Question

Discuss the extent of the IndusValley Valley Civilisationr

Answer 1

The continuous researches and excavations have revealed the extent of the Indus Valley Civilization.

The term “Indus Valley Civilization” was used by John Marshall for the first time.

But the later researches have shown that the extent was bigger than what was postulated by John Marshall.

The centre of the civilization was in Sind and Punjab in undivided India, from this center the civilization spread towards all direction.

In West the last extent is seaboard of South Baluchistan at the Suktagendor which can be called its western border.

In east Alamagirpur in Uttar Pradesh (District Meerut) can be called its Eastern Border.

In North it extended up to Manda in Jammu & Kashmir

and in south it extended up to Bhagvatrav in Narmada Estuary of Gujarat. However, later at Diamabad (District Ahamed Nagar Maharashtra) was the site where four figurines of Bronze on the bank of Pravara River found. This pushed the civilization’s extension in further south.Indus civilization remnants have been discovered from as far south as Mumbai in Maharashtra State.

Approximately 1400 settlements have been discovered so far. Most of these settlements are located on River banks. This civilization was largest of the four ancient urban civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, South Asia and China and covered an area of around 13 Lakh square kilometers. This area is triangular in shape and no other ancient civilization was extended to such a large area.

Answer 2

The Indus Valley Civilization was not confined to these two sites in the north-western area of the subcontinent. The influence of this culture extended to the Punjab, Sindh, North West Frontier Province (now in Pakistan), Baluchistan, Rajasthan, U.P., Gujarat and even some parts of south India.

This civilization was spread over an area of about 1600 kilometers from West to East and 1100 kilometers from North to South. However, recent excavations in Gujarat have shown that the extent of the civilization is much more than what people had thought it to be earlier. Research scholars are of the opinion that this civilization has spread over an area of 1,300,000 square kilometers, which is more than that of any ancient civilization known so far.