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Historical Period

The great brick cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, one of the world's first urban civilisations.

Use the timeline below to navigate through major events and milestones.

Indus Valley Civilisation · c. 2600–1300 BC
Harappa · The First Cities

The Indus Valley Civilisation

From the rise of the great brick cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, with their gridded streets, covered drains and public baths, through a world of seals, standardized weights and long-distance trade with Mesopotamia, to the slow fading of the cities as the rivers shifted. Slide across one of the earliest urban civilisations on earth — vast, orderly and literate, yet still speaking to us in an undeciphered script.

2600 BC
The Mature Harappan
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2600 BC

The Mature Harappan
  • Cultural

    The cities of the Indus

    Aerial view of the ruins of Mohenjo-daro
    Via Wikimedia Commons

    Along the Indus, great planned cities such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro rise, home to tens of thousands.

6 milestones

Meanwhile

Around 2600 BC

Full Chronicle

The Indus Valley Civilisation

From the rise of the great brick cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, with their gridded streets, covered drains and public baths, through a world of seals, standardized weights and long-distance trade with Mesopotamia, to the slow fading of the cities as the rivers shifted. Slide across one of the earliest urban civilisations on earth — vast, orderly and literate, yet still speaking to us in an undeciphered script.

  1. The Mature Harappan
    • The cities of the Indus

      Along the Indus, great planned cities such as Harappa and Mohenjo-daro rise, home to tens of thousands.

  2. The Mature Harappan
    • A civilisation of brick and water

      Mohenjo-daro boasts a Great Bath, covered sewers and wells — an engineering of water without equal in the ancient world.

  3. The Mature Harappan
    • Seals, script and trade

      Carved seals and standardized weights speak of a trading world reaching by sea to Mesopotamia.

  4. The Mature Harappan
    • The Dancing Girl

      Indus craftsmen cast the bronze figure of the "Dancing Girl," a masterpiece of the early metalworker's art.

  5. The Decline
    • The rivers shift

      Changing rivers and a drying climate begin to unravel the great cities of the Indus.

  6. The Legacy
    • The end of the cities

      The urban civilisation fades into village cultures, leaving a legacy still woven into Indian life.