THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION:NATION BUILDING NARRATIVES, POLITICS OF THE PAST AND THE HISTORY OF HUMANS
- Hindu College Gazette Web Team
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“The forgetting of history is essential to nationalism.”
Sumathi Ramaswamy 1
Introduction
Archaeology operates at the crossroads of history and identity. It has a dual role to play. While its primary purpose remains the uncovering and interpreting of human history, it also plays a significant role in shaping national identities as well. By giving meaningful interpretations to the physical remnants of the past, it enables the modern world to connect with its historical and cultural roots. This dual ability of the discipline - to uncover ancient realities and construct modern meanings - ensures its relevance in contemporary socio-political discourses.
It is important to note, however, that the interpretations of archaeology are often co-opted by political ideologies, leading to competing claims over heritage and identity. The discipline strives for objectivity, that is, the scientific and empirical methodologies that it relies on, for uncovering findings, aim to establish a factual narrative of human history. However, the very act of interpreting these findings often involves subjective judgment, making them vulnerable to the influence of prevalent ideologies.
This divide between global, scientific, and professional understandings of a nation’s past, particularly in the case of India, and the local needs and populist concerns has been most prominently highlighted by the scholarly and public discussions on the Indus Valley Civilisation.2 Hence, the case of the IVC becomes central to this paper because it not only captures the dual role of archaeology and its contribution to the notion of ‘origin’ but also suggests how narratives get politicized to suit certain nation-building projects.
First, this paper aims to analyse the Indus Valley Civilisation by examining its discovery, the political narratives surrounding it, and the famous Dancing Girl statue. Second, it aims to interpret the archaeological relics of the civilisation in a new light that transcends national boundaries and enters the realm of humanity at large.
INTERPRETING THE INDUS: POLITICIZATION OF NARRATIVES AND THE PROJECT OF NATION BUILDING
Antiquity as a Foundation for National Legitimacy
There are no ancient nations anywhere in the world.3 Chatterjee discusses how empires like those of the Mauryas and the Guptas existed, but he argues that they were not nations. The difference between ancient kingdoms and the modern nation-state, as he points out, is that a nation-state is based on the sovereignty of its people. In these ancient kingdoms, it was the emperor who was regarded as sovereign.4 Therefore, all nations are modern.
Consequently, there is a need to establish a sense of unbroken continuity that rises above historical ruptures. This is achieved by linking the nation to a distant and glorified past, and this is how nations come to rely on antiquity for legitimacy. The most accessible means of connecting to this antiquity is through archaeology, as it studies the past through material remains.
For India, it is the Indus Valley Civilisation which is this distant and glorified past and that has been most often tied to the notion of ‘origin’. Therefore, in this section, the paper first examines the discovery of the Indus Civilisation. Second, it analyses the various narratives around the IVC, both colonial and post-colonial, and how these narratives contribute to the project of nation building. Third, the paper focuses on a specific archaeological relic of the Civilisation, the Dancing Girl, to further argue that the narratives surrounding the civilisation have been politicized.
The Discovery of Indus Valley Civilisation
The Indus Valley Civilisation, which once spanned an area that includes much of modern-day northwestern India, Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan, has become central to shaping popular perception of India’s ancient past. Lahiri states, “Images of burnt brick drains, of a ‘great bath’, of a ‘priest-king’ and a ‘dancing girl’ - these are now as familiar to Indians as the names of the cities that housed them all - Harappa and Mohenjo-daro.” 5 Among these, the site of Harappa was the first one to be excavated, and hence, the term Harrapan is sometimes used interchangeably with the Indus Civilisation. Going back in time, the earliest reference to the legend of Harappa was made by the archaeologist, Alexander Cunningham in an 1872-3 report.6 Cunningham had only dug out a story. The actual announcement that a whole civilisation had been unearthed was made fifty years later in 1924 by John Marshall. However, there was a major difference between the accounts given by these two archaeologists. The way in which the remnants of ancient Harappa were visualized was the major difference.7 This can be considered only the beginning of the various narratives surrounding the Indus Valley Civilisation. What followed were competing interpretations that shaped national identities and ignited questions regarding the civilisation’s true nature and legacy.
The Narratives around Indus Valley Civilisation
Colonial Interpretation
The writings of European scholars were largely influenced by the ideological attitudes dominant in Europe at the time.8 Unsurprisingly, British colonial scholars portrayed ancient India as a land of barbarism, devoid of culture, both material and intellectual. They attached degrading notions of cruelty and superstition with the people of the Indus Valley Civilisation, the ‘non-Aryans’ and created a narrative that it was the ‘Aryans’, a white, cultured, rational and advanced race that brought civilisation and organization to India.9 This racialized colonial narrative or ‘the racial theory of Indian civilisation’ can be viewed as part of a broader colonial project aimed at justifying the British rule in India, by portraying the indigenous civilisations as ‘uncivilized’, thus emphasizing the need for colonial intervention to bring ‘civilisation’ to the country. Such a narrative undermined the greatness and achievements of the Indus Valley Civilisation, put entire focus on the Aryan invasion and reduced the people of the civilisation to the status of racially inferior groups.
Marshall himself acknowledged this discrepancy in the preface to the first Official Account of Archaeological Excavations at Mohenjo-daro carried out by the Government of India between the Years 1922 and 1927. In the document, he states how it has commonly been supposed that the ‘pre-Aryan people’ were a race so servile and degraded, that they were often called Dasas or slaves. He also describes how little to no credit was given to them for the achievements of the civilisation, as their inferiority to their conquerors was taken for granted. It was not even imagined that there could have existed, in any part of India, a uniform civilisation some 5000 years ago.10 Therefore, it is hardly surprising that these colonial and European archaeologists adopted a convenient explanation for the end of the Indus cities: the Aryan invasion of India and the subsequent destruction of its non-Aryan populations.11
Post Colonial Reinterpretation
In the post-colonial period, the interpretation of the Indus Valley Civilisation was significantly reimagined. After independence, there was a conscious effort to reclaim the civilisation as an integral part of India’s ancient cultural heritage, pushing back against colonial narratives that had diminished its importance. Such a reclamation was essential for the construction of a national identity, especially in the new phase of India as an independent nation. The material remains of the Indus valley were incorporated into what Ramaswamy calls the “narrative contract” of Indian nationalism.12 Indian nationalists rejected the idea that the nation had been forged through a racial genocide.13 Moreover, they made efforts to present the civilisation as a product of Indian genius. One articulation of this effort is how this nationalized form of the civilisation appears in school textbooks.14 Post colonial interpretations also rejected the colonial narrative that the decline of the Civilisation was caused due to the arrival of ‘Aryan’ migrants.15 Instead, alternative explanations for the decline were given, such as environmental changes or shifting trade routes.
These narratives did not come to a halt just after independence; rather, they continue to evolve to this day. For example, in recent years, the most striking development in this ever-evolving narrative has been the claim that the heart of the civilisation was a region surrounding the long-lost Saraswati River, and not the Indus Valley at all.16
The Dancing Girl
As Guha states , “Objects move in and out of time and space and, therefore, through many histories.” 17 Similar has been the case with the archaeological relics of the Indus Valley Civilisation. They invite us to explore and understand the complexity of representation that revolves around them, where multiple meanings and interpretations often coexist simultaneously.18 One such example is the , ‘The Dancing Girl’ statue.
This bronze statue depicts a female figure with her right hand on the back of her hip and the left hand resting on her left thigh. She appears to be adorned in jewelry, wearing a necklace along with some bangles. It was found during the excavations of 1926-27 at Mohenjo-daro from a small house in the HR area.19 Ever since, it has become an object of fascination.
The colonial interpretation of the statue reflected various British ideologies. One was their obsession with the Indian nautch (dance). This can be observed from the way Marshall, in his volumes on Mohenjo-daro and the Indus Civilisation (1931), described the figurine, “the figurine gives a vivid impression of the young aboriginal nautch girl, her hand on hip in half-impudent posture, and legs slightly forward as she beats time to the music with her feet.” 20 Another was their obsession with race. The statue was heavily characterised as belonging to the ‘Dravidian’, ‘Nubian’ and ‘proto-Australoid’ race. Even archaeologists like Marshall and Sahini regarded the figurine as ‘primitive’ and aboriginal’ or ‘tribal’ because of the ‘broad nose’ and ‘large lips’.21
Moreover, probably because of the figurine’s nudity and striking posture, it was continuously charged with a palpable sensuality.22 Not for once was it imagined that the figurine could have been a soldier rather than a dancing girl, or that there might have been a spear in the hand rather than some offering.23
After Partition, the Dancing Girl statue became part of India’s share of the Harappan objects.24 Since then, there have been some national ownership claims over the artefact. For example, in 2016, the statue made headlines in the Indian press as being a depiction of the goddess Parvati. However, in the same year, a Pakistani barrister made claims that the statue enjoys the same status in Pakistan as the Mona Lisa does in Europe, in an effort to retrieve the object for his nation. These views of the Dancing Girl as goddess Parvati in India and the ‘Mona Lisa of Pakistan’ represent such claims, or as Guha states, “the contestations that embed the heritage-making of new nations”.25
FROM RELICS TO HUMANITY: INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION BEYOND NATIONS
It is through the narrative work of nationalism supported by the culture-historical approach of archaeology that transforms stones, bones, and other relics of the past into symbols of the nations, inscribing them in a trajectory that unmistakably connects the pre-history of ancestors to the present of modern citizens.26 This suggests that the archaeological relics, in addition to telling histories of nations, also tell histories of how we became human. The various findings of the Indus Valley Civilisation can themselves serve as a key testimony to this fact. Therefore, in this section, the paper analyses the archaeological relics of the IVC by categorizing them into three broader categories. First, urban planning; second, artefacts; third, the Harappan script.
Urban Planning
The urban planning of the Indus Valley Civilisation, especially the towns of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, is a source of great fascination. The grid pattern on which the towns were based, the parallel streets, the organized layout, the division of the city into upper and lower parts, the fortification of the cities by walls, the drainage system, reservoirs (at Dholavira), the Great Bath (Mohenjo-daro), and the Great Granary (Harappa) illustrate the ability of ancient humans to design such complex structures, even 5000 years ago.27 The fact that this civilisation is closely akin to that of contemporary Mesopotamia and Egypt, and in some respects even superior, reveals commonality in human responses to the challenges of urbanization.28 The Artefacts
The material world has the power to demonstrate the limitlessness of the historical inquiry.29 The Indus Valley Civilisation is once such material world, with some of its artefacts and objet d’arts, such as carefully carved large spoons, two miniature crocodile heads and distinctive bangles engraved with a chevron pattern, simply being masterpieces.30 The material culture of the civilisation also includes steatite seals, terracotta spindle whorls, baked bricks and cubical weights, which show the artistic capabilities of the Indus craftsmen and their careful regard for exactness and detail.31 Additionally, the Mohenjo-daro scale that conveys a standardized concept of measurement, indicates the emergence of an economic system and human’s inclination towards regulation and fairness in trade.32
The Harappan Script
The Harappan Script, though undeciphered, represents an early attempt to encode and preserve knowledge. It reflects the human desire for communication and record-keeping. The fact that, to this day, the deciphering of the script remains a matter of great intrigue and that several efforts are continuously made to achieve this goal emphasizes the continued curiosity
of humans to understand and decode the unknown as well as the world in general.
Conclusion
To conclude, archaeology serves as a bridge between the distant past and the present. It plays a crucial role in shaping national identities. Nations, despite being modern constructs, often lean on antiquity to assert a sense of legitimacy and hence tie origin to a glorified past. This reliance is exemplified by how the Indus Valley Civilisation has been central to the project of nation-making in India. While colonial interpretations undermined its achievements, framing it within racial hierarchies and imperialist ideologies, post-colonial reinterpretations sought to reclaim its significance as a central piece of India’s ancient legacy. These evolving narratives underscore how archaeological relics are not merely objects of the past but important tools in the construction of modern identities as well. However, archaeology transcends the boundaries of nations, communities or races. The discoveries of the civilisation - its urban planning, artifacts, and undeciphered script - offer valuable insights into the history of humanity. By studying and analyzing such findings, archaeology reminds us that the material remnants of ancient civilisations not only narrate the histories of nations but also tell the broader story of how we became human, highlighting our interconnectedness across time and space.
Thus, archaeology serves as a lens through which one can explore the notion of ‘origin’. The remnants of the Indus Valley remind us that beneath the layers of political narratives lies a deeper, unifying story - one that connects us all to the pursuit of understanding who we are and where we come from.
By Akshra Chaudhary
Akshra Chaudhary is a second-year B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) student at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore. Her academic interests include both legal and arts disciplines, but what excites her most is the intersection of law and the humanities. When she first read about the Indus Valley Civilisation in her history course, she was drawn to explore the topic more deeply through the lens of nation-building and politicised historical interpretation. This paper is the result of that curiosity and its publication represents her effort to transform a long-standing love of writing into a serious scholarly pursuit.
References
1 Sumathi Ramaswamy, “Remains of the Race: Archaeology, Nationalism, and the Yearning for Civilisation in the Indus valley”, The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 38, no. 2 (2001), 145
2 Ibid. 109.
3 Partha Chatterjee, “Chapter 1: All nations are modern”, Truths and Lies of Nation (State University of New York Press, 2022), 5.
4 Ibid. 6.
5 Nayanjot Lahiri Finding Forgotten Cities: How the Indus Valley was Discovered (Seagull, 2022), chap.1, pg.3.
6 Ibid. chap.1, pg.1.
7 Ibid. chap.1, pg.2. 8 Romila Thapar, “Interpretations of Ancient Indian History”, History and Theory, Vol. 7, No. 3 (1968), 318.
9 Sumathi Ramaswamy, “Remains of the Race: Archaeology, Nationalism, and the Yearning for Civilisation in the Indus valley”, The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 38, no. 2 (2001), 110.
10 Ibid. 111.
11 Ibid. 123.
12 Ibid. 112.
13 Ibid. 125. 14 Sumathi Ramaswamy, “Remains of the Race: Archaeology, Nationalism, and the Yearning for Civilisation in the Indus valley”, The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 38, no. 2 (2001), 127.
15 Romila Thapar, “Interpretations of Ancient Indian History”, History and Theory, Vol. 7, No. 3 (1968), 332.
16 Sumathi Ramaswamy, “Remains of the Race: Archaeology, Nationalism, and the Yearning for Civilisation in the Indus valley”, The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 38, no. 2 (2001), 129.
17 Sudeshna Guha, A History of India through 75 Objects (Hachette, 2022), 12.
18 Ibid. 13.
19 Ibid. 41.
20 Ibid. 41.
21 Ibid. 44.
22 Ibid. 45.
23 Ibid. 47. 24 Sudeshna Guha, A History of India through 75 Objects (Hachette, 2022), 46.
25 Ibid. 47. 26 Sumathi Ramaswamy, “Remains of the Race: Archaeology, Nationalism, and the Yearning for Civilisation in the Indus valley”, The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 38, no. 2 (2001), 144.
27 Sudeshna Guha, A History of India through 75 Objects (Hachette, 2022), 53.
28 Sumathi Ramaswamy, “Remains of the Race: Archaeology, Nationalism, and the Yearning for Civilisation in the Indus valley”, The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 38, no. 2 (2001), 111.
29 Sudeshna Guha, A History of India through 75 Objects (Hachette, 2022), 11.
30 Ibid. 53.
31 Ibid. 53,54.
32 Ibid. 53.
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