Traditional Water Conservation Techniques in India

Water conservation is a practice needed for survival. In India, various techniques are used to save water, which are practical and climate-responsive. From the age of the Indus valley civilization, till today many practices are seen in different parts of India. The traditional practices used for conserving water and even cooling buildings in ancient times. Forts surrounded water bodies for protection from enemies. Indians continue to build structures to catch and store the monsoon rains. Some unique water conservation techniques are still practiced in India and are efficient. These are sometimes better than the presentday water-saving techniques. The paper summarizes the transformation over the years in the construction and advancements of water conservation practices in India. In dry regions, these practices have helped people survive tough times. Keywords: Rain water harvesting, Storage, Tanks, Traditional methods, Water conservation

Pakistan: A Very Short Introduction

Pakistan: A Very Short Introduction describes Pakistan as one of the two-nation-states of the Indian subcontinent that emerged in 1947. It looks at the ancient past to understand the complex tapestry of linguistic, ethnic, political, and cultural identities and tensions of the region today. The region of the Indus valley has a 4,000-year-old history and is considered the site of one of the earliest riverine civilizations in the world. The modern nation of Pakistan was created as a postcolonial homeland for the Muslims of British India. This VSI also considers the challenges of the 21st century and the future of Pakistan.

URDU-21 Historical Study of Hamd-Nigari in Saraiki Language Saraiki

This research paper explains the style of praise of the Allah Almighty which has been written mainly in Saraiki language. Praise here means praise of Allah Almighty. Allah created every living soul in this universe. Man, as the noblest of creatures, giving thanks to Allah, and praises Allah, is called Hamd. Saraiki Waseeb is traditionally called Indus Valley. The language of this region is Saraiki. It is very widespread languages are prominent. Man has always thought that there is a being far beyond his reach and that he is the one who created the universe. His power is omnipotent, even if it is human intent. Man must have had a relationship with his God in one way or another, whether it was arson or idolatry. Man praised his own God in his own way. We find the ancient literature of Saraiki language mostly in poetry in which the poetic genres like Hamd, Mawlood, Naat, Haliya Mubarak, Noornameh, Mirajnameh, Toldnameh, Hudhdnameh, Wasitnameh, Marsiya Nigari are prominent. In which poets have expressed their religious sentiments with great love. There are many forms of this belief but its background is the same which is the concept of one God.

Hydro-Technologies of Mehrgarh, Baluchistan and Indus Valley Civilizations, Punjab, Pakistan (ca. 7000–1500 BC)

Weather and climate have been participating in an imperative function in both the expansion and crumple of mankind civilizations diagonally across the globe ever since the prehistoric eras. The Neolithic Mehrgarh (ca. 7000–2500 BC) and Balochistan and Indus Valley civilizations (ca. 2500–1500 BC), in Sindh Province in Pakistan, have been the spotlight of explorations to historians, anthropologists, and archeologists in terms of their origin, development, and collapse. However, very rare consideration has been given previously to the role of weather and climate, sanitation, and wastewater technologies in highlighting the lessons of these formerly well-developed ancient metropolitan civilizations. This study presents an existing climate of the archaeological sites, sanitation, and wastewater technologies to recognize the different elements that influenced the evolution of the civilization mystery. In addition, it is recommended that the weather and climate conditions in southwest Asia were the foremost controlling element in resolving the destiny of the Indus and Mehrgarh civilizations. Furthermore, the rural tradition was mostly adapted by the increasing rate of western depressions (winter rains), as well as monsoon precipitation in the region. The factors that affected the climate of both civilizations with the passage of time might be population growth, resource conflicts, technological advancement, industrial revolution, Aryan invasion, deforestation, migration, disasters, and sociocultural advancement. The communities residing in both civilizations had well developed agriculture, sanitation, water management, wells, baths, toilets, dockyards, and waterlogging systems and were the master of the water art.

Ancestral Dravidian languages in Indus Civilization: ultraconserved Dravidian tooth-word reveals deep linguistic ancestry and supports genetics

Ever since the discovery of Indus valley civilization, scholars have debated the linguistic identities of its people. This study analyzes numerous archaeological, linguistic, archaeogenetic and historical evidences to claim that the words used for elephant (like, ‘pīri’, ‘pīru’) in Bronze Age Mesopotamia, the elephant-word used in the Hurrian part of an Amarna letter of ca. 1400 BC, and the ivory-word (‘pîruš’) recorded in certain sixth century BC Old Persian documents, were all originally borrowed from ‘pīlu’, a Proto-Dravidian elephant-word, which was prevalent in the Indus valley civilization, and was etymologically related to the Proto-Dravidian tooth-word ‘*pal’ and its alternate forms (‘*pīl’/‘*piḷ’/‘*pel’). This paper argues that there is sufficient morphophonemic evidence of an ancient Dravidian ‘*piḷ’/‘*pīl’-based root, which meant ‘splitting/crushing’, and was semantically related to the meanings ‘tooth/tusk’. This paper further observes that ‘pīlu’ is among the most ancient and common phytonyms of the toothbrush tree Salvadora persica, which is a characteristic flora of Indus valley, and whose roots and twigs have been widely used as toothbrush in IVC regions since antiquity. This study claims that this phytonym ‘pīlu’ had also originated from the same Proto-Dravidian tooth-word, and argues that since IVC people had named their toothbrush trees and tuskers (elephants) using a Proto-Dravidian tooth-word, and since these names were widely used across IVC regions, a significant population of Indus valley civilization must have used that Proto-Dravidian tooth-word in their daily communication. Since ‘tooth’ belongs to the core non-borrowable ultraconserved vocabulary of a speech community, its corollary is that a significant population of IVC spoke certain ancestral Dravidian languages. Important insights from recent archaeogenetic studies regarding possible migration of Proto-Dravidian speakers from Indus valley to South India also corroborate the findings of this paper.

Class Conflict in Siraiki Waseeb Before Islam

The history of class conflict in Siraiki Waseeb is as old as the Indus Valley Civilization. The history of Indus Valley is interpreted as a conflict of invading nations. The Siraiki Waseeb can be called the center of the valley. The class system of the Siraiki Waseeb is influenced by the arrival of various nations. The ancient Australoid tribes, the Dravidians and the Aryans had a profound effect on the civilization here. This division is wrapped not only in economic but also in the social cloak of religion. Along with the division of rich and poor, the system of division between pure and impure, masters and slaves, feudal, landlord and ‘kammi’ has sustained itself parallel to the caste system. The roots of the class system are still embedded in the Waseeb. These class factors have been analyzed in the article under discussion.

ARCHITECTURAL ACHIEVEMENT OF CHAUHANS OF SAMBALPUR- A STUDY INTO ASHTASAMBHU TEMPLES

Shaivism, since its inception, has remained not only as a set of code for religious practice but also as a philosophy of life for the people. It is a pre- Aryan conception as revealed by the archaeologists and Historians remnants of Indus valley civilization. Shaivism has evolved as a popular cult since then and it is still a prominent religious faith among the people. Shiva’s Panchakshari mantra and Mrutunjay mantra is the life line for Rishi, Tapaswi Deva, Danav, Manav and Asuras . God Shiva, popularly known as Bholababa, easily gets pleased and offers boon or benediction to his devotees irrespective of any category who invokes Him. This cult is so popular that today in every village there is at least one Shiva temple one can find. The construction of Ashtasambhu temples at different places in Sambalpur district during Chauhan dynasty (1670-1848) is attributed to the popularity of Shaivism. They are Kedarnath Temple at Ambabhona, Baidyanath Temple at Deogaon, Balunkeswar Temple at Gaisama, Swapneswar Temple at Sorna, Vishweswar Temple at Soranda, Nilakantheswar Temple at Niljee, Bimaleswar Shiva temple at Huma and Mandhata Baba Temple at Maneswar. Ajit Singh introduced “Sitalsasthi Yatra” a unique form of Divine Wedding in humanistic form to live popularity of Shaivism.

Early Harappan interaction between Sindh and Gujarat, as evidenced by lithic tools

The spread and development of the Indus Valley Civilisation, also known as the Harappan civilisation, one of the oldest civilisations of the world, is still an enigma. Indus Valley Civilisation was spread over modern day India and Pakistan. The civilisation has been divided into three phases, Early or Pre-Harappan, Mature or Urban Harappan and Post- or Late Harappan. The Urban phase is very well studied and understood. However, this phase is the culmination of a process that started much earlier. A lot of effort during recent years has led to new discoveries and clues regarding the interactions during the Early Harappan period between now politically divided areas. Unfortunately, this struggle to understand the spread of Early Harappan cultural traits between these distinct regions is one on-going and far from over. Explorations and subsequent excavations at the site of Juna Khatiya, situated in Kachchh district of Gujarat, India have brought to light noteworthy evidence of the Early Harappan period in terms of artefacts and burials. Other than the ubiquitous pottery, these indications include a lithic blade industry comprising of various types of blades, various types of scrapers, points and associated lithic debitage. The tools are made out of locally available raw material (mostly chalcedony). However, the discovery of a few blades of chert imported from the Rohri hills (situated about 500 km as-the-crow-flies from Gujarat) in modern Pakistan is important. Rohri chert blades are significant since they are very distinct and easily identifiable. The wide distribution of standardised Rohri chert blades is also often regarded as a testimony to the Harappan efficiency in long distance trade and craft production. The technique used in the manufacturing of these blades is known as the crested guiding ridge, a technique not observed in Gujarat before this contact between Sindh (in modern Pakistan) and Gujarat (in modern India) developed. This paper highlights the contributions of lithic artefacts to understand the Early Harappan interactions between these two politically divided but culturally united regions.