🌾 Agriculture

• Crops grown: Wheat, barley (main crops), cotton (world’s first), sesame, mustard, peas, dates
• Rice: Evidence at Lothal and Rangpur (Gujarat) — but not a major crop
• Irrigation: Evidence of canals and water management at Dholavira
• Ploughed fields: Evidence at Kalibangan — earliest evidence of ploughing in South Asia
• Cotton: IVC people were the first in the world to grow and weave cotton

🐄 Animal Husbandry

• Domesticated animals: Cattle (humped bull — most important), buffalo, sheep, goat, pig, dog, cat, elephant
• Horse: Controversial — some evidence at Surkotada, but not definitively established
• Humped bull (zebu): Most commonly depicted animal on seals — possibly sacred

🏺 Crafts & Industries

🌍 Trade — Internal & External

Internal Trade:

• Extensive trade network within IVC — standardised weights and measures facilitated trade
• Raw materials imported from distant regions: copper from Rajasthan/Oman, tin from Afghanistan, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, gold from Karnataka

External Trade — with Mesopotamia:

• IVC traded with Mesopotamia (Sumer) — modern Iraq
• Mesopotamian texts refer to trade with “Meluhha” — identified as IVC
• Exports to Mesopotamia: Cotton, beads, carnelian, lapis lazuli, ivory, timber
• Imports from Mesopotamia: Silver, tin, wool
• Lothal dockyard — evidence of maritime trade
• IVC seals found in Mesopotamia; Mesopotamian cylinder seals found in IVC sites

🔖 Harappan Seals

• Over 2,000 seals found — mostly square, made of steatite (soapstone)
• Each seal has an animal motif and script above it
• Most common animal: Unicorn (one-horned bull)
• Other animals: Humped bull, elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, crocodile
• Famous seal: Pashupati Seal — shows a figure seated in yogic posture surrounded by animals (proto-Shiva?)
• Purpose: Used for trade — stamping goods; also possibly amulets