The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization located in the western region of South Asia, and spread over what are now Pakistan, northwest India, and eastern Afghanistan.

What should people know about Indus Valley Civilization?

The Indus is the longest river in Pakistan. The Indus River begins in the Himalaya Mountains, and flows nearly 3,000 kilometres to the Arabian Sea.

In the Sanskrit language of Ancient India, the Indus was called the Sindhu. A valley is a physical feature. It's the land shaped by a river. The Indus Valley was shaped by the Indus River.

THE GREAT BATHS: The great bath was a special place in the Indus Valley.It was used for baptizing babies. Like the drains,

the bricks were clay to make it waterproof so none of the water could escape. The only way the water could escape was through a special system where, if they wanted to, they can let

the water out if it got to dirty and then they could fill it up again. It also has a plug hole which was used for totally

emptying out the bath.

DRAINAGE SYSTEM: There is evidence of very sophisticated drainage systems in the cities of the Indus Civilisation. The drainage systems were so big that a human would have been able to walk through the middle of one. This was really helpful because if the drain was blocked, the drain could be easily accessed. They were also very clever because they used cement and clay bricks to make the drains, which always sloped downhill. There is evidence which shows lots of small footprints in the bricks. This may indicate that children helped to make the bricks.

DICE: Physical and written evidence of dice and dominoes have been uncovered by archaeologists studying the Ancient Indus. An ancient form of Ludo was played as well as an ancient form of chess, which was played in the Indus valley. A board, uncovered in the

area of Mohenjo-Daro, was said to be the oldest chess board discovered in the world.

INDUS VALLEY’S JEWELLERY People of the Indus Valley really

loved they're jewellery ,one of the Indus valley civilization best features is its jewellery. We have evidence of the amount of jewellery found in the Indus valley.

Each bead in the Indus valley is approximately 2-3 centimetres long.

The Indus valley is rich in many metals and worthy stones such as Carnelian, gold, copper, turquoise and other metals/semi precious stones

We think this ring is made out of carnelian and a precious stone.

This is a broach found in the Indus valley.

HOME LIFE

An Indus Valley house was cool inside. Thick walls kept people cool in the heat of summer. 

All that are left today are the ground floors of houses that once had two or three floors. Stairs led to the upper floors and roof. Walls were covered with mud plaster. It is not clear if people painted the walls.

IMPORTANT SITE HARAPPA was an Indus Valley urban center. It lies in Punjab Province, Pakistan, on

an old bed of the River Ravi. It provides the first clues to the ancient Indus Valley, and is often called the Harappan civilization.

MOHENJO-DARO is probably the best known Indus Valley site. It is in Sindh, Pakistan, next to the Indus. Here the Great Bath, uniform buildings and weights, hidden drains and other hallmarks of the civilization were discovered in the 1920’s.

GANWERIWALA is in Punjab, Pakistan near the Indian border. It was discovered in the 1970’s, and at 80 hectares is as large as Mohenjodaro.

SUTKAGEN DOR in Baluchistan, next to Iran, is the westernmost known Harappan site. It is thought to have once been on a navigable inlet of the Arabian Sea.

All these sites flourished between 3000 and 2000 B.C., if not earlier. There are probably

many more important Indus Valley sites. Some may have been lost or destroyed by

shifting river paths. Others may be buried under modern towns.

Research currently being conducted in India and Pakistan hopes to answer questions concerning invaders and the drying up of river beds. The first promising written script interpretations have been made. Radiocarbon chronologies are proving very useful. Satellite imaging is exposing old trade routes. The decline of the civilization has been attributed to several factors. Among these, are: • Changes in the climate leading to an increase of arid land and lower agricultural output, thereby forcing the evacuation of inhabitants to more productive regions. • Increase in population, excessive deforestation, and a decline in agriculture, may have created economic problems leading to the gradual decay of the culture. • Frequent floods may have led to the devastation of the city.

DECLINE OF THE INDUS VELLAY CIVILIZATION