Indus Civilization

The Harappan or Indus civilization was the world’s most extensive urban culture when it flourished in Pakistan and western India from 2600 to 1900 bce. Yet its very existence was unknown until its discovery was announced in 1924. The great sensation enabled large-scale excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. They did not reveal impressive palaces and temples with monumental statues and inscriptions characteristic of the older Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. A different kind of urban culture came into view, one that was more egalitarian and rather invested in civic amenities such as wells and drains. Warfare is less in evidence. The economy was based on agriculture, animal husbandry, and trade. Among the crafts, the bead industry developed effective micro-drilling and produced jewelry much coveted in foreign markets. Cuneiform documents tell about Mesopotamia’s sea trade with the foreign countries Dilmun (Failaka and Bahrain), Magan (Oman), and Meluhha (Indus), and provide the few historical data available. There is also clear archaeological evidence for Harappan presence in Mesopotamia, the Gulf, and the Oman Peninsula. The Harappans were also in contact with Central Asia, including its “Oxus civilization.” Besides standardized weights and measures as instruments of administration, the Indus civilization created its own unique script, preserved in thousands of very short texts. Hard obstacles to decipherment include the absence of bilinguals that usually have provided the key to unknown ancient scripts. This “unsolved mystery” remains one of the main fascinations of the Indus civilization. Due to the lack of such abundant textual sources as are available in Mesopotamia and Egypt, there is no exact information about history, society, language, and religion. The few small-scale sculptures, numerous terracotta figurines, and the iconography of Indus seals and tablets are the principal sources for the study of the Indus religion. A century of archaeological research has clarified the development of the Indus civilization: from the Neolithic (7000–5500 bce) through the Early Harappan (5500–2600 bce) and Transition (2600–2500 bce) phases to the Harappan (2500–1900 bce) and Late Harappan (1900–1300 bce) phases. The decline of the Indus civilization had multiple causes, among them climate change and the arrival of immigrants from Central Asia. This involves the controversial “Aryan problem.” According to the now widely accepted view, the Indo-Aryan language of the Vedas is derived from Proto-Indo-European spoken in southeastern Europe, coming via the intervening steppes to India in the second millennium bce. Against this is the nationalistic and in India politically supported view that Indo-Aryan is of native South Asian origin and that it was the language of the Indus civilization.