The Indus Valley Civilisation: 3000 BC to 1600 BC

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the stages of development and the gradual demise of the most expansive and technologically advanced civilisation of its time: the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC). IVC’s history is divided into four phases; the first three represent a period of organisational and living standards advancements between 2500 BC to 1900 BC while the last represents the gradual decline and deurbanisation of urban centres and peripheral areas. IVC’s history is traced from a farming community in Mehrgarh (7000 BC) to several urbanised centres, peripheral towns and villages. The most popular urban centres included Harappa which was founded around 3200 BC in the Ghaggar-Hakra Basin and Mohenjo Daro which was founded in 2500 BC along the Indus River bank. The author explores the determinants of IVC’s evolution and spread. Its population’s advanced intellect and economic capabilities are emphasised by referencing the civilisations, infrastructure and economy. IVC had high-quality urban planning that included sophisticated construction, efficient drainage and sewage systems, flushing toilets and grain storage facilities. Additionally, IVC produced, stored and traded goods both domestically and with the Mesopotamian Civilisation. However, unlike modern nation-states, the IVC does not have a government or military. The chapter, therefore, explores the presence of other unifying agents such as a common religion, social stratification, economic interdependence and welfare spillover in the civilisation that led to cohesion in its settlers. The chapter concludes with a detailed analysis of theories around IVC’s demise, which include stagnating productivity and innovation and environmental shifts such as the drying of the Saraswati River. A limitation of the research is the inability of the present-day archaeologists to decipher IVC’s script; therefore evidence of the civilisation is based on archaeological artefacts found in the IVC region as well as artefacts and writings belonging to the Mesopotamian Civilisation.