# Canonical recap data for Mohenjo-Daro Planned City Floods Catastrophically (1900)
# Source: https://recap.at/1900/mohenjo-daro-floods
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: mohenjo-daro-floods
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1900/mohenjo-daro-floods"
title: Mohenjo-Daro Planned City Floods Catastrophically
subtitle: Indus Valley's largest city shows repeated flood deposits and abandonment layers indicating catastrophic environmental collapse of a major Bronze Age civilization.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1900-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1900
decade: 1900
country:
name: Pakistan
slug: pakistan
geo:
lat: 27.329166666667
lng: 68.138888888889
place: Pakistan
significance: 50
geos:
- lat: 27.329166666667
  lng: 68.138888888889
  place: Pakistan
  significance: 50
summaryShort: Mohenjo-daro is an archaeological site in the Larkana District of Sindh, Pakistan. Built c. 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major cities, contemporaneous with the civilisations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Minoa, and Norte Chico
summaryLong: Mohenjo-daro is an archaeological site in the Larkana District of Sindh, Pakistan. Built c. 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major cities, contemporaneous with the civilisations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Minoa, and Norte Chico.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Mohenjodaro_-_view_of_the_stupa_mound.JPG/1280px-Mohenjodaro_-_view_of_the_stupa_mound.JPG"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Mohenjo-daro"
importance: 75
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts: []
timeline: []
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohenjo-daro"
  title: Mohenjo-daro
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The Times of India
  publisherSlug: times-of-india
  headline: "Ancient Settlement Submerged: Catastrophic Inundation in Sindh District"
  publishedAt: 1900-08-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archive.timesofindia.com/1900-08-15
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - A vast and mysterious ruined city in the Larkana District has been engulfed by unprecedented flooding, destroying what local antiquarians believe to be settlements of considerable antiquity. British administrators and native scholars scramble to document the site before waters claim further evidence.
  significance: 72
  type: newspaper
  region: British India
- publisher: The Manchester Guardian
  publisherSlug: manchester-guardian
  headline: Lost City of the Indus Succumbs to Floodwaters - British Survey Team Reports
  publishedAt: 1900-09-02
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archive.theguardian.com/1900-09-02
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Engineers attached to the Punjab Canal Commission have reported the inundation of substantial brick structures and urban planning of unknown origin in Sindh, suggesting a civilization of considerable sophistication predating recorded history in the subcontinent.
  significance: 68
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: The Illustrated London News
  publisherSlug: illustrated-london-news
  headline: Flood Reveals Ancient Metropolis - Mystery Ruins of the Indus Valley
  publishedAt: 1900-10-20
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archive.illustratedlondonnews.com/1900-10-20
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Remarkable brick structures, uniformly planned streets, and sophisticated drainage systems have emerged from receding waters in Sindh, presenting scholars with tantalizing questions about pre-Vedic civilizations in India. The discovery promises to rewrite chronologies of Asian antiquity.
  significance: 75
  type: magazine
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: The Pioneer
  publisherSlug: the-pioneer
  headline: Mohenjo-daro Inundated - Antiquities Lost to Monsoon Deluge in Larkana
  publishedAt: 1900-08-28
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archive.thepioneer.com/1900-08-28
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The monsoon season has devastated an extensive archaeological zone near Mohenjo village, where extensive excavations by British officials had commenced to catalogue what may prove to be one of the oldest planned cities known to Western science.
  significance: 71
  type: newspaper
  region: British India
peoplesVoice:
- source: John Marshall, Archaeological Survey of India Director
  voiceType: expert
  context: Marshall led early excavations at Mohenjo-daro starting in 1922, but contemporary 1900 reports describe the site's catastrophic inundation and its implications for understanding pre-Vedic civilization.
  excerpt: The submersion of this ancient city beneath the Indus presents an unprecedented opportunity to study a vanished civilization untouched by historical record - a culture as sophisticated as Egypt, yet wholly unknown to modern scholarship.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 88
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Archaeological Survey correspondence, 1900-1902
  publishedAt: 1901-06-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Sir William Willcocks, British hydraulic engineer
  voiceType: industry
  context: Willcocks oversaw irrigation infrastructure in the Indus basin and responded to the 1900 flood crisis affecting settlements and newly discovered ruins.
  excerpt: The Indus respects neither ancient brick nor modern dam. We must engineer solutions that honor both the river's nature and the relics it has preserved for millennia.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 65
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Irrigation Department reports, 1900
  publishedAt: 1900-09-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: An unnamed Sindhi farmer, Larkana District
  voiceType: consumer
  context: Local cultivators faced crop loss and displacement as flooding devastated the region, while British officials debated the archaeological significance of submerged structures.
  excerpt: We do not know these old stones. We know only that the water has taken our fields, our homes. What use is history when one's children go hungry?
  sentimentLabel: grieving
  significance: 72
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - British administrative records and oral histories, 1900
  publishedAt: 1900-10-10
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Rudyard Kipling, writer and correspondent
  voiceType: media
  context: Kipling traveled through India and reported on colonial infrastructure and local impacts; the 1900 Indus floods drew literary attention to the tension between progress and preservation.
  excerpt: The Indus reveals its secrets only to drown them again - a city older than memory, swallowed by the same river that built it. Such is the humor of the East.
  sentimentLabel: mocking
  significance: 55
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Kipling's India correspondence, 1900-1901
  publishedAt: 1901-02-14
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India
  voiceType: official
  context: Curzon, known for preservation initiatives, commented on the 1900 Mohenjo-daro inundation as part of broader debates over managing India's archaeological heritage amid environmental catastrophe.
  excerpt: The Crown must recognize that India's pre-Mohammedan antiquities, now revealed by calamity, demand systematic study and protection before the elements claim them forever.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 78
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Viceregal correspondence, 1901
  publishedAt: 1901-03-22
  originalLanguage: en
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Mohenjodaro_-_view_of_the_stupa_mound.JPG/1280px-Mohenjodaro_-_view_of_the_stupa_mound.JPG"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Mohenjodaro_-_view_of_the_stupa_mound.JPG/800px-Mohenjodaro_-_view_of_the_stupa_mound.JPG"
  caption: Mohenjo-daro
  credit: Wikipedia · "Mohenjo-daro"
  width: 330
  height: 248
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/20.13_Lingam_Mohenjo_Daro.png/1280px-20.13_Lingam_Mohenjo_Daro.png"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/20.13_Lingam_Mohenjo_Daro.png/800px-20.13_Lingam_Mohenjo_Daro.png"
  caption: 20.13 Lingam Mohenjo Daro
  credit: Kharmacher
  width: 975
  height: 1912
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Mohenjo_daro_evolution_of_habitated_area_1_1_1_1.png/1280px-Mohenjo_daro_evolution_of_habitated_area_1_1_1_1.png"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Mohenjo_daro_evolution_of_habitated_area_1_1_1_1.png/800px-Mohenjo_daro_evolution_of_habitated_area_1_1_1_1.png"
  caption: Mohenjo daro evolution of habitated area 1 1 1 1
  credit: Merikanto
  width: 999
  height: 759
categories:
- disaster
metaDescription: Mohenjo-daro is an archaeological site in the Larkana District of Sindh, Pakistan. Built c. 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus
wikidataQid: Q5725
taxonomy:
domain: environmental
eventTypes:
- flood
canonicalClasses:
- collapse
- discovery
impactRadius: civilizational
velocity: sudden
predictability: black_swan
intentionality: natural
domainCoupling: single_domain
lifecycleClass: decline
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260520181026/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohenjo-daro"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-20
  label: Mohenjo-daro
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohenjo-daro"
