Climate changes that weakened the Indian monsoon caused one ancient culture to collapse and another to advance. About 4,500 years ago (top), strong monsoon rains allowed the Harappans to farm the floodplains of the Indus River and its tributaries and to build large cities. At the same time, lush vegetation farther south on the Indian peninsula provided enough food for people there to survive as hunter-gatherers with no permanent settlements. When the monsoons weakened (bottom), the Harappans’ agriculture failed, and they abandoned their cities and clustered in the foothills of the Himalayas. The peninsula became more arid and less lush, prompting the people there to settle in towns and become farmers. (Illustration by Amy Caracappa-Qubeck, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)[back]
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