What Was The Indus Valley/Harappan Civilisation?

Summary

This video explores the enigmatic Indus Valley Civilization, which thrived from 3300-1900 BCE alongside Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Known for its advanced urban planning, sanitation systems, and unique writing, the civilization mysteriously vanished. The script delves into its historical context, urban design, and trade, offering insights into a civilization that valued public health and commerce over warfare and hierarchy.

Takeaways

• 🏺 The script discusses the Indus Valley Civilization, which thrived from 3300-1900 BCE and was one of the earliest urban civilizations, larger than Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China.
• 🔍 Archaeologists discovered this civilization through unique stone seals with unknown inscriptions at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, leading to further excavations.
• 🏙️ The civilization was characterized by well-planned cities focused on sanitation and public baths, unlike other Bronze Age civilizations that centered around religious or political structures.
• 🛠️ The Harappans were skilled in bronze and sculpture, and possibly invented the world's first indoor toilets, showcasing advanced urban planning and technology.
• 🌊 The civilization's prosperity was tied to the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra rivers, with the latter potentially being the ancient Saraswati river mentioned in Hindu literature.
• 🏛️ Unlike other ancient states, the Harappan civilization had no evidence of kings, priests, or a state religion, suggesting a different form of social and political organization.
• 🌐 The civilization was extensive, covering an area equivalent to one million square kilometers, and had a standardized system of weights and measures, indicating a unified culture.
• 🚣‍♂️ The Harappans were advanced traders, with evidence of trade with regions like Mesopotamia, and possibly had a form of maritime superiority.
• 📜 The Harappan script remains undeciphered due to the lack of a Rosetta Stone-like key, limiting our understanding of their language and records.
• 📉 The civilization declined around 1900 BCE, possibly due to a combination of factors including climate change, reduced trade, and the drying up of the Saraswati river, leading to a shift towards the Ganges and smaller village lifestyles.

Q & A

What is the significance of the stone seals found near Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro?

The stone seals found near Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are significant because they are inscribed with a previously unseen written language, which led to the discovery of a 4,500-year-old civilization that was absent in historical records.

When did the Indus Civilization flourish and how large was it compared to other ancient civilizations?

The Indus Civilization flourished between 3300-1900 BCE and was larger than Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China, making it one of the earliest and largest urban civilizations in human history.

What was unique about the urban planning of the Indus Civilization?

The Indus Civilization was unique in its focus on sanitation and public health. They built massive planned cities with advanced sewage systems, public baths, and possibly the world's first indoor toilets.

How did the absence of war and the focus on trade define the Indus Civilization?

The Indus Civilization was defined by its lack of warfare and focus on trade, suggesting a society more interested in commerce and cooperation than conquest, which was unusual for Bronze Age civilizations.

What is the geographical range of the Indus Civilization and how does it compare to modern countries?

The Indus Civilization covered an area of one million square kilometers, which is comparable to the size of one Bolivia, two Spains, or 6250 Liechtensteins.

Why is the term 'Harappan Civilization' often used instead of 'Indus Civilization'?

The term 'Harappan Civilization' is often used because Harappa was the first city of this civilization to be discovered, and the civilization was not solely based on the Indus River.

What is the evidence for the Harappan Civilization's writing system and its potential use?

The Harappan Civilization's writing system is evidenced by short inscriptions on stone seals, which are believed to have been used as identity cards or passports, and possibly as stamps.

How did the Harappan Civilization's focus on water management and bathing affect their city planning?

The Harappan Civilization's city planning was heavily influenced by their focus on water management and bathing, with every home having a bathing room and a sophisticated sewage system to channel waste out of the city.

What role did trade play in the Harappan Civilization and what were some of the goods they traded?

Trade played a significant role in the Harappan Civilization, with goods such as lapis lazuli, gold, silver, copper, timber, and ivory being traded with regions like the Arabian Gulf, Mesopotamia, Central Asia, and Iran.

What factors contributed to the decline of the Harappan Civilization and what was the ultimate fate of its people?

The decline of the Harappan Civilization was likely due to a combination of factors including a reduction in trade, climate change, disease, and civil strife. The drying up of the Saraswati River was a major factor. Some people migrated towards the Ganges, while others returned to a simpler village lifestyle.

Outlines

00:00

🏺 The Mysterious Indus Valley Civilization

This segment introduces the Indus Valley Civilization, a 4,500-year-old urban culture that thrived between 3300-1900 BCE alongside Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The civilization was discovered through the excavation of sites near Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, where unique stone seals with undeciphered inscriptions were found. The civilization was larger than its contemporaries and was known for its advanced sanitation systems, absence of war, and mastery in bronze and sculpture. The script also humorously connects the civilization's advanced sewage systems to the modern rubber duck, suggesting a historical precedent for the bathing toy.

05:02

🌍 Geography and Unique Characteristics of the Indus Civilization

The Indus Civilization, also known as the Harappan Civilization, spanned a vast area equivalent to six Liechtensteins and was one of the largest Bronze Age civilizations. It was centered around the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra rivers, with the latter potentially being the ancient Saraswati river. Unlike other civilizations, the Harappans did not have a state religion, warfare, or kings. Their society was more egalitarian, with a focus on trade and public sanitation. The cities were well-planned, with an emphasis on water management, drainage, and bathing facilities. The script also highlights the possibility of an early form of the rubber duck being used by Harappan children, based on the discovery of ceramic toys in their drains.

10:04

🏛️ City Planning and Standardization in Harappan Society

The Harappan cities were meticulously planned, with a focus on water management, standardization, and city planning. Every home had a bathing room and a sewage system that channeled waste out of the city. The Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro, a unique multistoried building with a deep bathing pool, suggests a cultural significance of water and bathing. The civilization also showcased impressive feats of water control, such as the 16 man-made reservoirs at Dholavira and the dock and canal system at Lothal. Standardization was evident in the uniform brick ratios and weights used across the civilization, despite the vast distances between cities. City planning included north-south and east-west oriented main streets, with narrow lanes for house access, and citadels built on mounds for flood defense.

15:04

📜 The Enigmatic Script and the Decline of the Harappan Civilization

The Harappan script remains undeciphered due to the lack of a Rosetta Stone-like key. The script was logo-syllabic, with each symbol representing a word or syllable, and was written from right to left. The civilization was primarily agricultural, with barley and wheat as main crops, and showed an early interest in spices. They domesticated several animals and had trade relations with hunter-gatherer societies. The Harappans were skilled merchants and sailors, trading with regions like the Arabian Gulf, Mesopotamia, and Iran. They had colonies, such as Shortugai, to control resource mines, like lapis lazuli. The civilization's decline around 1900 BCE was sudden, with cities becoming less planned and the maintenance of infrastructure declining. The drying up of the Saraswati river played a significant role in their collapse, leading to a shift towards the Ganges or a return to simpler village life by 1300 BCE.

🌟 Legacy and Promotion of Educational Platforms

The segment concludes with a reflection on the legacy of the Harappan Civilization and its place among other Bronze Age civilizations. It transitions into a promotion of CuriosityStream, a documentary streaming service, and Nebula, a platform for independent creators. The promotion encourages viewers to sign up for CuriosityStream to support educational content creators, including access to Nebula for ad-free and early releases of original content. The script also invites viewers to explore further with provided sources and to subscribe for more content, while also promoting related videos on the channel.

Keywords

💡CuriosityStream

CuriosityStream is a documentary streaming service mentioned in the script as the sponsor of the video. It offers access to a vast library of documentaries and original content, including those featuring renowned figures like David Attenborough and Stephen Hawking. The service is highlighted as a way to support educational content creators, as it provides a platform for them to share their work ad-free and also offers a promotional link for viewers to sign up and gain access to Nebula, another streaming service.

💡Indus Civilisation

The Indus Civilisation, also known as the Harappan Civilisation, is the focus of the video. It was an ancient urban civilization that flourished around 3300-1900 BCE in the Indus Valley. The script describes it as one of the earliest and largest urban civilizations, with a unique focus on sanitation and public works rather than warfare or religious monuments. The civilization's cities were well-planned, and it had a sophisticated system of weights and measures, as well as a writing system that remains undeciphered.

💡Mohenjo-Daro

Mohenjo-Daro is one of the major cities of the Indus Civilisation and is mentioned as a site where the civilization's advanced urban planning and sanitation systems are evident. The city is particularly noted for the 'Great Bath,' a large public bath that suggests the importance of water and hygiene in Harappan culture. The script also mentions the discovery of stone seals and the civilization's writing system at this site.

💡Harappa

Harappa is another significant city of the Indus Civilisation and the first to be discovered, which is why the civilization is often referred to as the Harappan Civilisation. The script mentions Harappa as a place where archaeologists found evidence of the civilization's advanced urban planning, including a sophisticated sewage system and the presence of toilets in almost every house.

💡Saraswati River

The Saraswati River, also known as the Ghaggar-Hakra river, is discussed in the script as a significant geographical feature for the Indus Civilisation. It is believed to have been a major water source for the civilization, possibly even more productive than the Indus River itself. The river's drying up around 1900 BCE is suggested as a major factor in the decline of the civilization.

💡Standardisation

Standardisation is a key concept in the video that refers to the uniformity in building materials, weights, and city planning across the Indus Civilisation. The script highlights the use of standardized bricks with a ratio of 1:2:4 and standardized weights for trade, which facilitated efficient construction and commerce over vast distances.

💡City Planning

City planning is a central theme in the video, illustrating the advanced urban design of the Harappan cities. The script describes how the cities were laid out with a focus on water management, drainage, and public baths. The cities were divided into blocks with main streets oriented north-south and east-west, and houses were accessed via narrow lanes to reduce noise and dust.

💡Writing System

The Harappan writing system is mentioned as a unique feature of the civilization, with a script that remains undeciphered. The script on stone seals is described as logo-syllabic, similar to Chinese or Ancient Maya, with each symbol representing a word or syllable. The lack of a 'Rosetta Stone' equivalent for the Harappan script has made understanding their language and culture more challenging.

💡Trade

Trade is a significant aspect of the Indus Civilisation discussed in the video. The Harappans are depicted as skilled merchants and sailors who traded with regions such as the Arabian Gulf, Mesopotamia, Central Asia, and Iran. The script mentions the discovery of Harappan seals in Mesopotamia, indicating a trade relationship, and the civilization's control over resources like lapis lazuli, which they used to amass wealth.

💡Collapse

The collapse of the Indus Civilisation is a key point in the video, detailing the decline around 1900 BCE. The script suggests multiple factors, including a reduction in trade, climate change, disease, and the drying up of the Saraswati River, as contributing to the civilization's end. The decline led to the abandonment of cities and a shift towards simpler living in smaller settlements.

Highlights

Discovery of the Indus Civilization, a 4,500-year-old urban civilization absent from historical records.

The civilization flourished alongside Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, yet was larger than both.

Indus Civilization cities were planned with a focus on sanitation, not war or religious monuments.

They possibly invented the world's first indoor toilets.

The civilization's size was comparable to one million square kilometers, larger than many modern nations.

Harappan civilization developed around the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra rivers, with a focus on agriculture.

The absence of royal tombs, palaces, or temples suggests a unique social structure.

Harappans were more interested in trade than conquest, with no evidence of an army or warfare.

Public baths and sewage systems were central to Harappan city planning.

The Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro is a unique, multistoried public bath with religious significance.

Harappan cities exhibited remarkable standardization in brick sizes and weights across vast distances.

City planning included well-organized streets and houses with attention to sanitation and public spaces.

The Harappan script remains undeciphered, with over 450 signs found on stone seals.

The Harappans were skilled farmers and herders, with evidence of early spice cultivation.

They had extensive trade networks, including with Mesopotamia, as evidenced by their seals found there.

The civilization's decline around 1900 BCE was likely due to a combination of factors, including climate change and the drying up of the Saraswati River.

The Harappan Civilization left no written records, making their rediscovery and study a significant archaeological challenge.

Transcripts

This video is sponsored by CuriosityStream. Get access to my streaming video service,

Nebula, when you sign up for CuriosityStream using the link in the description.

Intro

It's British India in the 1920's and over the last few decades these odd stone seals

keep popping up at ruins near Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro along the Indus river valley.

They baffle everyone, with their inscriptions in a never before seen written language. Archaeologists,

intrigued by this, started excavating these previously ignored sites.

They soon uncovered a 4,500 year old civilsation. A civilsation completely absent in the historical

record. One of the earliest urban civilizations in human history. It flourished alongside

Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China around 3300-1900BCE but was bigger than all of them.

A civilsation that built wonders not to gods or kings but to sanitation. A civilsation

without war. Made up of massive planned cities built in brick. Masters of bronze and sculpture.

They created their own writing system, traded across the vast sea and possibly invented

the world’s first indoor toilets and then vanished for reasons still not understood.

So what was this civilsation in the Indus Valley, what did they achieve, and what does

it have to do with rubber duckies? Well let’s find out.

Historical Context and Geography

The Indus Civilsation existed from 3300BCE to around 1300BCE give or take. But they really

prospered around 4,500 years ago between 2600-1900BCE. It covered an area of one million square kilometers.

That's about 1 Bolivia, or 2 Spains, or even better 6250 Liechtenstein. It had the largest

population and territory of the Bronze Age civilsations like Mesopotamia, Egypt, and

China.

Like almost all early civilsations the Indus Civilsation developed around dank river valleys.

Their farmers were able to grow a massive food surplus along the banks of the Indus

and Ghaggar-Hakra rivers. Today the Indus is still a powerful river but the Ghaggar-Hakra

has almost completely dried up. Back then the Ghaggar-Hakra river may have been even

more productive than the Indus. We’ve found much more settlements along the Ghaggar-Hakra

than the Indus.

Since the Ghaggar-Hakra River was much more powerful in the past people think it may be

the ancient lost Saraswati river of Hindu literature.

Since this civilsation wasn't just based on the Indus and since Indus-Sarasvati Civilsation

is a bit of a mouthful the term Harappan Civilsation is often used since Harappa was the first

city of theirs we discovered. So I'll use that for the rest of the video

No State Religion, Warfare, Or Kings

The Harappans weren't like other Bronze Age Civilsations. The other ancient states like

Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China all had the following ingredients.

A strict hierarchy of classes.

State monopolised use of violence

Power focussed on individual leaders, like kings and pharaohs.

Centralised state controlled economies

Monumental religious and political structures.

A powerful religious institution with its own hierarchy

Strong sense of elitism and exclusivity

But we have no evidence of Kings or Priests or Priest-Kings for the Harappans. There are

no royal tombs or palaces. No evidence for a state religion. No temples, pyramids, or

ziggurats. No signs of an army, weapons, slaves, or a powerful political capital.

Now the Harappans weren't some peaceful utopia, a State can't exist without violence. But

it seems they had no natural enemies and they themselves seemed more interested in trade

than conquest. All Harappan citizens seem to have lived relatively equal lives too.

Rather than building palaces and temples the Harappans seemed to focus on building public

baths and sewage systems.

We have no idea how the Harappan government worked. But the Harappan Civilsation may have

been split up into many different Domains each governed by a major city.

Rather than kings there may have been village, town, city, and then regional councils, all

overseen by a supreme “Harappan Council ''. So rather than a Harappan Empire or Kingdom

it was probably a Harappan Federation, which makes it sound very futuristic.

One of the defining features of Harappan culture is how well planned their cities and towns

were. They tended to focus on 3 main aspects like:

1. Water

Water, drainage, and bathing held an almost religious significance in Harappan city planning.

Every Harappan home had a dedicated bathing room, used daily. Built with watertight brick

floors. These floors sloped towards a small drain usually cut into the house wall. This

drain brought dirty water out of the house and into a brick lined sewage system underneath

the main streets and channeled water out of the city.

Some bathing rooms had a small staircase so someone else could pour water over the bather

like a kind of proto-shower.

Excavations at Harappa have uncovered toilets in almost every house. They were usually big

pots sunk into the floor. Although some at Mohenjo-daro, had seats. Waste from the toilets

was directed into the drains and out of the city or into large jars sunk into the ground

outside the home like an early septic tank.

The Harappans had multistoried buildings. When water had to be drained from upstairs,

drains were often built inside or along the walls. This safely brought water and waste

from higher floors down to street level drains without soaking people below. Which would

have been a hazard the citizens of cities like Rome dealt with.

We've found quite a few ceramic toys in Harappan drains. It seems that Harappan children may

have been the first to bring toys into the bath with them. This could be the earliest

prototype of the rubber ducky. Other toys like puppets and carts along with miniature

cooking tools and other toy furniture have also been found.

Amongst all the ruins of the Harappans, The Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro stands out. Nothing

like it has been found in any other Harappan site.

The Great Bath seems to be the only Harappan building with some sort of religious significance.

This public bath is an impressive building, multistoried with a 2.4m deep bathing pool

in the centre. The pool is made from precisely fitted burnt bricks coated with a layer of

tar. Making this one of the earliest examples of waterproofing in history. Here you can

see the well and drain used to fill and empty the pool.

We have no idea who used the Great Bath or why, but ritual bathing seems to be our best

guess. The dedication put towards building such an impressive structure and it’s symbolic

location in the largest Harappan city speaks volumes to the importance of water and bathing

in Harappan society.

Other impressive feats of water control include Dholavira's massive 16 man made water reservoirs

that surrounded the city and make it appear to float. And Lothals dock and canal system.

2. Standardisation

Harappan cities were usually hundreds of km apart compared to Mesopotamian cities which

were on average just 20km apart. The Harappan state maintained almost complete uniformity

over these massive distances.

Uniformity like standardised bricks. At every single Harappan site we’ve found bricks

that follow the exact same ratio, 1:2:4. This guaranteed good building standards across

the Harappan world.

Standardisation extended to units of weights. Cubical stone weights across big Harappan

cities down to small farming villages. The smallest weight was 0.856g and the average

weight was 13.7g.

3. City Planning

The main streets of Harappan cities were usually oriented north–south and east–west. These

generally divided Harappan settlements into blocks. Narrow and often crooked lanes ran

off the main streets, so the cities were not built in an exact grid pattern. Access to

the houses was from these lanes, avoiding the dust and noise of the main streets.

Walls usually surrounded Harappan settlements. There was usually a separately walled area

built on a man made mound known as a “citadel”. Here you would find most of the important

buildings, like warehouses, granaries, and at Mohenjo-Daro, the Great Bath. These citadel's

seem to have been built as a defence against floods rather than armies though.

For example, Mohenjo-daro was built on two massive mounds that raised the city above

the Indus River’s floodplain. The walls supported the mounds and added extra flood

defence.

Mohenjo-Daro's higher western mound was the Citadel; it's about 12m above the plain. While

a lower eastern mound held the Lower Town. This Lower Town housed between 40-80,000 people.

Buildings these mounds was a huge investment. It is estimated to have taken 10,000 workers

about 400 days to complete. All that work just to put the “foundations” of Mohenjo-Daro

down.

When the city was founded about 700 brick-lined wells were built to provide drinking water.

No new wells were built over the many centuries of the city's existence. So the city’s founders

took the growth of the city into account when they built all 700.

In some Harappan cities we’ve found the remains of brick platforms and trees planted

alongside streets to provide public seating and shade. And we’ve even found large jars

half sunk into the ground into which rubbish could be thrown. Which would then be brought

to a nearby dump.

Script

Without the Rosetta Stone or Behistun Inscriptions we never would have deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphs

or Mesopotamian Cuneiform. Which has given us a wealth of information on both of those

civilsations. We have nothing that useful to decipher Harappan writing and so it remains

undeciphered to this day.

All we have to work with is the short inscriptions they left behind on these tiny stone seals.

Every seal has an image usually of an animal and an inscription.

The most common image on the seals seem to be this chonky unicorn, those are archeologists

words not mine. Calling this a unicorn is a bit of a stretch!

---Cut---

Come on honey, make a birthday wish. I want a unicorn!! Haha isn't that cute. I'M A UNICORN....SCREAMS

---Cut---

We've found thousands of Harappan seals. They seem to have had about 450 signs and the script

is logo-syllabic, like Chinese or Ancient Maya, which means each symbol stood for a

word or syllable. It seems to have been written from right-to-left as we can see from seeing

this scribe run out of space on the left side.

The seals could have been used like stamps but it seems that they were more often used

like identity cards or passports.

Any Harappan writing on paper or papyrus has been destroyed by the passage of time. This

may be why we’ve only found about 450 mostly repetitive signs. There could be a bias towards

what kinds of words were written on seals, such as names or jobs, and if we found a written

document on paper much more common words and so more signs would appear. Imagine if people

tried to reconstruct the English language using only the words that appeared on passports.

Food and Animals

The Harappan people were mostly farmers and herders. Barley and wheat were the main crops.

And we can see the beginnings of South Asia’s spice obsession with the Harappans. Garlic,

turmeric, ginger, cumin, and cinnamon, were grown. Luckily only 1 trace of coriander has

been found.

Cattle and water buffalo were the most important domesticated animals. Followed by sheep and

goats. Chickens, camels, and even elephants may have been domesticated too.

We've found tons of Harappan dog figurines, some wearing collars which suggests that they

had doggos. And possibly house cats. Paw prints made by a cat can be seen in a brick at Chanhu-daro

that was drying as a cat ran across, followed by a chasing dog.

In most parts of the world when people settled down to start farming they, to use a historian's

term, super murdered the hunter-gatherer societies around them. The Harappans traded with them

instead.

Hunter-Gatherers could collect exotic products like honey, wax, ivory, silk, and wild plants.

In exchange they received Harappan crops and manufactured goods like bronze tools.

The Harappans also used the constantly moving hunter-gatherers and pastoral herders to move

goods between their cities, like a Harappan FedEx.

But most Harappan internal trade was conducted along the huge rivers they controlled and

foreign trade was mostly done over the sea.

Trade

We know that between 2600—1900 BCE the Harappans traded with the Arabian Gulf, Mesopotamia,

Central Asia, and Iran.

Before we invented radiocarbon dating the only way we could date the Harappan Civilsation

was because we found their seals in Mesopotamia. Being able to read Mesopotamian records made

it possible to place the Harappans in time.

Around 2600-2300BCE Mesopotamian records began mentioning trade done with a far off land

known as Meluhha. This was their name for the Harappans.

Mesopotamian texts mention the following items as imports from Meluhha: lapis lazuli, gold,

silver, copper, timber, ebony, ivory, tortoiseshell, chicken, buffalo, peacock, dog, cat, and monkey

apparently.

Harappan merchants seem to have been a common sight in Mesopotamia. But Mesopotamia merchants

never seem to have sailed outside of the Gulf. Which suggests that the Harappans were the

better merchants and sailors. This along with the fact that they were shipping bulky goods

like timber and wild animals also shows us that they had pretty big ships.

Very few Mesopotamian artifacts appear in the Harappan realm, so we have no idea what

the Harappans were trading all their goods for. We have discovered a toiletry set with

a copper ear scoop and tweezers at Harappa. So luxury or manufactured goods could have

been what the Harappans wanted.

Harappan sailors acted a lot like sailors of later times since we’ve discovered ivory

dice for games and gambling at sites they visited.

More than 1,000km from Harappa is an isolated Harappan town, Shortugai located in modern

Afghanistan. We've found Harappan seals there and houses built to Harappan design with bricks

using the Harappan ratio. This was a Harappan colony. The Harappans used Shortugai to control

the nearby Lapis Lazuli mines. This allowed the Harappans to monopolize the ancient world's

supply of lapis lazuli.

Interestingly the Harappans didn’t much care for lapis and used it entirely for export.

This trade made the Harappans incredibly rich.

Collapse

But after 700 years of prosperity the Harappan Civilsation went into a sudden decline around

1900 BCE.

Cities stopped following strict plans, drains were no longer maintained, the Great Bath

filled with rubbish, and the art of writing was forgotten.

But there is no evidence for massacres, battles, or sieges at any Harappan sites. So the Harappans

didn't meet a violent end.

Factors such as a reduction in trade, climate change, disease, and civil strife all probably

played a role in their collapse. But it seems that the Saraswati river played the biggest

role.

As we saw earlier there was a dense cluster of Harappan cities along the Saraswati River.

This area was their "bread basket"

Around 1900BCE the river began to dry up for reasons still being studied. Links discussing

this are in the description.

As the crops died and cities were starved of water the Harappans along the Saraswati

fled their homes in search of greener pastures. Some seem to have moved towards the Ganges,

which would become the new centre of North Indian Civilisation. Others simply went back

to a simpler style of living in small villages. By 1300BCE the entire Harappan system was

gone.

The memory of the Harappan Civilsation. Their great cities. Their beliefs, their language,

and their writing system disappeared under the earth that once sustained them until they

were rediscovered 4,000 years later.

The Harappans were one of the greatest Bronze Age Civilsations. But they weren’t the only

one. The Bronze Age saw the rise of urban societies, vast trading empires and military

powers. From Greece to Egypt and Mesopotamia all the way to Ancient China. How did this

come about, and why did it end? Well that is all explained in The Bronze Age a 3 part

documentary series over on CuriosityStream. CuriosityStream is a documentary streaming

service that will give you access to thousands of documentaries including some featuring

top names like David Attenborough and Stephen Hawking, along with exclusive originals. You

get unlimited access starting at just $2.99 a month and the first 30-days completely free

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the sign-up process. And by signing up to CuriosityStream you will

be helping me and the Youtube educational community, because CuriosityStream loves independent

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and 12Tone along with a bunch of others. Nebula even hosts original content such as

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This video was up on Nebula days ago. So go to curiositystream.com/cogito and start

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So that was a basic overview of the Harappan or Indus Civilsation. It isn't even close

to covering everything. One video simply can't cover everything. But as always further reading

and all the sources used are in the description. If you liked this content please subscribe.

If you are interested in supporting the channel, there are links for Patreon and my t-shirt

store also in the description. If you liked this video I think you’d really enjoy my

video on Ancient China or the San People. Which you can see on screen or linked in the

description.