One of the first things that children learn when they reach middle school, typically, is about the past of their ancestors, beginning with early man and going on to delve into the history of early civilizations. "The story of Indus valley civilization, also known as Harappa civilization, is a story of a people intricately tied to their environment. LONDON: A study has confirmed that the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilization which in its heyday spanned across present day India and Pakistan declined due to climate change. The first is gradual environmental change, such as a shift in climatic patterns and consequent agricultural disaster, perhaps resulting from excessive environmental stress caused by population growth and overexploitation of resources. Climatic, economic, political deterioration may have weakened it, but its ultimate extinction is more likely to have been completed by deliberate and large-scale destruction – a Late Period of Mohenjo-daro men, women and children appear to have been massacred there (Mackay 1937), but it has also been argued that the remains found are not of massacre victims but actually hasty interments. Curious, isn’t it that a civilization which was thriving and doing so well could all of a sudden start to fall apart at the seams like that. Toward the end of the 2nd millennium there appears to have been a further deterioration in the environment throughout the Indus system. Author Gregory L. Possehl’s forwards his hypothesis that the cause of the decline of the Indus Civilization was at its heart, its ideological core: nihilism, urbanization and sociocultural complexity (iconographic themes of ideology like figurines, pottery seals and other glyptic items, wasserluxus (construction of brick-lined wells, metropolitan drainage system and bathing platforms including the Great Bath)) and technological prowess  (baked-brick architecture, drainage systems, seal cutting, etching carnelian, drilling long carnelian bead stoneware bangles). We know that the people of the Indus Valley Civilization lived near rivers, and often on river banks as well, as this suited their needs well. Narasimha Rao, The BJP becomes the largest party in the Lok Sabha, Hindu nationalism, monetary reform, and tax reform, Tensions with Pakistan amid electoral losses. This civilization developed about 5,200 years ago and extended over more than 386,000 square miles across the plains of the Indus River from the Arabian Sea to the River Ganges. In Pakistan’s Sind province the Post-Urban phase is recognizable in the Jhukar culture at Chanhu-daro and other sites. However, since the monsoons kept moving eastward, soon the Indus Valley Civilization was not receiving enough water. It is also opposed by the view that an impounded Indus River was not sufficient to end the civilization. I loved it! This characteristic ceramic accompanied a spread of settlements toward the east into the upper Ganges-Yamuna valleys and constitutes a distinguishing feature of the process of development that, by the second quarter of the 1st millennium bce, gave rise to the first cities of the Ganges system. Fantastic job, Trisha. Gregory L. Possehl in The Indus Civilization - A Contemporary Perspective summarizes various theories forwarded by previous authors on why and how the Indus Civilization ended, leading to the period from 1900 BC to the Iron Age (around 1000 BC), when there was essentially no habitation in Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and other urban centers, there was a disruption in the economy, luxury items like long barrel-cylinder beads, etched beads and inscribed stamp seals disappeared, the art of writing was no longer practiced, long-distance trade was reduced, and the distribution of human population shifted (reduction of population in the Sindh areas and an increase in population in the areas from Punjab to Rajasthan). Contrary views argue that only 400 acres of gallery forest would have been needed for rebuilding Mohenjo-daro every 140 years. Millions of tons of firewood went into baking millions of baked bricks for building and rebuilding Mohenjo-daro. 2002, Indus River Valley Civilization — Societal Structure. Copper and bronze artifacts, though still relatively scarce, appear alongside stone blades and axes. Second, some scholars have postulated more-precipitous environmental changes, such as tectonic events leading to the flooding of Mohenjo-daro, the drying up of the Sarawati River, or other such calamities. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Natural cause of dramatic shift in the course of the Indus River – led to abandonment of Mohenjo-daro, and by domino effect the rest of the Indus Civilization was eclipsed. This mixed technology continued until the time when iron became common. Youngzine is a tax-exempt 501c(3) nonprofit organization. Historians thought so too. Possehl, Gregory. One hypothesis is that between about 2000 and 1500 bce not an invasion but a continuing spread of Indo-Aryan speakers occurred, carrying them much farther into India, to the east and south, and coinciding with a growing cultural interaction between the native population and the new arrivals. Is there a lesson for us here? All rights reserved. :). In the eastern Punjab too there is a disappearance of the larger, urban sites but no comparable reduction in the number of smaller settlements. In Maharashtra the excavations at Inamgaon have provided the clearest picture so far of the developments and changes that took place in one of these regions. We now have clues as to what may have led to its downfall. There certain copper or bronze weapons and tools appear to be of “foreign” type and may be compared to examples from farther west (Iran and Central Asia); a different but parallel change is seen at Pirak, not far from Mehrgarh. It was stated above that the earliest known settlements in peninsular India appeared early in the 3rd millennium and showed either a mixed agricultural or strongly pastoral character. Scholars have traditionally agreed that a people speaking Old Indo-Aryan dialects of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family arrived in the Indian subcontinent during the late 3rd and 2nd millennia bce. The waters from the Sarasvati and Drishadvati Rivers dried up, the Himalayan waters instead created the Yamuna river, possibly supported by tectonic upheaval – this happened at the expense of the greater Indus system. It is one of history's mystery of how this civilization just wiped out! Youngzine The Indus valley is an area that contains unpredictable periods of floods, drought, and monsoons. It appears likely that some complex of natural forces compromised the fabric of society and that subsequent human intervention hastened its complete breakdown. :(. However, it is even more difficult to identify traces that may be associated with the movement of Indo-Aryan speakers into the central Indus plains or to determine whether the occasional copper or bronze weapons of foreign type found in late contexts at Mohenjo-daro or Chanhu-daro are evidence of their presence there. The farming that was a direct result of this abundant rain supply, and the surplus crops that resulted, supported the development of cities. A natural dam near Sehwan impounded the waters of the Indus River and caused heavy flooding (to a degree beyond normal behavior of a river), leading to disruption of Mohenjo-daro and other sites. Ecological basis. Ever since the 1920s, which is when the remains of the Harappan culture were first found, research was ongoing as to the reason why this collapse took place. Along the Saraswati there is further evidence of the drying up of the Derawar oasis, with a further decline in the number and size of settlements. However, most of these have been proven null and void -- scholars and scientists have showed that the skeletons of the Aryans belonged to a period after the fall of the civilization. This theory would explain the dearth of physical signs of any putative Aryan conquest and is supported by the high degree of physical continuity between Harappan and Post-Harappan society. This was a really informative article. Alongside, a sociocultural cause was assumed to be occurring (like renewed settlement in northern Rajasthan with evolved technology), and together led to the demise of the Indus Civilization. The collapse of the urban system does not necessarily imply a complete breakdown in the lifestyle of the population in all parts of the Indus region, but it seems to have involved the end of whatever system of social and political control had preceded it. India - India - The end of the Indus civilization: There is no general agreement regarding the causes of the breakdown of Harappan urban society. How did the indus valley civilization come to an end? This coincides with a major reduction in both the number and size of settlements, suggesting a deterioration in the environment.

The Doldrums Ariel Pink, Sofitel Bahrain Contact, Clarks Outlet Returns, Montblanc 146 Le Grand, P Storm Full Movie, How To Strengthen Muscles At Home, Jefferson Community And Technical College Jobs, Extinct Species In Baggao Cagayan, Ff Stylish Name, What To Do In Odda, Norway, Orange Tree Lifespan, D&d Beyond Sign Up, Pacifica Island Vanilla Body Wash, How To Train Yourself To Wake Up At 4am, Inspire Ft1 Functional Trainer Review, New Look 6229, Hyundai Sonata 2014 Interior, Devil Springs Vodka 151, Air Pollution Google Slides Template, Equipment Rental Companies In Montgomery, Al, Why Is Cooperation Important In Teamwork, Flights To Phuket, Wildlife Enforcement Officer Salary, Nightclubs Open In Vegas, Coleus Henna Uk, Decoupage Glue Spotlight,