# Canonical recap data for Harappa and Mohenjo-daro Urban Centers Rise (2600)
# Source: https://recap.at/2600/indus-valley-cities
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: indus-valley-cities
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/2600/indus-valley-cities"
title: Harappa and Mohenjo-daro Urban Centers Rise
aliases:
- Indus Valley Civilization emergence
- Harappa-Mohenjo-daro phase
- Early Harappan urbanism
- Indus urban centers
subtitle: The Indus Valley civilization's grid-planned cities and standardized weights reveal organized athletic competitions and civic games recorded in seals.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 2600-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 2600
decade: 2600
country:
name: Pakistan
slug: pakistan
summaryShort: Harappa is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about 24 kilometres west of Sahiwal, that takes its name from a modern village near the former course of the Ravi River. The Ravi now runs eight kilometres to the north.
summaryLong: Harappa is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about 24 kilometres west of Sahiwal, that takes its name from a modern village near the former course of the Ravi River. The Ravi now runs eight kilometres to the north.
lede: Around 2600 BCE, two major cities—Harappa in Punjab and Mohenjo-daro in Sindh—emerged as the centers of what would become the Indus Valley Civilization, one of the world's earliest urban societies. These meticulously planned cities featured advanced drainage systems, standardized weights and measures, and multi-story buildings, suggesting a sophisticated administrative structure. Their simultaneous rise marked the beginning of South Asia's first known civilization and a period of unprecedented urban organization that would influence the region for centuries.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/View_of_Granary_and_Great_Hall_on_Mound_F_-_Archaeological_site_of_Harappa.jpg/1280px-View_of_Granary_and_Great_Hall_on_Mound_F_-_Archaeological_site_of_Harappa.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Harappa"
importance: 87
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Harappa location
  value: 24 kilometres west of Sahiwal, Punjab, Pakistan
- label: Mohenjo-daro location
  value: Sindh province, Pakistan, approximately 240 kilometres south of Harappa
- label: Estimated population per city
  value: 40,000–80,000 residents at peak
- label: Grid street layout
  value: Both cities featured orthogonal street plans with uniform brick construction
- label: Drainage systems
  value: Advanced covered drains beneath streets; public and private wells in use
- label: Standardized weights
  value: Archaeological evidence shows uniform cubic and spherical weights for commerce
- label: Writing system
  value: Undeciphered script found on seals; approximately 400–600 distinct signs identified
- label: Territorial reach
  value: Indus Valley Civilization sites span over 1.26 million square kilometres
timeline:
- date: 1900-01-01
  title: Urban centers abandoned
  description: Harappa and Mohenjo-daro enter decline; causes remain debated but include climate change, resource depletion, and possible migration.
- date: 2200-01-01
  title: Early signs of decline
  description: Evidence of environmental stress, including shifts in monsoon patterns and river course changes; some settlements show reduced occupation.
- date: 2500-01-01
  title: Trade networks expand
  description: Archaeological evidence shows extensive contact with Mesopotamia, the Gulf, and Central Asia; Indus Valley seals appear in Sumerian records.
- date: 2600-01-01
  title: Harappa and Mohenjo-daro flourish
  description: Both cities reach their peak development with fully realized urban planning, multi-story residential architecture, and evidence of centralized administration.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harappa"
  title: Harappa
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The rise of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro represented a watershed moment in human settlement patterns. These cities demonstrated that complex urban life, standardized administrative systems, and long-distance trade networks could develop independently of the contemporary civilizations in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Their planned layouts and engineering sophistication set a template for urban design that persisted across South Asia.
categories:
- sports
taxonomy:
domain: scientific
eventTypes:
- discovery
canonicalClasses:
- creation
- transformation
impactRadius: civilizational
velocity: gradual
predictability: emergent
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: Harappa and Mohenjo-daro emerge as major urban centers of the Indus Valley Civilization around 2600 BCE
wikidataQid: Q185562
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260515145833/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harappa"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-15
  label: Harappa
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harappa"
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/View_of_Granary_and_Great_Hall_on_Mound_F_-_Archaeological_site_of_Harappa.jpg/1280px-View_of_Granary_and_Great_Hall_on_Mound_F_-_Archaeological_site_of_Harappa.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/View_of_Granary_and_Great_Hall_on_Mound_F_-_Archaeological_site_of_Harappa.jpg/800px-View_of_Granary_and_Great_Hall_on_Mound_F_-_Archaeological_site_of_Harappa.jpg"
  caption: Harappa
  credit: Wikipedia · "Harappa"
  width: 330
  height: 248
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Evolution_of_area_of_harappa_1_1_1_1.png/1280px-Evolution_of_area_of_harappa_1_1_1_1.png"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Evolution_of_area_of_harappa_1_1_1_1.png/800px-Evolution_of_area_of_harappa_1_1_1_1.png"
  caption: Evolution of area of harappa 1 1 1 1
  credit: Merikanto
  width: 1600
  height: 800
