The culture of Sindh has its roots in the Indus Valley
Civilization. Sindh has been shaped by the geography of the largely desert
region, the natural resources it had available and the continuous foreign
influences. The Indus or Sindhu River that passes through the land and the
Arabian Sea (that defines its borders) also supported the sea-faring traditions
among the local people. The local climate also reflects why the Sindhis have
the language, folklore, traditions, customs and lifestyle that are so different
from the neighbouring regionsThe roots of Sindhi culture and civilization go
back to the distant past. Archaeological researches during 19th and 20th
centuries showed the roots of social life, religion and culture of the people
of the Sindh: their agricultural practices, traditional arts and crafts,
customs and tradition and other parts of social life, going back to a ripe and
mature Indus valley civilization of the third millennium B.C. Recent researches
have traced the Indus valley civilization to even earlier ancestry.
Archaeological discoveries sometimes help to unfold the
certain latent aspects of a specificculture. The excavations of Mohenjo-daro
have unfolded the city life of a civilization of people with values, a distinct
identity and culture. Therefore, the first definition of the Sindhi culture
emanates from that over the 7000 year old Indus Valley Civilization. This is
the pre-Aryan period, about 3,000 years B.C., when the urban civilization in
Sindh was at its peak.
In Sir Mortimer Wheeler's book, Civilization of the Indus
Valley and Beyond, it is said that; "Civilization, in a minimum sense of
the term, is the art of living in towns, with all that the condition implies in
respect of social skills and disciplines." When people speak of Sindhi
civilization, they have to concern themselves, mainly with the material and
concrete side of human habitation of which Sindhi culture is the only essence
called the superstructure.[original research?] The present day Sindh, along
with the Northern part of the Indus Valley Civilization (around 3000 to 2500
B.C.) is located on its urban civilization.
Ranikot
Fort is also a landmark of the Indus valley civilization. It is the world's
largest fort, with walls extending to 20 km. It has been called a "second
Wall of China", and it attracts many visitors.