Indus Valley Civilisation

The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE. Together with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of the earliest great civilisations in the Near East and South Asia. It was the most widespread, stretching across much of modern-day Pakistan, northwestern India, and northeast Afghanistan.

This ancient society was known for its well-planned cities, such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. These cities had advanced features like baked brick houses, good drainage systems, and reliable water supplies. They were among the largest settlements in the world at that time, possibly home to tens of thousands of people.

The Indus Valley Civilisation thrived near the Indus River and other rivers that brought water to the region. Over time, changes in the climate and shrinking water sources helped end this great civilisation. Even though we have found many of its cities and artifacts, we still do not fully understand the language used by its people because their writing has not yet been decoded.

Etymology

The Indus Valley Civilisation is named after the Indus River system, where its early sites were first found and studied.

It is also called the Harappan civilisation, after the site of Harappa, which was the first to be excavated in the 1920s. Some people refer to it using other names like "Indus-Sarasvati Civilisation," linking it to an ancient river mentioned in old texts, though recent studies show this river was likely seasonal rather than always full of water.

Extent

The Indus Valley Civilisation was one of the world's earliest large societies, living along the Indus River and nearby areas. It existed at the same time as Ancient Egypt along the Nile, Mesopotamia between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and China near the Yellow River and Yangtze rivers. By its peak, the Indus Valley Civilisation covered a huge area, stretching from Balochistan to Gujarat and from Afghanistan to parts of modern-day India.

Big cities like Mohenjo-daro and Harappa may have had tens of thousands of people. The civilisation's reach included many regions such as the Punjab region, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Sindh. Settlements were found near rivers, along old coastlines, and even on islands.

Discovery and history of excavation

The first modern discovery of the Indus Valley Civilisation began with Charles Masson, who in 1829 explored the Punjab region and found the ancient city of Harappa. He made detailed notes and drawings of the site’s artifacts. Later, Alexander Burnes noted the baked bricks used in Harappa’s buildings, though local people were already taking these bricks for their own use.

Archaeological work became more organized in 1861 with the founding of the Archaeological Survey of India. John Marshall led major excavations starting in the 1920s, first at Harappa and then at Mohenjo-daro. These digs uncovered many important artifacts, showing that this was a large and advanced ancient civilisation. After the partition of India in 1947, most of these sites were in Pakistan, where international teams continued the work.

Chronology

Main article: Periodisation of the Indus Valley Civilisation

The Indus Valley Civilisation was a very old society that lived in parts of Pakistan, northwest India, and northeast Afghanistan. It started around 3300 BCE and ended around 1300 BCE, with its strongest time from 2600 to 1900 BCE. People in this civilisation lived in big, planned cities and traded with places far away.

Scholars describe this civilisation in different ways. One common way is to split it into three phases: Early, Mature, and Late Harappan. Another way looks at four eras, starting with people learning to farm and ending with smaller, local groups.

Pre-Harappan era: Mehrgarh

Main article: Mehrgarh

See also: Neolithic Revolution

Mehrgarh is an ancient mountain site in Pakistan that gives us important clues about the early days of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Dating back to around 7000 BCE, it is one of the earliest places in South Asia where people began farming and raising animals.

The people of Mehrgarh grew crops and kept herds of animals, showing strong links to farming communities in the Near East. Researchers believe that while Mehrgarh shared some traditions with these distant cultures, it also developed many of its own unique ways of living, making it an important early centre of civilisation in the region.

Early Harappan

The Early Harappan Ravi Phase, named after the nearby Ravi River, lasted from around 3300 BCE until 2800 BCE. It began as farmers from the mountains moved between their homes and the river valleys. This phase is linked to the Hakra Phase in the Ghaggar-Hakra River Valley and came before the Kot Diji Phase (2800–2600 BCE), named after a site in northern Sindh, Pakistan, near Mohenjo-daro. The earliest examples of the Indus script date back to this time.

Villages such as Rehman Dheri and Amri in Pakistan show the mature phase of early cultures. Kot Diji marks the lead-up to the Mature Harappan phase, with a citadel showing central authority and an urban lifestyle. Another town from this stage was found at Kalibangan in India. Trade networks connected these people with others, bringing in materials like lapis lazuli for making beads. By this time, people had crops such as peas, sesame seeds, dates, and cotton, along with animals like the water buffalo. Early Harappan communities grew into large cities by 2600 BCE, starting the Mature Harappan phase. The later Early Harappan period saw big walled settlements, expanded trade, and more unified styles of pottery, ornaments, and stamp seals with the Indus script.

Mature Harappan

The Mature Harappan phase of the Indus Valley Civilisation represents its peak, showcasing advanced urban planning and culture. Cities like Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, and Dholavira were well-organized, with features such as drainage systems, public baths, and grid layouts. These cities indicate a society that valued public health and had a high level of organization.

The civilisation spanned a vast area, including parts of modern-day Pakistan, northwest India, and northeast Afghanistan. It flourished along the Indus River and its tributaries, benefiting from seasonal monsoons and river flooding for agriculture. Despite not developing advanced irrigation, the Harappans managed to support large urban centres through flood-supported farming and trade networks. The cities were home to traders and artisans, and evidence suggests a relatively egalitarian society with access to resources for all residents.

Late Harappan

Around 1900 BCE, signs of decline began to appear in the Indus Valley Civilisation, and by about 1700 BCE, most of the cities were abandoned. During this time, many smaller local cultures grew up in different parts of the area. These included the Cemetery H culture in Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh, the Jhukar culture in Sindh, and the Rangpur culture in Gujarat.

Some of the larger Late Harappan towns, like Kudwala in Cholistan and Bet Dwarka in Gujarat, continued to exist but were smaller than the great cities of the earlier period. There was less trade over long distances, but farming became more varied with new crops and methods. Pottery from this time still looked somewhat like the older styles but had its own special features. Many of the old city services, like drains, were no longer kept up, and some valuable items were hidden away, which suggests there may have been some unrest.

Post-Harappan

Main article: Iron Age in India

The decline of the Indus Valley Civilisation did not mean an end to urban life in the region. Many elements of the Indus culture continued in later cultures. The Cemetery H culture appeared in areas such as Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, while the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture spread from Rajasthan into the Gangetic Plain.

Archaeological evidence shows that some aspects of the Late Harappan culture lasted until around 1000–900 BCE. The settlement of Pirak remained active from 1800 BCE until the time of Alexander the Great in 325 BCE. After the Indus civilisation weakened, new regional cultures developed, still influenced by the earlier Indus traditions. People from the Indus Valley moved toward the Himalayan foothills in the Ganga-Yamuna basin.

Genetics

In 2019, scientists studied the DNA from an ancient skeleton found in Rakhigarhi, Haryana, India, which dated back to around 2,800–2,300 BCE. They discovered that this person's DNA was mostly related to ancient Iranian hunter-gatherers, with some connection to the Andamanese Hunter Gatherers. This DNA showed no signs of the ancestry seen in many modern South Asians from western regions. The findings suggest that the genetic makeup of this ancient person is similar to many South Asians today.