Banbhore

Banbhore stands on a low mound above a creek that was once a navigable arm of the Indus, and excavation has shown continuous occupation from around the first century BC to the thirteenth century AD, through Scytho-Parthian, Hindu-Buddhist and Islamic phases. Most scholars identify it with Debal, the port taken by an Arab expedition in 712, and the site holds the foundations of a mosque with an inscription dated to 727, among the earliest mosque remains anywhere in South Asia. Visible today are the stone city wall with semicircular bastions, gateways, street lines, the mosque platform, and industrial areas where glass, ivory and shell were worked; finds include coins, pottery and glass from as far as the Mediterranean and China. A small museum on site holds the material. The creek beside the ruins is now silted and quiet, which makes the scale of the trading city hard to imagine.

What you actually see

• The city wall - stone defences with bastions and gates on the mound.
• The early mosque - foundations of the eighth-century congregational mosque.
• Workshop areas - remains of glass, shell and ivory working quarters.
• The site museum - coins, pottery and imported goods from the excavations.

When to go

November to February; the site is open and hot the rest of the year. Mornings are best. The museum keeps limited hours and may close on public holidays. It combines naturally with Thatta and Makli on the same road.

Honest expectations

The remains are foundations and low walls rather than standing buildings, and the site needs some background to be rewarding. Interpretation on the ground is minimal and the museum is small and dated. Excavation trenches are fenced in places. There is no shade.

Nearby

Thatta with the Shah Jahan Mosque and Makli is east; Karachi is west.