The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age
civilization (3300-1300 BCE; mature period 2600-1900 BCE) that was
located in the northwestern region[1] of the Indian
Subcontinent.[2][3] Flourishing around the Indus River basin, the
civilization[n 1] primarily centered along the Indus and the Punjab
region, extending into the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley[7] and the
Ganges-Yamuna Doab.[8][9] Geographically, the civilization was
spread over an area of some 1,260,000 km², making it the largest
ancient civilization in the world. There is an Indus Valley site on
the Oxus river at Shortugai[10] and extending towards Alamgirpur on
the Hindon river located only 28 km from Delhi, India.
The Indus Valley is one of the world's earliest urban
civilizations, along with its contemporaries, Mesopotamia and
Ancient Egypt. At its peak, the Indus Civilization may have had a
population of well over five million. Inhabitants of the ancient
Indus river valley, developed new techniques in metallurgy and
handicraft (carneol products, seal carving), and produced copper,
bronze, lead, and tin. The civilization is noted for its cities
built of brick, roadside drainage system, and multistoried
houses.
The mature phase of this civilization is known as the Harappan
Civilization, as the first of its cities to be unearthed was the
one at Harappa, excavated in the 1920s in what was at the time the
Punjab province of British India (now in Pakistan).[11] Excavation
of Harappan sites have been ongoing since 1920, with important
breakthroughs occurring as recently as 1999.[12] To date, over
1,052 cities and settlements have been found, mainly in the general
region of the Ghaggar-Hakra river and its tributaries. Among the
settlements were the major urban centers of Harappa, Lothal,
Mohenjo-daro (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Dholavira, Kalibanga,
and Rakhigarhi.
The civilization is sometimes referred to as the Indus
Ghaggar-Hakra civilization or the Indus-Sarasvati civilization.[13]
The appellation Indus-Sarasvati is based on the possible
identification of the Ghaggar-Hakra River with the Sarasvati River
of the Nadistuti sukta in the Rig Veda, but this usage is disputed
on linguistic and geographical grounds. The Harappan language is
not directly attested and its affiliation is unknown, a plausible
relation would be to Proto-Dravidian or Elamo-Dravidian.[14]Type
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