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The Indus Valley Civilisation, also known as the Harappan Civilisation or the Indus Civilisation, is the oldest known civilisation of the Indian subcontinent. It is thought to have lasted from 2500 to 1700 BCE. But its southern reaches may have lasted long into the second millennium BCE. It is one of the world’s three earliest civilisations, the other two being the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian civilisation. Out of the three, the geographical extent of the Harappan civilisation was the largest. It was spread over a wide area of land and had several sites of interest that revealed the advancement of the civilisation.
Discovery of the Indus Valley Civilisation
The first traces of the Indus Valley civilisation was found in 1921 in the excavation done at Harappa. Then in 1921, the ruins of the city of Mohenjo Daro were found. This began the excavations in earnest. Today, both these sites are in the Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. As the excavations continued, the vast extent of this ancient civilisation was revealed. The remains of the civilisation were found as far out as Sutkagendor in Balochistan near the Arabian seashore, almost 300 miles from Karachi. The excavations continued, and traces of the Indus Valley Civilisation were found even in Rupar in Punjab, which is around 1000 miles from Sutkagendor in Balochistan.
Physical Organisation and Demography of Ancient Harappan Civilisation
The exploration found that the Harappan Civilisation had two large cities – Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, and several smaller towns and villages. The cities were approximately 1.6 kilometres squared in area.
Their great size and incredible designs suggest that the civilisation was probably divided into two large states with the cities as the capitals or a single empire with two alternating capitals. Another interesting theory is that Harappa was constructed after Mohenjo Daro because it was found that Mohenjo Daro was flooded more than once.
The populations in the two cities were about 35,000–41,250 in Mohenjo-Daro and almost 23,500–35,000 in the city of Harappa.
Evolution of the Indus Valley Civilisation
It is thought that the Indus Valley Civilisation began by expanding and growing the villages of the neighbours or predecessors. The irrigation method used was certainly an adaptation of the Mesopotamian method of irrigation. The people of the Indus valley began to prosper when they learned to mitigate the devastating floods of the river Indus and use it to their advantage. The valley was very fertile, and gradually, the human population began to prosper along the river, enjoying the plentiful harvests and the security that came with it. The inevitable consequence of a growing population was an expansion to newer territories. This is the reason for the vast geographical extent of the Harappan civilisation.
Social and Political System of the Indus Valley Civilisation
Even though there are extensive archaeological finds in relation to the Harappan Civilisation, its society and political system are still a mystery. Researchers can only conjecture and speculate about what ancient society was like.
Geographical Extent of the Harappan Civilisation
The geographical extent of the Harappan civilisation was the most extensive out of the three most ancient civilisations. At its height, the Harappan civilisation was spread over the whole of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Western Uttar Pradesh. It is said to have reached from Sutkagendor (in Balochistan) in the West to Alamgirpur (Western UP). Its boundaries are as follows:
- The western boundary started from Sutkagendor on the Makran coast of Pakistan.
- The eastern boundary was till Alamgirpur in Western UP.
- The Southern boundary reached Daimabad in Maharashtra.
- The Northern boundary was till Manda Akhnoor in Jammu and Kashmir.
Conclusion
The geographical extent of the Harappan civilisation is the vastest among all the three earliest human civilisations. Its boundaries reach from Balochistan in the west to the Yamuna in the east. In the north, the Harappan Civilisation extended till Jammu and Kashmir and in the south, it was spread till the Gulf of Khambhat. The study of the Harappan civilisation revealed a whole new perspective on the advancement of human civilisation in the ancient past. It is one of the great finds of the 20th century.
