The Indus Valley Civilization began during the Bronze Age between 2500 BC and 1500 BC in the Indus River valley region spanning modern day Pakistan and northwest India. Two major cities, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, had highly developed urban planning with large residential areas, wells, bathrooms, and an effective drainage system. The people practiced burial rituals, usually in a north-south orientation, and buried individuals with jewelry. The civilization declined around 1800 BCE for reasons that are still unclear but may have included flooding of the Saraswati River or other catastrophic events disrupting the agricultural economy and civic order.

1. INDUS VALLEY
CIVILIZATION

3. It started during the Bronze Age. The
height of its development was between
2500 BC and 1500 BC. Including the
civilizations directly before and directly
afterward, it may have lasted from the
33rd to the 14th century BC

4. large area -
from Baluchistan (Pakis
tan) to Gujarat (India).
The first city to be
discovered by
excavation (digging up)
was Harappa and
therefore this
civilization is also
known as 'Harappan

5. Two cities, in particular,
have been excavated at the
sites of Mohenjo-Daro on
the lower Indus, and at
Harappa, further upstream.
The evidence suggests they
had a highly
developed city life; many
houses had wells and
bathrooms as well as an
elaborate underground
drainage system.

6. The burials in the Hardpan period were all
in brick or stone lined rectangular or oval
pits. The body was usually interred clothed
shrouded or in a wooden coffin in the north
south direction in a straight direction. It was
important that the body did not come into
contact with the ground. The only evidence of
wooden coffins is the presence of a wooden
stain in the body of the corpse. The bodies of
the individuals were usually buried with their
jewelry which usually consisted of bangles
made from shell, steatite beads, etc, and the
men usually wore earrings. Copper mirrors
have been found only amongst the bodies of
the females which show a specificity of grave
goods by gender.

7. Rice fields almost ready for the
fall (kharif) harvest reach to the
edges of the Indus River near
Mohenjo-daro. The flood plain
on the far side of the river is
covered by a vast scrub forest
that would have supplied the
ancient inhabitants with
firewood and good hunting

8. Ornaments made of gold, silver, copper, ivory,
pottery and beads have been discovered in
civilisations as ancient as
the Harappaand Mohenjodaro. The people of
the IndusValleyCivilization were the first to
explore the jewellery making craft. One of the
most remarkable excavations of Indus Valley
Civilisation was the discovery of the art and crafts
and the social, religious and economic condition
of that era.
The excavations yielded a rich collection of objects
in stone, bronze and terracotta. One of the most
known figurines is perhaps the Dancinggirlof
Mohenjodaro(in bronze) wearing a necklace and
a series of bangles almost covering one arm, her
hair dressed in a complicated coiffure, standing
in a provocative posture, with one arm on her hip
and one lanky leg half bent.

9. By 1800 BCE, the Indus Valley Civilization saw
the beginning of their decline: Writing
started to disappear, standardized weights
and measures used for trade and taxation
purposes fell out of use, the connection with
the Near East was interrupted, and some
cities were gradually abandoned. The reasons
for this decline are not entirely clear, but it
is believed that the drying up of the
Saraswati River, a process which had begun
around 1900 BCE, was the main cause. Other
experts speak of a great flood in the area.
Either event would have had catastrophic
effects on agricultural activity, making the
economy no longer sustainable and breaking
the civic order of the cities.
HISTORIANS