Bhanbhore (Sindh, Pakistan): The Largest Center of the Ivory Industry

 

 

Bhanbhore (Sindh, Pakistan): The largest center of the ivory industry

 

 

In the ruins of the 2,100-year-old coastal city of Bhanbhore in Sindh(Pakistan), traces of ivory ornamental and decorative factories have been found.  These relics are more or less 800 years old and date back to the time when Soomro dynasty ruled over Sindh.  Archaeologists say the factories were part of the world's largest ivory industry at the time.

 

 These results are based on fragments of ivory found in Bhanbhore that weigh a total of about 40 kg.  According to experts, the pieces survived while making ivory ornaments and carvings on them, and were discovered as a result of a recent excavation by the Sindh Provincial Department of Tourism, Culture and Antiquities and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Joint venture  Excavation experts say that such a large number of ivory fragments have not been found anywhere else in the world.

Bhanbhor (Sindh, Pakistan): The largest center of the ivory industry

 Excavations at Bhanbhore in the 1950s and 1960s have also uncovered some ornamental ivory ornaments.  Both discoveries were made at the site where the first mosque in South Asia was built in 722 AD, the remains of which are still found in the ruins of Bhanbhur.

 

Compared to the thousands of years old cultural monuments like Mehrgarh, Harappa and Mohenjo Daro found in Pakistan, Bhanbhur is a relatively new settlement which was established in the first century AD.  It is located where the Indus River flows into the sea.  It is about 65 km east of Karachi.

 

 The settlement fell into disrepair in the 13th century, but its name lives on in history books and in the memory of local people.  Sasi, the heroine of the famous folk tale 'Sasi Punnu', is also said to belong to this town.

 

 During the heyday of Bhanbhore, it was also an important coastal trading center, with commercial ships plying the region around the Indian Ocean and the Far East.  There was a fort on about 14,000 square meters with buildings and roads outside its four walls.

 

 

 Natural disasters ravaged Bhanbhore many times.  The settlement was completely destroyed in an earthquake in 280 AD, so it was later rebuilt.  But at the end of the twelfth century, when the Indus Delta began to dry up, Bhanbhore's trade with other areas began to wane.  During this long period of drought, the river turned its course, leaving the city no longer a port, but a desert on land, whose inhabitants migrated in search of water.

 

 Bhanbhore (Sindh, Pakistan): The largest center of the ivory industry

 Where did the ivory come from?

 Bhanbhore was an economically prosperous city and experts believe that the ivory industry was the biggest source of its prosperity.

 

Experts also believe that most of the ivory ornaments were made here, as some of the pieces of ivory discovered here are joined together to form square rings that resemble earrings or thorns.  Anything can happen.  Experts have also found an ivory chess paw in Bhanbhur which is in an incomplete condition.  It looks like something went wrong when it was invented, which left it unfinished.

 

 Today, ivory is not found in the Bhanbhore area, so the question arises that if such a large ivory industry was established in this city, where would the raw material for it come from?

Bhanbhore (Sindh, Pakistan): The largest center of the ivory industry 

 According to Dr Naheed Zahra, director of discovery and excavation at the Sindh Department of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, it is likely that the raw material was also available locally.  She says that in ancient times the elephant was not a foreign animal to Sindh and the rest of present-day Pakistan because "at the time of Muhammad bin Qasim's invasion of Sindh, there were elephants in Raja Dahir's army, as well as in other historical events."  The presence of elephants in the area is known.  Therefore, it cannot be said that ivory was brought to Bhanbhur from far-flung areas.

Digging in the Bharathurh and the elephant of the elephant, the doctor, has been monitored by Dr. Nahid Zhara. They say that the elephant metal is to be done with how to be so ancient, how we can not say anything right now, how could this industry establish this city. He says that due to coronary's wardrobe, the excavation and research process has been temporarily stopped and the Italy team working on this discovery is to practice its report.

 

 

Valuables that were manufactured in other parts of the world have also been discovered in Bhanbhore.  It is possible that they were obtained from the sale of ivory.

 

 Naheed Zahra says, "It has not been decided yet which regions the ivory ornaments will be exported to."  However, we can say that there was a market for these things all over the world.  This is evidenced by the historical fact that in ancient times and in the Middle Ages, ivory was valued as much as gold and silver, and it was adorned everywhere from the Indus Valley to the Mediterranean region and the Roman Empire.  Used for purposes.

 

 In addition to ivory fragments, Bhanbhore has also discovered a large collection of pottery that was used between the eighth and thirteenth centuries.  Some of them are simple, while others are very skillfully cooked in the oven at a certain temperature.  Their structure suggests that the various industries found in Bhanbhore were technically advanced.