The Indus: Lost Civilizations
Graham Chandler
Andrew Robinson
2015, Reaktion Books, 978-1-78023-502-8, $25, pb.
The Indus or Harappan civilization, the third oldest after those of Mesopotamia and Egypt, astounds. This peaceful, egalitarian, technologically sophisticated trading empire of around one million thrived from about 2600 to 1900 BCE in more than 1,000 settlements spread over 800,000 square kilometers of what is now Pakistan, northeastern Afghanistan and the Indian states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Its two largest cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, each held 50,000 residents, rivalling Mesopotamia’s Ur, the largest city of the time; and they outclassed it with advanced water and sewer systems. Regular trade networks stretched overland and along the Persian Gulf as far as Mesopotamia. Robinson presents no new theories here; he draws on the works of leading Indus scholars to compose a compact, highly readable and well-illustrated picture of the civilization from genesis to puzzling decline, and legacies including aspects of Hinduism and today’s boats and carts. At a generalist level, he delves into all facets of the society including, importantly, a solid chapter on main attempts at deciphering the elusive Indus script which, if any succeed, will unlock many of the civilization’s mysteries.
You may also be interested in...
In the Aftermath of Rome's Collapse, These Communities Shaped the Mediterranean
Three regions of the post-Roman Mediterranean, from 400 CE to 1000 CE—the Latin West, Byzantium and the early Islamic world—are the focus of this work.
Dissolved Monopoly’s Legacy Hinges on How India Honors Its Political Architecture
From the first fortified trading post in northeastern India, historian Rosie Llewellyn-Jones tracks the physical changes wrought by the English East India Company.
Omani Author Zahran Alqasmi's Story About Life, Land and Honey
In his third novel, about a beekeeper living in Oman’s mountainous interior, local author Zahran Alqasmi grapples with a changing landscape around him.