Indus Valley Civilization
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Why this topic matters
The Indus Valley Civilization (c. 2600–1900 BCE, mature phase) is among the most consistently asked Ancient India topics in exams — sites and their features, town planning, seals, and the decline debate appear repeatedly. Beyond exams, it's the story of the subcontinent's first urban experiment.
Major sites at a glance
| Site | River / Location | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Harappa | Ravi (Punjab, Pakistan) | Granaries, cemetery R-37 |
| Mohenjo-daro | Indus (Sindh, Pakistan) | Great Bath, bronze dancing girl |
| Dholavira | Rann of Kutch (Gujarat) | Water reservoirs, signboard, three-part city |
| Lothal | Bhogava (Gujarat) | Dockyard, bead-making |
| Kalibangan | Ghaggar (Rajasthan) | Ploughed field, fire altars |
| Rakhigarhi | Ghaggar plain (Haryana) | Largest site in India; DNA studies |
Town planning & society
- Grid-pattern streets, burnt-brick construction, covered drains — sanitation as civic priority
- Citadel + lower town division (Dholavira adds a third, "middle" town)
- Standardised weights and the 4:2:1 brick ratio across sites — coordination without visible kings
What we don't find: no monumental temples or palaces (contrast Mesopotamia/Egypt), no clear evidence of horses in the mature phase, and an undeciphered script — which keeps all conclusions about religion and polity provisional.
The decline debate
No single accepted cause. Major hypotheses: weakening monsoon and climate change; the shifting/drying Ghaggar-Hakra system; declining trade with Mesopotamia; and the older "Aryan invasion" theory, now largely rejected in favour of gradual de-urbanisation. Note the historiographical shift itself — how scholarship changed is part of the story.