Thread by @myhistorytales

#IndiaAt75 In 1926, British Archaeologist Ernest Mckay dug up a small bronze statue in Mohenjodaro and it changed the way the world looked at India's history!

Join me to know the story of the 'Dancing Girl' from Mohenjodaro - the greatest find of the Indus Valley Civilization 🧵

The first Indus Valley major find was the discovery of Harappa in 1829 on the banks of Ravi river in Punjab. It excited the British a bit but the find was still largely academic that they had found an ancient inhabited town that no one knew existed. 2/n

Over the next 50 years, several such sites were found but more than history, Britishers and locals were interested in the high quality bricks that these sites provided.

They were plundered for building houses, ballast for railway lines all the way between Karachi to Delhi. 3/n

After passing under the crown in 1857, a new organization Archaeological Survey of India was established to protect these sites

It's 1st director Alexander Cunningham was the one who found Harappan seals which showed this was a bigger civilization with a script of its own 4/n

Over the next 50 years, interest in IVC grew as more finds came but still it was a well built township with lot of brick structure, pottery finds, a few seals with undecipherable symbols.

Nothing to show that the civilization was truly advanced. 5/n

In early 20th C, Ancient Monuments Act was passed & John Marshall was appointed director of ASI who started exploring more sites with Mohenjodaro especially a promising one

Multiple great finds came from this one site year after year.

And thats where the Dancing Girl was hidden

Ernest Mckay, a junior archaeologist part of Marshall's team stumbled upon something very new which hadnt been found in IVC until then.

A 10cm * 5cm small bronze statue of a girl wearing around 20 bangles on the left arm, a necklace, styled hair & standing in a confident pose!

Marshall described her as around 15 year old girl with hand on her hip & legs slightly forward as though she is dancing to a beat.

The Dancing Girl of Mohenjodaro was born!

She mesmerized everyone as no such work of confident art had ever come from IVC digs until then.

8/n

Apart from the beauty, the Dancing girl proved 3 important things

1. IVC people knew how to blend and cast metals

2. IVC knew Lost-Wax casting process of making bronze items

3. Most importantly, IVC had entertainment & dance in its culture & not just a group of primitives

9/n

The Dancing Girl became the prize find of ASI and India in general and was shown to all visiting leaders & displayed in the Lahore Museum initially.

The British then moved all IVC finds to Delhi with a plan of building a grand new 'Central Imperial Museum' 10/n

Before that could come up, India gained Independence in 1947 and Pakistan split away from India.

As with many other items, both countries lay claim to all IVC artifacts (by then 12000+ items) and a bitter verbal battle of claiming history ensued for the next 25 years 11/n

The Dancing girl stayed on in the Delhi museum while the 2 countries battled verbally & physically

Eventually in 1972, Indira Gandhi and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto - leaders of the 2 countries met to sign the Simla Agreement.

Again the topic of IVC artifacts came up. 12/n

By then, another prize find of Mohenjodaro - The statue of the 'Priest King was also in the Delhi Museum.

Along with the Dancing Girl, the Priest King was the most popular art work found from IVC.

They were like the 2 Monalisas of Indus Valley Civilization Artworks. 13/n

Bhutto asked Gandhi for both of these statues for Pakistan initially. Gandhi refused and offered any one of them while the other remained in India.

Bhutto chose the Priest King and not the Dancing Girl!

And off he went to the National Museum in Lahore! 14/n

The Dancing Girl stayed on at the National Museum in Delhi and continues to mesmerize visitors one and all amidst other more recent IVC finds.

Dated back to 2300BC, she is a symbol of Indian heritage that spans 5 milleniums and more. 15/n

All countries want to show their history as ancient & rich. But India doesn't really need to prove anything. The Dancing Girl will do it for us!!

Make it a point to hop in & say hi to her on your next visit to Delhi !

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