Chanhudaro
Chanhu-daro
Harappan to Jhukar (2500–1700 BCE, industrial bead and shell)·Harappan → Jhukar-Chanhudaro·🇵🇰 Sindh, Nawabshah District, left bank of Indus, Pakistan
About
About Chanhudaro
Harappan industrial town 12 km east of Sakrand on left bank of Indus (Nawabshah District, Sindh), 7 ha tripartite mound excavated 1931 by E. Mackay. Industrial quarter yields faience, shell bangle workshop with conch columella debitage, carnelian bead kilns and seal workshop, showing Harappan craft specialization and later Jhukar black-and-red overlay marking Harappan–Jhukar transition in Sindh.
Why it mattersChanhudaro industrial scale vs Mohenjo-daro — specialized satellite or independent town?
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Was Jhukar overlay discontinuity or Harappan survival?
Theories
- 01Indus craft specialization model: Chanhudaro as Harappan industrial satellite feeding Mohenjo-daro
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.2500 BCE
- Period
- Harappan to Jhukar (2500–1700 BCE, industrial bead and shell)
- Culture
- Harappan → Jhukar-Chanhudaro
- Builders
- Harappan artisans and shell workers
- Purpose
- Harappan industrial town with bead and shell-bangle manufacture
- Abandoned
- c.1700 BCE
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.2500 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1099 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
26.3220° N · 68.1690° E · 50 m · 2 mapped features
Industrial mound
workshopFaience kilns and shell columella debitage for bangle manufacture
26.3223° N · 68.1693° EJhukar citadel mound
settlementJhukar black-and-red overlay on Harappan platform
26.3217° N · 68.1687° E