Indus Valley Civilization Trade Activities

One of the sources of Harappan economy was trade and exchange activities.
Harappans had close trade contacts with the Mesopotamians and also with various cultures of India.
The Harappan seals and materials have been found in the Sumerian sites in Oman, Bahrain, and Iraq and Iran.
The cuneiform inscriptions mention the trade contacts between Mesopotamia and Harappans.
The mention of “Meluhha” in the cuneiform inscriptions refers to the Indus region.
A Harappan jar has been found in Oman.
Harappan seals, weights, dice and beads are found in Mesopotamia.
Carnelian, lapis lazuli, copper, gold and varieties of wood were exported to Mesopotamia.
Harappans also interacted with various regions of India and acquired raw materials and processed them.

Harappans had developed proper weights and measures.
Since they were involved in commercial transactions, they needed standard measures.
Cubical chert weights have been unearthed from Harappan sites.
The weights exhibit a binary system.
The ratio of weight is doubled as 1:2:4:8:16:32.
The small weight measure of 16th ratio weighs 13.63 grams.
They also used a measuring scale in which one inch was around 1.75 cm.
Weights made of chert were cubical.
They used binary numbering system (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc.).
They might have been used for weighing jewellery and metal.

The seals from various media such as steatite, copper, terracotta and ivory are frequently found in the Harappan sites.
The Harappan script has not yet been convincingly deciphered.
About 5,000 texts have been documented from the Harappan sites.
The longest text has about twenty six signs.
Some scholars are of the view that it is Dravidian.
Seals might have been used as an identity marker on the materials that were transported.
They might have indicated the ownership.

Early India: Trade Activities of Indus Valley Civilization