Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization

In 2300 B.C. the Indus Valley Civilization began developing itself into two large areas which ran along the river valleys of the Indus, Ravi and Sutlej. These river valleys were just below the Himalayan Mountains in what is now Pakistan and Northeast India. The Indus Valley Civilization was always under caution because of the unpredictable floods and the seasonal winds or monsoons. The positive side of these unpredictable floods and seasonal winds was the fertile soil along the Indus River. Research has found that the cities of the Indus Valley Civilizations had very well planned plumbing systems, sewers, and waste disposal, which was one of the thought to be one of the adaptations that only the Indus Valley Civilizations had started to use. This civilization was also an agriculturally based economy. Subsistence agriculture wasn't the only thing that the Indus River Civilization had used to support themselves, the Indus people also traded goods. The staple crop, cotton, was said to be the crop that tied the Mesopotamian and Indus Civilizations together, which in turn explains how the Indus peoples expanded their culture, through trade. The Indus Valley being so close to the coastline and having many rivers provided regular trafficking by water easier for the Indus people. Trade was also noted between Indus and Mesopotamia again by archaeologists' findings of Indus pottery in an ancient Mesopotamian city of Tell Asmar.

It was said that the Indus Valley Civilization ended probably due to the floods which deteriorated the cities and wiped out all the crops' irrigation supply which was one of their more important lifelines. Also the floods destroyed buildings and homes which killed the Indus people's drive to live and rebuild because it had taken them so long to put that together.