History of Indus Valley Civilization.
                     History of Indus 
Valley Civilization
Introduction
 The history of India begins with the 
birth of the Indus Val ley Civi l izat ion 
( IVC), a lso known as Harappan 
Civi l ization.
 I t  fl ourished around 2,500 BC, in the 
western part of South Asia,  in 
contemporary Pakistan and Western 
India.
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Ancient urban 
civilizations
 The Indus Val ley was home to the 
largest of the four ancient urban 
civi l izations of Egypt,  Mesopotamia, 
India and China.
 In 1920s, the Archaeological  
Department of India carried out 
excavations in the Indus val ley wherein 
the ruins of the two old cit ies, viz.  
Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa were 
unearthed.
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Discovery of a new 
civilisation
 In 1924, John Marshal l ,  Director-General  
of the ASI,  announced the discovery of 
a new civi l isation in the Indus val ley to 
the world.
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Phases of IVC
 Three phases of IVC are:
 the Early Harappan Phase from 
3300 to 2600 BCE,
 the Mature Harappan Phase from 
2600 to 1900 BCE, and
 the Late Harappan Phase from 1900 
to 1300 BCE.
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The Early Harappan Phase
 The Early Harappan Phase is related to 
the Hakra Phase, identifi ed in the 
Ghaggar-Hakra River Val ley.
 The earl iest examples of the Indus 
script date back to 3000 BC.
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The mature stage
 By 2600 BC, the Indus Val ley 
Civi l ization had entered into a mature 
stage.
 The early Harappan communit ies were 
turning into large urban centers, l ike 
Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in Pakistan 
and Lothal in India.
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Late Harappan Phase
 The signs of a gradual decl ine of the 
Indus River Val ley Civi l ization are 
bel ieved to have started around 1800 
BC and by 1700 BC, most of the cit ies 
were abandoned.
 Archaeological data indicates the 
persistence of the Late Harappan 
culture t i l l  1000-900 BC.
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Town Planning and 
Structures
 The Harappan culture was dist inguished 
by i ts system of town planning.
 Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro each had i ts 
own citadel or acropol is,  which was 
possibly occupied by members of the 
rul ing class.
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Agriculture
 The Harappan vi l lages, mostly si tuated 
near the fl ood plains, produced 
suffi cient food grains.
 Wheat, barley, rai ,  peas, sesame, lenti l ,  
chickpea and mustard were produced. 
Mi l lets are also found from sites in 
Gujarat. Whi le rice uses were relatively 
rare.
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Economy
 The importance of trade in the l i fe of 
the Indus people is witnessed by the 
presence of numerous seals, uniform 
script and regulated weights and 
measures in a wide area.
 The Harappans carr ied on considerable 
trade in stone, metal ,  shel l ,  etc.
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