The first great civilizations in the history of humanity were born alongside great rivers. The Indus river culture was one of the first civilizations that emerged, and it did it in the valley of the Indus and Ganges rivers. This culture flourished around the year 3300 BC in what today is the North-West of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, following the Indus river. It encompassed near a hundred settlements and two large cities: Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Like other ancient civilizations it depended mainly on the river. Specifically, Indus and Ganges rivers helped to develop this culture chiefly for two reasons.
First, like the Nile river in Egypt the Indus river overflowed every year flooding large regions and depositing fertile sediments which gave an immense agricultural power that was the basis of the development of these societies. This productive agriculture allowed a surplus of resources and, therefore, permitted the population to increase at a large rate as never before.
Second, the economic surplus gave place to the exchange of goods between the diverse settlements that were located alongside the river, which was used as a way to transport these commercial goods. This way, the Indus river became a sophisticated commercial network that shaped this ancient civilization.
