Major Sites of Indus Valley Civilization

What is Indus Valley Civilization?

The Indus valley civilization is also known as Harappan Civilization and is famous for its systematic planning based on the grid system.

The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization spreading from today’s North-East Afghanistan to Pakistan and North-West India. This civilization flourished in the river basins of the Indus and the Ghaggar-Hakra River.

There are seven important cities in the Indus valley civilization:

1. Mohanjodaro
2. Harappa
3. Kalibangan
4. Lothal
5. Chanhudaru
6. Dholavira
7. Banawali

Surkotada, Lothal, and Dholavira are the important port towns in the Indus valley. Harappa, Mohanjodaro, Banawali and Dholavira are considered as the four main Harappan Sites. Till 1999, over 1,056 urban areas and settlements had been found. 96 sites have been excavated, mostly in the region of the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra Rivers and their tributaries. Among the settlements were the most important urban centres of Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Ganeriwala, Dholavira, and Rakhigarhi.

Major Sites of Indus Valley Civilization

Here we are giving the list of major sites in the Indus valley civilizations along with its location, major findings which are very useful for UPSC IAS Prelims examination.

Year	Site	Location	Excavated by	Major findings
1921	Harappa	Sahiwal District, Punjab in the banks of Ravi	Daya Ram Sahni	Piece of Pottery with Indus Script Cubical Limestone Weight Faience Slag Sandstone statues of Human anatomy Copper Bullock cart Granaries Coffin burials (Only founded in Harrapa) Terracotta Figurines
1922	Mohenjo-Daro	Larkana District Of Sind on the bank of Indus	R. D Banerjee	Great bath Granary Unicorn Seals (Most numbers of it in here) Bronze dancing girl statue Seal of a man with deers, elephants, tiger and rhinos around- Considered to be Pashupati Seal) Steatite statue of beard man Bronze buffalo
1929	Sutkagendor	Baluchistan on Dast river	Stein	Trade point between Harappa and Babylon Flint Blades Stone Vessels Stone Arrowheads Shell Beads Pottery Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) associated Copper-Bronze Disc
1931	Chanhudaro	Mullan Sandha, Sind on the Indus river	N G Majumdar	Bangle Factory InkPot Bead makers shop The footprint of a dog chasing a cat Cart with a seated driver Note: It is the only city without a citadel
1935	Amri	Close to Balochistan, on the bank of Indus river	N G Majumdar	Antelope evidence Rhinoceros’ evidence
1953	Kalibangan	Hanumangarh District, Rajasthan on the bank of Ghaggar river	Amlanand Ghose	Lower fortified town Wooden drainage Copper Ox Evidence of earthquake Wooden plough Camel’s bone Fire alters Camel’s bones Furrowed land
1953	Lothal	Gujarat on Bhogva river near the Gulf of Cambay	R. Rao	Port Town Graveyard Ivory weight balance Copper dog First manmade port Dockyard Rice husk Fire alters Chess-playing
1964	Surkotada	Gujarat	J P Joshi	Bones of horses Beads Stone Covered Beads
1974	Banawali	Fatehabad district of Haryana	R S Bisht	Beads Barley Oval shaped settlement The only city with radial streets Toy plough The largest number of barley grains
1985	Dholavira	Gujarat in Rann of Kutchchh	R S Bisht	Exclusive water management Only site to be divided into three parts Giant water reservoir Unique water harnessing system Dams Embankments Stadium Rock – Cut architecture