World Religions › Ancient civilizations › Vedic religion
Indus Valley religion
c. 2600–1900 BC· Religion or tradition· Hindu, Buddhist, Jain & Sikh
Debated by scholarsHistorians and scholars disagree.
The beliefs of the Bronze Age Indus civilization of Pakistan and northwest India, known only from objects because its script is unread.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
The Indus people built planned cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, with drains and baked-brick houses, but no obvious temples or palaces. Religious clues include the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro, a waterproofed pool perhaps for ritual bathing; thousands of seals showing animals, a unicorn-like beast and a horned seated figure; female figurines; fire altars at Kalibangan; and pipal-leaf motifs. The cities declined after about 1900 BC, probably as rivers shifted and the climate changed.
Why it matters
If its practices fed into later Hinduism, the roots of Indian religion would run centuries deeper than the Vedas.
Sources and history
Excavations since the 1920s at over 1,000 known sites; thousands of inscribed seals and objects. The script, with roughly 400 signs, remains undeciphered.
Questions and debates
Without readable texts nearly everything about its gods and rites is inference; even whether the Great Bath was religious is uncertain.
Connections (2)
▸Indus Valley religion may have fed into Vedic religionDebated by scholars
The connection
Some features of later Indian religion are missing from the earliest Vedic hymns but may appear in Indus remains: ritual bathing, sacred trees, yoga-like seated figures and possible goddess worship. Many scholars think such local traditions blended into Vedic religion as it spread east, helping produce classical Hinduism.
When and where
Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in today's Pakistan, and Indian sites like Lothal and Kalibangan, about 2600–1900 BC; excavated since the 1920s.
How do we know?
Seals, figurines, the Great Bath and fire altars; but the Indus script is undeciphered, so any religious link is inferred.
Questions and debates
Whether there was real continuity across the gap between the Indus decline, about 1900 BC, and the Vedic texts; the question is also politically charged in India.
▸Indus Valley religion may foreshadow ShivaDebated by scholars
The connection
A famous Indus seal shows a horned figure seated in a yoga-like pose, surrounded by animals. Excavator John Marshall in 1931 called it a 'proto-Shiva', linking it to Shiva as Pashupati, Lord of Animals, and master of yoga. If right, Shiva's roots would predate the Vedas.
When and where
The 'Pashupati seal' from Mohenjo-daro, about 2350–2000 BC, excavated in 1928–29 and now in the National Museum, New Delhi.
How do we know?
Visual resemblance only: the unread script gives no confirmation, and Shiva's earliest textual form is the Vedic storm god Rudra.
Questions and debates
Many scholars now doubt the reading: the figure may be a buffalo-horned deity, a ritual leader or something else entirely.