History of South Asia |
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The Indus Valley Civilisation, also known as the Harappan Civilisation, was a major early civilisation, existing from 3300-1300 BCE. It covered much of modern-day Pakistan and northwest India, as well as possessing at least one trading colony in northeast Afghanistan. [1] Over 1400 Indus Valley civilisation sites have been discovered, [2] of which 925 sites are in India and 475 in Pakistan. [3] Only 40 sites on the Indus valley had been discovered in the pre- Partition era [4] by archaeologists. The most widely-known Indus Valley sites are Mohenjo-daro and Harappa; Mohenjo-Daro is located in modern-day Sindh, while Harappa is in Pakistani Punjab. [5] in British India, around 1,100 (80%) sites are located on the plains between the rivers Ganges and Indus. [3] The oldest known site of the Indus Valley Civilization, Bhirrana, [6] and the largest site, Rakhigarhi, [7] are located in the Indian state of Haryana. More than 90% of the inscribed objects and seals that were discovered were found at ancient urban centres along the Indus river in Pakistan, mainly in Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. [8] [9] More than 50 IVC burial sites have been found, including at Rakhigarhi (first site with genetic testing), Sanauli, Farmana, Kalibangan, Lothal, Dholavira, Mehrgarh, Harappa, Chanhudaro, and Mohenjo-daro. [10]
Site | District | Province/state | Country | Image | Excavations/findings |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alamgirpur | Meerut District | Uttar Pradesh | India | Impression of cloth on trough | |
Allahdino | Karachi district | Sindh | Pakistan | Floor tiles of a house have been discovered at this site [11] | |
Amri, Sindh | Dadu District | Sindh | Pakistan | Remains of rhinoceros | |
Babar Kot | Saurashtra, Rajula | Gujarat | India | A stone fortification wall, [12] plant remains of millets & gram. [12] [13] | |
Balu, Haryana | Kaithal | Haryana | India | Earliest evidence of garlic. [14] Several plant remains were found here include various types of barley, wheat, rice, horse gram, green gram, various types of a pea, sesamum, melon, watermelon, grapes, dates, garlic, etc. (Saraswat and Pokharia - 2001-2) [12] which is comparable to a nearby IVC site Kunal, Haryana revealed remains of rice (probably wild). | |
Banawali | Fatehabad District | Haryana | India | Barley, terracotta figure of plough | |
Bargaon | Saharanpur District [15] | Uttar Pradesh | India | ||
Baror | Sri Ganganagar district | Rajasthan | India | Human skeleton, ornaments, 5 meter long and 3 meter clay oven, a pitcher filled with 8000 pearls [16] | |
Bet Dwarka | Devbhoomi Dwarka district | Gujarat | India | Late Harappan seal, inscribed jar, the mould of coppersmith, a copper fishhook [17] [18] | |
Bhagatrav | Bharuch District | Gujarat | India | ||
Bhirrana | Fatehabad District | Haryana | India | Graffiti of a dancing girl on pottery, which resembles a dancing girl statue found at Mohenjo-Daro | |
Chanhudaro | Nawabshah District | Sindh | Pakistan | Bead making factory, use of lipstick, [19] only Indus site without a citadel | |
Chapuwala | Cholistan | Punjab | Pakistan | unexcavated 9.6 hectares [20] | |
Daimabad | Ahmadnagar District | Maharashtra | India | A sculpture of a bronze chariot, 45 cm long and 16 cm wide, yoked to two oxen, driven by a man 16 cm high standing in it; and three other bronze sculptures. [21] Southernmost IVC site in India, Late Harappan Phase | |
Desalpur in Nakhtrana Taluka, | Kutch District | Gujarat | India | Massive stone fortification, Harappan pottery, three script bearing seals; one of steatite, one of copper and one of terracotta. [22] | |
Dholavira | Kutch District | Gujarat | India | Figure of chariot tied to a pair of bullocks and driven by a nude human, Water harvesting and number of reservoirs, use of rocks for constructions, wooden "signboard" with Indus characters found in a gatehouse | |
Farmana | Rohtak District | Haryana | India | Largest burial site of IVC, with 65 burials,found in India | |
Ganweriwala | Punjab | Pakistan | Equidistant from both Harappa and Mohenjodaro, it is near a dry bed of the former Ghaggar River. It is a site of almost the same size as Mahenjodaro. It may have been the third major center in the IVC as it is near to the copper-rich mines in Rajasthan. | ||
Gola Dhoro | kutch district | Gujarat | India | Production of shell bangles, semi-precious beads, etc. | |
Harappa | Sahiwal District | Punjab | Pakistan | Granaries, coffin burial, lot of artifacts, important Indus Valley civilisation town, the first town which is excavated and studied in detail | |
Hisar mound inside Firoz Shah Palace | Hisar District | Haryana | India | Unexcavated site | |
Hulas | Saharanpur District | Uttar Pradesh | India | ||
Juni Kuran | Kutch District | Gujarat | India | fortified citadel, lower town, public gathering area [23] | |
Jognakhera | Kurukshetra | Haryana | India | Copper smelting furnaces with copper slag and pot shards [24] | |
Kaj | Gir Somnath District | Gujarat | India | Ceramic artifacts, including bowls. Ancient port. [25] [26] | |
Kanjetar | Gir Somnath District | Gujarat | India | Single phase Harapppan site. [25] [26] | |
Kalibangan | Hanumangarh District | Rajasthan | India | Baked/burnt bangles, fire altars,[ citation needed] small circular pits containing large urns and accompanied by pottery, bones of camel | |
Karanpura near Bhadra city | Hanumangarh district | Rajasthan | India | Skeleton of child, terracotta like pottery, bangles, seals similar to other Harappan sites [27] | |
Khirasara | Kutch district | Gujarat | India | Ware House, Industrial area, gold, copper, semi-precious stone, shell objects, and weight hoards | |
Kerala-no-dhoro or Padri | Saurashtra | Gujarat | India | Salt production centre, by evaporating sea water [28] | |
Kot Bala (also, Balakot) | Lasbela District | Balochistan | Pakistan | Earliest evidence of furnace, seaport | |
Kot Diji | Khairpur District | Sindh | Pakistan | ||
Kotada Bhadli | Kutch District | Gujarat | India | Fortification bastion few houses foundations [29] | |
Kunal, Haryana | Fatehabad District | Haryana | India | Earliest Pre-Harappan site, Copper smelting. [30] | |
Kuntasi | Rajkot District | Gujarat | India | Small port | |
Lakhan-jo-daro | Sukkur District | Sindh | Pakistan | major unexcavated site (greater than 300 hectares) | |
Larkana | Larkana District | Sindh | Pakistan | ||
Loteshwar | Patan District | Gujarat | India | Ancient archaeological site [31] | |
Lothal | Ahmedabad District | Gujarat | India | Bead making factory, dockyard, button seal, fire altars, painted jar, earliest cultivation of rice (1800 BC) | |
Manda, Jammu | Jammu District | Jammu & Kashmir | India | northernmost Harappan site in Himalayan foothills [32] | |
Malwan | Surat District | Gujarat | India | Southernmost Harappan site in India [33] | |
Mandi | Muzaffarnagar district | Uttar Pradesh | India | ||
Mehrgarh | Kachi District | Balochistan | Pakistan | Earliest agricultural community (7000-5000 BC) | |
Mitathal | Bhiwani District | Haryana | India | ||
Mohenjo-Daro | Larkana District | Sindh | Pakistan | Great Bath (the biggest bath ghat), Great granary, Bronze dancing girl, Bearded man, terracotta toys, Bull seal, Pashupati seal, three cylindrical seals of the Mesopotamian type, a piece of woven cloth | |
Nageshwar | Kutch District | Gujarat | India | Shell working site [34] | |
Navinal | Kutch district | Gujarat | India | [35] | |
Nausharo near Dadhar | Kachi District | Balochistan | Pakistan | ||
Ongar | Hyderabad | Sindh | Pakistan | ||
Pabumath | Kutch District | Gujarat | India | A large building complex, unicorn seal, shell bangles, beads, copper bangles, needles, antimony rods, steatite micro beads; pottery include large and medium size jars, beaker, dishes, dish-on-stand, perforated jars etc.; fine red pottery with black painted designs etc. [36] | |
Pathani Damb | Makran | Balochistan | Pakistan | At 100 hectares, this has the potential to be another city [37] | |
Pir Shah Jurio | Karachi | Sindh | Pakistan | ||
Pirak | Sibi | Balochistan | Pakistan | ||
Rakhigarhi | Hisar District | Haryana | India | Terrecotta wheels, toys, figurines, pottery. Large site, partially excavated. | |
Rangpur | Ahmedabad District | Gujarat | India | Seaport | |
Rehman Dheri | Dera Ismail Khan | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Pakistan | ||
Rojdi | Rajkot District | Gujarat | India | ||
Rupar | Rupnagar District | Punjab | India | ||
Sanauli [38] | Baghpat District | Uttar Pradesh | India | Burial site with 125 burials found, copper antenna sword with a hilt and first time chariots were discovered. | |
Sheri Khan Tarakai | Bannu District | Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa | Pakistan | pottery, lithic artifact | |
Shikarpur, Gujarat [39] | Kutch District | Gujarat | India | Food habit details of Harappans | |
Shortugai | Darqad District | Takhar Province | Afghanistan | ||
Siswal | Hisar (district) | Haryana | India | ||
Sokhta Koh | Makran | Balochistan | Pakistan | Pottery | |
Sothi near Baraut | Bagpat district | Uttar Pradesh | India | ||
Surkotada | Kutch District | Gujarat | India | Bones of a horse (only site) | |
Sutkagan Dor | Makran | Balochistan | Pakistan | Bangles of clay, Westernmost known site of IVC [40] | |
Tigrana | Bhiwani district | Haryana | India | Houses, pottery, terracotta, seals with script, semi-precious stones, evidence of crop cultivation and anima; domestication. [41] | |
Vejalka | Botad district | Gujarat | India | pottery |
Wider context of the IVC includes the following:
kalibangan tiles.
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