Experiencing the past through archaeological fiction: a novel on Mohenjodaro by Ali Baba

Sirat Gohar; Ifqut Shaheen

doi:10.47264/idea.lassij/6.2.2

Authors

Sirat Gohar National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa), Islamabad, Pakistan. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2555-8724
Ifqut Shaheen Department of Archaeology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1891-1377

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47264/idea.lassij/6.2.2

Keywords:

Sindhi literature, Sindhi fiction, Modern Sindhi fiction, Sindhi writer, Ali Baba, ancient Sindh, archaeological knowledge, archaeological novel, Indus Civilisation

Abstract

This study focuses on the book entitled “Mohan Jo Daro”, a fictional account (Novel) of the Mohenjodaro and the Indus Civilization. In Sindhi literature, the novel titled “Mohan Jo Daro” is a literary work representing the ancient Sindhi culture and civilisation. It has been playing a key role in understanding and experiencing the past of Sindh. The Novel was written by a famous Sindhi novelist and short-story writer, Ali Muhammad, popularly known as Ali Baba. It is one of the reasons for the popularity of the Mohenjodaro and Ali Baba among Sindhi-speaking audiences. Being an archaeology fiction book, the Novel plays a key role in making the people experience the past of Sindh (through Mohenjodaro and the Indus Civilization) in a stylised way. In this research, the Novel has been studied in the framework of science (archaeology) popularisation and “experiencing the past”. The study explores, identifies and brings out the information included in the Novel about Mohenjodaro. The aesthetic context of Ali Baba’s Novel has also been highlighted in this research.

References

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