Harappa

Harappa was a major city of the Indus civilisation between roughly 2600 and 1900 BC, and because it was excavated first, the whole culture is often called Harappan. Much of the site's brick was carried off in the nineteenth century as ballast for the railway, which damaged it severely, but excavation has revealed a citadel mound, granaries, workers' quarters, cemeteries and the drainage that the Indus cities are famous for, with covered brick sewers running under the streets. What survives above ground is low walls and mounds; the drama is in the plan and the museum. The site museum is small but well arranged, with seals, weights, beads, pottery and figurines that show the standardisation across a civilisation spread over a million square kilometres. It sees very few visitors compared with Mohenjo-daro.

History

Harappa was the first site of the Indus Valley Civilisation to be excavated, by the Archaeological Survey of India, which is why the culture is often called Harappan. At its height in the Mature Harappan phase, 2600-1900 BC, the city covered about 150 hectares and may have had 23,500 residents; under British rule its bricks were carried off as ballast for the Lahore-Multan Railway (Wikipedia, Harappa).

Highlights

• The citadel mound - the raised core of the ancient city.
• Brick drainage - the covered sewer system under the street lines.
• Cemetery areas - excavated burial grounds at the site edge.
• The site museum - seals, weights, beads and pottery from the excavations.

When to go

October to March; the Punjab plain is punishing from April to September and the site is unshaded. Mornings are best. The museum closes on some public holidays and its hours are shorter in winter.

What to expect

Above-ground remains are modest and heavily damaged by nineteenth-century brick robbing, so visitors expecting standing architecture will be disappointed; the museum does much of the work. Signage on the mounds is limited. There are no facilities beyond the museum. Mohenjo-daro is the more impressive site if only one is possible.

Nearby

Sahiwal is the nearest town; Multan lies southwest and Lahore northeast.

Key facts