Indus civilisation did not develop around flowing river

The Indus Civilisation, one of the world's oldest urban civilisations spanning across northwest India and Pakistan, flourished along a course abandoned by the major Himalayan river Sutlej, and did not develop around a flowing river as previously thought, scientists said on Wednesday.

The Indus or Harappan Civilisation was a Bronze Age society that developed from 5,300 to 3,300 years ago, at about the same time as urban civilisations developed in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Scientists have found that much of the Indus civilisation thrived around an extinct river, challenging ideas about how urbanisation in ancient cultures evolved.

Archaeological evidence shows that many of the settlements in the Indus or Harappan Civilisation developed along the banks of a river called the GhaggarHakra in northwest India and Pakistan. Scientists had assumed that it flowed while the Indus urban centres grew, playing an active role in their development. It has generally been thought that this was a major Himalayan river that dried up either due to climatic or tectonic changes.

The study, led by researchers from Imperial College London (ICL) in the UK and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, showed that a major Himalayan river did not flow at the same time as the development of Indus Civilisation urban settlements. This research shows how ancient urban centres did not necessarily need an active, flowing river system in order to thrive.