MOHENJODARO

About:

• In fact, the calamity has pushed the archeological site – situated on the bank of the Indus river – to the “brink of extinction”.
• Mohenjo-daro, a group of mounds and ruins, is a 5000-year-old archaeological site located about 80-km off the city of Sukkur. It comprises the remnants of one of two main centres of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, the other one being Harappa.
• Mohenjo-daro, which means ‘mound of the dead’, was one of the oldest cities of the world.
• Known to be a model planned city of the ancient civilisation, the houses here had bathrooms, toilets and drainage system. Though in ruins, the walls and brick pavements in the streets are still in a preserved condition.
• The ruins of the city remained undocumented for around 3,700 years, until 1920, when archaeologist RD Banerji visited the site. Its excavation started in 1921 and continued in phases till 1964-65. The site went to Pakistan during Partition.

Other Indus Valley sites

• The Indus Valley Civilisation spanned much of what is now Pakistan and the northern states of India (Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan), even extending towards the Iranian border.
• Its major urban centres included Harappa and Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and Lothal, Kalibangan, Dholavira and Rakhigarhi in India.