OPPapers.com

Geogrphy Of The Indus

The Indus Valley Civilization encompassed most of Pakistan as well as the western states of India, extending from Balochistan to Gujarat, with an upward reach to Punjab from east of the river Jhelum to Rupar on the upper Sutlej; recently, Indus sites have been discovered in Pakistan's northwestern Frontier Province as well. Coastal settlements extended from Sutkagan Dor[15] in Western Baluchistan to Lothal[16] in Gujarat. An Indus Valley site has been found on the Oxus river at Shortughai in northern Afghanistan,[17] in the Gomal river valley in north-west Pakistan,[18] at Manda on the Beas River near Jammu,[19] India, and at Alamgirpur on the Hindon River, only 28 km from Delhi.[20] Indus Valley sites have been found most often on rivers, but also on the ancient sea-coast,[21] for example Balakot,[22] and on islands, for example, Dholavira.[23]

There is evidence of dry river beds overlapping with the Hakra channel in Pakistan and the seasonal Ghaggar River in India. Many Indus Valley (or Harappan) sites have been discovered along the Ghaggar-Hakra beds.[24] Among them are: Rupar, Rakhigarhi, Sothi, Kalibangan, and Ganwariwala.[25] According to J. G. Shaffer and D. A. Lichtenstein[26] the Harappan Civilization "is a fusion of the Bagor, Hakra, and Koti Dij traditions or 'ethnic groups' in the Ghaggar-Hakra valley on the borders of India and Pakistan."[24]

According to some archaeologists over 500 Harappan sites have been discovered along the dried up river beds of the Ghaggar-Hakra River and its tributaries,[27] in contrast to only about 100 along the Indus and its tributaries,[28] consequently, in their opinion, the appellation Indus Ghaggar-Hakra civilisation or Indus-Saraswati civilisation is justified. However, these politically inspired arguments are disputed by other archaeologists who state that the Ghaggar-Hakra desert area has been left untouched by settlements and agriculture since the end of the Indus period and hence shows more sites than found in...