Daily Life in Ancient India
Indus Valley Civilization Daily Life
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3000 – 1500 BCE
(1922) Archaeologists found the remains of an ancient city called Harappa.
Found another city 400 miles SW of Harappa  Mohenjo-Daro.
Other ancient cities from the same period, arranged in the same way, have been found.
Collectively, referred to as the Indus Valley Civilization or Harappan civilization
 Existed from c. 3000-2,500 BCE – c. 1500 BCE
Homes:
 1 or 2 stories high and made of baked brick w/ flat roofs
 Built around a courtyard w/ windows overlooking & outside walls had no windows
 Private drinking well and bathroom
o Clay pipes in bathrooms  sewers under the streets & drained into rivers & streams
o Scientists have found what they think are giant reservoirs for fresh water.
o Smallest house at the edge of each town linked to that town's central drainage system.
Clothing:
 Men & women dressed in colorful robes.
 Women wore jewelry of gold & precious stone & wore lipstick
 Found a statue of a woman wearing a bracelet  similar designs are worn today in India
Entertainment:
 Small bronze statue of a dancer was found enjoyed dance & had great skill working w/ metals
 Mohenjo-Daro remains of a large central pool w/ steps leading down at both ends
o Could have been a public swimming pool or used for religious ceremonies
o Around were smaller rooms  dressing rooms & smaller pools  private baths
Food:
 Dinner  warm tasty wheat bread served w/ barley or rice
 Appeared they were very good farmers (Barley, peas, melons, wheat & dates)
o Raised cotton & kept herds of sheep, pigs, zebus (a kind of cow) & water buffalo
 Fish were caught in the river w/ fishhooks
 Had a large central storage building for grain (grown & stored centrally for all)
Toys: Small carts, whistles shaped like birds & toy monkeys, which could slide down a string
Art:
 Skilled in pottery, weaving & metalworking
 Pottery found is very high quality w/ beautiful designs
 Small figures of animals (monkeys) have been found  could be objects of art or toys
 Statues of what historians think are female gods  no large statues have been found
 Found bowls made of bronze or silver & many beads & ornaments
 Metals used  not found in Indus Valley  import all items OR imported metals used
Transportation:
 Used camels, oxen & elephants to travel over land
 Carts w/ wooden wheels
 Ships w/ 1 mast  probably used to sail around the Arabian Sea
 Seals w/ pictographic script (not yet deciphered) were found at the Indus Valley sites
o Similar seals were found in Mesopotamia, indicates possible trade b/tw these civilizations
Cities:
 What does it take to build a city w/ straight streets & well-designed sewers?
o Smart engineers & a lot of planning  towns were laid out in grids
o Organized gov’t & well-developed social life
 Appears Harappan cities did not develop slowly
o Suggests whoever built these cities learned to do so in another place
 Indus flooded  cities were rebuilt on top of each other
o Archaeologists discovered several cities, 1 built over the other, each a little less skillfully
o most skillful was on bottom builders grew less able or less interested in perfection
Language:
 Scientists have found no wall carvings or tomb paintings to tell us about their life.
 Had a written language  few sentences on pottery & amulets
What happened to these people?
 People who lived in these marvelous cities disappeared around 1500 BCE.
 Perhaps they ran out of wood to hold back flooding or soil gave out & no longer grow crops
 No one knows what happened to these people, or where they went.
 Historians are very curious. It will be interesting to see what archaeologists "dig up" next!
To explore the ancient city of Harappa in pictures and articles, http://www.harappa.com
Aryan Civilization Daily Life
The Vedic & Epics Periods
1500 – 500 BCE
Aryans:
 Things changed in the Indus Valley when a new group arrived, called the Aryans.
 Came from Central Asia (Russia)  Entered thru the Khyber pass
 Were nomads & raised livestock, rode chariots
 Had no sophisticated gov’t  grouped in clans & ruled by warrior chiefs called rajas
 Constant war amongst themselves, b/tw various clans
The VEDAS: means knowledge
 Beliefs & daily life described in the 4 Vedas  collection of poems & sacred hymns c.1500 BCE
 Composed of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, & Atharva Vedas
 This is why the period from c. 1500 BCE – 1000 BCE is called the Vedic Period.
The Ramayana & the Mahabharata:
 c. 1000 BCE, Aryans started to create 2 epics
o Stories about Aryans life, wars & accomplishments
 Ramayana  (good) Aryan king Rama destroys the (evil) pre-Aryan king Ravana
 Mahabharata  Aryan wars amongst 2 clans, Pandavas & Kauravas, & the Pandavas won
 This is why the period from c. 1000 BCE – 500 BCE is called the Epics Period.
How did the Aryans live?
 Clans or tribes settled in different regions of NW India
 Tribes were called Gana (literally a "collection" - of people).
 Chief of each tribe was hereditary  If your father was chief, you would be chief.
 Made decisions, after listening to a committee, or even to the entire tribe.
 People had a voice, but the chief was the boss.
Aryan Houses:
 People in the Vedic period lived in straw huts.
 Some were made of wood, but not until the Epics Period.
Yagna (central fire-place):
 Life of the tribal Aryans focused around the central fireplace called the Yagna.
 Dinner time was social time  gather around the fireplace & share news & days happenings
o Those who tended the fireplace also cooked for the rest of the tribe. (very special job)
 Fire tenders were the go-between b/tw the fire god & the people – Later, formed caste of priests
 Ate meat, vegetables, fruit, bread, milk& fish
Guest = Go-Ghna or eater of beef
What did they do when they were not working or fighting each other?
 Loved to gamble  introduced the horse to ancient India and raced chariots.
 Played fighting games & loved to tell stories.
 Were proud, fierce & deeply religious  had many gods & goddesses
Jobs:
 As the Aryans settled in and began to grow crops, people started to have occupations.
 Began to belong to 1 of 4 groups: Brahmana (priests), Kshatriya (warriors), Vaishya (traders and
agriculturists) & Shudra (workers) beginning  just occupations & could move group to group
 Changed over time, until a person's occupation or group depended upon birth
o If your father was a farmer, you had to be farmer.
o Change from one group to another became very difficult.
Education:
 Taught by a guru (a teacher)  even chiefs sons had to obey the guru
 Followed a rigorous course of studies
 Writing was done on bark and leaves, and hence was perishable, so we have very few items to tell us
what they studied or what they wrote.
Clothing:
 Initially made of animal skins  as people settled down clothing began to be made of cotton
Age of Empires Daily Life
500 BCE – 647 CE
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Next 1000 yrs  many kings & emperors
Some planted trees along the roads & built rest houses for travelers.
Others started great public works programs.
The most well known is the Gupta Empire.
The Gupta Empire
320 – c. 500
Dominated N India
 The Gupta Empire existed at about the same time as the Roman Empire.
 Villages were protected from bandits & raids w/ local military squads.
o Made up of 1 elephant, a chariot 3 armored cavalrymen & 5 foot soldiers
o In times of war, all the squads were brought together to form the royal army.
 People were happy during the Gupta period, the "Golden Age" of ancient India.
o Had religious freedom
o Were given free medical care, which included simple surgery.
o Criminals were never put to death  fined for their crimes
o $$$ rewards given to writers, artists & scholars  encouraged to produce wonderful
work
 Very few common people were educated
o Gupta Empire had many universities  came from China to study at these universities
Gupta homes:
 Homes were mostly 1 room huts made of wood or bamboo w/ thatched roofs.
 Palaces were made of wood.
 Larger homes had several rooms & balconies.
Gupta villages:
 Streets between the homes were narrow and twisted.
 Stalls for selling things were located on both sides of the street.
 People mostly walked where they wanted to go inside their village.
 Villages were very noisy places  full of happy, busy people & animals
o A monkey might sneak up & steal food right out of your hand.
Art:
 The craftsmen worked w/ iron and copper  iron work was outstanding
 Even today, statues exist from this period, made of iron, which shows very little rust.
Jobs:
 People worked on roads & other public works & were paid for their work.
 Wheat was the main crop & they kept cows for milk.
 Produced great works of literature and art. They were very good at sculpting works of art.
Scientists:
 Believed the earth was a sphere & rotated around the sun.
 Figured out the solar year had 365.358 days. (Scientists think it is 365.242; only missed by 3 hours!)
 Great w/ math  gave us the number system we use today - 9 digits, zero & the decimal.
Food:
 Concept of breakfast did not exist  Ate vegetables, cereals, fruits, breads & milk
 Early on, meals were both vegetarian & non-vegetarian, depending upon your religious
beliefs.
 After the coming of Buddhism & other pacifist religions & reforms in Hinduism, vegetarian
food became the norm for ½ of the population.
School:
 Older kids, who went to school, lived at school.
 School, called an ashram, was tough.
o Had to do everything their selves  no servants
o Princes had to wash clothes, cook their food & follow a rigorous course of studies.
o Studied math, science, engineering, literature, art, music & religion
Marriage:
 Most popular form of marriage was called Swayamvara.
o Potential grooms assembled at the bride's house & she selected her spouse
 Instances of Swayamvara are found in the Ramayana & Mahabharata.
 Other types of marriage  Gandharva Vivaha (love) & Asura Viviha (by abduction)
Sports & Games:
 Invented many of the games we play today.
o Chess, polo & playing cards (from India to other parts of the globe)
 Practiced martial arts, wrestling & fencing.
 Hunting was a favorite pastime of the nobility.
Pets:
 Were mainly birds like parrots.
 Royals had peacocks.
 Monkeys were not usually pets  mostly a nuisance
Clothing:
 N India –
o Wore (some still wear) an unstitched garment called dhoti  Worn by men & women
 9 meter long cloth draped around the legs & tied at the abdomen
o Women wore bright colors.
o Men wore either white or dark colors.
o Did not use banks  the family "fortune" was worn by the Vaishnav women
 Wore lots of jewelry  both by men & women
 Armbands, waist belts, leg/ankle bangles, ear rings, nose rings, rings on
fingers & toes, crowns & other hair adornments
o 326 BCE, Alexander the Great invaded NW India.
o Here's his account  They used parasols as a screen from the heat. They wear
shoes made of white leather& are elaborately trimmed. The soles are variegated
& made of great thickness, to make them seem much taller.
 S India o Ancient scriptures describe women as wearing saris.
 Sari is a single cloth wrapped around the body.
 Covers women from head to toe. (A dhoti is less modest.)
o Considered important for women to be covered from the neck down to the feet.
o Almost exclusively Shaivite for 1,000s of yrs  typically have few possessions
 Women would not have worn such jewelry
 Men would have worn only a loincloth & a cloth on the head to protect from the
sun, never jewelry.