In the early decades following its discovery in the 1920s, this ancient culture was referred to as the Indus Valley Civilization. This name was adopted because the first major sites excavated that helped identify this as a distinct civilization were located in the Indus River valley region, such as Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, and Dholavira. However, as archaeological exploration expanded after Indian independence in 1947, many additional sites dating to this period came to light across wider areas of the Indian subcontinent.
Significant Harappan settlements were uncovered on the Indian side, including sites at Lothal and Surkotada in Gujarat, as well as Kalibangan in Rajasthan and Banawali and Rakhigarhi in Haryana. Remains were also found farther afield, such as the site of Shortughai in northern Afghanistan. Within Pakistan, over 174 sites were concentrated in the Ghaggar-Hakra river plain of Cholistan, located near the ancient bed of these rivers.
As it became evident that the majority of Harappan settlements existed outside the Indus River valley region, the term „Indus Valley Civilization“ became a misnomer that did not accurately reflect the full geographical extent of this culture. From the 1950s onward, scholars increasingly adopted the name „Harappan Civilization“ instead. This followed the archaeological convention of identifying an ancient culture based on the first site from that period to be excavated – in this case, Harappa in Punjab, Pakistan. Today, both terms are used, but „Harappan Civilization“ is preferred as it encompasses the widespread distribution of sites across the Indian subcontinent between 2600–1900 BCE.