The Bronze Age
The Bronze age is considered by many historians as been shaped by the rise and fall of the Indus Valley Civilization and the migration of the nomadic people from Central Asia.
The Indus Valley Civilization
The earliest urban society in India, known as the Indus Valley Civilization, started with the irrigation of the Indus Valley, which led to the rise of the first major urban centers, such as Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.
The Indus Civilization had a written language and was highly sophisticated: brick – build cities, with road – side drainage systems, multi – storied houses, granaries, citadels and even household toilets.
In Mohenjo-Daro, a mile – long canal connected the city to the sea, and trading ships sailed as far as Mesopotamia.
Besides Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, other impressive settlements were Dholavira, Ganweriwala, Lothal, Kalibanga and Rakhigarhi.
Indus Civilization cities spread as far south as present – day Bombay, as far east as Delhi, as far west as the Iranian border and as far north as the Himalayas.
This civilization was dependent upon the alluvial soils of the rivers, which produced high yield crops. Unfortunately, the region of the Indus River basin dried up and the sites were abandoned.
The Vedic Civilization
Around 1500 BC the Aryans invaded North India and brought with them strong cultural traditions.
The Aryans introduced the caste system and established the basis of the Indian religions. Today the Vedas are the principal texts of Hinduism. Also the great Indian epics – Ramayana and Mahabharata – are said to have their ultimate origins during this period.
In the beginning, the Vedic society was mostly pastoral. After the Rig – Veda, the society became agricultural and was organized around the four Varnas. Thus, large kingdoms like Kuru and Panchala appeared.
The Aryans inhabited the northern regions for about 700 years, then moved further south and east when they developed iron tools and weapons; finally, they settled in the Gange Valley.*This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "History of India".