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Indus Valley Civilization Analysis

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The Indus Valley civilisation was one of the most widespread of ancient civilisations, along with Egypt, Mesopotamia and China (Coningham and Young, 2015: 177). However, the civilisation began to decline around 1900 BC, resulting in the abandonment of carefully planned cities and the transition to smaller farming communities (Lawler, 2008: 1281). Several theories have been advanced to explain the collapse of this great civilisation, and it seems likely that several factors contributed to its decline and end (Agarwal, 2007: 300). The people of the Indus Valley relied heavily on the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra Rivers, so changes relating to these rivers may have may have caused the civilisation to decline and eventually collapse (Agarwal, 2007: 293-305). Many scholars believe that certain changes, such as flooding, climate change, or a shift in the courses of the major rivers, and their consequences may have played a role (Coningham and Young, 2015: 263-274). Additionally, a possible war or invasion has been hypothesised (Wheeler, 1947). However, there is still uncertainty surrounding the collapse of the civilisation, which could perhaps be diminished if the Indus script is deciphered. Figure 1. Map showing the principal sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation. Sites and rivers referred to in the essay have been highlighted (Possehl, 1997: 426). In 1947, one of the first theories concerning the end of the Indus civilisation

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