Strategies for Procuring Materials

Understanding the Need for Procurement

The Harappan civilisation was based in the alluvial plain of the Indus, which lacked many raw materials. While clay was locally available for pottery and bricks, materials like stone, timber, and metal had to be brought from outside the plain. This created a need for organised strategies to obtain these resources.

Strategies for Procuring Materials

The Harappans used several methods to get the materials they needed for craft production:

• Establishing settlements near resource-rich areas: They built towns like Nageshwar and Balakot where shell was available. Shortughai (in Afghanistan) was near the best source of lapis lazuli (a valued blue stone). Lothal was close to sources of carnelian (from Bharuch, Gujarat), steatite (from south Rajasthan and north Gujarat), and metal (from Rajasthan).

• Sending expeditions to distant regions: They likely sent groups to the Khetri region of Rajasthan (for copper) and south India (for gold). These expeditions established contact with local communities. Evidence includes finds of Harappan artefacts (like steatite micro beads) in these areas.

• Trading with local cultures: In the Khetri area, the Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture (with non-Harappan pottery and many copper objects) may have supplied copper to the Harappans.

• Using land and water routes:

  • Land routes: Terracotta toy models of bullock carts show they were used for transport.
  • Riverine routes: Along the Indus and its tributaries.
  • Coastal routes: Along the Arabian Sea coast.

Contact with Distant Lands

The Harappans also obtained materials from faraway regions:

• Copper from Oman: Chemical analysis shows both Omani copper and Harappan artefacts contain traces of nickel, suggesting a common origin.

  • A large Harappan jar coated with thick black clay (to prevent liquid percolation) was found at Omani sites, possibly used to exchange goods for copper.
  • Mesopotamian texts (third millennium BCE) mention copper from Magan (likely Oman), and copper at Mesopotamian sites also has nickel traces.

• Long-distance trade goods: Harappan seals, weights, dice, and beads have been found in Mesopotamia.

  • Mesopotamian texts mention contact with Dilmun (probably Bahrain), Magan, and Meluhha (possibly the Harappan region).
  • Products from Meluhha included carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold, and wood. …