Chapter 2: The Indus–Sarasvati Civilisation: Urban Life, Symbols and Cultural Continuity

Abstract

The Indus–Sarasvati, or Harappan, civilisation flourished across the north-western subcontinent in the third and early second millennia BCE and was among the earliest urban societies in the world. This chapter reviews how it was discovered and named, how its chronology and geography are understood, and what its planned cities, water systems, craft industries and long-distance trade reveal about daily life. It then examines the undeciphered script, the seals and the limits of any reading of Harappan religion. Recent palaeoclimate research from 2025 is used to discuss decline as a gradual transformation rather than a sudden collapse, and the Haryana sites receive particular attention. The chapter closes by separating what is firmly established from what is merely plausible or speculative when asking what continued into later Indian culture, and by considering heritage protection and public memory.