IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS)

Volume 29, Issue 1, Series 1 (January, 2024) 27-32

e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845.
www.iosrjournals.org

Relation of Mahabharat and Indus Valley Civilisations at

Glance
Satya Prakash Dikshit1, Dinesh Mandot2
1
(Research Scholar, Arunodaya University, Papum Pare, Arunachal Pradesh)
2
(Professor, Arunodaya University, Papum Pare, Arunachal Pradesh)

Abstract:
Mahabharata, the great Indian epic attributed to Sage Ved Vyas. It is containing a vast mythological history of
ancient Bharat. It is considered to contain 8,000 verses which ultimately counted as 1,00,000 now-a-days. The
epic had been recited from years to years orally from generations. The great wars fought at that time, in
absence of scientific evidences, history becomes Mythology. This brings challenge of reality or rather existence
of any hisrocity within it. The possible period of the epic, which is the region of Hastinapur(29.09 N and 79.03
E) was predicted as 600 BC to 5600 BC according to research scholars at different time and
streams.[1]However, after findings of Mohanjo-Daro mound inof Indus valley, some excavations were done by
Archeological Survey of India (ASI) from 1950 to 1952, also till date and interestingly there were findings of
painted Grey ware, copper arrow-heads, iron slag, Bones of pigs, Horses, Cattles. The finding of the
excavations was leading towards positive direction to the surprisethe timings of this Epic (as described in the
Epic)matches with the timings of Indus valleycivilization timings (Starting from Baluchistan 6500 BCE and
flourished in Indus valley from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE) for which Harappa (30.37 N and 72.52 E) and
Mohenjo-Daro (27.32 N and 68.13 E) was the major cities in the range of only 517 and 986 Kilometers
respectively only.These facts have to be seen in concurrence to set the real finding about the Mahabharata and
Scientifically proven civilizations.
Keywords:Mahabharata, Mythology, History, Indus valley, Archeology
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Date of Submission: 25-12-2023 Date of Acceptance: 05-01-2024
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I. Introduction
The Epic: Mahabharata as told by Ved Vyas:
Mahabharata as attributed to the sage Ved Vyasa, is a vast epic that narrates the story of the Kuru
dynasty and the Kurukshetra War. It revolves around the conflict between two groups of cousins; Pandavas and
the Kauravas, for the throne of Hastinapura. The Bhagavad Gita, also a sacred Sanatan scripture being a part of
the teachings in starting of the war. Furthermore, India has regional epics that reflect the cultural diversity of the
nation. These epics of India serve as repositories of history, mythology, philosophy, and moral teachings. They
offer profound insights into the Indian psyche, societal values, and spiritual aspirations. The Mahabharat is
considered historical and mythological narratives, blending elements of history, legend, and spirituality. Here's
an overview of their historical and mythological aspects.

The Empire at Mahabharataand its neighbors(3500 BCE-2300BCE):

Figure1: States at Time of Mahabharat [1] Pg.-56

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Relation Of Mahabharat And Indus Valley Civilsations At Glance

Figure 2: Map of Kuru dynasty; Source Library of Congress 2006

The Linage:
The linage of Yadu and Kuru vansh is describe as below:
Prajapati Daksh – Aditi- Vivshwan – Manu – Ila – Pururava- Aayu- Nahush- Yayati- (wife- Devyani)-
Yadu (Yadu vansh)
Prajapati Daksh – Aditi- Vivshwan – Manu – Ila – Pururava- Aayu- Nahush- Yayati- (wife-
Sharmishtha)- Puru(Paurav Vansh)– janamjay-Prachinwan-Sanyati-Ahampati-Sarvbhom-Jayatsen-Arachin-
Mahabaom-Ayutnayi-Akrodh-Devatithi-Rrich-Rriksh-Matinaar-Tansu-Elin- Dushyanta(Shakuntala)- Bharat-
Bhumanyu-Suhotra-Hasti(Named Hastinapur)- Vikunthan-Ajmeed-Sanvaran-Kuru (Paurav Turned Kuru at
this Stage)-Vidurath-Arunwan-Parikshit-Bhimsen-Prayashrawa. After that the linage falls apart in two disputed
family trees as under:Kauravas: Shantanu-(Devvrat later Bhisma)- Vichitravirya and (Chitrangad-Died Early)-
Dhritrastra-Kauravs(Duryodhana, Dushasnaa and other 99 sons and daughter Dushalaa (married to Jaydratha).
Pandavas: Shantanu-(Devvrat later Bhisma)- Vichitravirya and (Chitrangad-Died Early)-Pandu-
Pandavas (Yudhisthir, Bhim, Arjun, Nakul, Sahdev).
The Mahabharata begins with Maharaj Shantanu who accented the throne of Hastinapur. His son with
first wife Ganga, Devvratplays a major role in establishing the empire and becoming Bhishm from Devvrat at
the time of Shantanu second wedding with Satyawati. The legacy of Guru Drone, Guru Kripacharya, Mahatma
Vidur were the interwoven characters of Mahabharat. After the demise of Pandu, Dhritrastra became the king.
The real dispute begins with five Pandavas,among which Yudhisthir, Bhim and Arjun who were sons of Pandu
and Kunti (daughter of Kuntal Dynasty) and Nakul and Sahdev were sons of Madri (daughter of Madra
Dynasty) and Kauravas(Duryodhan, Dushasana and others 99 Sons of Dhrithrastra and Gandhari (daughter of
Gandhar Dynasty) along with a daughter Dushala, who was married to Jaidrath later. The prince of Gandhar
later King Shakuni is also a major Character for being responsible for the war. While discussing Mahabharat,
Lord Krishna can’t be bypassed since he has a huge presence in this history from Parikshit to Kshemaka.
Mahabharat possesses a number of gods, demigods, celestial weapons, divine interventions, and cosmic
occurrences. It explores complex moral dilemmas, ethical choices, and the consequences of human actions.
Characters like Krishna, Karn, Duryodhana, and Draupadi are revered and studied asarchetypes.
[6]Mahabharata: Adi parv-Adhyay 90-shloka 7-69

The War:
The Mahabharat war was fought at the plains of Kurukshetra in 18 days. The rules at that were
followed and surprisingly the war starts at sun rise and ends at the sunset. After the sunset the warriors even go
to the enemy camps. As per scriptures, 18 Akshohini(seven from Pandava side and eleven from Kaurav side)
army were in fighting for the 18 days and got destroyed only leaving five Pandavas and three kaurava-side
fighters namely- Guru Kripacharya, Ashwathama, and Kritverma. The son of Abhimanyu, Parikshit was saved
by Shri krishna, who was also attacked by Ashwathama in womb. After the end of war Yudhisthir became the
king.

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Relation Of Mahabharat And Indus Valley Civilsations At Glance

The States, who fought in the war:

Rajya supporting Pandavas: total 7 Akshohini warriors:
Satyaki, Chedi King Dhristaketu, Magadh King Jarasangh’s son, Pandya King,Drupada King, Matsaya
King Virat each with one Akshohini.

Rajya supporting Kauravas: total 11 Akshohini warriors:

Bhagdautt, Bhurishrava, Madra King Shalya, Kritverma, Sindhu King Jayadrath, yavan, shaka, and
Kamboj, Mahismati King Neel, Avanti King Vind and Anuvind, Kekaya King

Timing for the war:

Before going to estimate a probable date of the Kurukshetra War which was believed to be happened in
transition between Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga, it is customary to investigate the historicity of the
Mahabharata.
Historical references [5] (Dixit,1968, Part II, p. 55) calculated the period of Aryabhattam to be 499 CE.
So, Kali Yuga was started from 3102 BCE. This observation helped the scholars to find the date of Mahabharata
war around 3000 BCE. Other dates are clustered around 2500 BCE and 800 BCE and even the relevant date was
calculated by Dr. P.V. Vartak as 5561 BCE. The recent data include 1478 BCE by Iyengar (2003), 2559 BCE by
Balkrishna (2003), 3067 BCE by N. Achar (2003)and 1793 BCE by A.K.Bhatnagar (2017)
Thus, the possible period of the epic, which is the region of Hastinapur (29.09 N and 79.03 E) was
predicted as 600 BC to 5600 BC according to research scholars at different time and streams.[3]
Gangopadhyaya Pg. 04

Magnitude ofAkshohiniSena in Mahabharata:

Table1: The calculation for the warriors of 18 Akshohini Sena.[6] Adi Parv-Adhyay 2-shloka 15-23

The conclusion of war and Empire after Pandavas:

The war ended on eighteen days after the demise of Duryodhana ran and hide in a lake. Finally,
Pandava won the battle. Ruling certain years Pandavas handed over to Parikshit and went to Himalayas.

II. The Indus valley Civilization

Start of Excavations of Indus valley - Harappa and Mohanjo-daro-ASI
The large urban centres of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa very likely grew to containing between 30,000
and 60,000 individuals, and during the civilization's florescence, the population of the subcontinent grew to
between 4–6 million people. During this period the death rate increased as well, for close living conditions of
humans and domesticated animals led to an increase in contagious diseases. According to one estimate, the
population of the Indus civilization at its peak may have been between one and five million.The Indus Valley
Civilisation (IVC) extended from Pakistan's Baluchistan in the west to India's western Uttar Pradesh in the east,
from northeastern Afghanistan in the north to India's Gujarat state in the south. The largest number of sites are
in Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir states in India, and Sindh, Punjab,

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Relation Of Mahabharat And Indus Valley Civilsations At Glance

and Baluchistan provinces in Pakistan.Coastal settlements extended from Sustagen Dorin Western Baluchistan
to Lothalin Gujarat. An Indus Valley site has been found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern
Afghanistan, in the Gomal River valley in Name Extent Alexander Cunningham, the first director general of the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), interpreted a Harappan stamp seal in 1875. R. D. Banerji, an officer of
the ASI, visited Mohenjo-Daro in 1919–1920, and again in 1922–1923, postulating the site's far-off antiquity
northwestern Pakistan, at Manda, Jammu on the Beas River near Jammu, India, and at Alamgirpur on the
Hindon River, only 28 km (17 mi) from Delhi.The southern most site of the Indus valley civilisation is
Daimabad in Maharashtra. Indus Valley sites have been found most often on rivers, but also on the ancient sea
coast, for example, Balakot, and on islands, for example, Dhola Vira.

Finding of IVC Excavations:

Figure 3: Site at Harappa Great Bath Drain Excavations, Harappa.com [4]

Figure 4: Bead Necklace and Unicorn Seal [Harappa.com]

Region of Indus valley civilization –

Figure 5: Indus Valley Civilisation; Source ASI

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Relation Of Mahabharat And Indus Valley Civilsations At Glance

Established time line of Indus valley civilization ASI:

Around 6500 BCE, agriculture emerged in Baluchistan, on the margins of the Indus alluvium. In the
following millennia, settled life made inroads into the Indus plains, setting the stage for the growth of rural and
urban human settlements. The more organized sedentary life in turn led to a net increase in the birth rate.

The Harappan civilisation finding can be represented in the following sequences:

Figure 6: Timeline of IVC [Early developments of Art Etc.Harappa.com/Indus 3[4]

III. Conclusion
By the timeline from our Mahabharata books and scientific historical findings, we can conclude that
the Mahabharat epoch and Indus Vally civilizations overlaps each other in certain area like time of occurrence,
geographically, social values describedand seen in archeological evidences, sudden disappearances of the IVC,
after Mahabharata war conclusion possibilities.
 Occurrence: both Mahabharata and IVC timings are within the same 7000 BCE-1300
 Geographically: The Maps of happening of Mahabharata and IVC may be considered on the 500 kilometers
both side of Kurukshetra or considering center as Kurukshetra encircling.
 Sociologically: The Moral values, Architectural knowledge to build the planned cities like Harappa and
others like Hastinapur and Indraprastha.
 Sudden Disappearance of the Civilization: the possibilities of sudden disappearance may be considered as a
natural calamity or the war-end effects of Mahabharata.
Concluding,the more and more studies to be done in the reference of composition, Symbolism,
Metaphoric, Historic events will increase knowledge, critical analysis, cultural preservation, cross-cultural
understanding, educational applications, and personal growth. These outcomes will contribute to a deeper
appreciation and relevance of this era in contemporary society.

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REFERENCES
[1] Bharati, Priyank. (2022). Historical Places Of Mahabharata In Hastinapur: Past And Present Status. 2456-1372.
[2] Ganga Prasad Mehta (1933)- Prachin Bharat Ka Itihaas
[3] Gangopadhyay, Bijan. (2020). Historicity Of The Mahabharata And The Most Probable Date Of The Kurukshetra War.
10.13140/Rg.2.2.14104.96001.
[4] Harappa.Com. (2023). Early Developments Of Arts, Symbol, Technology In The Indus Valley Tradition.
[5] Historical References(1968).Dixit (1968, Part Ii, P. 55)
[6] Mahabharat, Adi Parv (1968)Publisher Swadhyay Mandal, Distt. Balsad
[7] Tuyet, Thu. (2020). Mythological Elements In The Portrayal Of The Epic Mahabharata’s Hero. Journal Of Science Social Science.
65. 39-46. 10.18173/2354-1067.2020-0047.

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