Origin, Development and Decline of the First Urbanization in the Upper Saraswati Basin Narender Parmar 1 1 . Department of History and Archaeology, Central University of Haryana, Jant‐Pali, Mahendergarh, Haryana, India (Email: parmarnarender@gmail.com) Received: 17 August 2014; Accepted: 24 September 2014; Revised: 05 November 2014 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 2 (2014): 865‐882 Abstract: The archaeological records clearly suggest that the upper Saraswati basin witnessed emergence of the first urbanization (the Harappan Civilization) in South Asia. The first farming communities of this region laid foundations of an ideal socio‐economic structure which was mainly based on agricultural practices, advanced technology, trade networks, craft activities and ritual customs. Over a period of time, the region has ample evidences that throw light on the growth and transformation of early pastoral and village communities into the ancient cities of the first urbanized civilization. This paper highlights the evidences of this urbanization (Harappan Civilization) in the upper Saraswati basin. Keywords: First Urbanization, Harappan Civilization, Upper Saraswati Basin, First Farming Community, Advanced Village Society, Sothi‐Siswal, Eastern Hakra Introduction The earlier settled life in the upper Saraswati basin can be traced to near about the beginning of the Holocene period. The ecological conditions of the upper Saraswati basin played a significant role in the origin and development of settled way of life for earlier farming communities, which ultimately led to the foundation of the first urbanized civilization (the Harappan Civilization) (Fig. 1). Geographically, the region represents a combination of the Indo‐Gangetic plains and Siwalik and Aravalli hill systems. The region has a large concentration of alluvial deposits. Many small rivers and lakes were in existence during the ancient period in this region. These rivers (e.g., Saraswati, Drasdwati, Sutlej, Yamuna, Sabhi, Ghagger, Markanda, Tangri and Kuskiputra, etc.) might have played an important role by providing both a high‐ quality agricultural lands and facilities of irrigation, in addition to the provision of different varieties of wild plants and animals. The region was also an important resource area for many varieties of metals, minerals, stones (procured from Aravalli and Siwalik hills) and must have provided much needed functional trade routes facilitating the smooth flow of trade items from one place to another. The presence of flat and good agricultural land, a number of perennial and seasonal rivers, and lakes, availability of abundant faunal resources and accessibility to other natural resources