This is the concluding part of the series on the Indus Valley civilisation

After the Indo-Europeans from central Asia invaded the valley and settled down in Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, the farmers decided to stay away from the cities and probably moved towards southern India.

The cities gradually crumbled into the present ruinous state and got buried under sand and silt.

But traces of the Indus Valley culture remained in the religion and languages of the subcontinent.

The new language of northern India had distinct influence of the new settlers from the west. But indigenous Dravidian languages, which may have originated from the Indus Valley region, had a strong influence on their vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.

The Hindu religion, which had crystallised in the 1st millennium BC, combined elements introduced by the Indo-Aryans with the earlier beliefs of the Indus Valley people such as the citizens of Harappa. The city of Haripiyari mentioned in the Vedas may have been what we now know as Harappa.

The tradition of city planning was the only major element of culture, which was completely lost.

The planned cities of the Indus Valley civilisation reflect their attitude towards the built environment and a capacity for macro-organisation. It shows that they had leaders with vision and qualified people to deal with various aspects of urban design.

They understood that a collection of houses do not make a city. A city has to anticipate and plan for the combined impact of individual settlements. Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro achieved it with their indigenous methods of architecture and town planning. They were the true pioneers.