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INITIAL ATLAS · DIVISIONS AND REGIONS

Map of the Indus civilisation

Atlas of the Indus civilisation

An urban network of enormous extent, without a known capital

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

EDITORIAL VISUALISATION DECLARED · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS

Editorial visualisation · Contextual correspondence

Declared editorial visualisation, based on the cartography and sources of the fact sheet; it is not an exact historical frontier.

Indus Map Image
EDITORIAL VISUALISATION DECLARED · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS

Editorial visualisation · Contextual correspondence

Declared editorial visualisation, based on the cartography and sources of the fact sheet; it is not an exact historical frontier.

History and context

The map begins in Harappan Regionalisation and allows advancing through 5 phases. The documented places —Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira— appear only when they help to read the active period.

The centres shared weights, materials and practices, but we do not know their political name nor a unique imperial hierarchy.

Evidence and interpretation

The coast derives from Natural Earth. The layers distinguish origin, core, direct control, influence, networks, disputed territories and external domains; they are approximate curatorial envelopes, not modern borders. The faint outline retains the previous phase to make each expansion, contraction or absorption visible. The centres shared weights, materials and practices, but we do not know their political name nor a unique imperial hierarchy.

Catalogue facts

Reading mode
Regions and groups without a single frontier
Sequence
5 phases · Harappan Regionalisation (c. 3300–2600 BCE) → Initial Mature Phase (c. 2600–2300 BCE) → Maximum Network Extent (c. 2300–2000 BCE) → Urban Reorganisation (c. 2000–1900 BCE) → Post-Urban Traditions (c. 1900–1300 BCE)
Nodes
Harappa (c. 2600–1900 BCE) · Mohenjo-daro (c. 2500–1900 BCE) · Dholavira (III–II millennia BCE)
Range
Approximate and discontinuous early envelope.
Caution
The centres shared weights, materials and practices, but we do not know their political name nor a unique imperial hierarchy.

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .

The resources explain part of the urban geography

Dholavira shows that the centres of the network did not all choose the same relationship with a great river. UNESCO highlights its strategic position for accessing copper, shell, agate, carnelian and other materials, as well as for linking interior and maritime exchanges. Its permanence on a seasonal water island obliges reading the location alongside artisanal provision. In the atlas, the nodes also represent distinct combinations of resources and opportunities: sharing objects and techniques did not imply inhabiting equivalent landscapes.

Location and territory

Physical world map with routes of human evolutionPresent-day world coastline from Natural Earth in an equirectangular projection. The overlaid markers let you explore each milestone.Map base: Natural Earth 1:110m · public domain · present-day reference coastline

REGIONAL AREA

Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Gujarat within an urban networkPunjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Gujarat within an urban network. The footprint marks the indicative center of the area, not a border or an exact point.

TERRITORIAL ATLAS · REAL GEOGRAPHY · CHANGING EXTENT

Atlas of the Indus civilisation

An urban network of enormous extent, without a known capital

PHASE 01 / 05Harappan regionalizationc. 3300–2600 BCE

Centres in Punjab, Sindh and neighbouring regions develop urbanism and crafts with local rhythms; the network has no known capital.

WHAT CHANGES · OriginSeveral early urban nuclei emerge between Punjab, Sindh and neighbouring areas, linked without a recognisable capital.

Atlas of the Indus civilisationPresent-day world coastline from Natural Earth in an equirectangular projection. The centres shared weights, materials and practices, but we do not know their political name nor a unique imperial hierarchy.Early Harappan Centres · c. 3300–2600 BCE · Approximate and discontinuous early envelope.1Map base: Natural Earth 1:110m · public domain · present-day reference coastline
Territory of origin
  1. 01 · Harappa≈2600–1900 BCEMajor centre of the Punjab and eponymous site.
SOURCES FOR THIS PHASEUNESCO · Dholavira ↗

The centres shared weights, materials and practices, but we do not know their political name nor a unique imperial hierarchy.

Documentation for every period

The map is interactive. The full chronology is also available below without using any controls.

c. 3300–2600 BCE · Harappan regionalization

Centres in Punjab, Sindh and neighbouring regions develop urbanism and crafts with local rhythms; the network has no known capital.

Origin · Several early urban nuclei emerge between Punjab, Sindh and neighbouring areas, linked without a recognisable capital.

  • Early Harappan Centres · c. 3300–2600 BCE

    Approximate and discontinuous early envelope.

    Probable

c. 2600–2300 BCE · Early mature phase

Large cities share weights, seals, bricks and hydraulic solutions without proving a centralized empire.

Expansion · The dispersed nuclei articulate into a more extensive urban network through weights, seals and shared solutions.

  • Mature Urban Network · c. 2600–2300 BCE

    Area of connected settlements, not a sovereign frontier.

    Probable

c. 2300–2000 BCE · Maximum extent of the network

The mature material tradition reaches its greatest dispersion from Baluchistan and Punjab to Gujarat and the Gulf of Oman.

Expansion · The network reaches its widest dispersal, from Baluchistan and Punjab to Gujarat and connections with the Gulf of Oman.

  • Maximum Harappan Extent · c. 2300–2000 BCE

    Cultural distribution envelope; not uniform administrative control.

    Probable

c. 2000–1900 BCE · Urban reorganization

Several major centres lose population and some standardized forms diminish, while other cities continue.

Contraction · The great envelope reduces to persistent urban nuclei, while several centres lose population and standardisation.

  • Persistent Urban Nuclei · c. 2000–1900 BCE

    Simplified area of uneven urban continuity.

    Probable

c. 1900–1300 BCE · Post-urban traditions

Smaller settlements and regional traditions continue; decentralization does not mean sudden disappearance nor does it identify a successor language.

Fragmentation · The common urban space fragments into western and eastern traditions of lesser scale and uneven chronology.

  • Western Traditions · c. 1900–1300 BCE

    One of several subsequent regional areas.

    Probable
  • Eastern Traditions · c. 1900–1300 BCE

    Approximate regional area; local chronologies differ.

    Probable

Documented places

  • Harappa · ≈2600–1900 BCE

    Major centre of the Punjab and eponymous site.

  • Mohenjo-daro · c. 2500–1900 BCE

    Urbanism, wells, baths and drainage in Sindh.

  • Dholavira · III–II millennia BCE

    Water management and planning in Kachchh.

Routes and contacts

  • Documented historical connection

  • Documented historical connection

The centres shared weights, materials and practices, but we do not know their political name nor a unique imperial hierarchy.

Sources and references

Consult the historical base of the atlas

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