What does it mean for a civilization to be lost to time? What are the limits of human knowledge? Welcome to the Time Hub adventure. Today, we’ll be traveling deep into the past. 5,000 years ago, the Indus Valley civilization thrived in Northwest India, an ancient precursor to the great peoples [music] and empires of the subcontinent.
This was a truly advanced civilization with planned cities, flush toilets, merchant guilds, and international trade. And yet, so much of their world remains shrouded in mystery. Here’s the problem. We still haven’t decoded their language. These symbols mean nothing to us. >> [music] >> Right now, it’s all guesswork.
Even more strangely, there’s [music] no mention of the Indus civilization in later records, no acknowledgement of their existence. It’s like they all just suddenly [music] disappeared. So, who really were the people of the Indus? What did they invent? What did they believe? [music] And dang it, what happened to them? Strap in, adventurer.
It’s about time we get some answers. Please fasten your seat belts. >> [music] >> In 1924, a team of Indian and British archaeologists shocked the world when they unearthed the greatest find of the 20th [music] century, two ancient cities buried beneath Punjab and Sindh, the remnants [music] of a lost 5,000-year-old civilization, the Indus Valley Civilization or IVC for short.
[music] The discovery sparked a wave of global interest and scholarship. People desperately wanted to know more about this Indian contemporary of ancient Egypt [music] and Mesopotamia. But the story of its discovery actually began a century earlier. Meet James Lewis. In 1826, he deserted the British East India Company and was on the run from colonial authorities.
To evade capture, he created a fake name and identity as American [music] Charles Mason and journeyed through Northwest India. Eventually, Lewis made a deal with the British East India Company for clemency. As [music] part of the clemency deal, he would excavate local sites and hand over any historical artifacts he could find to the company.
And so, rather unsurprisingly, when he passed through the town of Harappa and came across earthen mounds and brick ruins, he conducted an immediate investigation. The locals already had their own folklore about the [music] site. They believed that it was the ruined city of a cursed medieval king, Raja Harpal.
Lewis, on the other hand, believed that he discovered the remains [music] of an ancient Buddhist city dating back to the 4th century BCE. Both were wrong. In truth, he’d wandered through the ruins of a lost [music] civilization thousands of years older than anyone could have imagined. For nearly a century, visitors, including trained archaeologists, [music] could never quite solve the historical puzzle.
According to the esteemed DR Bhandarkar, for example, the Indus bricks were too [music] sophisticated to be more than 250 years old. In fact, the bricks were of such high quality that they were being repurposed by British railway contractors. That being said, a few archaeologists, such as RD Banerji, did speculate about the [music] remote antiquity of the site.
But it wasn’t until 1921 that the Archaeological Survey of India, under John Marshall, finally committed [music] to a full-scale excavation of the Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro sites. In just 3 years, these excavations [music] revealed the existence of the long-forgotten Indus Valley Civilization in all its ancient and mysterious glory.
To better understand the IVC, [music] we have to understand its origins. After all, it didn’t just suddenly pop into existence. So, where did the people of [music] the Indus come from? The answer lies in the predecessor Mehrgarh culture. Around 7000 [music] BCE, a group of semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers settled a site, Mehrgarh, in the mountains of present-day [music] Balochistan.
By 6500 BCE, these settlers had developed farming and had domesticated herd animals, the earliest evidence of its kind in South Asia. Mehrgarh may have been small, but it wasn’t some isolated backwater. For example, archaeologists have found the world’s earliest evidence of dental surgery using copper drills similar to those used in bead making.
And the discovery of turquoise beads, lapis lazuli, and carved seashells suggests long-distance trade with Central Asia and the southern coast. As the centuries passed, Mehrgarh technology developed further. We find glazed beads, ceramics, terracotta figurines, [music] seals, pit kilns, and copper smelting crucibles.
Curiously, these artifacts resemble those of distant Mesopotamia. That being said, technology wasn’t the only thing flooding in from West Asia. People did, too. By 4500 BCE, waves of Zagrosian hunter-gatherers began migrating into the Mehrgarh region. In time, these migrants would mix with the locals and assimilate.
So, while there is a significant genetic shift in this period, there’s a remarkable cultural continuity. But history teaches us that change is inevitable. For the people of Mehrgarh, climate pressure made their land increasingly inhospitable. As the monsoon shifted south and Balochistan dried up, they began to search for better land to settle.
And oh me, oh my, they found it. Starting in 3300 BCE, settlers from Mehrgarh migrated from the dry [music] uplands of Balochistan into the fertile lowlands of the Indus River. What this upstart group of settlers [music] couldn’t have foreseen is that the Indus River Valley would change their fortunes forever. Because, like [music] other first civilizations, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China, they’d settled on [music] a flood plain.
And flood plains create the conditions necessary for great civilizations to emerge. Here’s how it works. Flood plains involve the seasonal flooding of a river, like [music] the Indus. These floods replenish nutrients in the soil, making for highly fertile, naturally [music] irrigated land. Productivity skyrockets. Food becomes more abundant.
These food surpluses lead to population [music] growth, which leads to specialization and large-scale trade, which leads to centralized authority and urbanization. And thus, a civilization is born. [music] In this case, the Indus Valley Civilization. As expected, the early period of the IVC saw the rise of [music] small proto-cities, such as Harappa, Nausharo, Kot Diji, and Dholavira, which would eventually become major urban centers.
And at Dholavira, archaeologists have discovered early water management systems, [music] reservoirs and distribution channels, and motif-carved seals, pointing to the emergence of an advanced administration. Finally, by the mature period, the contours of the IVC had fully [music] taken shape, marked by increasingly complex urban planning, architecture, social organization, and long-distance [music] trade.
It is this mature period, the flourishing golden age of the Indus Valley Civilization, that we’ll be focusing on next. While the Egyptians were constructing pyramids for [music] their god kings, the Chinese were weaving silk and the Mesopotamians were writing contracts on cuneiform [music] tablets.
The people of the Indus were focused on an entirely different set of priorities. City planning, [music] sanitation, smart governance, and maritime trade. In many ways, the IVC was ahead of its time. [music] Let’s break down what makes it so special. Urban design and planning. While other ancient civilizations [music] did have grand cityscapes, the IVC is striking in that its cities implemented a modern grid-like [music] design.
These were planned cities with wide streets crisscrossing each other at right angles. Detailed city and town planning was the norm. In the IVC, [music] all settlements, great or small, were given a surprising amount of attention. The largest cities used a layout with [music] two distinct zones, a raised citadel complex, and a lower city. Dholavira is a notable exception with three [music] distinct zones, a citadel complex, middle city, and lower city.
Meanwhile, smaller cities like Lothal had just one [music] distinct zone, which contained both the citadel complex and the main city. Buildings were constructed with sun-dried, kiln-fired [music] bricks and stone was used for the foundations. These bricks followed a consistent sizing ratio of 4:2:1. [music] Let me say that again.
Every single brick used in construction throughout the entire Indus Valley region adhered to this 4:2:1 [music] ratio. This consistency was maintained across thousands of square miles and over 5 million people. Standardized measurements were clearly important to the people of the [music] Indus, but practical design and aesthetics were not mutually exclusive.
Houses in the IVC were built around airy, light-soaked courtyards, [music] which served as gathering spaces and offered ventilation necessary for dealing with the heat. [music] Doors and windows were made of wood, often painted or carved for decorative purposes, and outfitted with grills so that [music] light could still enter when shut.
Carved alabaster and marble lattice work was [music] not uncommon either, and archaeologists believe that these materials would have been set into the [music] walls for show. But what truly set the IVC apart from their contemporaries are their advanced sanitation and water management [music] systems. Sanitation was regularized.
Every house, no matter its size, was connected [music] to a network of covered sewers and drainage systems, and private bathtubs and toilets were linked to these systems. Fun fact, the IVC invented the world’s first [music] flush toilet. A clay toilet pot with a hole at the bottom where waste was cleared out into the city drainage [music] system with flowing water.
This means even the average Indus household, not just [music] elites, enjoyed a level of hygiene that would not be common in Europe for thousands of [music] years. And public sanitation facilities existed, too. Consider Mohenjo-Daro’s Great Bath, [music] which is among the first large-scale waterproof structures in world history.
The tank was lined [music] with bitumen-coated bricks and had stairs leading down to the pool. It was likely used for communal bathing [music] and rituals. Beside sanitation, water management was also incredibly important to the people of the Indus. While Mohenjo-Daro was dotted with over 700 [music] wells, Harappa utilized a combination of wells and a massive central tank.
[music] Meanwhile, Dholavira had few wells, but utilized river dams and stone-lined reservoirs instead. [music] Speaking of water management, the IVC port of Lothal is home to the world’s oldest dockyard. The dockyard had a lock gate system to manage the flow of tidal water, prevent silting, and ensure smooth cargo operations.
And if that wasn’t impressive enough, the dockyard [music] was seamlessly integrated with the city’s drainage system, which protected the port from monsoon floods. Simply put, over 4,000 years ago, the people of the Indus [music] engineered systems that modern cities still struggle to replicate. Daily life and leisure.
Life in the Indus Valley civilization wasn’t just a daily grind. Based on the archaeological record, we know that the people of the Indus like to unwind with food, drink, and games. Let’s start with something delicious. Some of the ingredients cultivated by the IVC, like sesame and barley, [music] are still staples in South Asian kitchens today.
Ever had tilgul or chikki? Snacks found in corner shops across modern-day India, these [music] foods trace their roots back thousands of years to the Indus Valley. But Indus people liked a bit of indulgence when it came to alcohol, too. Perforated filter pots from IVC sites show traces of fermentation, [music] which suggests that there was a local brewing tradition.
And other pots resemble distillation devices, which implies [music] that Indus people were refining alcohol hundreds of years before other civilizations. But what’s a good brew without some entertainment to go along with it? Well, it turns out that the people of the Indus were surprisingly playful. Games of strategy and chance were popular among adults.
For example, archaeologists have unearthed cubical dice with detailed markings, similar to those described in the Mahabharata, suggesting a deep and ancient continuity in South Asia’s gaming traditions. Archaeologists have also discovered game boards and carved game pieces, evidence of structured strategy games with rules and high-level tactics.
Interestingly, scholars believe that this game board found at Lothal may be an early version of the strategy game chaturanga, an ancestor of modern chess. Besides these more complicated adult games, however, children’s toys have also been found at multiple IVC sites. So yes, the people of the Indus may have been productive farmers, engineers, and traders, but they also knew how to enjoy life.
Fashion and aesthetics, a thriving [music] industry. In the ancient world, the Indus Valley civilization was also known for for luxury fashion, crafts, [music] and aesthetic culture. Terracotta pottery and sculpture were significant, of course, but let’s consider textiles. [music] Looking closely at terracotta figurines and sculptures gives us a sense of what the people of the Indus used [music] to wear.
Rather curiously, IVC clothing closely resembles saris and dhotis [music] in modern-day India. But what’s most remarkable is the quality of the fabric itself. See, the people of the Indus [music] were the first in the world to weave cotton, hand-spinning the fibers into fine, breathable textiles, perfect for a hot [music] climate. These cotton textiles were of such high quality that the IVC exported them in bulk to foreign buyers.
Jewelry was also a major part of the aesthetic culture. Archaeologists have uncovered hoards of bangles, [music] pendants, rings, and earrings, worn by both men and women. These items were not particularly rare. In fact, archaeologists have excavated hundreds of thousands of bangles at various IVC [music] sites. Let that sink in.
Hundreds of thousands. Yes, the scale of the craft industry is hard to fathom. Bead-making workshops were common in many cities, >> [music] >> and advanced techniques were used, like earnestite drilling and heat glazing. Metalworking, too, [music] reached a high level, but metal scarcity had significant impacts on the industry.
See, bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. But while copper was mined locally, tin was scarce and had to be imported from Central Asia. Thus, [music] bronze items were rarer and more expensive. But let’s take a step back. None of this would have been possible [music] without one crucial innovation in agriculture, double cropping.
The IVC was the first known culture in the world [music] to double crop. Double cropping created large food surpluses, which in turn supported specialized labor, full-time artisans, [music] and a thriving class of merchants. Oh, did I say merchants? Let’s segue into international trade. If there had been an ease of doing business ranking in the 3rd millennium BCE, it’s fair to say that the Indus Valley civilization would have been at the top.
Trade in the IVC wasn’t just active, it was organized, efficient, and expansive. Indus trade routes extended across both Central Asia and West Asia, forming a vast interconnected network. To manage this trade, the IVC developed tools of identification and control. Their carved seals, often depicting bulls, elephants, or unicorn-like animals, likely acted as commercial signatures.
Pressed into clay or wax, they could mark ownership, identify traders, or even represent merchant guild affiliations. [music] Many scholars believe they worked like early logos or stamps, helping track goods and verify senders. Some seals were used to fasten cords or sacks. If they were intact on arrival, that would have [music] served as proof that the package had not been tampered with.
The people of the Indus followed a binary weight system based on doubling and having units, a [music] method that allowed for remarkable precision and standardization. These weights closely correspond to those found in Mesopotamia [music] and Arabia, which facilitated trade across great distances. But the people of the Indus were not just traders, they were seafarers, too.
Clay tablets and stone seals from Mohenjo-Daro show flat-bottomed river [music] boats with covered deck cabins. Meanwhile, at Lothal, archaeologists discovered a model of a more advanced ocean-going vessel with a mast, sail, and steering oar. Ocean-going vessels were necessary, of course, to conduct high-volume trade with foreigners like the Mesopotamians and the Arabians.
The historical record [music] provides some fascinating insights in this regard. First, let’s consider the Indus-Arabian connection. The IVC extended their Gulf trade [music] networks deep into Southeast Arabia, forging particularly strong connections with the Umm an-Nar culture. In fact, [music] Indus artifacts have not only been found at coastal sites, but also at inland sites like Salut and Bisya.
We know that Indus merchants and craftsmen lived for extended periods of time in Arabia and not just seasonally due to the presence of Indus style cookware and children’s toys which [music] suggests the relocation of entire families. Further, Indus seals and beads found in these areas were made using local materials, which implies that they were actually crafted [music] by these IVC expats.
Curiously, the homes of Indus people in Arabia are found near the homes of local elites, indicating that they wielded significant [music] influence. Now, let’s consider the Indus-Mesopotamia connection. In Mesopotamian writings, the people of the Indus are referred to by a particular name, the Meluhhans.
The trade appears to have been so extensive that Meluhhans lived and worked in Mesopotamian lands in various capacities. Cuneiform tablets describe a Meluhhan settlement called Guabba, located near the city of Ur. This village was known for its Meluhhan style granaries, gardens, and temples. Perhaps even more mind-blowing is the existence of a seal from around 2000 BCE that refers to a Mesopotamian judge named [music] Shulishu, who also worked as a translator of the Meluhhan language.
In essence, there were enough Meluhhans in the region [music] that one could get work as a translator. These dynamics were not one-way. [music] We know that foreign traders, Mesopotamians, Arabs, Egyptians, and Central Asians lived in IVC cities like Lothal, residing in special quarters. Trade brought outside cultural influence to the IVC, too.
For example, several Indus seals appear to depict a scene from the Epic of Gilgamesh, a sign that Mesopotamian stories [music] had traveled across the sea and into the IVC heartland. Though we have learned a considerable amount about the IVC, there is still much that remains shrouded in mystery. In truth, it’s because the Indus script found on seals like this has yet to be deciphered.
Otherwise, we could shed light on these mysteries. >> [music] >> For now, we can only speculate, but there is reasonable speculation and unreasonable speculation. Unreasonable speculation is couched in presumptive bias. [music] This has been the hallmark of a lot of early Indus scholarship, fueling popular narratives that influence [music] how we see the IVC even today.
When archaeologists unearthed a red jasper sculpture at Harappa, it left John Marshall stunned. To him, the piece was far too refined, smooth, lifelike, [music] and rich with detail to have originated in the Indus Valley Civilization. He opined that the statue must have been Greek. Not exactly scientific, wouldn’t you say? But wait, there’s more.
[music] Does this bronze figure really look like she’s dancing to you? If not, that’s okay, because you might be surprised to [music] learn that it was given the dancing girl moniker on a whim. Nothing scholarly about it. John Marshall named this figure the dancing girl because he felt that she looked cheeky and exuded a natural confidence.
His opinion, his feelings, >> [music] >> nothing more. The Priest King figure was named on a whim, too. Marshall and Wheeler felt [music] that the statue depicted a respectable leader, like a priest or a king, and just like that, it was designated as the Priest King. So, what if the familiar narratives that we’ve [music] come to accept don’t actually hold up when examined through a different lens? Did they really collapse due to a war [music] with invading Aryans? Who did they worship? Did they have kings or were they granola-eating
hippies? Let’s take a look at how our assumptions about the IVC might need rethinking. [music] Mystery number one, was the IVC an egalitarian society? The IVC is unique in that, unlike its contemporaries, it did not [music] spend its resources on grand palaces, royal tombs, and other monumental structures. Early excavations revealed no obvious signs of a ruling class.
>> [music] >> The absence of overt displays of power once led scholars to believe that the IVC was an unusually egalitarian society, with several claiming that it was something of a communist utopia. [music] This bland image of the IVC embedded itself into the mainstream narrative, but it’s plainly [music] wrong.
Later excavations revealed the existence of multi-story luxury houses, which indicates some level of social stratification. And most scholars now accept that uniform urban planning, standardized measurement, and large-scale food distribution could not have been achieved [music] without a centralized authority of some kind.
These realities, combined with the fact that commerce was tightly organized and regulated across great distances, [music] has led to speculation that the IVC may have been governed by a collective of merchant lords. But the presence of influential merchant lords does not necessarily exclude the possibility of an Indus king or kings.
Consider this inscription describing the great revolt against Mesopotamian conqueror Naram-Sin. The inscription mentions a long list of rebel [music] kings, including Ebra, man of Meluhha. Now, this is fascinating because it not only implies the existence [music] of an Indus king, but it also further implies that the king, whose title is man of Meluhha, was not an autocrat in the same way that a god king of Egypt would have been.
One could plausibly conceive of Indus kingship as more akin to a first citizen executive [music] answerable to powerful clans and merchant associations. In the absence of palaces, well, according to Upinder Singh, Indus citadel buildings could have functioned as palaces even if they don’t quite look like it to modern-day viewers. Hmm? Mystery number two, was the IVC a peaceful society? If we were to accept the dominant narrative about the IVC today, we would have to believe that the Indus people did not pick a single fight in 1,600 years. No conquests, no rebellions, not
even a defensive war. Sounds too good to be true, right? Historian Jonathan Kenoyer is the main proponent of the peaceful Indus theory. He says that no weapons of war have been found at IVC sites. They They no reason to fight because they had an excess of resources. When there was any conflict, it was resolved through trade and diplomacy.
City walls were built to protect against floods [music] and wild animals, not for defense. Even still, the IVC was too isolated to be invaded anyways. Kenoyer is wrong both logically and in light of the available evidence. >> [music] >> Let’s break it down. Weapons of war. Kenoyer claims that no weapons of war have been found, but the earliest excavations of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro revealed hordes of weapons, maces, daggers, [music] bows, arrows, axes, spears, which John Marshall himself referred to as weapons of
[music] offense. Weapons even find their way into Indus art. At Kalibangan, a cylinder seal depicts Indus warriors spearing each other to death. No reason to fight. Kenoyer and his ilk believe that the Indus was so resource-rich that there was no motivation to fight. But even if we were to accept this at face value, any wealthy region, especially a peaceful one, will attract invaders.
Kenoyer’s counter is that the Indus was too isolated to be invaded. Wrong. Long-distance warfare was not uncommon. One inscription even describes the Mesopotamians conquering an Indus city. And they invaded distant Magan and Padisam, too. In fact, at [music] Padisam, Indus warriors once fought in a battle against the Mesopotamians.
Notice how there’s a direct invasion line running all the way through Elam and Padisam into IVC territory. The westernmost ports of the IVC would have been valuable and accessible prey [music] for Mesopotamian conquerors. Besides, studies of IVC skeletons show that they suffered cranial injuries at significantly higher rates than later periods.
This data points to regular, large-scale violence. >> [music] >> Defensive walls. Large-scale violence should lead to the construction of defensive structures, like city walls. Surprise, surprise, [music] Indus cities did have extensive, multi-layered fortifications. In fact, some of these citadels were so heavily fortified that their walls measure 18 m in thickness.
Kenoyer and other scholars argue that these walls were only meant to ward off wild animals and to protect against floods, but anti-flooding structures are engineered differently and 18 m thick walls are not necessary to protect against wild animals. Plus, it would be foolish for us to discount the defensive watchtowers recently discovered at Mohenjo-Daro, wouldn’t you say? Look, in Elam and Parasum, walls were used for defense.
So, why would city walls suddenly not have a defensive purpose [music] in the IVC? Consider Surkotada, where citadel defenses were upgraded after a disastrous fire. This suggests that the fire was caused by an organized attack and that walls were meant for defense. Mystery number three, who did they worship? Of all the mysteries left behind by the Indus Valley Civilization, their religious life remains one of the most elusive.
Without any deciphered texts, we can only rely on clues hidden in seals, figurines, and structures. So, what have archaeologists found? Well, they’ve unearthed a number of interesting clues. Ritual fire altars, swastikas, fertility goddesses, carved seals etched with symbols of nature, and public baths used for religious purification.
Interestingly, the lack of grand [music] temples and the lack of an obvious priestly class has been interpreted by some scholars [music] as evidence of animism, but one artifact stands out in particular, the Pashupati seal. The Pashupati seal shows a multi-headed horned figure seated in a yogic cross-legged pose and surrounded by animals.
Some scholars, like Asko Parpola, have suggested that it is a form of Shiva. Others have urged caution as it’s not clear that the figure is meant to be divine. Interestingly, this isn’t the only Pashupati seal. Many such seals exist pointing to the importance [music] of this multi-headed horned figure, whether divine or not.
Caution is worthwhile. After [music] all, projecting later traditions onto ancient cultures can be misleading and ahistorical. That being said, shared religious elements are undeniably interesting and difficult to [music] ignore. Purification by water, the ritual use of fire, [music] the sacred swastika symbol, and a deep reverence for nature all would feature prominently in later Vedic Hindu traditions.
Whether these elements were transformed and later integrated into Vedic tradition [music] remains an open question. So, what do you think? Mystery number four. Why did the IVC suddenly disappear from history? After the initial discovery of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, historians struggled to understand how the [music] IVC collapsed and why it was forgotten by those who followed.
How could such an advanced culture simply disappear from collective memory? They believed that [music] the civilization must have been completely destroyed. It was the only explanation for this [music] historical erasure. Meet the Aryan invasion theory, brought to you by Max Müller and Mortimer Wheeler. The Aryan invasion theory posits that a race of Indo-European warriors, the Aryans, swept into the subcontinent, brutally conquered the native peoples, and built a new society on the ruins of the old.
It was a theory that fits suspiciously [music] well into colonial fantasies of racial superiority. The British, after all, were desperate to paint themselves as new Aryans continuing an ancient tradition of foreign civilizing conquerors. For decades, this Aryan invasion theory dominated both textbooks and popular histories.
There’s just one problem. >> [music] >> It’s wrong. Consider this. There are no indications of a catastrophic war. There’s no evidence of a genetic [music] shift. In fact, there’s no evidence of an Aryan race at all, let alone any significant step migration into India during this era. Even the Rigveda, the oldest Sanskrit text, refers to Arya as [music] learned nobles, not as a particular race of people.
And on top of it all, there’s no sharp [music] break in the material culture. So, if it wasn’t an Aryan invasion or even a peaceful migration that destroyed the Indus Valley Civilization, what did? Ironically, [music] just as the abundance of the floodplains gave rise to the Indus Valley Civilization, >> [music] >> it was also responsible for its downfall.
Starting in 3300 BCE, [music] the Indus and Sarasvati rivers powered the IVC. Its agriculture, its cities, its trade. [music] But around 1900 BCE, everything changed. The monsoon [music] shifted. Rivers changed course and dried up. Crop yields fell. Food shortages hit. And the cities of the IVC were thrown into chaos.
But environmental stress alone [music] does not explain everything. As major trade partners like Mesopotamia went through internal turmoil, too, [music] economic networks that once connected the Indus to the world began to crumble. The disruption of trade had a severe impact on the Indus cities. [music] Street grids became irregular.
Buildings shrank in size and quality. Streets flooded with sewage and piled [music] up with garbage, not unlike modern Bangalore. Public administration broke down. Wracked by food shortages and a collapsing economy, the remaining urban residents were forced [music] into dire circumstances. Archaeologists have discovered skeletons littering the cities of the late IVC with signs of violent trauma.
But these were not [music] the result of some foreign invasion. These remains hint at local conflicts and internal strife. Fights between starving citizens, [music] raids from neighboring hill tribes, and more. Urban Indus society fractured under the pressure. As cities became uninhabitable, the people of the Indus ruralized [music] and dispersed.
Some migrated east into the Gangetic plain. Others migrated south [music] into the Deccan Plateau. Fun fact, modern-day Deccan clans like the Reddys still have [music] significant amounts of IVC blood. New regional cultures emerged. These regional cultures inherited fragments of older Indus traditions, agricultural practices, urban designs, and craft techniques.
But over time, even these elements were transformed [music] and adapted to new circumstances. For example, the post-IVC successor cultures would not have had the wealth or population [music] density to justify the implementation of sophisticated sewer systems. It’s not surprising [music] that there would be discontinuity in sanitation management. Circumstances demanded it.
So it was [music] for many other aspects of IVC culture. And that is the blueprint for how the IVC sort of [music] disappeared. Not with the sudden snap of the fingers, but with a slow erasure and transformation [music] over centuries. By 1500 BCE, it’s fair to say that the Indus Valley civilization [music] had well and truly collapsed.
Its legacy long forgotten, even by its descendants. Okay, team huddle. Is it really so surprising that the IVC just vanished from collective memory? Perhaps not. There were no glorious last battles to remember, [music] no catastrophes to immortalize. This is particularly relevant to the Indian context because Indian empires rarely mention their predecessors [music] or even their contemporaries except in the context of a war or rivalry.
Historical amnesia is the default in the subcontinent. [music] So why would it be any different for the IVC? Even the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, one of India’s most beloved rulers, [music] lay forgotten for over 2,000 years. His story was only rediscovered in the 19th [music] century thanks to scattered inscriptions. >> As time goes [music] on, new discoveries are collapsing our tired old narratives about the Indus Valley Civilization.
The long-standing belief that the IVC simply [music] disappeared from history is increasingly questionable. The IVC may have been forgotten, sure, and its script [music] may have become undecipherable, but if we look closely, we can see that elements of its culture remain, albeit transformed. >> [music] >> And now you know.
