The Harappan Economy

How the cities of the Indus Valley Civilisation organised farming, crafts and long-distance trade more than 4,000 years ago.

Around 2600 to 1900 BCE, one of the world’s earliest urban civilisations flourished in the Indus Valley and beyond, across parts of today’s Pakistan and northwest India. Its cities, including Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira and Lothal, reveal a sophisticated economy.

Farming

The civilisation rested on agriculture. Farmers grew wheat, barley, pulses and cotton, and kept cattle and other animals. The Harappans were among the earliest people known to cultivate cotton. Surplus grain supported city populations of craftspeople, traders and administrators.

Crafts and industry

Archaeologists have found workshops producing:

Beads of carnelian and other stones, some drilled with remarkable precision.
Pottery, copper and bronze tools and ornaments.
Shell objects and textiles.

Some crafts were specialised in particular towns, suggesting trade between settlements.

Standardised weights and seals

One striking feature is standardised weights, usually cube-shaped stones following a consistent system across a wide area. Standard weights reduce disputes and make trade easier, much like standard units today.

Thousands of seals with animal images and a still-undeciphered script have been found. Many scholars think they were used to mark goods and identify owners or traders.

Long-distance trade

Harappan goods reached Mesopotamia, in today’s Iraq. Mesopotamian texts refer to a region called Meluhha, which many scholars identify with the Indus region, supplying goods such as carnelian, timber and ivory. Harappan seals have been found in Mesopotamian sites. Lothal in Gujarat has a large basin that some archaeologists interpret as a dockyard, though this is debated.

Planned cities

Grid-like streets, drainage systems and granaries or large storage buildings suggest organised planning and management of resources.

Decline

The cities declined after about 1900 BCE. Explanations include shifts in rivers and climate that affected farming, and a decline in trade, rather than a single catastrophe.

The bead trade

A craftsman in a Harappan town drills carnelian beads. A trader weighs them using standard stone weights and stamps a package with a seal. The beads travel by boat along the coast and across the Gulf, eventually adorning a noble in a Mesopotamian city.

Thinking ancient economies were simple

The Harappan economy had specialised crafts, standard weights, seals and trade across thousands of kilometres.

Key takeaways

The Harappan civilisation flourished around 2600 to 1900 BCE.
Farming surpluses supported cities with specialised crafts.
Standardised weights and seals supported trade.
Harappan goods reached Mesopotamia, which may have called the region Meluhha.