Periodisation of the Indus Valley Civilisation

The Indus Valley Civilisation was one of the world's earliest urban cultures, flourishing along the Indus River thousands of years ago. Archaeologists have developed different ways to divide its history into stages, helping us understand how it grew, changed, and eventually declined.

One common way to look at this civilisation is by splitting it into three main parts: Early, Mature, and Late Harappan. This idea was popularised by archaeologists such as Mortimer Wheeler. However, more recent studies include even earlier farming communities and use a detailed stage–phase model that mixes ideas from various systems.

These different ways of looking at the Indus Valley Civilisation help experts and students learn more about its development, its cities, and how it interacted with other early societies. Understanding these stages is important for piecing together the story of one of humanity's first great civilisations.

Periodisations

The Indus Valley civilisation is often split into three main phases: early, mature, 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 longer time period 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, but Shaffer said there was lots of regional differences.

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, discuss the growth of India, linking the Indus Valley Civilisation with later times. After the Indus Valley Civilisation, areas became more separate again, until they joined together during a time called the Second Urbanisation around 600 BC, leading to the Maurya Empire around 300 BC.

Coningham & Young point out that many books about early towns in India study either the Indus Valley Civilisation or later times, keeping an old separation that started during colonial times. They use different names — "Localisation Era," "Regionalisation Era," and "Integration Era" — to help explain how towns grew in South Asia. They think the Integration Era began as early as 600 BC, earlier than some believe. However, they admit this idea might not please everyone and that the Integration Era didn’t affect all parts of South Asia equally during the time of the strongest Harappan towns.

Concordance of periodisations

The Indus Valley Civilisation has been divided into different time periods by researchers. Early ideas split it into Early, Mature, and Late Harappan stages. Newer ways to look at this civilisation also include the time when people first began farming in the area, using a system that combines different ways of naming these periods.