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3 - The Second Urbanisation of South Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Geoffrey Samuel
Affiliation:
Cardiff University
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Summary

The term ‘Second Urbanisation’ in the title of this chapter refers to the growth of cities in South Asia during the first millennium BCE. The process is described as a ‘Second Urbanisation’ because of the existence of a ‘First Urbanisation’, that which was associated with the Indus Valley cultural tradition. The major cities of the Indus Valley, including Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, are now generally dated to the period from c. 2500 to c. 1900 BCE, the so-called ‘Integration Era’ of the Indus Valley cultural tradition, which followed on a long period of more localised, small-scale settlement in the Indus Valley region (e.g. Shaffer 1992; Shaffer and Lichtenstein 1995; Kenoyer 1995). ‘Integration’ here is used in a cultural sense, since the evidence does not at present suggest a high degree of political integration for the region (Possehl 1998; Samuel 2000). In around 1900 BCE, the major Indus Valley cities ceased to exist, and settlement size became much smaller. This may be linked with the drying up of the Ghaggar-Hakra river system, generally identified with the River Sarasvatī mentioned in the Ṛgveda, and the gradual desertification of much of the area which this river used to irrigate. Around 75 per cent of the Indus Valley settlements from the Integration Era are in fact along the banks or close to this river system.

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The Origins of Yoga and Tantra
Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century
, pp. 41 - 60
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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