Indian Artifacts
                                   

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Indian Artifacts

Indian artifacts popular art of the Harappans was in the form of terra-cotta figurines. The majority are of standing females, often heavily laden with jewelry, but standing males--some with beard and horns--are also present. It has been generally agreed that these figures are largely deities (perhaps a Great Mother and a Great God), but some small figures of mothers with children or of domestic activities are probably toys. There are indian artifacts of terra-cotta animals, carts, and toys--such as monkeys pierced to climb a string and cattle that nod their heads. Painted pottery is the only evidence that there was a tradition of painting. Much of the work is executed with boldness and delicacy of feeling, but the restrictions of the art do not leave much scope for creativity. The steatite seals, to whose manufacture reference was made above, form the most extensive series of objects of art in the civilization. The great majority show a humpless "unicorn" or bull in profile, while others show the Indian humped bull, elephant, bison, rhinoceros, or tiger. The animal frequently stands before a ritual object, variously identified as a standard, manger, or even incense burner. A considerable number of the seals contain scenes of obvious mythological or religious significance. The interpretation of these seals is, however, often highly problematic. The seals were certainly more widely diffused than other artifacts and show a much higher level of workmanship. Probably they functioned as amulets, as well as more practical devices to identify merchandise.

 

officially REPUBLIC OF INDIA , Hindi BHARAT or BHARATAVARSHA

country that occupies the greater part of South Asia. It is a constitutional republic consisting of 25 states, each with a substantial degree of control over its own affairs, and 7 less fully empowered union territories. The artifacts is New Delhi. With more than one-sixth of the world's total population, India is the second most populous country, after China.

The land of India--together with Bangladesh and most of Pakistan--forms a well-defined subcontinent, set off from the rest of Asia by the imposing northern mountain rampart of the indian artifacts by lesser adjoining mountain ranges to the west and east. In area, India ranks as the seventh largest country in the world, covering 1,222,559 square miles (3,166,414 square kilometres), just slightly more than 2 percent of the Earth's total land surface.

India's frontier, bordered by six countries, is 9,425 miles (15,168 kilometres) long, of which 3,533 miles (5,686 kilometres) is coastline. Neighbouring countries of particular concern to India are Pakistan to the northwest and China to the north, both of which have art and craft border disputes with India, and Bangladesh, which is surrounded on three sides by Indian territory. The other nations on India's frontier are Nepal and Bhutan to the north, situated between India and China, and Myanmar (Burma) to the northeast.

Economically and socially, India has made great strides since independence: it has a well-developed infrastructure and a highly diversified industrial base, its pool of scientific and engineering personnel is reputedly the third largest in the world, and the pace of its agricultural expansion has more than kept up with the growth in its population. Social legislation in India has done much to alleviate the disabilities previously suffered by formerly "untouchable" castes, tribal populations, women, and other disadvantaged segments of society. At independence, India was blessed with several leaders of world stature, most notably Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Not only were these leaders able to galvanize the masses in their own country but,