The most basic commonality is the fact that Harappan civilization was urban (that is, centered in cities). Nevertheless, it depended on agricultural production for its survival. Most of what we know about the urban nature of ancient India comes from the two major excavations I mentioned before, that of Harappa itself and that of Mohenjo-Daro. In several slides to come, you will see the complex urban environment which these excavations have unearthed. For now, you should note that the cities were fortified, that is, protected by peripheral walls. Also, the cities were built around a citadel, a fortified building which served three purposes: 1) it was the royal residence, 2) it housed the major temple, and 3) served as the physical center of the bureaucracy. The second common trait of river valley civilizations shared by the Harappans is the fact that it developed from very early on a highly organized and structured government. In its earliest history, the Dravidians were pastoral peoples organized at the local level into villages. However, as early as 3000 B.C.E. Harappans developed a centralized monarchy, in which the King was ultimate ruler, but counted on the help of a ruling elite. Most importantly, the monarchy had a theocratic base. That is, the king was believed to have been chosen by the gods and to be a direct intermediary between man and the gods. The highly structured nature of Harappan government is seen in the centralization of power upon the king and in the sophisticated standardization of the tools of government; this is, in fact, the third similarity among river valley civilizations. To explain this let me go a bit more into detail. Harappan kings made standard sized streets, which facilitated transportation and therefore trade, and they created a standard system of weights and measures to assure ease of trade and less cheating along the whole kingdom. More importantly, Harappan kings created a standard written language about which, sadly, we know little. In following slides you will see samples of the Harappan written language. In terms of its economy, like Egypt and Mesopotamia, Harappa depended on agriculture. Their main staples were wheat, barley and peas. Harappans are particularly important as an early civilization because they were the first ones to grow cotton. Like both Egypt and Mesopotamia, as I mentioned in the map slide, Harappa also had an extensive trading network. Their most important exports were textiles and foodstuffs.
