Discovery Of Mohenjodaro

Discovery of Mohenjodaro

The second important city which was excavated in 1922-23 was Mohenjodaro. The name of the city is pronounced either as Mohenjodaro meaning ‘the mound of the dead’ or Mohenjodaro attributing it to Mohan tribe of Sindh. There are also differences among historians about the nomenclature of the civilisation. Some experts call it ‘Harappan Civilisation’ because Harappa was the first site which was excavated. However, after the excavation of more sites, it was named as the ‘Indus Valley Civilisation’. This Bronze Age civilisation is not as old as Mesopotamian or Egyptian civilisations; the archaeologists believe it to have been established around 2,500 BC. Indus Valley Civilisation, being a newly-discovered civilisation, is the centre of attention for experts who want to excavate its ancient sites to discover new findings. So far, they have unearthed 500 sites ranging from 2500 to 1900 BC. These sites were found in Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan and western Utter Pardesh. It shows the expansion of the civilisation in the Indian subcontinent.

Expansion of Indus Valley Civilisation History tells us that a kingdom, after gaining its political power, united different groups of people and linked their social, cultural, and economic interests with each other. However, experts are still confused as they haven’t found any trace of any empire or political power in the Indus Valley Civilisation. Therefore, the question arises about the reason behind the expansion of the Indus Valley Civilisation to such a vast area and having varied groups of people living together. How such a vast area was administered by a single system? They tried to find out the causes but, of course, their responses are based on speculations. Some suggested that perhaps all of them spoke the same language which created in them an affinity. Some argued that perhaps trade and commerce linked them; or perhaps some internal or external danger forced them to depend on each other. However, without evidence, it is difficult to reach any conclusion.

City History tells us that civilisations originate in cities; therefore, if a civilisation has many cities, it means it’s a growing and expanding one. Cities are important because they

reflect different shades of culture and by studying them we get to know about the lifestyles of people and their activities. Indus Valley Civilisation is different from Mesopotamian or Chinese civilisations because like them it had no ‘city republics’. On the other hand, its cities were linked with each other very closely. Another point of difference is that like Mesopotamia and Egypt, Indus Valley Civilisation had no magnificent temples and tombs. Even its public buildings were built in simple style. Moreover, there were no high-rise buildings. As stone was not available in this area, these buildings were constructed with bricks. They were either sunburnt or baked in fire. Special care was taken to maintain proportion in their size. These bricks are so strong that the buildings made from them are still standing in spite of the changing weather conditions.