The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization (mature period 2600–1900 BCE) which was centred mostly in the western part[1] of the Indian Subcontinent[2][3] and which flourished around the Indus river basin.[n 1] Primarily centered along the Indus and the Punjab region, the civilization extended into the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley[7] and the Ganges-Yamuna Doab,[8][9] encompassing most of what is now Pakistan, as well as extending into the westernmost states of modern-day India, southeastern Afghanistan and the easternmost part of Balochistan, Iran.
The mature phase of this civilization is known as the Harappan Civilization as the first of its cities to be unearthed was the one at Harappa, excavated in the 1920s in what was at the time the Punjab province of British India (now in Pakistan).[10] Excavation of IVC sites have been ongoing since 1920, with important breakthroughs occurring as recently as 1999.[11]
The Harappan language is not directly attested and its affiliation is unknown, though Proto-Dravidian, Elamo-Dravidian, or (Para-)Munda relations have been posited by scholars such as Iravatham Mahadevan, Asko Parpola, F.B.J. Kuiper and Michael Witzel.
The mature phase of this civilization is known as the Harappan Civilization as the first of its cities to be unearthed was the one at Harappa, excavated in the 1920s in what was at the time the Punjab province of British India (now in Pakistan).[10] Excavation of IVC sites have been ongoing since 1920, with important breakthroughs occurring as recently as 1999.[11]
The Harappan language is not directly attested and its affiliation is unknown, though Proto-Dravidian, Elamo-Dravidian, or (Para-)Munda relations have been posited by scholars such as Iravatham Mahadevan, Asko Parpola, F.B.J. Kuiper and Michael Witzel.
