SAHIWAL: The Punjab Archaeology Department has secured Rs20 million for the inaugural excavation of a city—Ganweriwala—believed to be buried under the Cholistan desert for the past 4,000 to 5,000 years. The remnants of the city were discovered by Dr Rafiq Mughal, professor of emeritus at Boston University, USA in the 70s.

The excavation will commence from the second week of December, Dr Mughal said.

The grant was approved on the initiative of Governor Baleeghur Rehman, supported by archaeologist Dr Sajida Vandal, Bahawalpur Commissioner Ehetasham Anwar, and local officials and activists.

The city buried within the Hakara River belt, shares mythological tales and myths discovered from the River Indus, River Ravi, and rivers of Ganges and Yamuna.

Mr Mughal told Dawn that the city lies between old Harappa and Mohenjo-daro within the Cholistan Desert. The site of interest is 240 km from Harappa and 270 km from Mohenjo-daro, with archaeologists believing it developed during the period when the Harappa civilization matured.

In the early 70s, Dr Mughal, under an archaeological expedition, discovered the city and the great Hakara River route to the Cholistan desert. International archaeologists recognised his research and claimed that Ganweriwala was smaller than old Mohenjo-daro but bigger than Old Harappa City.

Dr Anwar told Dawn that in 2016, when he was deputy commissioner at Bahawalpur, he was part of a UNESCO consultant team from the Bangkok regional office.

They were visiting Darawar Fort and attempting to bring this old fort to the UNESCO Tentative Heritage List. After long efforts, Darawar Fort made it to the Tentative List of UNESCO.

During that process, he learned from archaeologists that the city of Ganweriwala is buried under the Cholistan desert, and no one had excavated the city even after Dr Mughal’s landmark work.

Dr Mughal told Dawn it was unfortunate that no Pakistani government had ever paid attention to the excavation of Ganweriwala.

Dr Anwar said that when he was posted as commissioner in Bahawalpur, he decided to revamp his thoughts on excavating Ganweriwala.

In June 2023, Dr Mughal, Dr Vandal, along with an archaeologist and an expert team, visited the Ganweriwala site in Cholistan.

At that time, it was revealed that the Cholistan Jeep rally track also ran between two dunes where Ganweriwala city was located.

Being the commissioner, he took the initiative and changed the Jeep rally route, diverting it from the sides of the Ganweriwala archaeological site. They all decided to make an effort for the archaeological excavation of the Ganweriwala site. Under a series of efforts in the past six months, Governor Rehman was approached to push the idea of providing funds for the excavation from the Punjab Government.

Hasan Khokkar, archeology director, said that his department has now released Rs20 million for the Ganweriwala excavation.

Dr Vandal told Dawn that it was a breakthrough in the history of Pakistani archaeology, unearthing a site discovered in 1973. He said the discovery of the River Hakara and Ganweriwala civilization is among the different developmental phases of the Harappa civilization.

This fact was elaborated and documented by Dr Mughal in his early discoveries. Dr Nasrulla, while talking to Dawn, said that there are hundreds of mythologies revolving around the great River Hakra, and the recent Ganweriwala expedition would unearth thousands of years old civilizations of this region like Mehar Garh, Harappa, and Mohenjo-daro.

Dr Anwar wondered, in fact, how it was possible that civilization had been buried underneath the Cholistan desert, and none, even in Bahawalpur, knew about this archaeological heritage.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2023