Chronology

Before 7000 Cultural Periods in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Mesolithic

Cultural Developments in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Development of postglacial hunter-gatherer communities

Neighbors and Developments in South Asia Development of postglacial hunter-gatherer communities

Relevant Developments outside South Asia

Beginning of sedentism, arable farming, and animal husbandry in parts of the Near East and their gradual spread into adjacent regions

7000-6000 Cultural Periods in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan

Aceramic Neolithic (Possehl's Kili Ghul Mohammad phase)

Cultural Developments in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Farming community established at Mehrgarh (period I)

Relevant Developments outside South Asia

Near East: beginning of pottery making and metallurgy; Turkmenia: farming communities by 6000

6000-5000 Cultural Periods in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan

Aceramic and Ceramic Neolithic (Possehl's Kili Ghul Mohammad phase)

Cultural Developments in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Granaries constructed at Mehrgarh; trade links as far as Turkmenia. Beginning of pottery making at Mehrgarh (Mehrgarh II). Possibly additional farming settlements in Baluchistan such as Kili Ghul Mohammad

Relevant Developments outside South Asia

Farming communities in Iranian plateau and Turkmenia.

5000-4300 Cultural Periods in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Neolithic. (Possehl's Burj Basket-marked phase)

Cultural Developments in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Farming settlements in Baluchistan; pottery; small-scale irrigation; copper smelting. Hunter-gatherers of lowlands acquiring domestic animals

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4300-3800 Cultural Periods in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Chalcolithic (Possehl's Togau phase)

Cultural Developments in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Many farming settlements in Baluchistan; wheel-turned pottery; glazed steatite; copper casting; some immigrants from Iranian plateau

3800-3200 Cultural Periods in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan

Chalcolithic. Kechi Beg (Baluchistan). Hakra (plains). Ravi (Harappa area, 3300-2800)

Cultural Developments in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Increasing number of farming settlements in Baluchistan, some large; pastoralist camps established in the plains especially Cholistan; Harappa founded; local hunter-fisher-gatherer communities keeping some domestic animals and making pottery

Relevant Developments outside South Asia

Iranian plateau: development of trading towns and trade networks from Mesopotamia to Turkmenia and Baluchistan; settlement in Seistan and foundation of Shahr-i Sokhta

3200-2600 Cultural Periods in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan

Early Harappan: Amri-Nal (Sindh, S. Baluchistan); Kot Diji (Punjab, N. Baluchistan); Damb Sadaat (C. Baluchistan); Sothi-Siswal (eastern region); local traditions in Gujarat: Anarta, Padri, and other wares

Cultural Developments in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Baluchistan: bunds and other irrigation works constructed. Spread of farming communities into the lowlands, including Gujarat and the Indo-Gangetic divide; walls and flood defenses; Dholavira and Rakhigarhi founded. Some towns including Harappa, Mehrgarh, and Rehman Dheri; uninscribed stamp seals; protoscript at Harappa; copper trade with Aravallis; some craft specialization

Neighbors and Developments in South Asia

Jodhpura-Ganeshwar culture in Aravallis; Ahar-Banas in Rajasthan; Northern Neolithic in Kashmir, related settlements in Swat and northern Punjab

Relevant Developments outside South Asia

Mesopotamia: city-states emerging in Sumer and Elam; Sumerian and Proto-Elamite scripts; trade networks across Iranian plateau flourishing. Seistan: 3200-2800 Elamite presence at Shahr-i Sokhta; after 2800 Shahr-i Sokhta important in lapis trade. Fishing communities in Oman and Makran probably in contact.

2600-2500 Cultural Periods in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Transition period (Harappa phase 3A, 2600-2450)

Cultural Developments in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Many settlements in the plains destroyed or abandoned, some rebuilt, many new settlements founded, probably including Mohenjo-daro; cultural integration; growing craft specialization; emergence of writing

Neighbors and Developments in South Asia

Jodhpura-Ganeshwar culture in Aravallis; Ahar-Banas in Rajasthan; Northern Neolithic in Kashmir, related settlements in Swat and northern Punjab

Relevant Developments outside South Asia

Mesopotamia: Royal Cemetery at Ur ca. 2600-2450 includes Harappan material; Namazga V-VI culture in Turkmenia

2500-2000 Cultural Periods in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan

Mature Harappan (Harappa phase 3B 2450-2200; 3C 2200-1900)

Cultural Developments in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Cultural unity in Indus plains from Gujarat to northern Ganges-Yamuna doab; separate but related Kulli culture in southern Baluchistan; separate Late Kot-Diji culture in northern Indo-Iranian borderlands; well integrated internal distribution network; external trade with neighbors, Gulf and northern Afghanistan where Shortugai is founded; towns and cities; writing; craft specialization and industrial villages

Neighbors and Developments in South Asia

Jodhpura-Ganeshwar culture in Aravallis; Ahar-Banas in Rajasthan; Northern Neolithic in Kashmir; Kayatha culture in Madhya Pradesh; farming communities in middle Ganges; Southern Neolithic in south India

Relevant Developments outside South Asia

Seatrade: with Umm-an Nar culture in Magan (Oman) and with Dilmun (Bahrain); Mesopotamia 2334-2193; Akkadian empire 2193-2112; city-states 2112-2004. Ur III empire: trading with Harappans, some Harappans resident there; Helmand culture in Seistan no longer trading with Indus and declining after 2200; Namaza V-VI culture in Turkmenia, declining from 2200; BMAC established in Northern Afghanistan

2000-  Cultural Periods in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan

1900/1800 Late Mature Harappan (Harappa Phase 3C to 1900)

Cultural Developments in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Decline in many towns and cities, especially in Sindh and Cholistan; flow reducing in Saraswati River; introduction of African millets; summer cultivation of rice and millets increasingly important

Neighbors and Developments in South Asia

OCP/Copper Hoards culture in Aravallis; Ahar-Banas in Rajasthan; Northern Neolithic in Kashmir; Gandhara Grave culture in Swat; Malwa culture in Madhya Pradesh; Savalda culture in Deccan; Southern Neolithic

Relevant Developments outside South Asia

Isin-Larsa period in Mesopotamia: Harappan trade now through Dilmun; relations with Wadi Suq culture in Oman still flourishing

From  Cultural Periods in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan

1900/1800 Posturban Harappan/Late Harappan: Late Harappa/Cemetery H

1900-1300 in Punjab; Jhukar in Sindh; Late Harappan in Gujarat; Sothi-Siswal, Late Harappan and OCP/Late Harappan in eastern region; Pirak from 1700

Cultural Developments in the Greater Indus Region and Baluchistan Distintegration of Indus polity; abandonment of most urban centers in Sindh, Kutch, Makran, and Cholistan; strong regional cultures in Gujarat, interacting with neighbors to south and west, in eastern region, expanding into Ganges-Yamuna doab, and in Kachi plain; destruction and abandonment of settlements in Baluchistan

Neighbors and Developments in South Asia

OCP/Copper Hoards culture in Aravallis; Ahar-Banas in Rajasthan; Northern Neolithic in Kashmir; Gandhara Grave culture in Swat; Malwa culture in Madhya Pradesh; Late Harappan then Malwa culture at Daimabad in Deccan; Southern Neolithic

Relevant Developments outside South Asia

Mesopotamia no longer trading through Gulf; BMAC abandoning northern Afghanistan, but settled in Seistan and in contact with Indus region and beyond