Chanhu-daro is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology a ...

belonging to the Indus Valley civilization. The site is located south of

Mohenjo-daro Mohenjo-daro (; sd, موئن جو دڙو'', ''meaning 'Mound of the Dead Men';Sindh,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. The settlement was inhabited between 4000 and 1700 BCE, and is considered to have been a centre for manufacturing

carnelian Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker (the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often used ...

beads A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under ...

. This site is a group of three low mounds that excavations has shown were parts of a single settlement, approximately 7 hectares in size. Chanhudaro was first excavated by N. G. Majumdar in March, 1931, and again during winter field session of 1935-36 by the American School of Indic and Iranian Studies and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston team led by Ernest John Henry Mackay. Prof.

W. Norman Brown William Norman Brown (June 24, 1892 – April 22, 1975) was an American Indologist and Sanskritist who established the first academic department of South Asian Studies in North America and organized the American Oriental Society in 1926. He was t ...

of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

was instrumental in enabling the funds for this project. After the independence of Pakistan, Mohammed Rafique Mughal also did exploratory work in the area. Since 2015 the archaeological excavations have been carried out by the French Archaeological Mission in the Indus Basin (MAFBI), directed by Aurore Didier (CNRS). The excavations are carried out in cooperation with the Department of Archaeology and Museums,

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...

and the Culture Department, Government of Sindh

Historical significance

Chanhudaro is one of the most important sites of

Indus civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...

. More than 2800 sites belonging to Indus Civilization are identified so far and Chanhu-daro is one of the bigger sites where lot of scope is identified for excavation. However, of late, excavations in this site have not been in progress leading to a decline in contributions from this site. It is situated in a desert area, but it is believed that the Indus River used to flow near this site. Sarasvati river is believed to have dried up during 2nd millennium BC, causing the life at Chanhudaro and several hundreds of dwellings situated on the banks of Sarasvati to become very difficult. The people there probably had to abandon their dwelling places and it is thought that drying up of Sarasvati is one of the reasons for the decline of these dwellings, (cities and villages) which in turn contributed to the decline of Indus Civilization itself.

Early excavation

Chanhudaro is about 12 miles east of present-day Indus river bed. Chanhu-Daro was investigated in 1931 by the Indian archaeologist N. G. Majumdar. It was observed that this ancient city was very similar to Harappa and Mohenjadaro in several aspects like town planning, building layout etc. The site was excavated in the mid-1930s by the American School of Indic and Iranian Studies and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, where several important details of this ancient city was investigated.

Town planning

For building houses, baked bricks were used extensively at Chanhudaro and Mohenjo-daro. Several constructions were identified as workshops or industrial quarters and some of the buildings of Chanhudaro might have been warehouses.

Industrial activity

Evidence of shell working was found at Chanhudaro and bangles and ladles were made at this site. Harappan seals were made generally in bigger towns like Harappa, Mohenjadaro and Chanhudaro which were involved with administrative network.

Artefacts found

Copper knives, spears, razors, tools, axes, vessels and dishes were found, causing this site to be nicknamed the "Sheffield of India" by Earnest Mackay. Copper fish hooks were also recovered from this site. Terracotta cart models, a small terracotta bird which when blown acts as a whistle, plates and dishes were found. Male spear thrower or dancer - a broken statue (4.1cm) is of much importance, found at Chanhudaro, is now displayed at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA. Indus Seals are also found at Chanhudaro and Chanhudaro is considered one of the centres where seals were manufactured. The scale of craft production at Chanhudaro seems much greater than that at Mohenjodaro, perhaps taking up half of town for this activity.

Bead making factory

An Impressive workshop, recognised as Bead Making Factory, was found at Chanhudaro, which included a furnace. Shell bangles, beads of many materials, stealite seals and metal works were manufactured at Chanhudaro. A wide variety of materials were used to make beads here, ranging from precious stones like carnelian, jasper, quartz; metals like gold, copper and bronze; and even shell, terracotta (burnt clay) or faience (silica or sand mixed with gum and colour and then burned). These beads were made in a variety of shapes like discs, cylindrical, spherical, segmented or barrel-like. Softer materials like steatite could be moulded easily while other rocks were worked with a paste of steatite powder to make different shapes of beads. Harder stones resulted in geometrical beads.

Cultivation

Sesame, which is a native of South Africa, is known from number of Harappan sites, including Chanhudaro, probably grown for oil. Peas are also grown at Chanhudaro.

Importance

In respect of Indus Script, , , / sign is only found on inscriptions found at Chanhudaro. It occurred on eleven objects, (around one sixth of all inscribed objects recovered from Chanhudaro) leading to suggestion by Asko Parapola that it may represent town's name. Cotton cloth traces preserved on silver or bronze objects were known from Chanhudaro, Harappa and

Rakhigarhi Rakhigarhi or Rakhi Garhi is a village and an archaeological site belonging to the Indus Valley civilisation in Hisar District of the northern Indian state of Haryana, situated about 150 km northwest of Delhi. It was part of the mature ph ...

. Objects of Iron were reported from Chanhudaro, Ahar, Rajasthan and Mundigak and this gains importance as it has been claimed that Iron was produced in 3rd Millennium in South Asia.

Bibliography

* Aurore Didier. Nouvelles recherches sur les débuts de la Civilisation de l'Indus (2500-1900 av. n. è.) au Pakistan. Les fouilles de Chanhu-daro (Sindh). ''Comptes-rendus des séances de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres'', Paris : Durand : Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, 2017, Comptes rendus des séances de l'année 2017,, Avril à juin, pp.947-980 * Aurore Didier, David Sarmiento Castillo, Pascal Mongne, Syed Shakir Ali Shah. Resuming excavations at Chanhu-daro, Sindh: First results of the 2015-2017 field-seasons. ''Pakistan Archaeology'', Departament of Archaeology and Museums of Pakistan, 2017, 30, pp.69-121. * Quivron, G. (2000). The Evolution on the Mature Indus Pottery Style in the Light of the Excavations at Nausharo, Pakistan. ''East and West,'' ''50''(1/4), 147-190. Retrieved February 5, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/29757453

Notes

{{reflist Indus Valley civilisation sites Archaeological sites in Sindh Former populated places in Pakistan Ghost towns in Pakistan Geography of Sindh