BANAWALI EXPEDITION

AINCERT Ghaggar-Hakra Expedition 2026 Banawali
Date: 30 June 2026
Venue: Banawali, Fatehabad District, Haryana
Organiser: AINCERT
Description: AINCERT Founder President Ujjwal BU Pant visited Banawali, a major Mature Harappan site in Fatehabad district of Haryana. Excavated by the ASI under R.S. Bisht between 1974 and 1977, Banawali is distinctive within the IVC for three reasons. Its town plan is oval rather than the rectangular grid that characterises most major IVC cities, suggesting adaptation to local topography rather than imposition of a predetermined geometric plan. It is one of only three IVC sites where a terracotta plough model has been found, the others being Mohenjo-daro and Cholistan, providing direct evidence that the IVC used animal-drawn plough agriculture rather than simple hand tools and confirming that the agricultural surplus supporting large IVC urban populations was produced by organised plough-based farming. And the site contains one of the best-preserved drainage systems of any IVC site, with individual house drains, street drains, and major outfall channels all traceable in the excavation record, documenting a level of civic infrastructure investment that is extraordinary for the late third millennium BCE. The city was divided by a wall into a citadel area to the northwest and a lower town to the southeast, following the standard IVC pattern of dual-zone urbanism. The AINCERT visit produced field photographs and a complete research paper.