Indus Valley Civilization: Crash Course World History #2

Summary

In this Crash Course World History episode, John Green explores the concept of 'civilization' and its implications, highlighting the Indus Valley Civilization as a prime example. He discusses its sophisticated urban planning, trade practices, and lack of warfare. Green also humorously critiques historical naming conventions and theorizes on the civilization's mysterious decline, drawing parallels to modern life and the importance of understanding motivations behind societal structures.

Takeaways

• 🧐 The script discusses the concept of 'civilization' and its problematic implications, suggesting that it can be used to imply that other social orders are uncivilized or barbaric.
• 🗣️ The word 'barbarian' originally denoted anyone who did not speak ancient Greek, highlighting that the concept of civilization is subjective and culturally specific.
• 🏛️ Civilizations are intellectual constructs, not self-identified by the people living in them, and are useful for comparative analysis but not for hierarchical judgment.
• 🌾 Civilizations are characterized by surplus production, city building, specialization of labor, trade, social stratification, centralized government, shared values, and writing systems.
• 💧 Rivers played a crucial role in the development of early civilizations, providing flat land, water, and nutrient-rich silt for agriculture.
• 🏙️ The Indus Valley Civilization is highlighted as an example of an advanced civilization with impressive city planning, sanitation systems, and trade networks, despite the lack of deciphered written records.
• 🛑 Archaeological evidence suggests the Indus Valley Civilization was peaceful, with little evidence of warfare or weapons, challenging common assumptions about the necessity of conflict in societal development.
• 🔍 The script humorously critiques the naming conventions in history, such as 'The Great Bath,' for being unengaging and lacking creativity.
• 📉 The decline of the Indus Valley Civilization is attributed to possible conquest, environmental disaster, or a massive earthquake that altered river courses, leading to the abandonment of cities.
• 🤔 The script encourages viewers to consider the motivations behind historical actions, such as city building and trade, to reflect on their own life structures and motivations.
• 👫 It uses a personal anecdote about being a 'terrible boyfriend' to illustrate the broader point that human life is about collaboration and understanding motivations in relationships.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of studying history according to John Green?

Studying history helps us understand why we are alive, how we should behave, and what we should value, including making better decisions in our relationships.

Why is the term 'civilization' considered problematic in historical discussions?

The term 'civilization' can imply that certain social orders are uncivilized or barbaric, which is a form of ethnocentrism.

What is the origin of the word 'barbarian' and its original meaning?

The word 'barbarian' originated from ancient Greece and denoted anyone who did not speak Greek, as other languages sounded like 'bar bar bar' to the Greeks.

What are the key indicators that might suggest a society is a civilization?

Key indicators include surplus production, city building, specialization of labor, trade, social stratification, centralized government, shared values often in the form of religion, and writing.

Why were early civilizations often associated with rivers?

Rivers provided flat land, water, and nutrient-rich silt from flooding, which were essential for agriculture and sustaining large populations.

What is unique about the Indus Valley Civilization's location?

The Indus Valley Civilization was located in the flood plain of the Indus and Sarawati rivers, which provided a reliable source of water and fertile land for agriculture.

How do we know about the Indus Valley Civilization since their written language is still undeciphered?

Archaeological findings, such as cities, artifacts, and seals, provide insights into the Indus Valley Civilization.

What is significant about the city planning of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro?

The cities had dense, multi-story homes with uniformly sized bricks and perpendicular streets, indicating a form of government and zoning.

Why is the Great Bath in Mohenjo Daro considered an important historical site?

The Great Bath is the largest public building in Mohenjo Daro, suggesting it had a significant cultural or religious purpose, possibly related to ritual purity.

What evidence suggests that the Indus Valley Civilization engaged in trade?

Archaeologists found seals and artifacts from the Indus Valley in Mesopotamia and non-native materials like bronze in the Indus Valley, indicating trade.

What are the three main theories proposed for the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization?

The theories include conquest by people from the Caucasus, environmental disaster due to overexploitation, and a massive earthquake that changed the river courses.

What lesson does John Green suggest we can learn from the Indus Valley Civilization about relationships?

The lesson is about the importance of collaboration and understanding motivations in relationships, rather than being overly clingy out of fear or a need for companionship.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to the Concept of Civilizations

John Green introduces the topic of civilizations in world history, highlighting the problematic nature of the term due to its implications of superiority over non-civilized social orders. He discusses the intellectual construct of civilizations and their defining characteristics, such as surplus production, city building, specialization of labor, trade, social stratification, centralized government, shared values, and writing. Green emphasizes the historical association of civilizations with rivers, providing examples of various river valleys that have been the cradle of civilizations. He also introduces the Indus Valley Civilization as a favorite example, noting its location in the flood plain of the Indus and Sarawati rivers and its advanced urban planning and trade practices.

05:01

😮 The Indus Valley Civilization and Its Mysteries

This paragraph delves deeper into the Indus Valley Civilization, discussing its archaeological findings, such as the well-planned cities of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, which featured multi-story homes, uniform brick construction, and a sophisticated drainage system. The paragraph also touches upon the civilization's trade practices, evidenced by seals found in Mesopotamia and the presence of non-native bronze materials in the Indus Valley. Green humorously critiques the naming of historical artifacts, such as the 'Great Bath' of Mohenjo Daro, and explores theories about the civilization's decline, including conquest, environmental disaster, or a massive earthquake that altered river courses, leading to the end of the civilization's prominence.

Keywords

💡Civilization

A civilization is a complex human society characterized by urban development, social stratification, a centralized political system, and symbolic systems of communication such as writing. In the video, the concept of civilization is discussed as an intellectual construct that helps in comparing different societies but can be problematic when used to imply superiority over other social orders. The script uses the example of the Indus Valley Civilization to illustrate the characteristics and complexities of such societies.

💡Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization, also known as the Harappan Civilization, was an ancient civilization located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It is highlighted in the script as the presenter's favorite due to its advanced urban planning, lack of evidence for warfare, and mysterious decline. The civilization is noted for its cities like Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, which featured sophisticated drainage systems and public baths.

💡Surplus production

Surplus production refers to the excess of goods produced over what is needed for immediate consumption. In the context of the video, surplus production is one of the indicators of a civilization, as it allows for the specialization of labor and the development of trade, which are key components of a complex society.

💡Specialization of labor

Specialization of labor is the process by which individuals or groups focus on specific tasks or jobs, rather than performing a wide range of activities. The script mentions this as a consequence of surplus production, which enables trade and the development of more complex societies, such as the Indus Valley Civilization.

💡Social stratification

Social stratification is the arrangement of individuals in a society into hierarchical layers based on factors such as wealth, power, or prestige. The video discusses this as a common feature of civilizations, suggesting that it is a way to organize and maintain social order, although the specific mechanisms of authority are not always clear, as seen in the Indus Valley Civilization.

💡Centralized government

A centralized government is a political system in which decision-making and administrative authority are concentrated in a single location or group. The script implies that civilizations typically have such a government, which is necessary for coordinating the activities of a complex society, although the nature of this authority is not always well understood, as with the Indus Valley Civilization.

💡Writing

Writing is a system of visually represented language used to communicate ideas permanently. The video mentions writing as a characteristic of civilizations, indicating a level of cultural complexity and the need for record-keeping and communication. The Indus script, which remains undeciphered, is an example of an ancient writing system.

💡Rivers

In the context of the video, rivers are discussed as a geographical feature that was often associated with the development of civilizations. They provided water, fertile land for agriculture, and a means for transportation, which were essential for the growth of cities and the sustenance of large populations, as seen in the Indus Valley Civilization.

💡Trade

Trade is the activity of buying, selling, or exchanging goods and services. The script explains that trade becomes possible with the specialization of labor and surplus production, allowing for the exchange of different goods, which is indicative of the economic complexity within civilizations.

💡Environmental Disaster

An environmental disaster refers to a catastrophic event caused by natural processes that lead to significant ecological or societal harm. The video presents the possibility that the Indus Valley Civilization may have declined due to environmental disaster, such as overexploitation of resources or a massive earthquake that altered the river systems, leading to the collapse of their agricultural base.

💡Cultural Collaboration

Cultural collaboration is the process of working together to achieve common goals, often involving the exchange of ideas, goods, or practices. The script uses the example of the Indus Valley Civilization's trade of cotton cloth for bronze to illustrate the concept of cultural collaboration, which is a fundamental aspect of human societies and their development.

Highlights

John Green introduces the problematic nature of the term 'civilization' and its implications for non-civilization social orders.

The concept of 'civilization' is an intellectual construct, not a self-aware phenomenon of past societies.

Criteria for diagnosing a civilization include surplus production, city building, labor specialization, trade, social stratification, centralized government, shared values, and writing.

River valleys were the cradle of early civilizations due to their fertile lands and reliable water sources.

The Indus Valley Civilization is highlighted as John Green's favorite, due to its strategic location and advanced urban planning.

Archaeological evidence suggests the Indus Valley Civilization had well-planned cities with advanced drainage systems.

The Great Bath of Mohenjo Daro is discussed as a significant public building, possibly related to ritual purity.

Trade was a key aspect of the Indus Valley Civilization, as indicated by seals found in Mesopotamia and non-native materials in their region.

The civilization's writing system remains undeciphered, with seals providing some of the few clues to their culture.

A unique seal depicting a powerful figure between a tiger and a bull is highlighted as an example of their art.

The Indus Valley Civilization is noted for its apparent peacefulness, with minimal evidence of warfare.

Three theories for the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization are presented: conquest, environmental disaster, and earthquakes.

The decline did not lead to the current inhabitants of the region, suggesting a complete rather than a transformative end.

John Green critiques the naming of historical artifacts, such as 'The Great Bath,' for being unengaging.

The video concludes with a reflection on the motivation behind ancient civilizations' structures and how it relates to modern life.

An open letter to historians encourages more imaginative naming of historical sites to make history more fascinating.

The video promises a discussion on the history of Mesopotamia in the next episode, engaging viewers to return.

Transcripts

Hi, I’m John Green, and this is Crash Course World History.

Let’s begin today with a question.

Why am I alive? Also, why don’t I have any eyes? Ah, That’s better.

The way we answer that question ends up organizing all kinds of other thoughts, like what we

should value, and how we should behave, and if we should eat meat, and whether we should

dump that boy who is very nice, but insanely clingy, in a way that he cannot possibly think

is attractive. All of which adds up-

Uh, Mr. Green, Mr. Green, uh, are you talking about me?

Yes, I’m talking about you, me from the past. I’m telling you that one of the reasons

we study history is so that you can be a less terrible boyfriend, but more on that momentarily.

[theme music]

Today we’re going to talk about civilizations, but in order to do that, we have to talk about

talking about civilizations, because it’s a problematic word. So problematic, in fact,

that I have to turn to camera 2 to discuss it.

Certain Conglomerations of humans are seen as civilizations, whereas, say, nomadic cultures

generally aren’t, unless, you are -- say it with me --

the mongols

By calling some groups civilizations, you imply that all other social orders are uncivilized,

which is basically just another way of saying that they’re savages or barbarians.

side note: originally Greek, the word Barbarian denoted anyone who did not speak ancient Greek,

because to the Greeks, all other languages sounded like bar bar bar bar bar bar.

So, that is to say that we are all essentially barbarians, except for the classics majors,

which is worth remembering when we’re discussing civilizations.

Civilizations are like most of the things we like to study, they’re intellectual constructs.

No one woke up in the city of Thebe’s in Egypt one morning and said, “what a beautiful

morning, I sure am living at the height of Egyptian civilization.” Still, they’re

useful constructs, particularly when you’re comparing one civilization to another. They’re

less useful when you’re comparing a civilization to a non-civilization type social order, which

is why we will try to avoid that.

And yes, I am getting to the good boyfriend stuff. Patience, grasshopper.

So what is a civilization? Well, diagnosing a civilization is a little like like diagnosing

an illness. If you have four or more of the following symptoms, you might be a civilization.

Surplus production. Once one person can make enough food to feed several people, it becomes

possible to build a city, another symptom of civilization.

It also leads to the specialization of labor, which in turn leads to trade. Like, if everybody

picks berries for a living, there’s no reason to trade, because I have berries, and you

have berries,  but if I pick berries for a living and you make hammers, suddenly, we have cause to trade.

Civilizations are also usually associated with social stratification, centralized government,

shared values, generally in the form of religion, and writing. And at least in the early days,

they were almost always associated with rivers.

These days you can just bisect a segment of land horizontally and vertically, and boom,

build a city. But 5000 years ago, civilizations were almost always associated with rivers. Whether

that’s the Tigris and Euphrates, the Yellow River, The Nile, the Amazon Basin, the Coatzacoalcos -

Gaaah! I was doing so good until I got to Coatzacoalcos!

(computer says: Coatzacoalcos) Coatzacoalcos. Maybe.

Why river valleys? They’re flat, they’re well watered, and when they flood, they deposit nutrient-rich silt.

We’ll have more to say about most of these civilizations later, but let’s talk about

this guy, the Indus Valley Civilization, ‘cause it’s my all time favorite.

The Indus Valley Civilization was located in the flood plain of the Indus and Sarawati

rivers, and it was about the best place in the world to have an ancient civilization

because the rivers flooded very reliably twice a year, which meant that it had the most available

calories per acre of pretty much anywhere on the planet.

We know the Indus Valley Civilization flourished a long time ago. Probably around 3000 BCE.

Why is that question literally hanging over my head?

But people of the Indus valley were trading with Mesopotamians as early as 3500 BCE. We also

know that it was the largest of the ancient civilizations. Archaeologists have discovered more than 1500 sites.

So what do we know about this civilization? Let’s go to the Thought Bubble.

Everything we know about the Indus Valley Civilization comes from archaeology, because

while they did use written language, we don’t know how to read it, and no Rosetta Stone

has thus appeared to help us learn it.

I meant the other Rosetta Stone, Thought Bubble, yeah.

Although, come to think of it, either would be acceptable.

So here’s what we know, they had amazing cities. Harappa and Mohenjo Daro are the best

known, with dense, multi-story homes constructed out of uniformly sized bricks along perpendicular

streets. I mean this wasn’t some ancient world version of Houston, more like Chicago.

This means they must have had some form of government and zoning, but we don’t know

what gave this government its authority.

Cities were oriented to catch the wind and provide a natural form of air conditioning.

And they were clean. Most homes were connected to a centralized drainage system that used

gravity to carry waste and water out of the city in big sewer ditches that ran under the

main avenues, a plumbing system that would have been the envy of many 18th century European cities.

Also, in Mohenjo Daro, the largest public building was not a temple or a palace, but

a public bath, which historians call the Great Bath. We don’t know what the great bath

was used for, but since later Indian culture placed a huge emphasis on ritual purity, which

is the basis for the caste system, some historians have speculated that the bath might

have been like a giant baptismal pool.

Also, they traded. One of the coolest things that the Indus Valley Civilization produced

were seals used as identification markers on goods and clay tablets. These seals contained the writing

that we still can’t decipher, and a number of fantastic designs, many featuring animals and monsters.

One of the most famous and frightening is of a man with what looks like water buffalo

horns on his head, sitting cross-legged between a tiger and a bull. We don’t know what’s

really going on here, but it’s safe to say that this was a powerful dude, because he

seems to be able to control the tiger.

How do these seals let us know that they traded? Well, because we found them in Mesopotamia,

not the indus valley. Plus, archaeologists have found stuff like bronze in the indus

valley that is not native to the region. So what did they trade? Cotton cloth. Still such

a fascinating export, incidentally that it will be the subject of the 40th and final

video in this very series.

But here’s the most amazing thing about the Indus Valley people. They were peaceful. Despite

archaeologists finding 1500 sites, they have found very little evidence of warfare, almost no weapons.

Thanks Thought Bubble. OK, before we talk about the fascinating demise of the Indus

Valley Civilization. It’s time for the open letter.

Magic!

I wonder what the secret compartment has for me today? Oh! Fancy clothes.

I guess the secret compartment didn’t think I was dressed up enough for the occasion.

An open letter to Historians. Dear historians, the Great Bath? Really? THE GREAT BATH? I’m

trying to make history fascinating, and you give me a term that evokes scented candles,

bath salts and Frederic Fekkai hair products?

I know sometimes the crushingly boring names of history aren’t your fault. You didn’t

name the federalist papers or the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Adam Smith. But when you do get

a chance to name something, you go with THE GREAT BATH? Not the Epic Bath of Mohenjo Daro,

or the Bath to End All Baths, or the Pool That Ruled, or the Moist Mystery of Mohenjo

Daro or the Wet Wonder? The Great Bath? Really? You can do better. best wishes, John Green.

So what happened to these people? Well, here’s what didn’t happen to them. They didn’t

morph into the current residents of that area of the world, Hindu Indians or Muslim Pakistanis.

Those people probably came from the Caucasus.

Instead, sometime around 1750 BCE, the Indus Valley Civilization declined until it faded

into obscurity. Why? Historians have three theories.

One: Conquest! Turns out to be a terrible military strategy not to have any weapons, and it’s possible

people from the Indus Valley were completely overrun by people from the Caucasus.

Two: Environmental Disaster! It’s possible they brought about their own end by destroying their environment.

Three: Earthquake! The most interesting theory is that a massive earthquake changed the

course of the rivers so much that a lot of the tributaries dried up.

Without adequate water supplies for irrigation, the cities couldn’t sustain themselves,

so people literally picked up and headed for greener pastures.

Well, probably not pastures, it’s unlikely they became nomads. They probably just moved

to a different plain an continued their agricultural ways. I am already boring you and I haven’t

even told you yet how to be a better boyfriend and/or girlfriend. I’m going to do that now.

So we don’t know why the Indus Valley Civilization ended, but we also don’t really know why

it started. Why did these people build cities, and dig swimming pools, and make unnecessarily ornate seals?

Were they motivated by hunger, fear, a desire for companionship, the need to be near their

sacred spaces, or a general feeling that city life was just more awesome than foraging?

Thinking about what motivated them to structure their life as they did helps us to think about

how we structure our own lives. In short, you’re clingy because you’re motivated

by fear and a need for companionship,

and she finds it annoying because it’s enough work having to be responsible for herself

without having to also be responsible for you.

Also, you’re not really helping her by clinging, and from the Indus Valley in the bronze age,

to school life today, human life is all about collaboration.

Trading cloth for bronze, building cities together, and collaborating to make sure that

human lives are tilted to catch the wind.

Next week we will travel here to discuss the Hot Mess o’ Potamia, but in the meantime,

if you have any questions, leave them in comments, and our team of semi-trained semi-professionals

will do their best to answer them.

Also, you’ll find some suggested resources in the video info below, he said, pointing

at his pants. Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you next week!