Mandi is a village in the

Muzaffarnagar district Muzaffarnagar district (, ) is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. It is part of Saharanpur division. The city of Muzaffarnagar is the district headquarters. This district is the part of National Capital Region. History M ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, India. It is located about 200 km northeast of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. It is notable for the discovery and looting of an ancient

treasure trove A treasure trove is an amount of money or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion found hidden underground or in places such as cellars or attics, where the treasure seems old enough for it to be presumed that the true owner is dead and the he ...

by villagers in June 2000. The treasure is believed to have been from the

Indus Valley civilisation The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the Northwestern South Asia, northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 Common Era, BCE to 1300 BCE, and in i ...

period. It is known as "Mandi treasure" or "Mandy hoard".

2000 treasure discovery

Till 2000, a mound of mud used to exist on the border of the village. It was located on the 500 sq. m. property of Anil Kumar, who intended to level the land for cultivating

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

. He told the other villagers that they could remove the mud from the mound for their own use. In June 2000, three women villagers uncovered a copper urn containing gold ornaments, while scraping mud from the mound. On that day, Anil Kumar had gone out of the village to visit a sick relative. The three women started fighting over the treasure. The noise attracted the family of a landless labourer, who snatched the urn from the women. By the evening, other villagers were also seeking the treasure. A husband-wife duo uncovered another pottery urn containing and estimated 40 kg of bracelets and necklaces. Next, Anil Kumar's cousin and local strongman Sudhir came to the site with eight men, and uncovered more treasure. According to Anil Kumar's mother, who had fled to an adjacent sugarcane field after Sudhir pulled a gun on her, the men discovered around 60 kg of jewellery and three copper urns, also presumably filled with jewellery. Subsequently, the local transport chief and bus driver dug up an estimated 40 kg of gold. By the night, most of the 4,000 villagers had crowded around the plot, digging and fighting for treasure. The police arrived at around 10 pm. According to a villager Mahinder Singh, the police asked his son to Somi Singh to continue the digging. Somi Singh allegedly unearthed 35 kg of gold pieces and a golden

scabbard A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, dagger, knife, or similar edged weapons. Rifles and other long guns may also be stored in scabbards by horse riders for transportation. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring ...

of a dagger, but was later arrested on the frivolous charges. According to the official records, only 10 kg of treasure was recovered by the district authorities. The authorities estimate that the villagers had uncovered around 500 kg of treasure. They offered the villagers double the market price for the ornaments. However, most of the treasure was sold to the local traders, who melted it. According to the experts from ASI and the Uttar Pradesh Department of Archaeology (DoA), the jewelry belonged to the Late Harappan period. It resembled the jewelry found at

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 from 2600 BCE ...

(IVC) sites such as

Harappa Harappa () is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal, that takes its name from a modern village near the former course of the Ravi River, which now runs to the north. Harappa is the type site of the Bronze Age Indus ...

Mohenjo-daro Mohenjo-daro (; , ; ) is an archaeological site in Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan. Built 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major city, cities, contemp ...

Lothal Lothal () was one of the southernmost sites of the ancient Indus Valley civilization, Indus Valley civilisation, located in the Bhal region of the Indian state of Gujarat. Construction of the city is believed to have begun around 2200 BCE. Di ...

Rakhigarhi Rakhigarhi or Rakhi Garhi is a village and an archaeological site in the Hisar District of the northern Indian state of Haryana, situated about 150 km northwest of Delhi. It is located in the Ghaggar River plain, some 27 km from the ...

and

Dholavira Dholavira () is an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India, which has taken its name from a modern-day village south of it. This village is from Radhanpur. Also known loc ...

in India.

List of artifacts recovered

The list of artifacts recovered by the district authorities is as follows:

References

{{Reflist Villages in Muzaffarnagar district Treasure troves in India Indus Valley Civilisation sites

2000 treasure discovery

List of artifacts recovered

See also

References