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The Indus Valley Civilisation, which thrived between 3300 and 1300 BCE in present-day Pakistan and northwestern India, was a thoroughly advanced urban civilisation. At the centre of their structured way of life were their magnificent granaries. These big storage houses, placed in good locations in chief cities, were not just warehousing places for excess grain but vital parts of a sophisticated apparatus of resource supply and distribution. This blog post will explore the fascinating world of the granaries of the Indus Valley Civilisation, including their structure, function, and role in the storage and distribution of agricultural surplus.
Table of Contents
What are the Granaries of the Indus Valley Civilisation?
The Indus Valley people built huge storage buildings for extra food, like grain. These buildings were usually raised up high, probably to keep the food safe from any kind of natural calamities, animals, and pests. Researchers have found food storage buildings (Granaries) at places like Mohenjo-daro and Harappa which were huge and very well designed.
1. Structure and Design:
- The granaries were generally made using mud bricks or baked bricks, which also shows the civilisation’s advanced bricklaying techniques.
- The granaries had well-ventilated compartments, probably to keep the food from rotting and to keep it fresh.
- Granaries of the Indus Valley Civilisation also had places to load grains, and ways for carts to get there, showing they had a good system for moving it.
- The food storage building at Mohenjo-daro was a huge brick platform with many rooms inside.
2. Function:
- The main reason for these granaries was to keep extra food and make sure people didn’t go hungry.
- The granaries of the Indus Valley Civilisation served as a central distribution point where grain was allocated to different segments of society.
- These granaries helped the civilisation’s economy by dealing with extra food and possible food shortages.
- The Granaries of the Indus Valley Civilisation probably stored things like wheat and barley.
- It is thought that the granaries were used to store wheat, barley, and other crops.
Also Read:
Indus Valley Civilisation: Time Period, Culture, & Excavation Sites
Essay on Harappan Civilization in 1000+ Words
Importance of Granaries
- Having these granaries meant they had food even when there was no rain or bad harvests, which allowed big cities to develop.
- Building and taking care of these large storage areas indicates a central governing body, able to manage and control the sharing of resources.
- The granaries of the Indus Valley civilisation also helped with trade because extra grain could be used as money or traded for other things.
- The way they gave out food from the granaries might have shown that some people were considered more important.
- Having big food storage meant cities could get bigger because they could feed everyone, even those who didn’t grow food.
Distribution and Management
- We don’t know all the details about how they shared the grain, but a government likely managed it.
- The standardised existence of weights and measures shows that they made sure the distribution was fair and precise.
- The granaries of the Indus Valley Civilisation were situated near administrative or religious centres, which also indicates their importance in the overall organisation of the civilisation.
- Study shows that some portion of the stored gain is also used to pay workers for their labour.
The granaries of the Indus Valley Civilisation are a good example that shows how advanced and well-organised this old society was. They helped keep people fed, made the economy stable, and helped cities grow. Further research and archaeological discoveries will continue about these amazing town planning as we do more research and find more things.
FAQs
The Indus Valley Civilisation’s granaries were discovered close to places such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, which are currently in Pakistan and northwest India.
The Indus Valley civilisation flourished during the Bronze Age, between 3300 and 1300 BCE.
They contained surplus agricultural produce, mostly grains (wheat and barley), which ensured a food supply and economic sustainability.
While the exact mechanisms are debated, it’s likely a centralized authority oversaw distribution, possibly reflecting social hierarchies, and using standardised weights and measures.
Evidence suggests that wheat and barley were the primary crops stored, but other crops might also have been included.
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