Kutsa Rishi is one of the last Saptarishis

Kutsa Rishi

Kutsa Rishi is one of the last Saptarishis we will cover in this series. He is mentioned many times in the Rig Veda, in various contexts. He is often associated with Lord Indra, both as a close friend and as a look-alike. In one Rigvedic hymn, Kutsa is mentioned as Arjuneya, the son of Arjun. Elsewhere, Kutsa is invoked together with Indra, as Indra-Kutsa. The Rishi is also known for his sweetness.

Rig Veda 4.16.10 there is mention of a conversation between Sage Vamadeva and Indra which illustrates how Kutsa and Indra were not only intimate friends, but were also 'look-alikes' -- so much so that at one point, Indrani herself could not tell them apart.

Rishi Kutsai was the son of a Rajarishi named Ruru. Indra helped Ruru by decimating his enemies, and he invited Kutsa to Indraloka to celebrate the victory. Once, Kutsa fell into a deep well, and Indra came running to save his friend. This pastime is mentioned in Rig Veda10.40.6.

In Rig Veda106.6 there is a suktam consisting of seven mantras. Although Kutsa Rishi discovered this suktam, he named it in conjunction with his guru, Angirasa, as the Kutsa Angeerasa. In Panini's Ashtadhyayi, he is mentioned as an old acharya. He is described as worshipping Agni in different forms, addressing him with different names.

One of Kutsa's enemies is Shushna, who he defeats with Indra's help. Indra removed the Sun disc for Kutsa, who is also referred to as Indra's charioteer. In one hymn 'the Kutsas' are mentioned in plural as a family of singers, in a song praising Indra. The Naighantuka states that Kutsa is a synonym of Indra's vajra.

In some sastric references, Kutsa is defeated by Indra, along with Ayu and Atithigva. In Rig Veda 1.53, the three of them are delivered by Indra to the young king Turvayana.

Kutsa is mentioned not only in the , but also in the Yajur and Samaveda. He is a descendant of Rishi Angira, so he is sometimes called Angiras.

There are several hymns found in Rig Veda Mandala 1 which are attributed to Kutsa Angirasa, and another hymn in the eighth Mandala (10.105) is attributed to Durmitra or Sumitra Kautsa, a descendant of Kutsa Rishi.

In the Rudram of Yajurveda, 65 out of 82 suktams are attributed to Kutsa. It is also stated that Kutsa Maharishi explained the allegories of the first laws of celestial bodies. In a chapter of the Raghuvamsa, Kalidasa invokes Sage Kutsa; he is acknowledged as having blessed the Raghus -- the dynasty to which the crown jewel, Lord Rama belongs.

Although Kutsa Rishi is known for the quality of sweetness he embodies, his name might appear to indicate something different. The Sanskrit word 'kutsa' means 'reproachful' or 'contemptuous', and is often associated with fault-finding. But in the case of Rishi Kutsa, the name indicates that as a great sage, he was displeased by the vagaries of the material world and verbally disciplined others.

Kutsa Rishi is known for another sort of sound vibration – the Prokshana-mantram

"Om Bhoo, Om Bhuvaha, Om Suvahaâ"

This is the fourth vyahrithi, 'swvah' in the Prokshana-mantram, familiar to those who meditate on Gayatri.

Sastra states that water has the ability to purify anything it touches. This potency is transmitted to water by the power of the Prokshana-mantram. The Taittriya-samhita states that the mantra drishtas, or the personal embodiments of this mantram, are Atri, Brigu and Kutsa Maharishis.

Despite Kutsa Rishis strict observances, however, it is said that he once made a mistake in pronouncing a Veda mantram, and for this he was cursed to be a frog in a well. Once his period of atonement had passed, Veda Purusha told him that even while he was a frog, he would remember his previous birth and could be relieved of the curse if he did penance in a pushkarani (holy waters), praying to Soundararaja Perumal at Valmiki kshetram for 48 days. This the Rishi did, the curse was released, and he regained his former body.

The Valmiki kshetram referred to here is Thiru Anbil, which is situated 5 miles east of Lalgudi, in Tiruchy District of Tamil Nadu. It is the birthplace of the great sage, Valmiki, and is one of the 108 Divya Desams. The temple pushkarani (theertham) is known as Mandooka Pushkarani.

Thiru Anbil temple is believed to have been built by the Medieval Cholas of the late 8th century A.D., with later construction by the Vijayanagar kings and Madurai Nayaks. The copper plate inscriptions from Anbil indicate generous contributions by the Chola kings to the temple. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and theertham. The rajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower, is east facing and has a 3-tier structure. The temple is located on the banks of river Kollidam. Sundararajan Perumal (Lord Visnu) is believed to have appeared to Brahma and sage Suthaba.

Source: Sampradaya Sun

Atri Rishi

Atri Rishi 

Atri Rishi is the final member of the Saptarishi, or Seven Great Sages we will cover in this series, and he is one of seven mind-born (manasa-putra) sons of Lord Brahma in the present Manvantara. He was born from Brahma's eyes. He is married to Anasuya, the daughter of Kardama Prajapati. Brahmarshi Atri is the seer in the fifth Mandala of Rigveda. Also known as 'the Devourer', Atri Rishi is an embodiment of the power of detachment.

Considered to be one of the great discoverers of sacred mantram, Atri Maharishi's family line had several other greater sages and munis, including Shaavaashva, Avishtir, Purvaatithi, Mudgala, Uddaalaki, Shaakalaayani, and Chaandogya.

When the sons of Lord Brahma were destroyed by Shiva's curse, Atri was born again from the flames of Brahma's sacrificial fire. In both manifestations, his wife was Anasuya. They had three sons, Datta, Durvasas and Soma in his first life, and a son named Aryaman and a daughter, Amala, in the second.

Atri Rishi is mentioned several places in the Mahabharata, particularly in the battlefield pastime wherein Dronacharya fought on mercilessly, in streams of blood and carnage, after Bhisma's fall. Sage Atri became very concerned that if Drona continued in his frenzy, he would cause misery and human destruction beyond all proportions.

Atri along with his associate Rishi Gautama came onto the battlefield, with five of their companions. This was at the time Sri Krsna said that Ashwathama had been killed, hoping to discourage Drona from fighting any longer. Sage Atri approached him and in great kindness, encouraged him to step back and cease fighting, returning his focus instead to the pursuit of sanatana-dharma.

The Rishi's sage advice caused Dronacharya to end his killing rage. Sitting down on the battlefield, he began to meditate on the Lord, closing his eyes and never opening them again until he left his body. Atri Rishi's kindness is credited with saving him.

In the manuscript illustration above and the painting below, we see a pastime from Bhagavat Purana in which the Trimurti -- Lord Visnu, Brahma and Shiva -- came to test Atri Rishi's wife, Anasuya. The Deities came to test her because she was well known for being the embodiment of chastity.

One day, the Trimurti personalities came to the asrama of Atri Rishi in the disguise of brahmanas. They told Anasuya they would like to be fed, however there was a condition -- she would have to be unclothed to serve them.

Without any hesitation, the Rishi's chaste wife agreed to this condition. She set about arranging nice foodstuffs, then employing her pativrita shakti, she turned the three brahmanas into children. She then proceeded, in all unclothed decorum, to serve her guests.

Being very pleased with Anasuya, the Trimurti deities requested her to return to her normal form, and to lift the shakti so They might return to their own. She did so, and they blessed her and Atri Rishi to have three sons: Dattatreya, Chandraatri and Krishnaatri (Durvasa). Durvasa's pastime confronting Ambarisa is famously described in the Bhagavatam and Mahabharata.

Atri Rishi played a role, this time during Rama-lila.Lord Rama visited Atri Maharishi's ashram during His long years of exile. It was Atri Rishi who, after offering Him great hospitality, showed Rama the way to Dandakaranya forest.

Ancient Indian Astrophysics and Time

"Temporal notions in Europe were overturned by an India rooted in eternity. The Bible had been the yardstick for measuring time, but the infinitely vast time cycles of India suggested that the world was much older than anything the Bible spoke of. It seem as if the Indian mind was better prepared for the chronological mutations of Darwinian evolution and astrophysics." 

He has commented on the wise division of life in India: "Here is a philosophy far removed from the grotesque refusal to grow old in the West, where wisdom has been replaced by cosmetic surgery and psychiatric help."

"The Indian tradition, on the other hand, is that men submit to nature and form part of it, there nature preserves its sacredness, lost in the West since the Industrial Revolution." He further states that the idea of feminism and ecology came from the 1968 movement, from the meeting between India and the West. He says: "There is hardly anything in European thought to predispose the West to reject virility, the respect for authority, the mastery over nature. India too has a warrior (khastriya) tradition of virility as exemplified in the Mahabharata, only it is secondary. First, comes the veneration of thousands of goddesses - for the Indians, India is above all Mother India. India's femininity and sexual ambiguity, is the very antithesis of Western virility. For example, when the British scaled earth's highest peak, the exploit was widely hailed as the "conquest of the Everest." It was not realized and is often not realized still, that the word "conquest" was totally out of place in the context of the peak which is considered an object of reverence by many.

"The Brahmins attached to knowledge and learning is what has helped the Indian civilization endure and allowed the arts to flourish. If comparisons have to be made, it may be said that the endurance of the Brahmins in India has kept her elite intact, whereas in neighboring China the anti-intellectualism of communist peasants has completely wiped out the intelligentsia of that country. The Brahmins kept knowledge and art alive in India, preserving not only their savant but also their popular forms. The Brahmin elite is perhaps egoistical and domineering, nonetheless it has preserved a sense of dignity and beauty that has disappeared from China where all that remains is vulgarity and crass ignorance."

"The more decentralized, diversified and ritualized a religion is the better it can withstand the onslaught of rationalist thought. Hinduism, derives its strength from the fact that it is not a single unified religion but the sum total of thousands of local faiths. Every village has its own cult, rooted in the local culture without any universalistic pretensions."

"India is a marvelous example of the art of living together at a time when Westerners are apprehensive about the future of their society."

"You cannot be a Hindu fundamentalist. It does not mean anything...The concept of fundamentalism does not exist in Hinduism." No one man embodies the spirit of universalism, it runs through the whole of India and there is a place for all religious groups and communities. The spiritual message of India is her capacity to let so many divergent practices coexist. The Enlightenment philosophers seemed to have grasped this profound originality...This the real message of India."

He says, "India has a strong cultural image in the west; unfortunately, it is not being commercially exploited." This should sink into the heads of those of us who are happy to be third-rate imitators of the US.

Sorman asserts that India is not a rogue state when he talks of the nuclear option. But there seem to be some Indians who are not so sure of their own country. He points out that "Nobody knows what is right. Each civilization...has its sense of the right. No one can impose his perception of right over others."

"Each Indian looks for God in his own way and worships one or several of the millions of deities who are the supposed reincarnation or expression of God, a Spirit or a Force. This has never led to a religious war. There have been communal clashes, but India has never had to face religious wars or crusades save those that were thrust on it from outside. The multiple revelation of the East has proved to be in many ways more advantageous than the single revelation of the West."

(source: The Genius of India - By Guy Sorman (Le Genie de l'Inde) Macmillan India Ltd. 2001. ISBN 0333 93600 0 p.195 , 122).

The First Sloka Of Ramayana

The First Sloka Of Ramayana

Ma nishada pratishtam tvam agama shasvati sama / Yat krauncha mithunat ekam avadhih kama mohitam

(Desist O hunter! May you not get stability or peace for endless years, since you killed one of the pair of cranes, in love with each other.) 

Valmiki Rsi was very sad because he began with inauspicious verse by cursing a hunter. Lord Vishnu entered in this world to make auspiciousness. Lord Brahma console Valmiki rsi by saying do not worry. Valmiki told the first sloka has no mistake grammatically, spelling and arrangement but inauspicious.

To please Lord Rama, Valmiki Rsi stress that we should speak auspicious words, speak the truth, do not steal, cheat and be compassionate towards all living beings.

If we practice those instruction by Valmiki rsi, the world will peaceful and our life will be joyful.

While bathing in river Tamasa Valkimi rsi said

Ramaniyam prasanambu shan manusya mano yatha

We should have good heart without any bad intention. If we have steadiness in our heart there is no fear. How could we be without fear? Compassionate towards other living beings.

(Compassionate which mentioned here including avoiding meat eating. Later Lord Buddha confirmed this by saying "The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion" - Mahaparinirvana

The Inspiration for Ramayana:

One day, sage Valmiki was going to the river Tamasa for his morning bath. As he was walking along the river bank, he watched a pair of cranes (krauncha), sporting with joy on a tree nearby. Suddenly, the male bird fell down, killed by a hunter's arrow. The female bird, seeing its mate fallen to the ground, flapped its wings, and squawked piteously.

Valmiki's grief burst forth in a curse, "O cruel man, as you have killed one of these loving birds, you shall wander homeless all your life."

Ma nishada pratishtam tvam agama shasvati sama / Yat krauncha mithunat ekam avadhih kama mohitam

(Desist O hunter! May you not get stability or peace for endless years, since you killed one of the pair of cranes, in love with each other.)

Immediately, the sage recovered his composure. He wondered why he got so angry as to curse another person. Recalling the words of his curse, the rishi discovered that the curse had taken the form of a beautiful verse (sloka). He wondered "How mysterious is the play (lila) of God!" and sat down to meditate.

Then, Brahma appeared before him and said, "This incident happened only to inspire you to write the divine story of Sri Rama. From sorrow (shoka) was born verse (sloka). You shall sing the story of Ramayana in this very poetic metre for the welfare of mankind." This poetic metre is called Anushtub chandas.

It has 16 syllables per line and a total of 32 syllables for a couplet.

The true purpose of the Ramayana is to awaken its reader spiritually, and to send him forth on the great journey that leads to Moksha, to God.

The story of Bhoja Raja and Astha Laksmis

The story of Bhoja Raja and Astha Laksmis

Raja Bhoja was the king of Malwa. He lived a prosperous life. Everything good, was there for him to possess and enjoy. That was because of the fact that all the Eight Lakshmis - Ashta Lakshmi were residing in his pujai room. He was an ardent worshiper of the Ashta Lakshmis.

Now.... who are The Ashta Lakshmis?
They are Dhana Lakshmi, Dhanya Lakshmi, Thairya Lakshmi,
Vijaya Lakshmi, GajaLakshmi, Aadhi Lakshmi and Santhaana Lakshmi and Saubhaghya Lakshmi.

They were the ones who bestowed everything to him. One day when he entered the pujai room and performed the puja, the Eight Lakshmis appeared before him. One of them told, "O King Bhoja. The day has come that we have to depart from you. All these days we have been with you. We have bestowed you everything that is good under the sky. But every good thing comes to and end. From tomorrow, we will not be here with you". Bhoja was aghast.

What will become of him? His family? His kingdom? It was not even possible to be imagined. He remonstrated before the Lakshmis and pleaded with them to prolong their stay with him. At last, the Lakshmis said, " You can choose one of us. That particular Lakshmi will stay with you. The rest will depart. Use your discretion wisely, O King. May the Supreme Goddess guide your wisdom". Bhoja thought very hard. At last he made his decision. He chose Thairya lakshmi (The mother who gives courage).

Any form of change for the worse or any form of misfortune can be met with, if there is courage. Any other richness without courage would make life miserable and intolerable. The next morning, Bhoja entered the Puja room to perform the pujas. There he saw all the Eight Lakshmis there. As resplendent as ever.

He was surprised. One of the Lakshmis explained:
"All of us will be together in a place where there is Thairya Lakshmi. Because you chose Thairya Lakshmi, We had to be together. We could not leave Her and thus We could not leave you. We will be with you always"

Pyramids -Forbidden History Connecting All Major Ancient Civilizations ​

Pyramids are still mystery but if you look closely , you will see real origin far more than what Egyptian archeology tell you ~5000 years. In fact Archaeologist and Historians are kind of stuck at 5000 years when according to them civilization began,and wants to connect everything after that.


Although many people still thing that Pyramids are only in Egypt, but they are far away from truth.The Ancient Egyptians, Ancient Chinese, Ancient Indians,Pre-Inca, Inca, Aztecs, Maya and countless other ancient cultures erected Pyramids that still exist today.



TRUE AGE OF EGYPT PYRAMID IS NOT 5000 YRS BUT >35000 YEARS AGO-

The ignored inscription of the left paw of the Sphinx

In 1817, Gianbattista Caviglia** (1770-1845) cleaned the front of the Sphinx, something that had not been done since the fall of the Roman Empire. He first found a fallen piece of the Sphinx's beard (now at the British Museum!), then, cleared of sand, he found an inscription on a toe of the left paw of the Sphinx: 13 lines of text in Greek, engraved conspicuously with reference to how this is an official documentation dating from 166 AD after the reign of Marcus Aurelius to commemorate the restoration of the walls surrounding the Sphinx by the Romans. This text is exciting and yet one does not have a chance to view it today on the sphinx, as successive restorations - and especially the last - were covered with incredibly thick layers often disfiguring the contours of our Sphinx, as stifling as the bandages of mummification.

Written in Greek, and in capital letters, I know that there are now three existing translations in English and one in Latin of this text: one from a copy made by Henry Salt (1780-1827) British Consul General in Cairo in 1815 and a great collector of Egyptian antiquities that had paid Caviglia in 1817 to explore the Sphinx, whose transcription was published in the "Quarterly Review " vol. 19) in 1818, translated by Dr. Yong (who even strove to restore some permanently erased words) in English and Latin ...and another from the great Egyptian archaeologist Selim Hassan* (1893-1961), the first Egyptian to occupy a chair of Egyptology ...and finally, one from the Reverend Coleridge of Eton, published in: "Operations conducted at the Pyramid of Giza" by Colonel Vyse in 1842. I will give here my own translation of the inscription; I tried to be as faithful as possible to the grammar of ancient Greek and not to invent the missing words:

"This structure is the work of the immortal Gods. Placed so as to dominate the soil of this Land of harvest, Built in the center of a cavity from which they withdrew the sand, Like an island of stone in the vicinity of the pyramids, So that we can see it, Not as the sphinx defeated by Oedipus, But as a sacred servant of Leto, Who guards with vigilance; The Sacred Guide of the Land of Egypt." SOURCE-Link

~5000 years old oldest Smart city of World--Harappa, Lothal

The Indus Valley lay forgotten and undiscovered for thousands of years.

In 1826, a British traveller in India called Charles Masson came across some mysterious brick mounds. He thought they looked like old castles, but didn't know who built them.

Thirty years later, in 1856, engineers building a railway found more bricks. They carted them off and continued to build the railway. These bricks were the first evidence of the lost Indus city of Harappa.

In the 1920s, archaeologists began to excavate the sites of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. They had uncovered the remains of two long-forgotten cities and found the Indus Valley civilization.Cities of the Indus valley

Find out more about some of the cities in the Indus Valley

Harappa

Mohenjo-Daro

Kalibangan

Lothal

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Around 4,500 years ago, Harappa was one of the busiest cities in the Indus Valley.

The city was laid out in blocks, with some areas surrounded by strong walls.
There were public wells, which people might have used to wash their clothes, and sewers which carried the waste water away to nearby fields.
There were also workshops where beads, shells and stone tools have been found.

Kalibangan means 'black bangles', after the large number of terracotta bracelets found at the site.

Archaeologists have also found what they think might be the oldest evidence of a ploughed field here.

The ancient Indus farmers would have probably used oxen to pull a plough, before sowing seeds for their crops. Around 5,000 years later, some people in the Indus Valley are still farming in this way!

Lothal was an important port city. From here, trading ships set sail to other Indus cities and parts of Asia and Africa.

The people of Lothal were skilled craftworkers. They made pottery, including beautiful jars decorated with bulls, horses and birds. They also made intricate jewellery from gold, ivory and gemstone beads.

They used copper to make ornaments of animals, as well as tools, arrowheads and fish hooks.

Mohenjo-Daro was once a busy, bustling city, home to around 35,000 people.
Streets were laid out in a grid, with different areas for rich and poor people. The houses were made from clay bricks and some were two storeys tall.

Archaeologists have discovered a 'Great Bath' in Mohenjo-Daro. It looks like a swimming pool, but may have been a temple where priests and rulers bathed in religious ceremonies.

Mohenjo-Daro was once a busy, bustling city, home to around 35,000 people.

There were more than 1,400 towns and cities in the Indus Valley. The biggest were Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Around 80,000 people lived in these cities.

The names Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were given to the cities in later times. We do not know what the Indus people called their cities, because nobody has been able to translate their ancient language.
The Indus river begins high up in the Himalayan mountains (the tallest mountain range in the world), and flows nearly 3,000 kilometres to the Arabian Sea. As the river moves downstream it carves out a valley. This is where the Indus people settled.



The first farmers liked living near the river because it kept the land green and fertile for growing crops. These farmers lived together in villages which grew over time into large ancient cities, like Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.

The Indus is the longest river in Pakistan, it's over 3,000 kilometers long

The Indus people needed river water to drink, wash and to irrigate their fields. They may also have used water in religious ceremonies. To the Indus people, their river was  ‘The King River’.

Indus traders weighed their goods on scales, using stone weights. The scale pans here are made of copper.

Weighing scale was discovered first time in world in India-

Indus Valley trade?

Indus Valley cities lived by trade. Farmers brought food into the cities. City workers made such things as pots, beads and cotton cloth. Traders brought the materials workers needed, and took away finished goods to trade in other cities.
Trade goods included terracotta pots, beads, gold and silver, coloured gem stones such as turquoise and lapis lazuli, metals, flints (for making stone tools), seashells and pearls.
Minerals came from Iran and Afghanistan. Lead and copper came from India. Jade came from China and cedar tree wood was floated down the rivers from Kashmir and the Himalayas

Measuring weight

Sargon of Akkad was a king in Mesopotamia, an ancient civilisation which the Indus people traded with.

Indus Valley traders did not use money. So they probably exchanged goods - say, swapping two sacks of wheat for one basket of minerals.
The traders weighed their goods on balance scales, using stone cubes as weights.
The weights were made from cubes of a flinty rock called grey chert. The smallest cube was very light, weighing less than 1 gram! The heaviest was over 11 kilograms - a bit more than 4 bags of supermarket potatoes.

Writing on baked seals?-way of paying tax.

In 1872, archaeologist Alexander Cunningham was puzzled by a flat piece of stone from Harappa which had writing on it. It was a seal. Another archaeologist, Rakhal Banerji found more seals in 1919.
Over 3,500 seals have now been found. Most are square or oblong, and small, about 25 mm across. They are made from steatite or faience, usually baked hard. Each seal has a picture and writing on it, carved with a copper tool.
Pressed into soft clay, a seal left an impression (a copy of the picture and writing). When the clay dried hard, it could be used as a tag which could then be tied to a pot or basket.
Indus Valley traders probably used seals like labels, to show who owned a sack of grain, or that the correct city tax had been paid.

This strange animal with one horn is called a unicorn. Above it is some Indus writing.

Seal animals

Many seals have pictures of animals on them. Animals on seals include elephants, rhinoceros, tigers, fish-eating crocodiles (gharial) and zebu (humped cattle).
The most commonly pictured animal on Indus seals is a 'unicorn'. In ancient stories, the unicorn was a mythical beast, usually looking like a horse, with one horn.
Some people think the Indus Valley 'unicorn' is really a cow sideways-on. It may have been a 'good luck' charm, or the badge of an important group of traders.

This Indus seal shows an animal with three heads: bull, unicorn and antelope.

Traders' travels

Indus Valley traders crossed mountains and forests. They followed rivers walking along the river bank. They also used boats. In a boat, it was easier and quicker going downstream (the same direction as the river was flowing).
Some traders carried goods on their backs. Others drove wooden carts pulled by bullocks. Archaeologists have found clay models of carts, which look like the bullock-carts still seen in India and Pakistan today.
Traders probably journeyed in groups. At night they made camp, or slept in roadside hotels. Sometimes it was safer to travel in groups, for protection against robbers or hungry tigers.
Some traders settled in other lands. Traders from another civilisation called Mesopotamia made their homes in Indus cities, and people from the Indus Valley went to live in cities in Mesopotamia.

Indus Valley boats

A picture on one seal shows an Indus Valley boat with raised ends (prow and stern), a rolled-up sail, and a square cabin. A man at the stern (back) has a long oar, possibly to steer. A flat-bottomed boat could travel in shallow water. It could be pushed by a pole, by paddles, or by the wind in its sail. Bigger boats went out to sea.
Boats in ancient times were made of wood, or bundles of reeds. Modern experiments have proved that even reed boats could cross oceans. Boats like ancient Indus Valley craft are still used in India, Pakistan and in the Arabian Gulf

An Indus river boat, shown on a seal. You can see its raised ends, a cabin, and a steersman using long oars.

Trade with Mesopotamia

Sargon of Akkad (2334 to 2279 BC) was a king in Mesopotamia. This was one of the first ancient civilisations. We know Indus Valley traders went there, because Indus seals have been found in Mesopotamia.

Indus potters made plain everyday pots, and fine decorated pots like this one.

Sargon's scribes kept written records of ships from other lands. So we learn that the Mesopotamians bought gold, copper and jewellery from 'Meluhha'. Was Meluhha the Mesopotamian name for the Indus civilisation? Or was it the Indus Valley people's own name for their land?
To reach Mesopotamia, Indus ships sailed west. They probably kept close to land. Bits of old Indus pottery found on beaches in Oman, in the Gulf, came from storage jars left behind by traders.

The rhino pictured on this Indus seal is an Indian rhinoceros, a different species from the rhinos that live in Africa.

Lothal , near Gujrat, a part of industrial town of Indus Valley civilization- was famous for making beads.

This bracelet is made from polished stones. Jewel-stones were brought from mines in the mountains by traders.

Town planning

The Indus cities were neatly planned. They had straight roads which criss-crossed in a grid pattern to form city blocks.

This photo of a street at Mohenjo-Daro shows how high
the walls were either side of the street

The main streets were almost 10 metres wide - wide enough for two bullock carts or elephants to pass each other. Drains ran along the edge of the streets to carry rubbish away and wells were dug for clean water.

Some cities, like Mohenjo-Daro, had high walls. These walls had gateways so people could come and go. Some city districts inside were raised on mounds. The highest mound was known as the citadel, which might have been where the priests or rulers lived.

Most Indus buildings were made from mud bricks. Over time, people built new houses on top of old ones. So, over hundreds of years, the cities grew higher and higher. Some houses were seven metres above the old houses at the bottom!  

What can we learn from Indus Valley writing?


The Indus people wrote on soft clay using pointed sticks or by scratching marks onto stone and metal.

People wrote the first line from right to left, the second line from left to right, and so on.

What can we learn about the writing that was left behind? Well, not very much. Indus Valley writing used at least 400 picture-signs - they were not letters like in our alphabet. But the longest bit of writing found has only 26 characters.



These seals with writing on were found in the city of Mohenjo-Daro.

No one knows what language the Indus people spoke, and no one has yet been able to read their writing.

Some experts think the Indus language may have been similar to Tamil, which is spoken today by people in southern India and Sri Lanka.

Pictures on seals and other artefacts show what look like figures of gods. But we don't know what the Indus people called them.

One looks like a mother goddess. People might have believed this goddess gave health and fertility to people, animals and plants.

Plants, trees and animals were probably important to Indus people. The pipal or fig tree is shown on many seals, and is still a sacred tree for many Buddhists and Hindus.

Hinduism also places importance on ritual bathing. Many people believe the 'great bath' found in Mohenjo-Daro suggests the Indus people held similar beliefs about purity.

Some people think that the Indus religion shaped early Hindu beliefs.

The figure on this seal is probably an Shiva god. He has three faces, a horned headdress, and lots of arm-bangles.

Source - bbc
Wikipedia


BBC World history