The First Excavation of Harappa Is Conducted

Alexander Cunningham, with the resources of the newly formed Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), conducts the first, albeit minor, excavation at Harappa (in present-day Punjab, Pakistan). Based on prior instances of theft and reuse of bricks from the site for nearby railway construction, Cunningham explores the area, uncovering portions of some buildings and a few artefacts, but is unable to draw clear conclusions from the findings, and accepts local myths that point to it being an early medieval city. Later digs at the site by Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni in 1920, and at other Indus Valley cities by the ASI under John Marshall, establish the true time period and geographical extent of the Indus Valley Civilisation.