Indus Civilization: Art and Motifs

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This book is about the creative understanding and practices of Indus valley people. The Indus Valley Civilization was an ancient civilization located on the fertile flood plain of the Indus River and its vicinity on the land which is in Pakistan and northwest India today. Indus valley settlements began around 5000 BCE and appeared as the first signs of urbanization. By 2600 BCE, many significant towns and cities had been established and the Indus Valley Civilization was at its peak between 2500 and 2000 BCE.

This book is an extensive research on forms and designs of the Indus Valley pottery which is a vital testimony of the art of designing pottery of proto-historic period of India. The book is based on the study of technique and method of making pottery, shapes, sizes and purpose of the pottery and most importantly classification of design painted on pottery which comprises texture as well as colour application. As pottery is considered the most significant part of any civilization, this book would be authentic source for the scholars who are interested in design and its history. This book will open a new window for the artists and designers.

The author of this book Dr. Kiran Dhiman had been always interested in art and designing and she wanted to do some thorough research to know about it. During her childhood she was inspired by her father's drawings, who motivated her towards art and created the initial curiosity about learning art. After her graduation and M.Com, she completed her MA and later Phd in Drawing and Painting from Jiwaji University. Her dedication towards art and design kept her motivated to do a meaningful study on Harappan Pottery and earliest designs that resulted in carrying out this project and publish her research in the form of a precise book titled 'Indus Civilization Art and Motifs. She has been very keen to do creative activities with young learners and she is truthfully eager to share her knowledge among young generation for the benefit of curious minds who are also interested in similar subject areas. She firmly believes this book will provide adequate information to the people who want to study ancient design practices.

Various issues are responsible to make a study valuable and expedient. The reach and scope of the topic 'Indus Civilization: Art and Motifs, the significance of the primary data used, the propriety of the line of approach followed the inferences drawn and conclusions arrived at, shows the competence of the scholar to do justice to her work. I have no hesitation in stating that this book, authored by Kiran Dhiman is worthwhile on all these counts.

The Harappan pottery and design constitute the primary source material of the present study and define its spatiotemporal scope. The two together constitute the two, so to say through which one can see the development, evolution and changes in painted design that characterizes Harappan culture. Besides, they are valuable not only from an Indian point of view but have a universal relevance and appeal as well. In fact, as a set of ancient global civilization heritage of Egypt. Mesopotamia, Harappa and China, they stand unique in their content and coverage. To be sure, there is no other known ancient culture anywhere in the world that is as rich in knowledge and wisdom and as expansive in its geographical and chronological horizons as the Indus Saraswati Civilization.

A study of the Harappan arts and designs is most welcome today because of another reason too. The European scholars viz. Wheeler and others tried to shorten the antiquity of Harappan culture circa 2350-1700 B.C.E. in comparison to Mesopotamian, whereas, Marshall has already assigned an earlier date bracket to circa 3200-3000 B.C. for the Mature Harappans. Our friends from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, supported the shorten chronology etc. but calibrated C14 dates supports Marshall's chronology.

The Indus valley civilization, which is now named as Harappan civilization, was one of the world's first great urban settlements. It is known that there were four oldest civilizations in the world flourished between 4 and 1 millennium BC: Egyptian, Mesopotamian. Indus and Chinese (yellow river). All these Bronze Age civilizations had different technological levels which perhaps developed due to certain environmental conditions, to meet the requirements of their respective areas! The North Western region of the Indian subcontinent was dominated by the Harappan civilization, which rivaled the contemporary cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt during the third and second millennium BC. Around 2600 BC the various regional cultures were united in what is called the Harappan Civilization. The Harappa culture or civilization is named after its type-site Harappa, located in the valley of Ravi in Pakistan because the town of Harappa was first discovered. This was perhaps the most important discovery in south Asia in the last century by great effort of Sir John Marshall, Rakhal Das Banerjee, Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni, Madho Sarup Vats and many others. (Marchall: Mohen-jo-daro; Vats: Harappa: Possehl: Indus Age: Kenyor, A. Ghosh: Indian Prehistory 1964-1965)

The Indus is the longest river in Pakistan, which begins in the Himalayan Mountains, and flows nearly 3,000 kilometers to the Arabian Sea. In the Sanskrit language of Ancient India, the Indus was called the Sindhu. Other rivers, such as the Saraswati joined the Indus as it flows down to the sea. This civilization is also sometimes called the Sindhu Saraswati civilization.

**Contents and Sample Pages**