Born Again

"I, Sanya, am the designated ruler of my country," Sanya said. "After the untimely demise of my father, the King, I am suppose to ascend the throne. I am 25 years old."

"I am well versed in wielding the sword as well as any other weapon and was taught the art of using weapons. This was a part of my education." My brother and I had trained for hours. But then, one fine day my brother became ill. We could not figure out what had happened to him. My mother used to look after him. The disease was such that his body slowly started to waste away, and he succumbed to the disease. My mother expired a few months later. She had probably caught some virus while treating my brother."

So for the past 5-7 years, there have been only my father and I in my immediate family."

"My coronation is within a few days but I do not trust this uncle of mine. He has had designs on the throne since many years ago. Perhaps he is involved in my brother's and mother's death."

"I love someone and want to marry him. But it is funny that if a King or prince wants to marry a commoner, there are no restrictions. But when a princess wants to marry a commoner then there is a hue and cry."

"Now you can ask me anything you want," Sanya finished her monologue with these words.

"Okay, Is there anyway that I can help you," asked Tania.

"No, there is no way you can help me."

"You have listened to the story of my life in a nutshell which is something."

"This is what happened to you in a previous life, after all, I am a previous life."

Tania was surprised that such a conversation was going on in a dream. Well it is said that in dreams a person travels with the speed even greater than the speed of light. Here, her mind was travelling at a speed greater than the speed of light. Otherwise, how come she was transported to some place in India. She had no idea which place she was seeing in her dream and that to herself as a princess of a previous life. She was in 2019 but the past seems to be in 1400 AD or something. She will need to get it confirmed from Sanya.

Sanya was continuing her monologue, "The day of the coronation, my uncle will do something, I do not know what he has in mind."

"I have a plan. I will come again in your dream in two days time and tell you."

"I can't tell you yet as the same person has been born as your uncle in your present life."

"He should not be aware of the plot under any circumstances."

Tania thought that she should butt in now. This conversation seemed to much of a monologue even though it was in a dream.

"I understand all your problems," replied Tania. "But at least tell me which time period are you talking about? By that I mean what is the year of of your life?"

"If you cannot tell me then at least tell me who are the mightiest kings in your times? The famous cities that people visit will help me pinpoint the era to which you belong."

" Who do you pray to? Some artifacts will also help me identify the era that you belong to or as you say it, I belonged to?"

Sanya listened to her for some time with interest and then started to answer her.

The biggest cities are Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, then there is the port city of Lothal. We have trade relations with Egypt called Misser and also Sumeria. We have our guild system as well as different coins and seals that are used for trade. Our cities are well planned and swept by the winds The entrances to the housed are from the inner lanes. The main streets are at the back of the houses. We import cotton from Egypt and make cloth from it. Then export it to other places in this continent and others too.

Tania didn't know what to say. Her previous self had come to her in a dream. It seems that she had lived a life during the prehistory period called the Indus Valley Civilization, which was a Bronze Age civilization in the northwestern regions of South Asia and had lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE. The mature phase was form from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. The cities were well known for their impressive, organized and regular layout. They had well laid our plumbing and drainage system, including indoor toilets.

She recalled her thesis. Harappa and Mohenjodaro are now in Pakistan. These were great cities known for the huge number of residents, the burnt bricks used in construction, the drainage system, their guilds, their merchants who visited many countries on basis of their seals found in other countries.

The remains of Harappa include a citadel/fortress, a massive monumental building once called the granary, and at least three cemeteries. Mohenjo-Daro had a Citadel and the Lower City. The Citadel supported public baths, a large residential structure designed to house about 5,000 citizens, and two large assembly halls. The lower city had a central marketplace, with a large central well. Individual households or groups of households obtained their water from smaller wells. Wastewater was channeled to covered drains that lined the major streets. Some houses, presumably those of more prestigious inhabitants, include rooms that appear to have been set aside for bathing, and one building had an underground furnace possibly for heated bathing. Most houses had inner courtyards, with doors that opened onto side-lanes. Some buildings had two stories. Something like how the present city of Chandigarh has been built.

Lothal was the port city of Indus Valley Civilization and had the world's earliest known dry dock, which connected the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati river on the trade route between Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra when the surrounding Kutch desert of today was a part of the Arabian Sea. It was situated in Gujarat. The dockyard was located away from the main current to avoid deposition of silt. Lothal engineers studied tidal movements, and their effects on brick-built structures since the walls are of kiln-burnt bricks.

Kalibangan, in present-day Rajasthan, India, was a major provincial capital of the Indus Valley Civilization. Kalibangan is distinguished by its unique fire altars and "world's earliest attested plowed field". The citadel and the lower city was in evidence here too. Things found here were small blades of chalcedony and agate, sometimes serrated or backed; beads of steatite, shell, carnelian, terracotta and copper; bangles of copper, shell and terracotta; terracotta objects like a toy-cart, wheel and a broken bull; quem with mullers, a bone point, and copper celts, including an unusual axe, etc. Toy carts suggest carts were used for transportation in Kalibangan.