A New Season of Research in Sindh: The Italian-Pakistani 2017-2018 Field-Work at Banbhore

The new season at Banbhore provided important insights into the history of the site, with the three buildings discovered in Trenches 9 and 11 shaping a major urban crossroad almost in the centre of the city since at least the early Islamic period. From the 9th century, i.e. from the foundation of Building 1, this portion of the site underwent several changes and refurbishments until the very last phase of occupation of Building 1, probably dated to the early 13th century. The original function and subsequent uses of such a large building inside the fortified area are still an open issue because no conclusive evidence has been recovered so far. Nonetheless, its size, its long life, and its location along a north-south axis leading to the southern gate clearly point to its impor- tance within the fortified town during the whole Islamic period. Ma- terials from the ivory workshop located in the northern portion of the east-west street, outside Building 2, suggest that an ivory manufacture was active around the late 11th or more probably early 12th century. More in general, the new research work provides further details on the splendour and decay of a majestic harbour-town at the mouth of the Indus delta (Deb/Daybul). Its cultural life covered a span of time that stretches from pre- Islamic times up to the beginning of the 13th century, when predatory incursions by bandits and groups of the Chaghatay ulus stationed in Sistan began to raid and lay waste the town, and the local population migrated towards safer places.