--- title: "What was the time period of Indus Civilization / Harappan Civilization?" description: "What was the time period of Indus Civilization / Harappan Civilization?" author: "Additri Acharya" published: 2018-02-07 canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/34188/what-was-the-time-period-of-indus-civilization-harappan-civilization category: "history, politics & society" tags: ["history"] reading_time: 2 minutes --- # What was the time period of Indus Civilization / Harappan Civilization? What was the time [period](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/301083/everything-you-need-to-know-about-menstrual-cups) of Indus Civilization / [Harappan Civilization](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/86380/india-s-industrialization-a-journey-from-harappan-civilization-to-modern-times)? ## Answers ### Answer by Stuti Gupta The **[Indus Valley Civilization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilisation)** (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilization, was a Bronze Age civilization that flourished in northern South Asia from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE in its full form. With structures covering northeast Afghanistan, much of Pakistan, and western and northwestern India, it's one of three ancient Near Eastern and South Asian civilizations, along with ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. It thrived in the [Indus River](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/93562/is-there-any-rivers-learning-options-available-at-kidszone) basins that span the length of Pakistan, as well as a system of permanent, mostly monsoon-fed rivers that flowed alongside the seasonal Ghaggar-Hakra river in northwest India and eastern Pakistan. \ **Also Read: [Which was the largest Indian site of Indus Civilization?](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/34190/which-was-the-largest-indian-site-of-indus-civilization)** \ Cities of the [civilization](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/34769/who-were-the-architects-of-indus-valley-civilization) were known for their urban planning, baked brick dwellings, extensive drainage systems, water supply systems, clusters of huge non-residential structures, novel handicrafts (carnelian goods, seal carving), and metallurgical skills (copper, bronze, lead, and tin). The major towns of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa developed to include between 30,000 and 60,000 people, and the civilization itself may have numbered between one and five million people during its peak. Gradual drying of the region's soil during the third millennium BCE may have sparked the [civilization's](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/34190/which-was-the-largest-indian-site-of-indus-civilization) urbanization, but weaker monsoons and limited water availability finally led to the civilization's downfall and population scattering eastward and southward. \ **Also Read: [Which is the oldest civilization?](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/33303/which-is-the-oldest-civilization)** \ Harappa, the first of the Indus civilization's sites to be excavated early in the twentieth century in what was then the Punjab area of British India and is now [Pakistan](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/93112/why-is-nawaz-sarif-called-fugitive-pm-in-pakistan), is known as the Harappan Civilisation. Harappa and, subsequently, Mohenjo-Daro were discovered as a consequence of work that began in 1861 with the formation of the Archaeological Survey of India during the British Raj. However, earlier and later civilizations were known as Early Harappan and Late Harappan coexisted in the same territory; as a consequence, the Harappan civilization is generally referred to as the Mature Harappan to distinguish it from these other societies. --- Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/34188/what-was-the-time-period-of-indus-civilization-harappan-civilization Copyright © MindStick Software Pvt. Ltd. This Markdown version is provided for developers, AI systems, and offline reading.