The **Indus River Valley Civilization** or **Harappan Civilization** was
a possibly [libertarian socialist
society](List_of_Libertarian_Socialist_Societies "wikilink") in ancient
times ([3300BCE -
1300BCE](Timeline_of_Libertarian_Socialism "wikilink")) in what is now
Southern Asia. It was noted for its staunch egalitarianism, large
population, technological advances, great cities and contributions to
mathematics. Due to the untranslated alphabet and lack of oral history,
all assessments are based on archeological evidence.

## Decision-Making

Given the relatively equal size of housing and equal access to water
supply and drainage, number of communal buildings (notably public bathes
and granaries), drastic differences in technology and urban design
compared to hierarchical civilizations of the same time period (eg Egypt
and Sumer) and the lack of any centralized political buildings such as
courts, palaces, military barracks or parliaments\[1\] it can be safe to
assume that the most likely method of decision-making was some kind of
[confederation](confederation "wikilink") rooted in [local
assemblies](Democratic_Assembly "wikilink"). The entire society was
composed of more than 1,000 cities and towns, with many more smaller
villages and hamlets in between.

## Economy

The first known urban sanitation systems - where waste water from houses
was directed by gravity to covered drains running through the city
streets were developed in the Indus River Valley Civilization, these
systems were more advanced than any other in the world and are still
more well-developed than current urban areas of India and Pakistan.

The region also witnessed the first applications of hydraulic
engineering, impressive dockyards, granaries, warehouses, public bathes,
canals, irrigation, accuracy in measuring length; mass and time, the
development of a uniform system of weights and measurement across the
entire area, the production of metals (copper, bronze, tin and lead),
and the first use of dentistry and wheeled transport.

The trade network around the civilization appears to extend from as far
as Crete and Egypt, through the Arabian Peninsular, the coast of Persia,
Central Asia and into Central India. Trade was managed via
animal-powered wheeled carts and an extensive maritime network composed
of docks and ships.\[2\]

In terms of modern [libertarian
socialist](Libertarian_Socialism "wikilink") theory, the economy mainly
resembled a [mutualist](Mutualism "wikilink") one with elements of
[anarcho-communism](Anarcho-Communism "wikilink").

## Collapse

The Indus River Valley Civilization appeared to enter a 600-year long
period of decline beginning in 1900BCE, with the progressive moving of
the population from cities followed by a distinct loss of signs culture
despite people still living in the same area. Several theories have been
proposed:

### Invasion

The first theory proposed to explain the decline, supporters point to
skeletons uncovered in cities with damage indicating military combat.
This theory was eventually debunked, showing the damage the skeletons
had faced was caused by erosion from wind and water.\[3\]

### Climate Change and Drought

The '4.2 kiloyear event' theory hypothesizes that a significant period
of drought and cooling occured across the world. This altered the course
of rivers and led to less rainfall, making water supplies more difficult
to access and eventually leading to the abandoning of the city model
into smaller, self-sufficient villages.\[4\]

### Earthquakes

There is geological evidence showing damage from major earthquakes
around the time of the decline beginning, it has been speculated that
these earthquakes not only caused massive physical damage but changed
the structure of the coastline and waterways, rendering much of the
civilizations dependence on infrastructure unusable.\[5\]

### Disease

Skeletons dated towards the end of the civilization show an increase in
infectious diseases such as leprocy and tuberculosis, suggesting a
massive plague swept the region and rapidly destroyed much of the urban
population. Whilst the more isolated rural and village population was
able to survive.\[6\]

## References

<references />

1.  [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
    <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilisation#Mature_Harappan>
2.
3.  [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
    <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilisation#%22Aryan_invasion%22>
4.  [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
    <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilisation#Climate_change_and_drought>
5.  [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
    <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilisation#Earthquakes>
6.  [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
    <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valley_Civilisation#Late_Harappan>