NCERT HISTORY CLASS-VI
CHAPTER-III PART-II
RAW MATERIALS
Raw materials are the products from which finished products were made through a series of processes. They are either found naturally or produced by farmers and herders. The Harappans got their raw materials in the local area, but some materials like copper, tin, gold, silver, and precious stones had to be brought from distant places like
- Copper - Rajasthan, Oman.
- Bronze (mixture of tin & copper) - Afghanistan, Iran.
- Gold - Karnataka
- Precious stones - Gujarat, Afghanistan, Iran.
SPECIALISTS
People who are trained to do only one kind of work are called Specialists. Many beautiful things present in older days were done by these people. They work like polishing beads, sculpting stones, carving seals, etc. Not only men but there are also women specialists too. They also used Faience (a glassy, shiny, artificially produced material) to make beads, bangles, and hearings.
FOOD FOR CITIES
The people like Rulers, scribes, craft persons were lived in cities. While others were lived in the countryside. They were mostly farmers, herders, and they supplied food to all people in the city. The plow is used to dig the earth to turn the soil and plant seeds. A different form of irrigation is followed in the areas which didn't receive much heavy rainfall. They started storing water and supply it to the fields when the plants were growing. The Harappans also reared animals. During the summer season, a large number of herds were taken to distant places in search of grass and water.
Harappan Town - A closer look
1. Unlike all the other cities in Harappan, Dholavira which had fertile soil and freshwater located on Khadir Beyt in the Raan of kutch were divided into three parts that were surrounded by massive stone walls with high gateways. Other finds were large letters in white stone with Harappan scripts, seals.
2. The raw materials like precious stones were easily available in The city of Lothal stood beside a tributary of the Sabarmati, Gujarat. There were also many seals, storehouses, workshops in the city.
Mysterious End
Around 3,900 years ago, people stopped living there due to many reasons. we may not able to conclude with an exact reason but, the predictions are
- The Raw materials from distant places become rare.
- Rivers may dry up and Deforestation occurred due to the requirement of fuel for baking bricks.
- In some areas, there were floods, and the Rulers lost control
- Sind and West Punjab sites were abandoned, while people started moving to the south and east side.
- After 1,400 years, new cities have emerged there.