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The Indus: Lost Civilizations
The Indus valley civilization, one of the oldest in Central and South Asia, flourished for half a millennium from about 2600 to 1900 BC, when it mysteriously declined and vanished from view. It remained invisible for almost four thousand years, until its ruins were discovered in the 1920s by British and Indian archaeologists. Today, after almost a century of excavation, it is regarded as the earliest Indian civilization.
More than a thousand Indus settlements covered at least 800,000 square kilometres of what is now Pakistan and it was the most extensive urban culture of its age, with a vigorous maritime export trade to the Persian Gulf and cities such as Ur. The two largest Indus cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – boasted street planning and house drainage worthy of the twentieth century, including the world’s first toilets, along with complex stone weights, finely drilled gemstone necklaces and an exquisite part-pictographic writing system, which was carved on seal stones and has defied numerous attempts at decipherment. Astonishingly, there is no evidence of armies or warfare.
The Lost Civilizations is an accessible introduction to every significant aspect of an extraordinary and tantalizing ‘lost’ civilization, which apparently combined artistic excellence, technological sophistication and economic vigour with social egalitarianism, political freedom and religious moderation. The book also discusses the vital legacy of the Indus civilization in modern India and Pakistan.
More than a thousand Indus settlements covered at least 800,000 square kilometres of what is now Pakistan and it was the most extensive urban culture of its age, with a vigorous maritime export trade to the Persian Gulf and cities such as Ur. The two largest Indus cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – boasted street planning and house drainage worthy of the twentieth century, including the world’s first toilets, along with complex stone weights, finely drilled gemstone necklaces and an exquisite part-pictographic writing system, which was carved on seal stones and has defied numerous attempts at decipherment. Astonishingly, there is no evidence of armies or warfare.
The Lost Civilizations is an accessible introduction to every significant aspect of an extraordinary and tantalizing ‘lost’ civilization, which apparently combined artistic excellence, technological sophistication and economic vigour with social egalitarianism, political freedom and religious moderation. The book also discusses the vital legacy of the Indus civilization in modern India and Pakistan.
245 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 6, 2026
About the author
Andrew Robinson
374 books80 followers(William) Andrew Coulthard Robinson is a British author and former newspaper editor.
Andrew Robinson was educated at the Dragon School, Eton College where he was a King's Scholar, University College, Oxford where he read Chemistry and finally the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He is the son of Neville Robinson, an Oxford physicist.
Robinson first visited India in 1975 and has been a devotee of the country's culture ever since, in particular the Bengali poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore and the Bengali film director Satyajit Ray. He has authored many books and articles. Until 2006, he was the Literary Editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement<?em>. He has also been a Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge.
He is based in London and is now a full-time writer.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
Andrew Robinson was educated at the Dragon School, Eton College where he was a King's Scholar, University College, Oxford where he read Chemistry and finally the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He is the son of Neville Robinson, an Oxford physicist.
Robinson first visited India in 1975 and has been a devotee of the country's culture ever since, in particular the Bengali poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore and the Bengali film director Satyajit Ray. He has authored many books and articles. Until 2006, he was the Literary Editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement<?em>. He has also been a Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge.
He is based in London and is now a full-time writer.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
September 4, 2026
How can a civilization survive 2000 years without any army, no sign of a temple, no sign of large dynasties or royal burial like its contemporary!
This is such a huge credibility if we have time to really delve into the history.
People even tried to orchestrate its history by manipulating photographs, created hoax image with computer drawing for some nationalist government agenda, rarely any civilization held so many mysteries inside it.
It is also a dangerous sign that how historical facts can be manipulated and taught in schools to our future generations, in 2002 we saw a glimpse of these scheme and now we are facing the consequences.
Indus is an extraordinary civilization and we still have not deciphered its texts.
A civilization that is so mysterious that is why I am fascinated towards this book. It is written with in-depth research and lucid manners helps you to understand what fascinating civilised life we humans can actually create rather than today's filthy society.
Absolutely fabulous book for ancient history lovers
This is such a huge credibility if we have time to really delve into the history.
People even tried to orchestrate its history by manipulating photographs, created hoax image with computer drawing for some nationalist government agenda, rarely any civilization held so many mysteries inside it.
It is also a dangerous sign that how historical facts can be manipulated and taught in schools to our future generations, in 2002 we saw a glimpse of these scheme and now we are facing the consequences.
Indus is an extraordinary civilization and we still have not deciphered its texts.
A civilization that is so mysterious that is why I am fascinated towards this book. It is written with in-depth research and lucid manners helps you to understand what fascinating civilised life we humans can actually create rather than today's filthy society.
Absolutely fabulous book for ancient history lovers
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review