History of Sindh - Copper To The Bronze Age

Copper To The Bronze Age

The mound of Amri is located along the right bank of the Indus River, south of Dadu. The excavations carried out by the French Archaeological Mission at the beginning of the sixties revealed a long sequence of subsequent habitation phases datable from the Copper to the Bronze Age. The typical Amri layers have been radiocarbon-dated to the second half of the fourth millennium BC and are attributed by some authors to the beginning of the Early Harappan Civilization. At least 160 settlements attributed to the Amri Culture, among them the Tharro Hills, near the village of Gujo, is one of the most famous of lower Sindh. .. The site of Kot Diji, near Rohri, consists of a small mound composed of a sequence of overimposed structures and anthropogenic layers. They have been subdivided into two main complexes, the first of which belongs to the Early Harappan, Kot Diji Culture], and the second to the Mature Harappan Civilization.

The site of Lakhueen-jo-daro, near Sukkur, belongs to the Mature Harappan Civilization as indicated by the characteristics of the structural remains, material culture finds and one radiocarbon date, covers a wide area, from which a few mounds emerge. The site indicates that the origins of Sukkur are to be referred to a much older period than previously suspected.

The metropolis of Mohenjo-daro, near Larkana, is largest Indus city so far discovered in Sindh. The large-scale excavations carried out in the 1920s brought to light most of the architectural remains that are still currently visible. They are mainly of backed bricks with very well preserved buildings aligned along streets and lanes. Mohen-jo-daro is the largest Bronze Age city of the world.

Pir Shah Jurio is a Mature Indus Civilization village along the left bank of the Hub River. It consists of a small mound, which is nowadays partly covered by a cemetery. From its surface, typical potsherds and other finds were collected. This site is strictly connected with the sea, which is a few kilometers south of it. It was radiocarbon-dated to the third millennium BP, from a sample of Terebralia palustris shells.

The Indus Civilization site of Kot Bala is located in the interior of the Sonmiani Bay, along the coast of Lasbela District, Balochistan. It was partly excavated by Professor G. Dales of Berkeley University in the Seventies and never published in detail. This site is of great importance for its location close to the Arabian Sea. It is supposed to be one of the main harbors from which the Indus traders sailed their ships to the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula.

Sindh has been known by various names in the past, the name Sindh comes from the Indo-Aryans. In Sanskrit, the province was called Sindhu meaning the river Sindh and the people living on its banks. The Assyrians (as early as the seventh century BCE) knew the region as Sinda, the Persians Hindush, the Greeks Indos, the Romans Sindus or Indus, the Chinese Sintu, while the Arabs dubbed it Sind. A legend claims that the Indus River flowed from the mouth of a lion or Sinh-ka-bab.