Did the Priest-King in the Indus Valley Civilization really exist?

There are many questions in the study of the Indus Valley Civilization that have not been resolved yet. One such question is the presence of the ruling elite in IVC. In the video, we look at how historians have tried to answer this question.
Reference:-
1. The Ancient Indus: Urbanism, Economy, and Society Rita P. Wright
2. Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization by Jonathan Mark Kenoyer
3. The Process of complex societies: dynamic models beyond site-size hierarchy.
4. Enquiries into the Political Organization of Harappan Society by Shereen Ratnagar
5. Indus Civilization and Sites in India by Dilip K Chakrabarti
6. Killing the Priest-king: Addressing Egalitarianism in the Indus Civilization by Adam S. Green [ARTICLE]
7. The Archaeology of South Asia by Robin Coningham and Ruth Young
8. Priest-Kings of Puritans? Childe and Willing Subordination in the Indus by Robin Coningham
Credits:-
Inputs on the script by Pushkar Chaudhary.
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Maps Images used in the video are made by me and are subject to copyright.
Images are sourced from :-
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[@JayVardhanSingh]

At 4:30 it should be Western UP, not Eastern UP. Apologies for the mistake.

[@ayushkumarsingh3029]

​​@@user-bz3vu7sz4lAshoka rock edictb13 mentions 5 greek king ruling in middle east and balkans.They were- 1.ANTIOUCHUS OF SELEUCUID 281-261 BCE 2.PTOLEMY 2 OF PTOLEMAIC KINGDOM 281-246 BCE 3.ANTIGONOUS GONTAS OF MACEDONIA 4.ALEXANDER OF EPIRUS 5.MAGAS OF CYRENE Thus,we have to place ashoka in this time frame only Ashoka ruled 36 years aq to purana and 37 years aq to Mahavamsa He coronated on the throne after nearly 4 years after acquiring the throne Thus,he reigned from 273 to 237 bce And his coronation took place in 269 bce

[@karan.kunwar543]

Beard style of the indus king is very similar to Sumerian and sikh

[@Learnwithpksahoo]

Make a video on Sanuli excavation

[@jayastubanerjee1998]

Just a little joke..... The statue of the famous priest/King is looking alike Our Modiji.... So it's Modiji's reincarnation. 😂

[@kaustabhgautam69]

And that proves that the republic of India is a continuum of ivc 😂 end of discussion 😌

[@thelibral669]

It's not a joke p.m Modi looks like the priests king , the priests King was probely a man of great importance so is Modi ji to day for Bharat and they look the same.

[@Keshav-vb6hm]

No it actually looks like the Sigma emoji 🗿

[@drashokn]

Priest king was chai wala chowkidar. From pakistan area

[@SekhonSatinder]

Bhai usi priest ne indus valley civilization ko dubaya hoga.😛 Baaki sab samajhdar hain.

[@shivjogdand3968]

Sir, please make more videos on IVC. It is heavily underrated.

[@gauravchamania1911]

Yes... A series on IVC...

[@yj9032]

There are literally thousands of videos on IVC on KZbin.

[@AD-gg2sr]

Love your videos. Detailed, informative.

[@markaxworthy2508]

Another articulate and well reasoned analysis. This series is the best insight I know of into the current thinking on early sub-continental history. Keep it coming, please.

[@JayVardhanSingh]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Mustafa-nd8mq]

​@@JayVardhanSinghBest books for History Enthusiasts Can you give me a list of these books?

[@monkeymindat]

This is called a Knowledgeble video on IVC..Great work brother

[@GhumakkadShukla]

Rig Vedic era ..that's most ideal and mistic..plz make a video on it❤

[@Lmao69]

Great video as always 👍

[@subritikarmakar7897]

I love your vedios sir... Thank you for staying true to the facts and logic and not contributing to misinformation that is going on Indian internet... Yet showing how we the subcontinent are not any less as a civilisation...

[@lakshmishak.s2093]

Would love if you could cover the Kadamba dynasty. They were contemporaries of Guptas and had matrimonial ties to them.

[@freebird8418]

By discovering indus valley civilization the british did such a great work towards ancient indian history.

[@Ultimatefitness360]

कोई साहनी था जिसने खोज की थी अंग्रेजो ने नही की

[@Kubha2901]

Very well explained 👍

[@theanalyst1367]

sir please make a video on the puranic chronology of indian kings and its difference with the modern chronology .

[@raginisingh2251]

V. Informative video

[@thelordandsaviorgigachadrr888]

Can you make a video on the many mentions of Meluhha in Mesopotamian texts? I know that until the beginning of the 2nd Millennium BCE, Meluhha probably referred to the Indus Valley Civilization, or a part of it. I'm curious about the veracity of claims by certain kings that they fought soldiers from Meluhha whenever they attacked kingdoms in the Iranian Plateau and other areas in the east. Is there any evidence of any military activity by the Indus Valley Civilization?

[@-rate6326]

I doubt thats the case. IVC was large civilization. Mesopotamian texts might be refer to certain region of ivc. They talk about language of meluha. They more than one language (According to speculations). It's was probably a region that spoke that specific language. It's all speculations

[@randomturd1415]

Arre bhai qna ke baad hi ivc pe video😂 thanks alot Although I hope these requests for IVC vids ain't screwing your preferred order of uploading videos chronologically ( Harshwardhan se IVC ) but still thanks :)

[@priyanshz67y]

Nice video

[@AbhinandanABS]

Lapis lazuli was a very popular metal mined in IVC which was popular in mesopotamia & egypt

[@anchitbose4151]

Sir i would like know if ivc had a standing military

[@badarpurschool9618]

Please make a video of sinauli and Rakhi garhi

[@mohanprasaddhakal1772]

Correct logic!

[@monsterousLad]

I've heard more than half of Mohen jo Daro is unexcavated. That means alot of things are buried underground. India is going good in research of IVC. But Pakistan doesn't seem to have any interest, but main reason I've is that they can't protect those sites once excavated, they already can't protect Mohen jo Daro.

[@Nanno888]

Another main reason is Islam and It's mentality to history

[@21anandparmar77]

Jay Vardhan bhai vaad pr next episode kab aane vala hai

[@indrajeetjfadatare]

we had different ritual practices of burial and burning and our philosophy was non materialistic i.e the body will die the soul gets reincarnated so that fits right in and B.B Lal argues that Ivc is the rigvedic civilization , which is true cuz most of the cities and towns were near the disappeared river Saraswati. The rigvedic people are the people of Sindhu Saraswati civilization.

[@darshanbasaraiyya2173]

Please make video on Five Hundred Lords of Ayyavole

[@gravewalker34]

Theres an interesting mention of a place in Indian and sumerian text Aratta. In indian texts this was a sister civilization west of Kuru. and in Mahabharat its an enemy or a dharmic who didnt follow varnashram system. In sumerian texts it exist east of Susa and anshan and lapis lazuli comes from there whose king is Sukeshdana and Thundergod Ishkur grows its crops. Lapis lazuli coming from a place ruled by a sanskrit name king in 2500 bce is none other than Afghanistan or near by.

[@priyanshz67y]

Why Bindusara is very famous ? Was he conquered something. Plz explain.

[@omnamobhagvatevasudevaye]

Bhimte be like ye to hamare Budh hai ya Buddhist monk hai

[@omnamobhagvatevasudevaye]

😂 aa gaya neo buddhist

[@Playerone1287]

Have we found any village of IVC era?

[@shailenderpeesapati6682]

So how should we explain the sameness of materials such as pottery etc from far off places as Afghanistan and UP?

[@AnkitKumar-sn8hq]

hey, I also don't get the argument of some scholars who say that since there were no grains found in and around the so called granaries, thus these structures can't be granaries. I mean grains are biodegradable, it's impossible to find any grains even if they were granaries 100 years ago. Moreover, you raised the right question. I have doubt on this as well.

[@AnkitKumar-sn8hq]

hey, I also don't get the argument of some scholars who say that since there were no grains found in and around the so called granaries, thus these structures can't be granaries. I mean grains are biodegradable, it's impossible to find any grains even if the granaries are just 500 years old.

[@mikesheth5370]

Some time pollens can be found. Those granaries could be warehouses or bead factories if bead scraps are found.

[@truehuman6553]

Bhai Hindi mein videos banao with English subtitles.. It will reach larger audience and the interested people

[@sonarbangla8711]

In the case of Indus civilization we are fortunate that we have written records such as the Puranas, of which VISHNU PURANA is the principle record, elaborating the first human religion preached by Krishna 11,000 years ago, blessed by the Sanatan religion the people enjoyed municipal facilities like water supply, irrigation, agriculture, drainage system, transportation etc. Focus was on the welfare of the people and a structure that was egalitarian and the population prospered. So the Egyptian style of burial with valuable goods were not present, showing the Harappan civilization were of thousands of years old and had a close connection with the Sumerian culture, yet they had a simple life style. This civilization was also known to the Egyptians, yet to the general people this culture was held in high esteem, for a short time when environmental/climatological reasons this civilization was terminated abruptly. The motives on the garments of the priest king (trefoil motive was Sumerian-with whom they had trade relation for at least7 hundred years. The Indians created the first religion and the first human civilization with imperial status, envied by all in contact with the Harappans.

[@bharat1366]

Priest King is Modern Day Modi ji

[@aavviiiiieeaeeioo]

The Indus Valley Civilization was governed by a council of Community Elders and Specialist. Similar to rural administration.

[@Archi.x002]

Finally

[@abhiramn474]

May each city was a city state. So the ruling elite may only be marginally more opulent than the rest. How come we don’t have archeological evidence of ruling elite in Painted Grey Ware culture, when we know that is when kingdoms like Kuru or Magadha were exiting.

[@Playerone1287]

4:32 eastern UP?? Mene to bas west up suna hai

[@JayVardhanSingh]

yes, you're right. I've made a mistake here. The map is correct though.

[@priyanshz67y]

Please make a video on Cyrus the great. plz...

[@dipendersingh5963]

Jay Vardhan bhai ... ancient period mein jo bhi invasions hue India mein , unka primarily route kya rehta tha ( kya Sindh se hi saare akraman hote the ya Punjab region se ya fir Pahadi regions se ?? ) Sbhi invasions ki list bnake unka route btao ek video mein ( & if possible ... also include Islamic invasions ) .

[@loduking2101]

pahadi regions? like through Himalayas?

[@dipendersingh5963]

@@loduking2101 Na bhai ... not properly himalayas lekin jo Punjab plains k immediately upar k ilake hain .. jahan ek trike se pahad shuru ho jate hain

[@ashketchum5466]

Kkybr pass in gandhara was the route

[@dipendersingh5963]

@@ashketchum5466 brother .. that I know , main basically puch raha hoon ki Khybar ya Bolan pass ko paar krne k baad invading forces Central India mein kahan se ghusti thi ? Kya vo Indus ndi k sath sath hote hue niche Sindh k ilake tk aate the & then entered there ya phir directly Punjab mein ghus jaate the

[@venkateshu8715]

May be there was Ramrajya in IVC... King was equal to public. Was IVC pre-Rig vedic age

[@akitodaisuke6532]

Does it happen to be sramanic priest? The way in which his cloth covers one shoulder same like buddhist or jain?

[@Hope_Editzzz]

Sounds like a neo buddhist opinion, lol

[@anirudh177]

Sramana tradition didn't exist at that time.

[@akitodaisuke6532]

@@Hope_Editzzz I am a ramta. A nastik ramta 🤭

[@akitodaisuke6532]

@@user-bz3vu7sz4l there wasn't just only one historical buddha we heard of. We only know of shakyamuni buddha. ACC to buddhist Pali text there were 28 Buddha prior to shakyamuni and Ashoka himself has erected and wrote down the inscription of previous buddha. Kassapa,konagaman,kanak buddha are few other names of buddha we know of

[@akitodaisuke6532]

@@user-bz3vu7sz4l I am no Buddhist. And yes it's true that there difference of lakhs of yrs between Buddha's but that's only exaggeration found in every religion and sect. It was beginning of all subjects, so no wonder about it

[@muktiprateekdas9769]

May they had some kind of gram panchayat who coordinated both defence ,city planning etc.

[@jayrangani]

Clearly he is PM Narendra Modi

[@Hope_Editzzz]

Lol reincarnation I guess

[@benefactor4309]

Early Harrapan phase to Haryana me hai na?

[@Hope_Editzzz]

Yeh JNU graduate hai bhai, itna expect mat kar sare references West historians se liye hain. Toh puri tarike se bharosa nhi kar skte.

[@benefactor4309]

@@Hope_Editzzz jaivardhan bhaiya ander se RW hai.... Career ke karan bas nhi bolte

[@anirudh2704]

Haryana Rakhighari is mature IVC site. The place and 1lakh+ pop, manufacturing sites, trade relationships.

[@benefactor4309]

@@anirudh2704 sties are even older than 3000 BCE

[@AlEx-qj3de]

Hund confluence of River Kabul and Indis. Correcy yoir Alecander Mysa research Fio =Himm Kimn Hod type. Mysis = Nysa

[@SonofIndia1999]

Every social animal have king whether it's human or monkey or lion etc

[@miraadi97]

If possible an explainer on this Rakhigarhi findings and post interview neglects with it's any findings on what or how any religious or rituals were noted in IVC in DNA findings from that specific research as Hindutva proponents have grabbed and appropriated it accordingly with Hinduism the religion of IVC from just DNA findings, obviously missing nuances 😂. Thanks ❤

[@rajputa_na]

Hinduism does came from IVC not vedic religion tho.

[@Handle_Edit]

@@rajputa_naBuddhism written all over the place. How can you ignore the Stupa?

[@KumarHarshRaj]

​@@Handle_Edit where is buddhism written and where is stupa? Buddhism itself started from 500 bce how it can be related to ivc?

[@miraadi97]

Pr ladki humein biyahi thi aur dadhi wala mullah lahore nu, phir chacha k jamai gharwapsi mang rahein hain.❤ Thanks for the references as always necessary.

[@mnsundher]

Idea mil gaya 😂

[@AlEx-qj3de]

Nysa- Nisa- Nisat ta. Grrek vity north of River Ksbul brteren Charsadfs amD vonfluence of indis st Jund

[@karan.kunwar543]

Beard style of indus king is very similar to sumerian and sikh

[@Keshav-vb6hm]

Who agrees that this statue looks the sigma emoji 🗿

[@raghav5903]

What about those structures built in a elevation in IVC cities?

[@user-cq5pj8ru4g]

IVC ka bahut bda bhag abhi bhi daba hua h, to kuch kaha ni ja skta.

[@Playerone1287]

How can an ancient civilization is so egalitarian that even in modern world we haven't achieved that level of egalitarianism I can't believe that, maybe ruling elite lived in the biggest houses like how village sarpanch have big houses

[@rajputa_na]

It was mercantile civilisation

[@rajputa_na]

IVC is useless civilisation got defeated by Aryans lol

[@REDDY-45]

​@@rajputa_nalol not defeted aryans they been aryans from long time

[@thewholesomeZaman]

I think i lost a few braincells reading this comment and a few more after re-reading it

[@Playerone1287]

@@thewholesomeZamannow you should read yours to lose the rest of brain cells

[@stormshadow5283]

Narendra Modi previous life XD

[@shivendrapal7437]

I'm in JNU 😅

[@zebrunstate2815]

Most of the IVC ppl were migrates of Elam Civilisation, this is the reason of similarities between Elam and Indus. There political structures also may have been same as of Elam ppl

[@indrajeetjfadatare]

Nah

[@rajputa_na]

Iranians and NW people not Dravidian's

[@greaterbharat4175]

Indus early settlement is 8000bce -6400bce ,so no elam had nothing to do with Indus , elam early settlement is old like 4000bce

[@sivaratnamasabaratnam8946]

​@@rajputa_na✅️

[@ArkAp2098]

Priest King looks middle eastern one may be indus valley was just a colony of middle east.

[@pinkyfinger9851]

Wo to modiji jaisa dikhta hai, bhai andha hai kya tu

[@ArkAp2098]

@@pinkyfinger9851 fir to priest king sanatani na ho gaya duffer.

[@shatnermohanty6678]

So this refutes the Aryan invasion theory??

[@abhiramn474]

Try look at existing Dravidian cultures, both tribal and non tribal and see what governing structure exists and extrapolate that into a high urban environment.

[@muhammedasifjjaleel9985]

He is Not other than great Sage Viswamitra...

[@Hope_Editzzz]

Ayo Uno Reverse Card +1

[@indrajeetjfadatare]

He might as well be Sudas seriously

[@NotMalhotraji17]

+1

[@bijendersaini485]

bhai hindi m bnaya kr yarr

[@JayVardhanSingh]

Bhai Hindi ke channel alag h www.youtube.com/@ThestoryofIndia

[@bijendersaini485]

great bhai ......1 question tha plz btana india m 1 time pr sindhu bandi the means k river cross krna pr dharam sa bahar nikal diya jata tha m isko detail sa jaana chahta hu jbb start hua kuu hua jbb invaders india m enter kiya tbb india sa koi kuu nahi gya gold wapis lena apna sbb btana bro

[@nishu413]

Unpopular opinion: I believe priest king was present in IVC and Indic Vedic culture was cultural successor of IVC. My reasons, although IVC coins are less. But they have similar motifs than Vedic culture. Like Shiva in coin. Those who are calling unicorn, may be just a buffalo. Mohen jodaro most prominent feature is a Bath .not a palace or temple. May be priest kings took bath there. Done religious rituals next to bath . Vedic culture was ritualistic and all abt yagnas. God's were not abt statue as much. Instead of later puranic culture which was more abt temples and God in physical form as we see Hinduism today Now the speculation. We know desertification of Saraswati aka hakra river happen. Rig veda has many hymns praising Saraswati. Later text ignore sarswati . It may be because Saraswati was unpredictable and tends to be losing water slowly. Other rivers did not dried so they were not as much deified . So Saraswati dried up. Many big cities like rakhigarhi would have failed without water. This would have caused massive social upheaval . Priest kings would have be blamed for falling out of god's favour and may disposed . Power went to kshatriyas in Varna system instead. Brahmins in Vedic culture during mahajanpandas were dependent on kings and society for daan for survival. Imagine this your entire class is considered top of Varna system and still you are dependent on others for food. Some highly regarded Brahmins may have land and cows (precious commodity in ancient times). But even those live near forest to teach children of elites. May be that shifted entire societal structure for priestly class. They may still considered top of society due to their knowledge but not fit to rule. IVC collapsed in 1500BC. And next cities in india are in 500BC at time of mahajanpadas. Thats 1000 years gap too long. So even living in cities must be considered bad and reason of IVC downfall. May be PPL considered living in cities , put you away from nature and gods for 1000 year. May be city dwelling was taboo during that period. So knowledge of entire city building tech of IVC was lost. But still some old myths of IVC survived hence we can corelate some symbols . I know it's a lot of speculation. But unless and concrete proof comes we can speculate only

[@Lmao69]

2.1 k views and 8k like???? Ganja ganja 🥴

[@santoshr2984]

I hope young scholars and researchers are going to rewrite history for us. Its 21sst century for god sake.

[@giridharm5598]

Biggest joke is this is history of Pakistan

[@Handle_Edit]

It is

[@Handle_Edit]

It is

[@Dino_551]

We have always been communists

[@magma9000]

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION (ancient Pakistan civilization)🇵🇰

[@mahawthadahow2941]

Not just Pakistan India also

[@kenkaneki4925]

Pakistan is an artificial state created after 1947 , its has no history before 14 august 1947 ,Pakistans history starts from 1947

[@akashsadhukhan2044]

Ancient Pakistan...😂😂😂???

[@kamath234]

🤣Ancient pakistan...good one

[@theuniverse3782]

Very obvious bait lmao

[@Zayn_Priyadarshin]

He is indra 😊 the vedic god

[@-rate6326]

​​@@user-bz3vu7sz4l 7 horses? That's sun god. Indra has elephant. He is clearly Narendra Modi

[@greaterbharat4175]

​​@@user-bz3vu7sz4lgod Indra has one horse and one elephant not 7 horses God Indra elephant is airavat ( 4 tusk elephant) archeologicaly found in North India especially kashmir region like 11,700 year ago ( predate ivc ) his weapon is made of human bone show he was actually very very ancient god 2) his horse is mentioned 17 ribs of species ( rare Horses) , and Arabian horse are 17 ribs horse species ( domesticated 7000bce according to native Arabian research) Puranic myth says Indra horse obtained from samundra manthan , so probably horse of indra is Sindhu sagar / Arabian sea horse

[@greaterbharat4175]

​​​@@user-bz3vu7sz4lelephant to horse their location proove that Worshipping of Indra happened from iravati ( said to be place where airavat was found) to Arabian sea / Sindhu sagar aka Indus valley civilization region

[@Zayn_Priyadarshin]

N even indus people have classs system

[@sorenutpal6091]

Tunni logic