of plane cultivation.
  • Various Mesolithic sites are found in the Chhotanagpur region, Central India and also south of the Krishna River.
  • In the Belan valley of Vindhyas, all the three phases of the Paleolithic followed by the Mesolithic and then by the Neolithic have been found in sequence. Similar is the case with the middle part of the Narmada valley.

Neolithic Age (6000 BC – 1000 BC)
  • In India Neolithic Age is not earlier than 6000 BC and at some places in South and Eastern India; it is as late as 1000 BC.
  • During this phase people were again depending on stone implements. But now they used stones other than quartzite for making tools, which were more lethal, more finished and more polished.
  • Neolithic men cultivated land and grew fruits and corn like ragi and horse gram.
  • They domesticated cattle, sheep and goat.
  • They knew about making fire and making pottery, first by hand and then by potters wheel. They also painted and decorated their pottery.
  • They lived in caves and decorated their walls with hunting and dancing scenes. They also knew the art of making boats. They could also weave cotton and wool to make cloth.
  • In the later phase of Neolithic phase people led a more settled life and lived in circular and rectangular houses made of mud and reed.
  • Important sites of this age are Burzahom and Gufkral in J&K (famous for pit dwelling, stone tools and graveyard in house), Maski, Brahmagiri, Tekkalakota in Karnataka, Paiyampatti in
    Tamil Nadu, Piklihal and Hallur in Andhra Pradesh, Garo hils in Meghalaya, Chirand and Senuwar in Bihar (known for remarkable bone tools), Amri, Kotdiji, etc.
  • Koldihawa in Uttar Pradesh revealed a threefold cultural sequence: Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Iron Age.

Chalcolithic Period
  • The end of the Neolithic Period saw the use of metals of which copper was the first. A culture based on the use of stone and copper arrived. Such a culture is called Chalcolithic which means the stone-copper phase.
  • Apart from stone tools, hand axes and other objects made of copperware also used.
  • The Chalcolithic people used different types of pottery of which black and red pottery was most popular. It was wheel made and painted with white line design.
  • These people were not acquainted with burnt bricks. They generally lived in thatched houses. It was a village economy.
  • They venerated the mother goddess and worshiped the bull.
  • Important sites of this phase are spread in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, etc

Wednesday, 26 April 2017

COMMON AND CHEMICAL NAMES OF COMPOUNDS

Common Name of Chemical Compounds
Chemical Name of Compounds                             
acetone 
dimethyl ketone; 2-propanone (usually known as acetone) 
acid of sugar 
oxalic acid 
acid potassium sulfate 
potassium bisulfate 
ackey 
nitric acid 
alcali volatil 
ammonium hydroxide 
alcohol sulfuris 
carbon disulfide 
alcohol, grain 
ethyl alcohol 
alcohol, wood 
methyl alcohol 
alum 
aluminum potassium sulfate 
alumina 
aluminum oxide 
antichlor 
sodium thiosulfate 
antifreeze 
ethylene glycol 
antimony black 
antimony trisulfide 
antimony bloom 
antimony trioxide 
antimony glance 
antimony trisulfide 
antimony red (vermillion) 
antimony oxysulfide 
aqua ammonia 
aqueous solution of ammonium hydroxide 
aqua fortis 
nitric acid 
aqua regia 
nitrohydrochloric acid 
aromatic spirit of ammonia 
ammonia in alcohol 
arsenic glass 
arsenic trioxide 
asbestos 
magnesium silicate 
aspirin 
acetylsalicylic acid 
azurite 
mineral form of basic copper carbonate 
baking soda 
sodium bicarbonate 
banana oil (artificial) 
isoamyl acetate 
barium white 
barium sulfate 
benzol 
benzene 
bicarbonate of soda 
sodium hydrogen carbonate or sodium bicarbonate 
bichloride of mercury 
mercuric chloride 
bichrome 
potassium dichromate 
bitter salt 
magnesium sulfate 
black ash 
crude form of sodium carbonate 
black copper oxide 
cupric oxide 
black lead 
graphite (carbon) 
blanc-fixe 
barium sulfate 
bleaching powder 
chlorinated lime; calcium hypochlorite 
blue copperas 
copper sulfate (crystals) 
blue lead 
lead sulfate 
blue salts 
nickel sulfate 
blue stone 
copper sulfate (crystals) 
blue vitriol 
copper sulfate 
bluestone 
copper sulfate 
bone ash 
crude calcium phosphate 
bone black 
crude animal charcoal 
boracic acid 
boric acid 
borax 
sodium borate; sodium tetraborate 
bremen blue 
basic copper carbonate 
brimstone 
sulfur 
brine 
aqueous sodium chloride solution 
burnt alum 
anhydrous potassium aluminum sulfate 
burnt lime 
calcium oxide 
burnt ochre 
ferric oxide 
burnt ore 
ferric oxide 
butter of antimony 
antimony trichloride 
butter of tin 
anhydrous stannic chloride 
butter of zinc 
zinc chloride 
calomel 
mercury chloride; mercurous chloride 
carbolic acid 
phenol 
carbonic acid gas 
carbon dioxide 
caustic lime 
calcium hydroxide 
caustic potash 
potassium hydroxide 
caustic soda 
sodium hydroxide 
chalk 
calcium carbonate 
Chile nitre 
sodium nitrate 
Chile saltpeter 
sodium nitrate 
Chinese red 
basic lead chromate 
Chinese white 
zinc oxide 
chloride of lime 
calcium hypochlorite 
chloride of soda 
sodium hypochlorite 
chrome alum 
chromic potassium sulfate 
chrome green 
chromium oxide 
chrome yellow 
lead (VI) chromate 
chromic acid 
chromium trioxide 
copperas 
ferrous sulfate 
corrosive sublimate 
mercury (II) chloride 
corundum (ruby, sapphire) 
chiefly aluminum oxide 
cream of tartar 
potassium bitartrate 
crocus powder 
ferric oxide 
crystal carbonate 
sodium carbonate 
dechlor 
sodium thiophosphate 
diamond 
carbon crystal 
emery powder 
impure aluminum oxide 
epsom salts 
magnesium sulfate 
ethanol 
ethyl alcohol 
farina 
starch 
ferro prussiate 
potassium ferricyanide 
ferrum 
iron 
fixed white 
barium sulfate 
flores martis 
anhydride iron (III) chloride 
'flowers of' any metal 
oxide of the metal 
flowers of sulfur 
sulfur 
fluorspar 
natural calcium fluoride 
formalin 
aqueous formaldehyde solution 
French chalk 
natural magnesium silicate 
French vergidris 
basic copper acetate 
galena 
natural lead sulfide 
Glauber's salt 
sodium sulfate 
green verditer 
basic copper carbonate 
green vitriol 
ferrous sulfate crystals 
gypsum 
natural calcium sulfate 
hard oil 
boiled linseed oil 
heavy spar 
barium sulfate 
hydrocyanic acid 
hydrogen cynanide 
hypo (photography) 
sodium thiosulfate solution 
Indian red 
ferric oxide 
Isinglass 
agar-agar gelatin 
jeweler's rouge 
ferric oxide 
killed spirits 
zinc chloride 
lampblack 
crude form of carbon; charcoal 
laughing gas 
nitrous oxide 
lead peroxide 
lead dioxide 
lead protoxide 
lead oxide 
lime 
calcium oxide 
lime, slaked 
calcium hydroxide 
limewater 
aqueous solution of calcium hydroxide 
liquor ammonia 
ammonium hydroxide solution 
litharge 
lead monoxide 
liver of sulfur 
sufurated potash 
lunar caustic 
silver nitrate 
lye or soda lye 
sodium hydroxide 
magnesia 
magnesium oxide 
manganese black 
manganese dioxide 
marble 
mainly calcium carbonate 
mercury oxide, black 
mercurous oxide 
methanol 
methyl alcohol 
methylated spirits 
methyl alcohol 
milk of lime 
calcium hydroxide 
milk of magnesium 
magnesium hydroxide 
milk of sulfur 
precipitated sulfur 
muriatic acid 
hydrochloric acid 
natron 
sodium carbonate 
nitre 
potassium nitrate 
nordhausen acid 
fuming sulfuric acid 
oil of mars 
deliquescent anhydrous iron (III) chloride 
oil of vitriol 
sulfuric acid 
oil of wintergreen (artificial) 
methyl salicylate 
orthophosphoric acid 
phosphoric acid 
Paris blue 
ferric ferrocyanide 
Paris green 
copper acetoarsenite 
Paris white 
powdered calcium carbonate 
pear oil (artificial) 
isoamyl acetate 
pearl ash 
potassium carbonate 
permanent white 
barium sulfate 
plaster of Paris 
calcium sulfate 
plumbago 
graphite 
potash 
potassium carbonate 
potassa 
potassium hydroxide 
precipitated chalk 
calcium carbonate 
Prussic acid 
hydrogen cyanide 
pyro 
tetrasodium pyrophosphate 
quicklime 
calcium oxide 
quicksilver 
mercury 
red lead 
lead tetraoxide 
red liquor 
aluminum acetate solution 
red prussiate of potash 
potassium ferrocyanide 
red prussiate of soda 
sodium ferrocyanide 
Rochelle salt 
potassium sodium tartrate 
rock salt 
sodium chloride 
rouge, jeweler's 
ferric oxide 
rubbing alcohol 
isopropyl alcohol 
sal ammoniac 
ammonium chloride 
sal soda 
sodium carbonate 
salt of lemon 
potassium binoxalate 
salt of tartar 
potassium carbonate 
salt, table 
sodium chloride 
saltpeter 
potassium nitrate 
silica 
silicon dioxide 
slaked lime 
calcium hydroxide 
soda ash 
sodium carbonate 
soda lye 
sodium hydroxide 
soda nitre 
sodium nitrate 
soluble glass 
sodium silicate 
sour water 
dilute sulfuric acid 
spirit of hartshorn 
ammonium hydroxide solution 
spirit of salt 
hydrochloric acid 
spirit of wine 
ethyl alcohol 
spirits of nitrous ether 
ethyl nitrate 
sugar of lead 
lead acetate 
sugar, table 
sucrose 
sulfuric ether 
ethyl ether 
talc or talcum 
magnesium silicate 
tin crystals 
stannous chloride 
trona 
natural sodium carbonate 
unslaked lime 
calcium oxide 
Venetian red 
ferric oxide 
verdigris 
basic copper acetate 
Vienna lime 
calcium carbonate 
vinegar 
impure dilute acetic acid 
vitamin C 
ascorbic acid 
vitriol 
sulfuric acid 
washing soda 
sodium carbonate 
water glass 
sodium silicate 
white caustic 
sodium hydroxide 
white lead 
basic lead carbonate 
white vitriol 
zinc sulfate crystals 
yellow prussiate of potash 
potassium ferrocyanide 
yellow prussiate of soda 
sodium ferrocyanide 
zinc vitriol 
zinc sulfate 
zinc white 
zinc oxide 

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