upscdictionary:: Indus valley Civilization (Nomenclature, Discoveries)

Nomenclature, Discovery of the Indus valley civilization and the theories for extent of Indus valley civilization

Indus Valley Civilization (2500 BC -1750 BC)

Indus Valley Civilization

Indian History begins with Indus Valley civilization around (2500 BCE- 1750 BCE) (which have different Nomenclature (Names) like

Nomenclature of Indus Valley Civilization

1. Indus valley Civilization – As this civilization is flourished along the Indus River
2. Harappan Civilization – Named by John Marshall, after first Discovered site, Harappa in the (Punjab Province of British India and now is Pakistan)
3. Saraswathi – Sindhu Civilization – Most of the sites of this period have been found at Hakra – Ghaggar River
4. Bronze Age Civilization – As the use of Bronze began in this period (Copper + tin = Bronze), as the use of Bronze began in this period

Geographical Extent of Indus Valley Civilization

Geographical Extent of Indus Valley civilization

1^st Evidences by the Excavation found by the archaeologist “Daya Ram Sahni” on the banks of the river Indus in the north part of present India spreading across the areas

The geographical Extent of this civilization

1. Manda (Jammu) -Daimabad (Pune) (North to South)
2. Alamgirpur (Meerut) – Suktagendar (Markana coast) (Baluchistan)(East to west)

Discoveries of the sites where and by whom

Important cites of Harappa

Some the famous cities of Indus Valley Civilization Includes Harappa, Mohenjo daro, Dholavira, Lothal, kalibangana,etc

Discoveries of cities by Different Archaeologist

S. No	Cities	Province	River Bank	Year of Discovery	Archaeologist
1	Harappa	Punjab	Ravi	1921	DR Sahnis
2	Mohenjo Daro	Sind	Indus	1922	RD Bannerjee
3	Chanhudaro	Sind	Indus	1931	MG Majumdar
4	Sutkagandor	Balochistan	Dasht	1931	Aurel Stein
5	Rangpur	Gujarat	Bhadur	1931	MS Vats
6	Ropar	Indian Punjab	Sutlej	1953	YD Sharma
7	Lothal	Gujarath	Bhogava	1957	SR Rao
8	Kalibangana	Rajasthan Kutchh	Ghaggar	1961	BB Lal
9	Dholavira	Gujarath	Luni	1967	JP Joshi
10	Banawali	Harayana	Ghaggar	1973	RS Bisht
11	Alamgirpur	Uttar Pradesh	Hindon	1974	YD Sharma

For More details Refer Here 

Decline Of the Civilization

The Harappa culture flourished up to 1800 BC, and then it began to decline. There is no unanimity among historians regarding the reasons for decline of this Indus valley Civilization. Some of the theories have been given by the Historians regarding the decline of this civilization and are summarized below.

Decline of Indus valley Civilization from different views

S. No	View points	Historians/Thinkers
1	Inundation theory	MR Sahni
2	External  Aggression theory	Wheeler, Piggot and Gordon- Childe
3	Tectonic Disturbances	Marshall and Raikes
4	Epidemic	KVR  Kennedy
5	Sudden decline	Wheeler
6	Climatic change	RL Stein and AN Ghost
7	Deforestation, scarcity of resources, Ecological Imbalances	Fairservis
8	Destruction due to Change of course of River Ghaggar	GF Holes
9	Flood	Marshall,  SR Raso Maickey

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Indus Valley Civilization