Introduction to the Seriously Underrated Indus Valley / Harappan Civilization

In this program we'll take a solid look at the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) of northwestern South Asia, also known as the Harappan Civilization. While it is clear that the people of this civilization were experts in urban planning, sanitation and drainage systems as well as some of the greatest traders of the ancient Bronze Age world, they are also among its most mysterious. This is in part due to their writing system still not being understood as well as the puzzle of their seemingly sudden disappearance from history. If you know very little about the IVC, then this is the video for you!

Contents:

00:00 Introduction
02:58 The Discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization
06:59 The Harappan World
16:04 The Mysterious Harappan Writing System
19:40 Meluhha and Mesopotamia
25:12 Great Cities
29:31 Who Ruled Harappan Society?
30:58 Harappan Religion?
32:25 The Height of Harappan Civilization
34:12 The Mysterious End
39:12 Thank You and Patrons

Related Videos:

Exploring the Harappan City of Lothal (History and Walking Tour)

Trade in the Early Bronze Age: Ancient Mesopotamia and the East (Harappan Civilization, Oxus & Elam)

The Complete and Concise History of the Sumerians and Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia (7000-2000 BC)

Sources and Suggested Reading:

The Archaeology of South Asia: From the Indus to Ashoka - Robin Coningham and Ruth Young
The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives - Jane R. McIntosh
The Indus Civilization - Irfan Habib
The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective - Gregory Posselh
India: The Ancient Past - Burjor Avari
Civilizations of the Ancient Near East Vol. III - Ed. by Jack Sasson

Follow History with Cy:

#indusvalley #ancienthistory #india

[walidb]

For years I’ve come back to the internet hoping the language of the Harappan’s will be translated so we could learn more about their lives and beliefs. Hope I live to see it!

[ronaldbender]

It always amazes me at the longevity of some of these early civilizations, but for some reason seeing the dates from the Early to Late Harrapan just hit me differently this time. 3300-1300 BCE. 2 thousand years, in the same place. It is almost inconceivable the number of generations that would have lived within that part of the world. Great video, as always!

[TruthAlwaysWins]

People of India do know their leanage & History, but are often mocked and ridiculed.
There were atleast 10 older universities which had concrete documentation of history & ancient scripts.
The places were destroyed & burnt down by invaders & looters.
Most of the texts are lost, burnt or stolen.
Places were:
Vikramshila
Pushpagiri
Ratnagiri
Taxila
Nalanda
Vallabhi
Bikrampur
Somapur
Jagaddala
Odantapuri
(Can be more too if they were destroyed earlier than the listed ones).

[sizanogreen]

Glad to have you covering the Harappan. One of those places that makes us truly realize how much we still have to learn.

[mattstakeontheancients]

Such an amazing civilization that most people don’t know about. Their level of engineering for the time period(they had plumbing) is amazing. Hopefully their written language will be translated and more information will be gleaned.

[EdrickBluebeard]

Every time I hear about railworkers or other industries plundering a site, my heart drops.

[krishnabanerjee]

i am really impressed that people are still interested in wanting to understand what this great civilization was about. thanks a million.

[js]

Love this channel. Been waiting for a new episode, and I couldn’t think of a better subject. The Indus Valley civilization is absolutely breathtaking and fascinating in its complexity. Thank you for all your hard work Cy, much appreciated.

From,

A big fan of the channel in Canada
🙏🇨🇦🍻

[pradyutdas]

The time difference between the Early Harappan (3300 BCE) to Late Harappan (1300 BCE) is even larger than the time difference between the Chola Empire at its peak (1000 CE) and the Republic of India (2023 CE). That's mind-bogglingly awesome. Maybe Indus Valley civilization itself is a series of different political system, which may be in their most unified form in the Mature Phase (2500-1900 BCE).

[j.lingle]

I’d love to see more on the ancient Indus Valley civilization, as well as the Cucuteni-Tryppilian civilization.

[sifatenoorsahiba]

This video came up at the right time. I am an architecture student and we have indus valley civilization on our this semester's Architecture of Ancient Civilizations course. I have a week to prepare for the finals and this is just what I needed. I really enjoy your videos so keep up the good work!
Love from Bangladesh

[jacquesmesrine]

India is so ancient with a huge landmass and population that it can be inferred that they've been around for tens if thousands if not hundreds of thousands of years! It's really incredible how historians and archeologists continue to uncover more and more about India's ancient past

[irisessex]

I’ve heard of the Indus Valley but never heard anything about their ancient culture. Wonderfully eye opening. Thanks for the history lesson.

[ayushgaurincredible]

Our Indian govt. In Gujrat planning to rennovate Lothal site for tourists attraction. It woul be one hell of a theme park. With mentioning of Acropolis as well.

[tomivo]

Forests are very important for retaining rainfall in the soil. If the trees are removed, not only does rain run off into the rivers and not soak into the soil, but eventually the aquifers dry up and the springs stop running. In the New England colonies, the colonists logged all the forests in the 17th century. The immediate result was erosion of the soil and sedimentation of rivers and streams. A bigger problem was that 20-30 years later, the springs dried up, and lack of water became a problem in the drier seasons.

[cabwaylingo_]

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO MAKE A VIDEO ON THE HARAPPANS FOREVER!!! thank you for this, this is easily one of the most interesting, captivating and peculiar civilizations of all time, one of my all time personal favorites. this is a fantastic introduction, you covered most of the important stuff really well and while i would've loved an even deeper dive i understand that an in-depth video would need to be like 3.5 hours long lol

[modgirl]

I learned about the Indus Valley Civilization when I was in high school. It wasn't given as much attention as the Sumerian and Akkadian Civilizations as it should have. I learned about ancient civilizations in college Archaeology classes and my own reading and research. Thanks for posting this video, very interesting and informative .

[TheKakamuka]

Indian here. Thoroughly enjoyed this presentation!

Stoneware from recent excavations in Tamil Nadu particularly Keezhadi and adichanallur areas show a script that is identical to that of IVC. Carbon dating show that this civilization was a little after IVC. However, these excavations are relatively new.

This ancient civilization too thrived along a long river Tambarabarani with numerous active sea ports on the coast. They too traded carmelian beads and pottery…..don’t think any seals have been recovered (yet?)

[JustGrowingUp]

One of the most interesting ancient civilizations.
I'm so happy that we 'do' know enough for a 40 min. video, I loved it!

[ep]

Easily one of the most-informative videos I've seen on the Harappan Civilization.
I'm fascinated by the mysteries of this ancient culture, not only because of its undeciphered script, but also because of the lessons Subcontinental people could learn from it's genius and contribution to their extant material and intangible cultures, languages, spirituality and the like. So much of their history has been misinterpreted and distorted following centuries of British colonialisation which, because of obvious self-interest, stressed the importance of the IndoEuropean-speaking Vedic and proto-Vedic culture over the "native" Harappan one.