Bronze Age and Indus valley Civilization (3300-1200 B.C)
The beginning of Indus valley Civilization (3300-1700 B.C) or Harappan Culture coincided with the Bronze Age around 3300 B.C. The Bronze Age literally referred to the times when most advanced metal working used Bronze (an alloy of tin and copper).
The Indus Valley Civilization encompassed most of Pakistan, extending from Balochistan to and extending into modern day Indian states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, with an upward reach to Rupar on the upper Sutlej. The civilizations mainly flourished in the towns of Harrippa and Mohenjadaro. The main inhabitants of the civilizations were from the Dravidians.Indus Valley civilization was considered to be the first ever urban civilization. The towns developed during that time were well planned and well executed. The ruins of Mohenjodaro and Harappa show that these were magnificent merchant cities-well planned, scientifically laid, and well looked after.
They had wide roads and a well-developed drainage system. The houses were made of baked bricks and had two or more stories. Thus, the study of Indus civilization is not important to the historians and archeologists but to a common man as well.
The spectacular city planning of that time surpassed all present civilizations as well. The Harappan people knew the measuring tools of length, mass, and time. They were the first in the world in developing a system of uniform weights and measures. Their measurements were extremely precise.
In Indus valley civilization, the society was divided into three distinct social groups. One group ruled and administered the city; the other group included the merchants who were associated with trade and other business activities in the city. The third group was that of the labourers who worked in the city.
By around 1700 B.C various factors like the invasion by Aryans, ecological changes resulted in the decline of Indus Valley civilization.