Under the Himalayas, the northwestern sector of the Asian subcontinent was entering the initial phase of advanced city life. It was the first known civilization in South Asia. It is called the Indus Valley Civilization. It was the first civilization to flourish in India. This lasted from 2500 BC until 1500 BC. It is sometimes called the Harappan civilization, after the site of Harappa, one of its major centers. Sir John Marshall and his colleagues discovered this civilization. The Indus peoples used wheeled chariots, designed creative jewelry and toys, and had written languages. The Indus Valley Civilization reached its peak around 2500 BC “Among the indigenous peoples of ancient India, the Indus Valley Civilization stands out as particularly advanced and impressive (Ludwig p.65.)”. Researchers say the Indus Valley Civilization is much more advanced than prehistoric Egypt, Mesopotamia or any other part of Western Asia. The Indus Valley extends for thousands of kilometers. It had many cities, including the two largest cities Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. These two cities had populations of over 40,000 each, while the Sumerian cities had only 10,000 each. In the entire Indus Valley the civilization numbered about seven hundred cities and villages. The people of the Indus Valley lived by agriculture and trade. They grew barley, wheat, rice etc. There were notable results with cotton. They were the first traces of cotton. Trade and agriculture were their source of wealth and survival. The Indus people used bronze and copper extensively. They use it to make spears, knives, short swords, axes and fish hooks. Gold and silver were used to create ornaments, amulets and pendants. These were used to protect them from evil spirits or people who would harm them. There was also trade with national and international trade via water. “Archaeology and ecology show that imports included gold from southern India or Afghanistan, copper from Rajasthan or Afghanistan or even further afield, turquoise from Iran, and so on (Wheeler p. 64).” The Indus civilization had a polytheistic religion. The Indus people worshiped natural forces such as trees, animals, water and the mother goddess. These are also important in the Hindu religion. They believed that water had a purifying power. Many clay figurines of animals, women and men have been found. Sometime after 2000 BC the Aryans migrated into India from the northwest, it became dominant, but some Indus peoples and their religious ideas were absorbed into the Hindu religion..