Timeline History |
Indus Valley CivilizationThe Indus Valley Civilization (c. 3300–1300 BCE, flowered 2600–1900 BCE) was an ancient civilization thriving along the Indus River and the Ghaggar-Hakra River in what was India and now Pakistan and north-western India. Among other names for this civilization is the Harappan Civilization, in reference to its first excavated city of Harappa.The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was discovered in the 1920s and is known only from archaeological excavations, except, possibly, for Sumerian references to Meluhha, which has been proposed to correspond to the IVC. An alternative term for the culture is Saraswati-Sindhu Civilization, based on the fact that most of the Indus Valley sites have been found at the Hakra-Ghaggar River The Indus Civilization was predated by the first farming cultures in South Asia, which emerged in the hills of what is now called Balochistan, to the west of the Indus Valley. North Eastern Balochistan is connected to Afghanistan by passes over the Toba Kakar Range. Valleys on the Makran coast are open towards the Arabian Sea. Through these routes Balochistan was in contact with West Asia and took part in the so-called Neolithic Revolution, which took place in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 to 6000 BCE. The earliest evidence of sedentary lifestyle in South Asia was discovered at Mehrgarh in the foothills of the Brahui Hills. This settlement is dated 7000 BCE and was located on the west bank of the Bolan River, about 30 kilometres from the town of Sibi. These early farmers domesticated wheat and a variety of animals, including cattle. In the "Era" terminology, the aceramic Neolithic is known as the "Early Food Producing Era". Pottery was in use by around 5500 BCE, taken to initiate the "Regionalization Era". It has been surmised that the inhabitants of Mehrgarh migrated to the fertile Indus river valley as Balochistan became arid due to climatic changes. The Indus Civilization grew out of this culture's technological base, as well as its geographic expansion into the alluvial plains of what are now the provinces of Sindh and Punjab in contemporary Pakistan and Northern India. By 4000 BCE farming communities spread further east to other parts of Balochistan and Lower Sind. Later this culture spread to Upper Sind, Punjab and the western states of India. |
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