Kot Bala (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

: कोट बाला), or Balakot (

: बालाकोट) is an archaeological site located in

Lasbela District Lasbela District (Urdu and bal, , Sindhi Lasi: لسبيلو) is a coastal district of Balochistan province of Pakistan. It is also called Sassi-Punnu Garh () among localites. History Alexander the Great passed through Lasbela on his way ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It is near the

Makran Makran ( fa, مكران), mentioned in some sources as Mecran and Mokrān, is the coastal region of Baluchistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in Balochistan, in Pakistan and Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It extends westwards, ...

coast of the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

, and goes back to around 4000 BC. The settlement of Balakot precedes the

Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900&n ...

by many centuries. It is located in the interior of the

Sonmiani Bay Sonmiani Bay is located on the Arabian Sea in Lasbela District, Balochistan, Pakistan. See also * Somiani Spaceport * Sonmiani Beach * Sonmiani * Hub Tehsil Hub Tehsil ( ur, تحصیل حب) is located in Hub District, Balochistan, Pakist ...

, along the Lasbela coast (the Plain of Las Bela). This site is of importance due to its proximity to the Arabian Sea, and is believed to have been a main harbour, from which the Indus traders sailed to the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula.

Excavations

The site was excavated by Professor George F. Dales of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in the 1970s, but full details were not published. It is the only site in the region that was professionally excavated. The upper levels of the site belong to Indus Civilization, while the lower levels feature a culture of its own. The arrival of Indus influence was rather sudden.

Balakot culture

Ancient Balakot culture flourished only in this coastal area. The Balakot Phase pottery is known from excavations at Balakot. Three radiocarbon dates from later occupations of this phase indicate the period of 3500-3000 BC. Other archaeologists give the date of 4000 BC for the start of this settlement. Kech-

culture flourished in the

Kech River The Kech River ( bal, كيچ كور) flows in the Makran region, of southeastern Iran and the southwestern area of Balochistan Province in southwestern Pakistan. Geography The seasonal intermittent river is a tributary of the Dasht River. The Dash ...

Valley in protohistoric times as early as the fifth millennium BC. Balakot was part of that settlement network. Pottery of Balakot was all wheel-made red ware, although some storage jars were hand-made. It features complex floral and zoomorphic motifs. There are similarities to the Nal pottery of Baluchistan. Sometimes the use of red or green paint produced a polychrome effect. A later Balakot Phase pottery closely resembles the style of

Amri culture Amri–Nal culture is attributed to Amri archaeological sites in Sindh and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. It flourished in the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. The dual typesites are Amri and Nal. Location Several settlements attributed to the Amr ...

Early furnaces

Excavations at pre-Indus levels of Balakot have yielded evidence of an early

furnace A furnace is a structure in which heat is produced with the help of combustion. Furnace may also refer to: Appliances Buildings * Furnace (central heating): a furnace , or a heater or boiler , used to generate heat for buildings * Boiler, used t ...

. The furnace was most likely used for the manufacturing of

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

objects.

Oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been us ...

s, dating back to the civilization's mature phase (c. 2500–1900 BCE), were also excavated at Balakot.Dales, George (1974), "Excavations at Balakot, Pakistan, 1973", ''Journal of Field Archaeology'', 1 (1–2): 3–22 0/ref>

References

Literature

*Franke-Vogt, U., Balakot Period I: A review of its stratigraphy, and cultural sequence, in South Asian Archaeology 2001 *Franke-Vogt, U., Reopening Research on Balakot: A Summary of Perspectives and First Results. 217-235. in South Asian Archaeology 1995, Edited by Raymond Allchin & Bridget Allchin, The Ancient India and Iran Trust, London (1997) * Dales, G.F. 1974. Excavations at Balakot, Pakistan, 1973. Journal of Field Archaeology 1: 3–22. * Dales, G.F. 1979. The Balakot Project: Summary of Four Years Excavations in Pakistan. Pages 241–274 in Taddei, M.(ed.), South Asian Archaeology 1977. (Seminario di Studi Asiatici, Series Minor VI) (Naples, Istituto Universitario Orientale) * Dales, G.F. 1981. Reflections on five years of Excavations at Balakot. Pages 25–32 in Dani, A.H. (ed.), Indus Civilisation: New Perspectives (Islamabad, Quaid-I-Azam University)
History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The Dawn of Civilization: Earliest Times to 700 B.C.
(Volume 1) / Eds.: A. H. Dani; V. M. Masson (1992)

External links

harappa.com {{coord, 33, 29, N, 72, 29, E, display=title, region:PK_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Archaeological sites in Balochistan, Pakistan Indus Valley civilisation sites Former populated places in Pakistan Lasbela District Pre-Indus Valley civilisation sites