Indus Valley- Trade and Travel

Indus Valley

Trade and Travel

The Indus Valley-Trade and Travel

Indus Valley boats

Traders' travels

A picture on one seal shows an Indus Valley boat with raised ends (prow and stern), a rolled-up sail, and a square cabin. A man at the stern (back) has a long oar, possibly to steer. A flat-bottomed boat could travel in shallow water. It could be pushed by a pole, by paddles, or by the wind in its sail. Bigger boats went out to sea.

Boats in ancient times were made of wood, or bundles of reeds. Boats like ancient Indus Valley craft are still used in India, Pakistan and in the Arabian Gulf.

Indus Valley traders traveled on mountains and in forests. They followed rivers walking along the river bank. They also used boats.

Some traders carried goods on their backs. Others drove wooden carts pulled by bullocks. Archaeologists have found clay models of carts, which look like the bullock-carts still seen in India and Pakistan today.

Traders probably journeyed in groups. At night they made camp, or slept in roadside hotels. Sometimes it was safer to travel in groups, for protection against robbers or hungry tigers.

Some traders settled in other lands. Traders from another civilization called Mesopotamia made their homes in Indus cities, and people from the Indus Valley went to live in cities in Mesopotamia.

What did Indus Valley people trade?

What were the seals for?

Trade With Mesopotamia

Sargon of Akkad (2334 to 2279 BC) was a king in Mesopotamia. This was one of the first ancient civilizations. We know Indus Valley traders went there, because Indus seals have been found in Mesopotamia.

Sargon's scribes kept written records of ships from other lands. So we learn that the Mesopotamian bought gold, copper and jewelery from 'Meluhha'.

To reach Mesopotamia, Indus ships sailed west. They probably kept close to land. Bits of old Indus pottery found on beaches in Oman, in the Gulf, came from storage jars left behind by traders.

Seal animals

The people of the Indus Valley civilization used seals to trade with the Mesopotamian, on the seals were symbols which showed that they were a trader from the Indus Valley. They traded cotton cloth and minerals like bronze.

Indus Valley cities lived by trading with each other. Farmers brought food into the cities. City workers made things such as: pots, beads and cotton cloth. Traders brought the materials workers needed, and took away finished goods to trade in other cities.

Trade goods included: terracotta pots, beads, gold and silver, coloured gem stones such as turquoise and lapis lazuli, metals, flints (for making stone tools), seashells and pearls.

Minerals came from Iran and Afghanistan. Lead and copper came from India. Jade came from China and cedar tree wood was floated down the rivers from Kashmir and the Himalayas.

Many seals have pictures of animals on them. Animals on seals include elephants, rhinoceros, tigers, fish-eating crocodiles (gharial) and zebu (humped cattle).

The most common animal on Indus seals is a 'unicorn'. In ancient stories, the unicorn was a mythical beast, usually looking like a horse, with one horn.