Harappa, Pakistan

History

The Harappan Civilization has its earliest roots in cultures such as that of Mehrgarh, around 5200 BC. The two greatest cities, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, emerged along the Indus River valley in Punjab and Sindh. The civilization, with a possible writing system, urban centres, drainage infrastructure and diversified social and economic system, was rediscovered in the 1920s also after excavations at Mohenjo-daro in Sindh near Larkana, and Harappan cities, in west Punjab south of Lahore. A number of other sites stretching from the Himalayan foothills in the East Punjab, to Gujarat in the southeast, and Balochistan, Pakistan in the southwest, have also been discovered and studied. Although the archaeological site at Harappa was damaged in 1857 when engineers constructing the Lahore-Multan railway used bricks from the ruins for track ballast, an abundance of artefacts has nevertheless been recovered.

Due to falling sea-levels, certain regions were abandoned during the late Harappan period. In its later stages, the Harappan civilization lost features such as writing and hydraulic engineering. As a result, the Ganges Valley settlement gained prominence and Ganges' cities developed.

From the History section of Harappa on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.