The City School
Handout Social Studies 2.3.1-2.3.5
Topic: Our History
Name: ___________________ Date: ___________________
Our past
There are many ancient sites all over Pakistan, the most famous being Mohenjo-Daro,
Harappa, and Taxila. In more recent years, archaeologists have found an even older site at
Mehrgarh in Balochistan and other sites at Rehman Dheri near Dera Ismail Khan and at Kot
Diji, to name a few. All these sites tell different people lived here in the past.
The study of the past is called history. Ancient civilisations developed along major river of
the world, e.g. Mesopotamian civilisation grew between Tigris and Euphrates, Egyptian
along the River Nile, Chinese along the Yellow River, while the Indus Valley civilisation along
the River Indus. Some key information about these civilisations is given below.
Mesopotamian Egyptian Chinese
• Developed 5000 years • Developed around • Developed around
ago 3500BCE 5000 BCE
• The first to invent • Thrived on agriculture • Ruled by several
writing on clay tablets • Invented hieroglyphs dynasties
• Invented the sundial • Invented papyrus for • Constructed the Great
clock writing wall of China during the
• Ploughed land • Preserved the dead Qin dynasty
• Gave the first written bodies through • Invented paper
laws to the world mummification • Invented the first
• Constructed pyramids geographical maps
for bruina their dead • Established silk route
bodies
The Indus Valley Civilisation
Historians tell us that there was an advanced
civilisation around the plains of the River Indus in
about 2600 BCE. That is a long, long time ago! It is
called the Indus Valley Civilisation, and the people
were ahead for that time. They used wheels,
made pots and other vessels, and made things out
of metals such as copper. They also made cloth.
An outline map of the Indus Valley Civilisation
The City School Management
Harappa in the Punjab and Mohenjo-Daro,
the 'mound of the dead', in Sindh are two of
the most famous archaeological sites. Here
you can see the ruins of the great Indus
Valley Civilisation. No one is quite sure what
happened to the people who lived in these
places, but today in Mohenjo-Daro we can
still see the remains of houses, temples,
baths, a granary, and streets with a proper
drainage system. Archaeologists have found
pieces of pottery, ornaments, jewellery, clay
figures, and seals at these sites. A view of the ruins of Mohenj0 Daro
The seals have inscriptions and symbols on them and historians are still trying to work out
what these mean. The people of this civilisation traded with neighbouring regions.
Fragments of cotton cloth made here have been found in the ancient historical sites of
present-day Iraq.
The Aryans:
As the years passed, other people came to this area. The first were the Aryans, a large tribe
from Central Asia, who came into the subcontinent from the north- west, around 1500 BCE.
They used horses and chariots to travel fast. They brought a new language, Sanskrit, and a
new culture with them. The Aryans settled in the Indus Valley and then spread to other
parts of the subcontinent, further east and south. The Aryans were a strong, active, and
lively race. Over the next few centuries, many kingdoms were formed. Great battles were
fought. Cities were built, destroyed by invaders, and then rebuilt. Some, like Mohenjo-Daro
and Harappa, were forgotten. What reasons could there be for the decline (fading away) of
the Indus Valley Civilisation?
Ancient sculpture made with
terracotta, dating back to the Indus
Valley Civilisation
The City School Management
