Indus Valley Civilization

State · 3,000–1,701 BCE · at its largest around 2,300 BCE

Bronze Age urban culture in the Indus basin of present-day Pakistan and northwest India, known for planned cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-daro and an undeciphered script.

On its lands while it lasted

Mehrgarh (c. 7,000–2,600 BCE): Neolithic site in Balochistan, one of the earliest farming settlements in South Asia, with wheat, barley, zebu cattle, early cotton and drilled teeth.
Early Harappan phase (c. 3,300–2,600 BCE): Farming towns of the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra plains, such as Harappa, Kot Diji and Rehman Dheri, laid the foundations of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
Dholavira (c. 2,650–1,900 BCE): Harappan city in the Rann of Kutch, notable for its elaborate water-conservation system of reservoirs and channels. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Indus Valley Civilisation (c. 2,600–1,900 BCE): Bronze Age urban civilisation of the Indus basin, notable for planned cities, standardised weights, drainage systems and an undeciphered script. Its mature phase lasted from about 2600 to 1900 BCE.
Harappa (c. 2,600–1,900 BCE): Major city of the Indus Valley Civilisation in Punjab, whose excavation in the 1920s gave the civilisation its alternative name, the Harappan civilisation.
Indus script (c. 2,600–1,900 BCE): Short sequences of symbols found on seals, pottery and tablets of the Indus Valley Civilisation. The script remains undeciphered.
Mohenjo-daro (c. 2,500–1,900 BCE): One of the largest cities of the Indus Valley Civilisation, built around 2500 BCE with a grid plan, brick houses and covered drains. It was abandoned in the 19th century BCE.
Dancing Girl (c. 2,500 BCE): Small bronze statuette of a young woman, cast by the lost-wax method and found at Mohenjo-daro in 1926; a celebrated work of the Indus Valley Civilisation, now in the National Museum, New Delhi.
Lothal (c. 2,200–1,900 BCE): Harappan port town in Gujarat with a large brick basin often interpreted as one of the earliest known dockyards.