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The origin and disappearance of the Indus civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the Indus Valley Civilization or the Harappan Civilization.

The Indus civilization included two large cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, and more than 100 smaller towns and villages.

The two large cities are more than 5 kilometers in radius. From their size, it can be speculated that they are the political centers of the two large states or that a large empire alternately uses the two places as the capital, but it may also be Harappa after Mohenjo-Daro. become the seat of the capital.

Developed slightly later than the main Indus region in Katiava and the southern cultural region further south, this culture has a script of about 250 to 500 characters, some of which have been tried for interpretation, and the language has been temporarily used Included in the Dravidian language family.

The central period of this civilization is about 2500-1700 BC, but the southern region culture that appeared in the 2nd millennium may have continued to a later time.

The origin of the Indus civilization
The Indus civilization apparently evolved from neighboring places or ancient villages. Adopting Mesopotamian irrigated farming methods, one has enough technology to harvest crops in the vast and fertile Indus Valley, and the other can control the annual floods that are both fertile and woeful.

Once the new civilization has gained a foothold in the plains and can deal with immediate problems, it will undoubtedly feed the people and increase the population. The next step, of course, is to expand along the sides of the great river.

Since there are no minerals in the alluvial plains, minerals are sometimes shipped from other places. Gold was imported from South India or Afghanistan, silver and copper were imported from Afghanistan or northwest India, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, turquoise from Iran, and muscovite like jade from southern India.

At the center of both cities is a man-made mound that serves as the Acropolis. A large barn was built on this mound, which, for its inhabitants, was like a central bank, the ruins of an ancient city were discovered, and a large number of stone tools, bronzes and agricultural remains were found.

At the same time, a large number of seals have been unearthed, but no one can decipher the words on the seals, and it is impossible to determine whether it is a text or an image symbol.

The reasons for the disappearance of the Indus civilization
When and why the Indus civilization ended is uncertain, and such a widespread culture does not need to assume a consistent end date.

However, Mohenjo-Daro’s demise was known, dramatic and sudden. It was raided and looted by invaders in the mid-2nd millennium BC, leaving the dead city in place. Who the intruder is, remains to be verified.

This period of history seems to correspond in time and space with the ancient Aryan invasion of the Indus region mentioned in the ancient book “Rigveda”. It describes the newcomers attacking the “walled cities” or “fortresses” of the natives, and the Aryan war god Indra smashes the city “like time wears away a robe”.

What is certain is that, before the fatal blow, Mohenjo-Daro was in serious economic and social decline, with major floods engulfing most of the area more than once, housing increasingly poor construction, and overcrowded areas. Phenomenon.

The fatal blow seems to have come suddenly, but the city is indeed withering. There is evidence to prove that the culture of the Indus Valley following this civilization is extremely barren, and a small part of it has drawn from the heritage of the sub-Indus culture, and also from Iran and the Caucasus Mountains. aspect; in fact, by the Aryan invasion in general.

For hundreds of years, the urban culture of the northwestern Indian subcontinent was dead silent.

However, the situation appears to be quite different in Katiawa in the south and further south, where the actual cultural link between the late Indus and Bronze Age cultures is still visible, which was also seen between 1700 BC and 1000 BC Characteristics of Indian Central and Western Culture. These cultures formed an important bridge between the original Indus Valley civilization and the Iron Age cultures that developed in India around 1000 BC.

The causes and details of the decline of the Indus civilization are unclear. To date, it is generally believed that the decline was mainly due to the Aryan invasion; however, it has been suggested that the civilization may actually have been submerged in mud.

According to this theory, underground volcanic activity caused huge amounts of mud, silt, and sand to pour out of the ground, blocking the river, creating a large lake that flooded Mohenjo-Daro.

Decades later, the dams that blocked the river’s course were worn away, the river flowed over the dams, and the river was restored to its original channel, but the city of Mohenjo-daro was destroyed.

Judging from the layers of silt in Mohenjo-Daro, this catastrophe has occurred at least five times. Finally, irreparable damage was done to the center of the Indus civilization, making the northern border too weak to resist Aryan aggression, and the southern border too weak to resist the assimilation of native cultures.