Social life of Indus-Saraswati Civilization :
(i) Social Classification: There were many classes in society. There were professional people who included goldsmiths, astrologers, wevers, bakers and bead makers, craftstmen. According to some scholars, there must have been a specific class of priests and officials and royalty in that period. From the point of view of prosperity, the people of Fortress area may have been prosperous and common people lived in the lower city.
(ii) Family and status of women: From the buildings found in excavation, it is clear that the Indus-Saraswati civilization has a plan to accommodate separate families. Therefore, there should be single family system in this period. A large number of female idols have been fotind in this civilization. Possibly the women were worship here.
Maternal society was found in Crete and other Mediterranean civilizations. Hence it can be estimated from this that even in the Indus-Saraswati civilization, the tradition of maternal families would have been prevalent. In such a situation, women would have had a significant place in society.
(iii) Food and Lifestyle: The Indus-Saraswati civilization consumed wheat, barley, rice, milk, fruits, meat etc in their diet. In fruits they were familiar with pomegranate, coconut, lemon, melon, watermelon etc. The discovery of their being meat-eaters is found in the collection of bitten bones of animal and birds. The meat of sheep, goat, pig, cock, duck, turtle etc. was eaten. Mortar and Peste was used to grind grains and spices.
The information of women are found in their costumes. In these idols, the upper part of their body is unclothed and a garment is wpm down from the waist. Some idols have shown women wearing a special type of fan on top of the head. Most of the men’s torsos are without clothes. However, men wear a garment on the waist. Men have been shown to wear shawl in some places.
(iv) Amusement: In men, some people kept beards and moustaches and used to shave. Women took special care of their hairstyle. To decorate the hair, the mirror was used to see comb the hair and see the face. In the excavation, bronze mirror and ivory combs have been obtained. Both men and women used to wear ornaments. They mainly used to wear headgear, wristbands, amulets, necklaces, anklets, etc.
Many toys of clay have been found in the excavation of the Sindhu Saraswati civilization. Prevalence of dance and music are known from the statue of the dancer. There is also a marking of Sarangi and Veena on some seals.
