Discovery of Mohenjodaro

The second important city which was excavated in 1922-23 was Mohenjodaro. The name
of the city is pronounced either as Mohenjodaro meaning ‘the mound of the dead’ or
Mohenjodaro attributing it to Mohan tribe of Sindh.

There are also differences among historians about the nomenclature of the civilisation.
Some experts call it ‘Harappan Civilisation’ because Harappa was the first site which was
excavated. However, after the excavation of more sites, it was named as the ‘Indus Valley
Civilisation’.

This Bronze Age civilisation is not as old as Mesopotamian or Egyptian civilisations; the
archaeologists believe it to have been established around 2,500 BC. Indus Valley
Civilisation, being a newly-discovered civilisation, is the centre of attention for experts
who want to excavate its ancient sites to discover new findings. So far, they have
unearthed 500 sites ranging from 2500 to 1900 BC. These sites were found in
Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan and western Utter Pardesh. It
shows the expansion of the civilisation in the Indian subcontinent.

Expansion of Indus Valley Civilisation

History tells us that a kingdom, after gaining its political power, united different groups
of people and linked their social, cultural, and economic interests with each other.
However, experts are still confused as they haven’t found any trace of any empire or
political power in the Indus Valley Civilisation. Therefore, the question arises about the
reason behind the expansion of the Indus Valley Civilisation to such a vast area and
having varied groups of people living together. How such a vast area was administered by
a single system? They tried to find out the causes but, of course, their responses are based
on speculations. Some suggested that perhaps all of them spoke the same language which
created in them an affinity. Some argued that perhaps trade and commerce linked them;
or perhaps some internal or external danger forced them to depend on each other.
However, without evidence, it is difficult to reach any conclusion.

City

History tells us that civilisations originate in cities; therefore, if a civilisation has many
cities, it means it’s a growing and expanding one. Cities are important because they
reflect different shades of culture and by studying them we get to know about the
lifestyles of people and their activities.

Indus Valley Civilisation is different from Mesopotamian or Chinese civilisations because

like them it had no ‘city republics’. On the other hand, its cities were linked with each
other very closely. Another point of difference is that like Mesopotamia and Egypt, Indus
Valley Civilisation had no magnificent temples and tombs. Even its public buildings were
built in simple style. Moreover, there were no high-rise buildings. As stone was not
available in this area, these buildings were constructed with bricks. They were either
sunburnt or baked in fire. Special care was taken to maintain proportion in their size.
These bricks are so strong that the buildings made from them are still standing in spite of
the changing weather conditions.