Mohenjo-daro

Mohenjo-daro is an archaeological site in the Larkana District of Sindh, Pakistan, built around 2500 BC as one of the largest urban centres of the Indus Valley, or Harappan, Civilisation, with an estimated population of at least 40,000 before it was abandoned by roughly 1700 BC. The city was laid out on a planned rectilinear grid and featured the Great Bath, a brick lined pool measuring about 39 by 23 feet and nearly 8 feet deep, alongside more than 700 wells and a sophisticated system of covered drains and sewage channels, along with fortification walls and guard towers. Its ruins were first recognized as archaeologically significant by R. D. Banerji during a visit in 1919 and 1920, with major excavations following under Kashinath Dikshit in 1924 and 1925 and John Marshall the following year, and a final campaign led by George Dales in 1964 and 1965 before further digging was restricted to limit weathering damage. UNESCO designated Mohenjo-daro a World Heritage Site in 1980, the first such listing in South Asia, though erosion and past restoration efforts continue to threaten the exposed brickwork.