The Indus Valley, or Harrapan, civilization was discovered in 1920-21 when engraved seals were discovered near present-day Sahiwal in Pakistani Punjab at a place called Harappa. Excavations at Mohenjodaro in Sind discovered the buried remains of a civilization with a pictographic script. The Harappans first settled sites along the Indus River. This civilization extended to the Yamuna along the bed of the river Ghaggar in Rajhastan, Gujrat and up to the mouths of the rivers Narbada and Tapati. The Harappan culture extended from the Indus Valley through northeastern Afghanistan, on into Turkestan.Most of the major sites of this civilization are in Pakistan. In fact it is in Pakistan that an earlier phase of it has also been unearthed. This happened between 1955-57 when a Pakistani archaeologist, F.A.Khan, discovered a town of the pre-Indus period 3300 to 2800 BC at Kot Diji in Khairpur, Sind. Such sites were also discovered by Rafique Mughal in Bahawalpur, in the Cholistan desert, extending the area of this culture to the whole of southern Pakistan. The first appearance of this civilization was the early Harappan/Ravi Phase. This Ravi Phase, named after the nearby Ravi River, lasted from approximately 3300 BC, or even 3500 BC, to 2800 BC. This phase is related to the Hakra Phase, identified in the Ghaggar-Hakra river valley to the west, and predates the Kot Diji Phase (2800 -2600 BC), named after a site in northern Sindh near Mohenjo-daro. Increasing knowledge of the Ravi and Kot Diji Phase occupations at Harappa, and of contemporary settlements throughout northwestern South Asia, permits glimpses of later Indus Civilization. Some of the most exciting discoveries in Ravi Phase levels have been of early writing. The origins of the Indus script-like signs dates from 3300-2800 BC. This would make the origins of writing in South Asia approximately the same time as in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Indus Valley civilization is traditiona...
