Etymology and naming conventions

Summary

The Indus Valley Civilisation is named after the Indus River system, because early archaeological sites of the civilisation were identified and excavated in the Indus alluvial plains. In archaeology, it is also commonly called the Harappan Civilisation, following the tradition of naming cultures after their type site: Harappa, the first major site excavated in the 1920s. Modern labels also emphasize the Ghaggar-Hakra river system, since many sites have been found along the Ghaggar-Hakra in northwest India and eastern Pakistan. Some scholars—especially those associated with Indigenous Aryanism—have used terms such as “Indus-Sarasvati” or “Sindhu-Saraswati” based on a proposed identification of the Ghaggar-Hakra with the Sarasvati river described in early Rigvedic texts; however, research cited in the content argues that the Ghaggar-Hakra was a monsoon-fed system that became seasonal around the time the civilisation declined.

Key Points

• 1

  “Indus Valley Civilisation” is named after the Indus River system where early sites were discovered and excavated.

• 2

  “Harappan Civilisation” is used as an archaeological label after the type site Harappa, first excavated in the 1920s.

• 3

  The “Ghaggar-Hakra” label reflects the concentration of sites found along that river system.

• 4

  Alternative names like “Indus-Sarasvati/Sindhu-Saraswati” are used by some scholars based on a proposed Rigvedic identification, though the content notes differing hydrological interpretations.