End of the Harappan Civilisation

Just as every great civilisation rises slowly over centuries, its decline too isn’t always sudden — and the Harappan Civilisation is a perfect example. Let’s try to understand this

🧱 Uniformity to Fragmentation: What Changed?

From 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE, the Harappan civilisation stood out for its remarkable uniformity — in brick size, weights, seals, pottery, terracotta, and even urban layout. Whether you went to Harappa, Mohenjodaro, or Kalibangan, you saw a shared cultural fabric.

But after 1900 BCE, this cohesion began to fade:

• Major sites like Harappa, Mohenjodaro, and those in Cholistan were abandoned.
• Others survived in a degenerate form, particularly in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Western UP.
• At surviving sites, there was a marked decline in:
  • Use of seals, writing, weights
  • Long-distance trade and craft specialisation
  • Public architecture

This transition is what historians call the Late Harappan phase — more rural, less urban, and certainly less sophisticated.

🧩 Why Did the Harappan Civilisation Decline?

Contrary to earlier theories of war or invasions, today’s historians and archaeologists believe multiple environmental and internal factors played a role.

Let’s look at the major ones:

🌦️ Climatic Change

From around 2200 BCE, the monsoon started weakening. Less rainfall led to frequent droughts. Agricultural surplus — the very backbone of Harappan cities — declined. People likely moved from towns to villages in search of survival.

🏞️ Drying Up of the Sarasvati River

Cities like Kalibangan and Banawali were situated along the Sarasvati. As the river dried up, urban life became unsustainable.

This event, mentioned in both geological studies and Vedic texts, is widely accepted today.

🌾 Soil Salinity and Desertification

As the Thar desert expanded, soil salinity increased, reducing fertility. Agriculture suffered — and without food, cities can’t survive.

🌊 Excessive Floods & River Shifting

There is evidence that the Indus River shifted its course, possibly due to earthquakes or tectonic uplifts, leading to floods and devastation of urban areas like Mohenjodaro.

🔎 Conclusion?

Each factor may have contributed differently at different sites. Hence, we say:

“Harappan civilisation didn’t end everywhere at once; it declined differently in different regions.”

Still, climate change and drying rivers are the most accepted causes today.

🛡️ The Aryan Invasion Theory: From Popular to Problematic

🧬 The Origin of the Theory

In 1925, archaeologists discovered 16 skeletons at Mohenjodaro. In 1947, Sir R.E.M. Wheeler tried linking these with Rigvedic hymns about fort destruction — suggesting an Aryan invasion.

Western scholars ran with this idea:

“Central Asian Aryans invaded India and destroyed the peaceful Harappan people.”

However, modern archaeology disagrees:

• Harappans had no weapons, no armies, and no temples.
• No signs of large-scale violence or destruction across all cities.
• The 16 skeletons? Possibly victims of flooding, local violence, or epidemic — not war.

🧬 Genetic Evidence: What DNA from Rakhigarhi Says

A groundbreaking study examined DNA from a Harappan burial in Rakhigarhi (Haryana):

• Harappans are indigenous to the region.
• No sign of mass-scale migration or invasion.
• Harappan genes are still present in modern Indians.
• Harappans had minor genetic mixing due to trade but retained a continuous cultural and genetic identity.

So, the DNA says:

“No Aryan invasion. No demographic replacement.”

🚶‍♂️ Migration, Not Invasion: A Balanced View

While violent invasion is ruled out, a more nuanced theory emerged:

🧳 Aryan Migration Theory

• Between 2000 and 1500 BCE, groups speaking Indo-European languages began migrating into India from Central Asia.
• These were successive waves, not a single mass movement.
• They possibly entered a post-urban, weakened Harappan landscape, gradually mingling with locals.

🧭 Out of India Theory (OIT): An Opposite View

Some Indian scholars proposed that Indo-Aryans originated in India and spread westward. But:

• There’s no genetic or archaeological proof of prehistoric Indians migrating west in large numbers.
• Trade and travel happened, but not mass movement.

🧪 Latest Scientific Verdict: 2021 Study

A major paper (2021) titled “The Formation of Human Populations in South and Central Asia”, published in Science, brought fresh clarity:

• Supported the idea of Indo-European migration from Central Asia into India between 2000–1500 BCE.
• Compared it to a similar earlier migration to Europe (c. 3000 BCE).
• Suggested language spread happened via migration, not invasion.

🔚 Final Takeaway: A Complex Decline, Not a Simple Fall

The Harappan Civilisation did not fall with fire and blood. It evolved, declined, and dispersed.

• Nature, not war, played the biggest role.
• The people never disappeared; they became rural, adapted, and merged with later cultures.
• The language, genes, and urban memory of Harappans live on, not in bricks and seals alone, but in the very population of the subcontinent.

📝 For Mains Answer Writing, conclude with:

“The decline of Harappan civilisation reminds us that climatic and ecological stability is central to the longevity of civilisations — and that civilisational collapse doesn’t always mean civilisational extinction.”