14. The Indus Valley Civilization was the most widespread of the three “cradles of civilization”, yet we still understand only fragments and their language remains indecipherable
The Indus Valley Civilization, also known as the Harappan Civilization, was a Bronze Age civilization located in the northwestern regions of South Asia, spanning from modern-Afghanistan and Pakistan to northwest India. Believed to have existed from approximately 3300-1300 BCE, with its peak during 2600-1900, the civilization ultimately faded and its estimated 5,000,000 population dispersed across Asia to create countless successor nations. Although excavations of this ancient civilization began in the 1920s and continue to this day, with a total of 1,022 cities and settlements discovered as of 2008 – 406 in Pakistan and 616 in India – we still do not truly understand this formative culture. Most crucially, despite decades of effort we have been unable to translate the Indus written language; with no bilingual accompanying inscriptions like that of Hieroglyphics, it is possible we may never be able to fully comprehend this influential early civilization.
An industrious and innovative civilization, the Indus Valley Civilization was responsible for several landmark technological advances including metallurgy, smelting and producing objects made from copper, bronze, lead, and tin, baking bricks for the construction of houses, and the use of drainage and water supply systems; interestingly, the civilization appears to be one of an immensely peaceful predisposition, with few weapons uncovered during excavations in comparison to an abundance of ornaments and toys. It is believed the Indus Valley Civilization engaged eagerly in trade, with evidence suggesting that they exchanged goods as far away as southern Mesopotamia; despite this, there is scant record of the civilizations formal composition, rulers, or religion, resulting in only unverified theories and speculation on these subjects.
The civilization is believed to have entered into a period of decline from approximately 1900 BCE, with many cities abandoned within less than two hundred years; coinciding with this decline, several neighboring civilizations are known to have emerged at this time, including the Jhukar and Rangpur. Many theories have been suggested for this deterioration, with the predominant hypothesis revolving around the effects of man-made climate alterations; supported by archeological evidence demonstrating an increase in internal violence in cities and infectious diseases such as leprosy, it is generally believed that the push for urbanization resulted in the overuse of limited water supplies which in turn led to the aridification of the region and ultimately the premature collapse of the civilization.