One major difference between India and America is the length of their history. When we think about American history, we only think about events that occurred after the British settlers moved here. We do not think about the Native American traditions and the histories of their civilizations. However, when thinking about the history of India, we have to begin very far in the past, with the four great ancient civilations. The Indus Valley civilization began to thrive around 2500 BCE in Pakistan and Western India (remember that Pakistan was a part of India until the Partition of India occurred, which you can read about in a post from last semester). When two old cities from this time were unearthed in the 1920s by the Indian Archealogical Department, the civilization that was discovered was found to be ahead of its time.

The towns were built in an orderly manner and were well planned out. The Harappans (named for the first town they unearthed, Harappa) were able to obtain water near their homes, instead of having to walk to the river to get it.  They even had a public bath house for the citizens to clean themselves in, which shows they knew the benefits to good hygiene. Harappan cities also had commercial buildings, such as dockyards, granaries, and warehouses, in which they were able to trade with other cities around them.

Aside from being an advanced community, the Indus Valley Civilization also contributed to present day science and math ideas. The Harappans are credited with creating and fine tuning a set of standard weights and measurements, some which were measured in decimals, and the use of geometry in making these weights. According to Wikipedia, the weights they made were in various forms: hexagonal, barrel, cylindrical, and conical. The citizens in Mohenjo-Daro also invented a ruler, that had a unit which measured about 1.32 inches, and which was cut into 10 equal parts for measuring even smaller objects (taken pfrom Wikipedia).

This civilization produced many other artifacts as well, such as sculptures, pottery, and jewelry. Many of these artifacts have been found, while archeologists were excavating the two cities. Transportation in this civilization was thought to be bullock carts, much like mordern Indians use today to sell their wares in town. Based on archeological findings, they even traded overseas as well, and their form of transportation for marine travel was thought to be a plank like boat which contained a single mast.

One of the biggest advancements that this city had was the creation of a writing system. During the archeological excavation, scientists found many seals and signs with symbols on them. It is thought that their language has at least 400 distinct symbols, some of which are used for thier sound, while others are pictorial representations of what is happening. Currently, scholars are unable to decipher, thier written word due to many factors: a lack of a translational text (similar to the Rosetta stone), and the prescence of very short texts, of which scholars can not make out anything.

This civilization had a lot to offer to the world, but it died out around 1800 BCE. No one knows why it did, but there are many theories made. For example, some scholars believe it was because due to natural disasters that occured in the area, or it was due to changes in the course of the river.