Indus Valley Civilization:-
The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), or Harappa Civilization, was a Bronze Age civilsation (3300–1300 BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE) mainly in the northwestern regions of South Asia, extending from what today is northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India. Along with Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, it was one of three early cradles of civilizations of the Old World, and of the three, the most widespread.
Aridification of this region during the 3rd millennium BCE may have been the initial spur for the urbanization associated with the civilisation, but eventually also reduced the water supply enough to cause the civilisation's demise, and to scatter its population eastward.
At its peak, the Indus Civilisation may have had a population of over five million. Inhabitants of the ancient Indus River valley developed new techniques in handicraft (carnelian products, seal carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and tin). The Indus cities are noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply systems, and clusters of large non-residential buildings. Children's toys were found in the cities, with few weapons of war, suggesting peace and prosperity. Their trade seals, decorated with animals and mythical beings, indicate they conducted thriving trade with lands as far away as Sumer in southern Mesopotamia.
The Indus Valley Civilization is also named the Harappan civilization after Harappa, the first of its sites to be excavated in the 1920s, in what was then the Punjab province of British India. The discovery of Harappa, and soon afterwards Mohenjo-Daro, was the culmination of work beginning in 1861 with the founding of the Archaeological Survey of India in the British. Excavation of Harappan sites has been ongoing since 1920, with important breakthroughs occurring as recently as 1999.This Harappa civilization is sometimes called the Mature Harappan culture to distinguish it from the cultures immediately preceding and following it. Of these, the earlier is often called the Early Harappa culture, while the later one may be referred to as the Late Harappa, both of which existed in the same area as the Mature Harappa Civilization. The early Harappa cultures were preceded by local Neolithic agricultural villages, from which the river plains were populated.
