The People of the Indus

 

The People of the Indus by Nikhil Gulati with Jonathan Mark Kenoyer begins with a quote by Ursula Le Guin - “History is not a science, it's an art”. And, history, the account of an enigmatic & prosperous bronze age civilization, the Indus civilization (3200-1900 BCE), is rendered in a comic format in stunning illustrations in abt 160 pages. 

Nikhil Gulati says that the book is the result of intrigue after his chance visit to Lothal, Gujarat when he was a college student. Backed by Dr. Kenoyer’s (the field director of Harappa Archaeological survey since 1986) valuable inputs, this book by visually representing history not just makes it palatable but extremely delightful.

Organized into five chapters, the book begins by taking us back in time to Mohenjo Daro at 2600 BCE. A ubiquitous, bespectacled narrator in kurta and jeans takes us on a journey, first highlighting the well-planned urban settlements with an ingenious underground drainage system - the hallmark of this civilization & then offering a glimpse of daily lives of people - their occupations, crafts and trade practices.

From detailing the popular Great Bath, dancing girl statue, Zebu bull, steatite seals and carnelian beads to many lesser known facts, similarities and differences with Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, weaving in a story of a family of coppersmiths who arrive at Mohenjodaro for a fortune & a family of scribes who leave the drying Ghaggar valley eastwards to Yamuna, the book is mighty comprehensive. The last two chapters on writing practices in these civilizations & reasons for decline of the Indus civilization after flourishing for 700 years on the banks of the rivers Indus and Ghaggar are more intricate.

A page showing the important sites of Indus civilization

 A glimpse of illustrations in the book

Few wordless pages full of illustrations that depict the discovery of beads and its use in jewelry deserve special mention, the author’s painstaking effort here is symbolic of how tedious the archaeological research process is.

The People of the Indus, like Lego Classic blocks, appeals to a big age group - 9 to 99 yrs. Let this brilliant graphic novel grace your bookshelves with its presence.