Historical Place Mohen Jo Daro

Mohen Jo Daro

5000 years old ancient site of Mohenjo-Daro near the city of Larkana district of Sindh province of Pakistan, The city was one of the most developed cities in South Asia, which was discovered in 1922.Mohenjo-daro was a flourishing town on the bank of the Indus River, built before 2600 BCE; Mohenjo-daro was very well planned city. Its original purpose was to serve as a major trading spot. The local area was used for farming. Mohenjo-daro is a remarkable construction, considering its antiquity. It has a planned layout based on a grid of streets, with structures constructed of bricks of baked mud and burned wood. At its height the city probably had around 35,000-40,000 residents. It had an advanced drainage system, a variety of buildings up to three stories high, and an elaborate bath area. Being an agricultural city, it also featured a large well, granary, and central marketplace. Perhaps most unexpected, it even had a building with an underground furnace (hypocaust), possibly for heated bathing. Another important unit discovered at Mohenjo-daro is the granary that is located in the southwest direction of the Great Bath. This complex was made of 27 mud-brick blocks with passages between them for smooth air-flow. Built integrally with it in the north was a loading platform made of burnt-bricks. In the southern sector of the western mound is the Assembly Hall. Almost square in shape, this hall has 20 rectangular brick piers arranged in rows of five each and dividing the hall from east to west into five aisles or corridors. This Indus valley city stands out amongst the other cities because of such non-residential buildings that also include the collegiate building and the complex with eight bathrooms besides the residential complexes. Mohenjo-daro is also well known for its well-planned roads. In the eastern section of the city one main north-south street has been discovered. Excavations at the western edge of the HR area in 1964-65 revealed massive and solid mud-brick embankments with a series of at least 6 m high retaining walls of burnt-brick. This indicates the possibility of such surrounding walls around the entire periphery of the eastern mound. Besides these, drains made of burnt-bricks and covered with stone slabs or burnt-bricks are fairly common in this area as elsewhere in the excavated parts of the city. Interestingly, two brick-built cress-pits in the First Street had a connecting brick drain between them to carry the surplus water of the northern pit to the southern one, which had in addition a series of brick-steps on one side so that somebody could go down and clean it. This regular cleaning arrangement of drains (general width 23 cm and depth 45-60 cm) is also clear from the little deposits of sand found along them. A row of sixteen houses at this site throws ample light on the kinds of houses that were built in those days. These houses have single rooms in front and one or two smaller rooms at the back. The latter were probably used as shops or workingmen’s quarters. The houses at Mohenjodaro are standardized. Apart from these several artifacts have been excavated from this ancient site. The Dancing Girl is a bronze statue that was discovered at Mohenjodaro. This statue speaks volumes about the artistry of the bygone days. Several statues like that of the `Priest King also suggest a lot about the appearance of the Indus Valley people.

Mohenjo-Daro was successively destroyed and rebuilt at least seven times. Each time, the new cities were built directly on top of the old ones. Flooding by the Indus is thought to have been the cause of destruction.

Mohenjo-Daro