Periodisation of the Indus Valley Civilisation

The Indus Valley Civilisation was one of the world's earliest big cities. It grew up along the Indus River thousands of years ago.

People who study old things, called archaeologists, have found ways to split the history of this civilisation into different parts. This helps us learn how it started, changed, and ended.

One common way is to divide it into three main parts: Early, Mature, and Late Harappan. This idea became well-known because of archaeologists like Mortimer Wheeler. Newer studies look at even earlier farming communities and use a more detailed model that mixes different ideas.

These different ways of looking at the Indus Valley Civilisation help experts and students learn about how it developed, its cities, and how it connected with other early societies. Learning about these stages helps us understand one of humanity's first great civilisations.

Periodisations

The Indus Valley civilisation is split into three main parts: early, middle, and late Harappan. Before this civilisation, small farming villages existed. As people learned to manage water better, these villages grew into a big, connected civilisation. This time is sometimes called the Indus Age or the Indus Tradition.

Early work by Sir Aurel Stein in Balochistan found many old sites. Later digs at Harappa and Mohenjo Daro led people to think these sites showed a culture that moved from Balochistan to the Indus Valley. But M.R. Mughal showed this wasn’t true by finding older phases in the Cholistan Desert. He called this the Early Harappan phase.

Another way to look at this is from Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips, changed by Jim G. Shaffer. Shaffer called it the Harappan Tradition. He split it into four eras: the pre-Harappan “Early Food Producing Era,” and the Regionalisation, Integration, and Localisation eras. These eras match the Early Harappan, Mature Harappan, and Late Harappan phases.

Gregory Possehl used the term Indus Age and split it into seven stages, starting from early farming villages to the Early Iron Age. Rita Wright used a similar system with phases like Early Food Producing, Pre-Urban, Urban, and Post-Urban.

Datings and alternative proposals

Some researchers have suggested different time periods for the Indus Valley Civilisation. For example, one archaeologist named Rao, who dug at a place called Bhirrana, found very old items called Hakra Ware dating back to between 8,000 and 7,000 years ago. He believes Bhirrana might be even older than usually thought, but still uses the same names for the different times of this civilisation.

Others think the Regionalisation Era might have started even earlier, around 5,000 to 4,000 years ago. Many agree that the busy, city-building time of the Indus Valley Civilisation, called the Integration Era or Mature Harappan Phase, happened roughly between 4,200 and 3,900 years ago.

Durée longue: Harappan Civilisation and Early Historic Period

Jonathan M. Kenoyer, and Coningham & Young, talk about how India grew, connecting the Indus Valley Civilisation with later times. After the Indus Valley Civilisation, areas became more separate again. Later, they joined together during a time called the Second Urbanisation around 600 BC. This led to the Maurya Empire around 300 BC.

Coningham & Young say that many books about early towns in India look only at the Indus Valley Civilisation or later times. They think this separation began during colonial times. They use names like "Localisation Era," "Regionalisation Era," and "Integration Era" to explain how towns grew in South Asia. They believe the Integration Era began as early as 600 BC, which is earlier than some people think. However, they know not everyone will agree with this idea. Also, the Integration Era did not affect all parts of South Asia the same way during the time when the Harappan towns were strongest.

Concordance of periodisations

The Indus Valley Civilisation is split into different time periods by researchers. Early ideas divided it into Early, Mature, and Late Harappan stages. Newer ways also look at the time when people first began farming in the area, using a system that mixes different naming styles for these periods.