The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the Harappan Civilization, after Harappa, the first of its sites to be excavated in the 1920s, in what was then the Punjab province of British India, and is now in Pakistan.

5. The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze age civilization extending from what today is northeast Afghanistan
to Pakistan and northwest India .Along with Ancient Egypt andMesopotamia it was one of three early civilizations of
the old world, and of the three the most widespread, covering an area of 1.25 million sq. km. It flourished in the basins
of the Indus River. Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley developed new techniques in handicraft and
metallurgy. The Indus cities are noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems,
water supply systems, and clusters of large non-residential buildings.
The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the Harappan Civilization, after Harappa, the first of its sites to be
excavated in the 1920s, in what was then the Punjab province of British India, and is now in Pakistan.
The Harappan language is not directly attested and its affiliation is uncertain since the Indus script is still un
deciphered.

9. Social and Economic Life of Indus Valley Civilization
The social and economic life of the people of Indus
Valley Civilization (Harappan Civilization) was
systematic and organized. In this article we will
discuss about the food, social Dress, ornaments,
house hold articles, amusements, trade, social class
and structure, religion and funerary customs of the
people of Indus Valley Civilization. This will give us
an overview of the Socio-economic activities of the
Indus People.

11. GREAT BATH
The Great Bath of Mohenjo-Daro is called the
"earliest public water tank of the ancient
world“. The Great Bath measures 11.88 meters
x 7.01 meters, and has a maximum depth of
2.43 meters. Two wide staircases, one from
the north and one from the south, served as
the entry to the structure. A 1 meter wide and
40 centimeters mound is present at end of
these stairs.

14. The Harappans were excellent city planners. They based
their city streets on a grid system. Streets were oriented
east to west. Each street had a well organized drain system.
If the drains were not cleaned, the water ran into the houses
and silt built up. Then the Harappans would build another
story on top of it. This raised the level of the city over the
years, and today archaeologists call these high structures
"mounds".

16. Marshall identified the figure as an early form of the
Hindu god Shiva (or Rudra), who is associated with
asceticism, yoga, and linga; regarded as a lord of
animals; and often depicted as having three heads.
The seal has hence come to be known as
the Pashupati Seal, after Pashupati (lord of the
beasts), an epithet of Shiva.

17. Marshall hypothesized the existence of a cult of
Mother Goddess worship based upon excavation of
several female figurines, and thought that this was a
precursor of the Hindu sect of Shaktism.

19. Trade amongst the civilizations is also suggested by the finding of
hundreds of small seals, supposedly produced by the Indus peoples, at
the excavation sites of ancient Mesopotamian cities that were existent
around the same time. These ancient seals generally are two sided and
square shaped. The dimensions of the seals vary; however, most are
less than two by two inches. Generally, these seals are created using
steatite and reliable curing methods. Occasionally though, silver and
other materials were used for construction and perhaps pigment.

21. Lothal (Gujarat): is one of the most prominent cities of the
ancient Indus valley civilization. Located in Bhal region of
the modern state of Gujarat and dating from 2400 BCE.
Discovered in 1954, Lothal was excavated from 13 February
1955 to 19 May 1960 by the Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI), the official Indian government agency for the
preservation of ancient monuments. Lothal's dock—the
world's earliest known, connected the city to an ancient
course of the Sabarmati river on the trade route between
Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra
when the surrounding Kutch desert of today was a part of
the Arabian Sea.

23. Mohenjo-Daro (Mound of the Dead) : is an archeological site in the
province of Sindh, Pakistan. Built around 2600 BCE, it was
one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley
Civilization, and one of the world's earliest major urban
settlements, contemporaneous with the civilizations of
ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Crete. Mohenjo-Daro was
abandoned in the 19th century BCE, and was not
rediscovered until 1922. Significant excavation has since
been conducted at the site of the city, which was designated
a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. The site is currently
threatened by erosion and improper restoration.