Late Harappan phase
Also called: De-urbanisation, Successor cultures · Topic: Harappan (Sindhu-Sarasvati) Civilisation · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 6 "The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation"; Class 7, Ch 4 "New Beginnings: Cities and States"; Class 12, Ch 1 "Bricks, Beads and Bones"
Meaning
The Late Harappan phase is the declining stage of the civilisation, from about c. 1900 to c. 1300 BCE. The cities faded. Seals, writing, standard weights, special beads, long-distance trade and specialised crafts all disappeared. Houses were built less well and public buildings stopped. Local weights replaced standard ones. Life became rural, and people moved towards Gujarat, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. The cities ended, but the people and many of their traditions went on.
Example
By c. 1800 BCE, Harappan sites in the Cholistan desert had been abandoned. Settlements spread further east. It took more than a thousand years for new cities to appear, and they came up in a different region: the Ganga valley, during the Second Urbanisation.
Don't confuse with
- Early Harappan phase: this was the formative stage (c. 6000–2600 BCE), when farming villages were growing towards cities. The Late phase came after the cities and saw them decline.
Related concepts
- Decline of the Harappan civilisation
- 4.2 kiloyear event
- Cemetery H culture
- Jhukar culture
- Sinauli
- Thirsty crow pot
- Aryan invasion theory
- Mortimer Wheeler
- Mythical massacre at Mohenjo-daro