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Mehrgarh -One of world's earliest settlements
Mehrgarh – One of world's earliest settlements
Rafi Samad
Key words: Early Settlements-Mehrgarh-Transition-Subsistence base
The eighth millennium BC signalled a new era in the history of mankind. The pattern of life on earth began to change. The nomadic way of life gradually began to give way to growth of farming communities. The bands of hunters and gatherers first restricted their wanderings by opting for seasonal camps in which the womenfolk and children experimented with skills in cultivation of food crops, domestication of animals and weaving mats or shawls to protect their bodies against the effects of weather, while the able-bodied males scoured vast areas hunting birds and other wild animals and gathering berries, cereals. In the second phase permanent settlements began to take shape at favourable locations, where activities of the family groups were mainly focused, while wanderings in search of food became a supporting task.
Mehrgarh emerged as the first settlement in South Asia, and one of the first anywhere in the world, early in 8th millennium BC. It remained occupied for about 7000 years and attained the size of about 200 hectares. Because of its size and long period of occupation, Mehrgarh produced a much greater impact on the development of human society compared to any other early settlement anywhere in the world.
Location & Physical Environment
Mehrgarh is located in the Kachhi Plains of Eastern Baluchistan – an area, which is contiguous with the Plains of the Indus River. It therefore displays features, which are similar to those of the Indus Valley. The nearest modern settlement from Mehrgarh is the Dhadhar Village, which is just a few kilometres off the main road, which links this region with the Indus Valley in the east.
About 100 kilometres to the west of Mehrgarh is the mouth of the Bolan Pass, which cuts through the mountains of the Central Brahui Range to provide access to Quetta, the capital of present day Baluchistan Province of Pakistan, and the key city on ancient trade routes linking this region with Afghanistan, Eastern Iran and Central Asia. Mehrgarh was therefore well-connected with important ancient cultural sites and trade centres, both on the east a well as the west.
Bolan River, a perennial stream, originates in the surrounding mountains, flows past the Mehrgarh site, imparting fertility to this region. During the Monsoon season, the Bolan River receives large quantities of water from the hill torrents, which result in flooding of the region around Mehrgarh. The fresh layers of silt deposited annually along the banks of the Bolan River made the area around Mehrgarh highly suitable for agricultural activities.
Transition from camping ground to permanent settlement
Archaeological investigations indicate that from 8300 BC to 7500 BC, the site of Mehrgarh served as a camping ground for hunters and gatherers. For several seasons these hunters and gatherers came down from the hills surrounding Mehrgarh during the summer season and set up semi-permanent camps on the banks of the Bolan River. Gradually over a period of several seasons, the economic activities at the camps became more and more productive. More and more concentrated efforts were made on cultivation of crops and breeding of animals, in which the whole family worked together. This gradually led to the realization among the nomadic tribes that life could be made much easier if they cultivated their own crops and bred their own animals instead of the men folk wasting a lot of their time in the wild in search of food. Thus ultimately the seasonal migrations of the semi-nomads ceased, and Mehrgarh gradually assumed the character of a permanent settlement.
Progress over six millenniums
Mehrgarh' conversion from a camping ground to a permanent settlement was a revolutionary development. The fixing of the early settlers to a particular location gave them time to think and plan and observe. They improved farming methods to increase the yields; they were able to concentrate on systematically breeding their animals and put the wool, skins and bones of the animals to a variety of uses. They learnt to build permanent structures with mud and straw, to protect themselves and their stocks from weather and from attacks by the wild animals. After playing around with clay and making toys and miscellaneous articles out of it, they realized that the plastic properties of clay could be used to mould this material into useful articles, such as containers, bowls, cooking pots and plates.
For more than thousand years, Mehrgarh was the only permanent settlement in the vast area, which included Eastern Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. This early advantage over other regions made Mehrgarh the focal point for nomads and fortune seekers. The fruits of settled form of life and the development of simple technologies put Mehrgarh in a position, in which it could offer a number of items, which were not available elsewhere. The nomads brought trinkets, precious and semi-precious stones metal nodules, skins, wool and dry fruit and exchanged them with food-grains and clay vessels produced at Mehrgarh. This growing interaction of Mehrgarh with various scattered groups in distant regions, led to further improvements in their living conditions. Through domestication of plants and animals, the people who settled in Mehrgarh achieved control over their food supplies. Through production of pottery, ornaments and tools, they not only made their life easier and colorful, they also opened up avenues for trade of these items in exchange for raw material and items of food, which he could not produce himself. The settled form of life left enough spare time to broaden their horizons through intellectual pursuits. This gave rise to craving for understanding the forces of nature and views on religion began to take shape.
After an extended transition period, Mehrgarh began to make rapid progress in all fields. From its original site on top of a mound near the banks of the Bolan River, the settlement began to expand to three other mounds located in the area and reached its ultimate size of about 200 hectares.
About the Author
Mr. Rafi Samad is an Author, Freelance journalist and news analyst
He has authored two books:
Ancient Indus Civilization
Greeks in Ancient Pakistan
Several articles published in country's leading newspapers
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