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Harappa

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• Harappa, Punjab, Pakistan
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• The cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa marked the discovery of India's hitherto unsuspected prehistoric civilization - the 'Indus Valley civilisation'.
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• One of the largest of the world's early civilizations, it was unearthed by British and Indian archaeologists in the 1920s. Their finds produced buildings, tools, jewellery and sculpture dating back to 3000 BC. Standardised weights, measures and bricks from the Mature Harappan phase of around 2300 BC tell us just how sophisticated this culture was. Harappan seals found in Mesopotamia also attest to the fact that it was a culture engaged in overseas trade. The city plan, arranged in a grid like system with roads uniformly twice the width of side lanes, suggests that Harappan settlements were the first planned urban centres in the world.

The decline of the Harappan civilisation remains a source of speculation. The theory of an Aryan invasion has long since been discredited and it is now widely believed to be due to climate change and perhaps also to tectonic activities. Major changes took place in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent causing its rivers to change course. Resulting water shortages led to the abandonment of many of the settlements as people started migrating eastwards.