How the Indus Civilization was Discovered
Just a century ago, scholars believed that civilization in the
Indus Valley began three thousand years ago during the Vedic Age.
But in
the autumn of 1924, John Marshall made an announcement that rocked the
understanding of the ancient world and pushed back the boundaries of
Indian history by two thousand years more: the discovery of the
civilization at Harappa, located in present-day Sindh and Punjab,
Pakistan.
A sophisticated culture dating back to 2600 BCE, this ancient
city was notable for its well-planned streets and for having the oldest
known urban sanitation system.
Based on previously unknown archival materials, Finding Forgotten Cities not only details an archeological discovery on the same scale as Troy,
but introduces us to the colorful cast of characters who made it
possible and overcome the challenges and travails of this colossal
excavation.
Nayanjot Lahiri’s fascinating history includes tales of
self-taught archaeologists like Charles Masson, the collector who first
described an ancient Indus Valley culture, as well as Alexander
Cunningham, the archaeological pioneer who first excavated Harappa with
diggers Daya Ram Sahni, Rakhaldas Banerji, and Madho Sarup Vats in the
1850s.
And, at the center of Lahiri’s story is John Marshall, a
Cambridge classicist brought by Lord Curzon to India to lead the
Archaeological Survey of India and the man who finally pieced together
the truth about this long-forgotten civilization.
Spanning nearly a century, Finding Forgotten Cities
presents a powerful narrative history of one of the key sites of the
ancient world offers interesting insight into the origins of modern
civilization.
[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ]
Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 4.0 out of 5 (25 Ratings; 6 Reviews - As on December 23 2016)
My Rating: 4 out of 5
My Comments: A fascinating narrative of how Indus Valley civilization was discovered.
Some digressions from the main story line though equally interesting breaks the flow.
These details could have been provided as separate appendix chapters.
Apart from this it is an excellent read!
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