Kot Diji
View of Kot Diji Fort from Town View of Kot Diji Fort from Town
Location
Coordinates	27°21′N 68°43′E / 27.35°N 68.71667°E / 27.35; 68.71667Coordinates: 27°21′N 68°43′E / 27.35°N 68.71667°E / 27.35; 68.71667
Country	Pakistan
Region	Khairpur District, Sindh

The ancient site at Kot Diji (Urdu: کوٹ ڈیجی) was the forerunner of the Indus Civilization. The people of this site lived about 3000 BCE. The remains consist of two parts; the citadel area on high ground (about 12 m), and outer area. The Pakistan Department of Archaeology excavated at Kot Diji in 1955 and 1957.^[1]

Located about 22 kilometers south of Khairpur in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. The site is situated at the foot of the Rohri Hills where a fort (Kot Diji Fort) was built around 1790 by Talpur dynasty ruler of Upper Sindh, Mir Suhrab who reigned from 1783 to 1830 AD. This fort built on the ridge of a steep narrow hill is well preserved.

Historical significance[link]

Early Harappan Towns (4000-3000 BCE)[link]

The development of these farming communities in different parts of Baluchistan and Lower Sind, ultimately led to urbanization. The earliest fortified town to date is found at Rehman Dheri, dated 4000 BCE in NWFP close to River Zhob Valley. Other fortified towns found to date are at Amri (3600-3300 BCE) and Kot Diji in Sind and at Kalibangan (3000 BCE), India at the Hakra River. No writing were found at these sites.

Kot Diji Culture (3200-2600 BCE)[link]

The Early Harappan site at Kot Diji consists of two clearly defined areas. Citadel on high ground for the elites separated by a defensive wall with bastions at regular intervals. This area measures about 500 ft x 350 ft. Outer area, or the city proper consisted of houses of mud bricks on stone foundations. Pottery found from this site have design with horizontal and wavy lines, or loops and simple triangular patterns.

Other stuff found are pots, pans, storage jars, toy carts, balls, bangles, beads, terracotta figurines of mother goddess and animals, bronze arrowheads. Well fashioned stone implements were also discovered.

The interesting find at Kot Diji is a toy cart, which shows that potter’s wheel lead to wheels for bullock carts.

There are obvious signs of massive burning of over the entire site, including both the lower habitation area and the high mound (the fortified town), which were also observed at other Early Harappan sites: Period III at Gumla, Period II at Amri, Period ID at Naushero. Signs of cleavage were observed at Early Harappan phase Period I at Kalibangan. The cause of the disruptions and/or abandonment of these sites toward the end of the Early Harappan phase is still unexplained.^[2]

Rani Kot (600-1843 AD)[link]

Battle Position

Main gates of Rani Kot, fort

According to legends, the wall existed during Umayyad rule and later under the Abbasid rule. The Soomro tribe inhabited the fort and later the Samma positioned large infantry formations inside the fort.

The Mughal Emirs armed the walls of the fort with cannons and muskets they were the first to renovate the entire structure. The Kalhora tribe later gained control of the fort and finally the Talpurs saw the fort as a strategic asset especially during the reign of Mir Fatih Ali Khan Talpur, until they were defeated and overthrown by the British Empire, in 1843 AD.

See also[link]

• Kot Diji Fort

Notes[link]

Ali Shah

Personal information
Batting style	Left-hand bat
Bowling style	Right-arm medium
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	ODIs
Matches	3	28
Runs scored	122	437
Batting average	24.39	16.80
100s/50s	0/1	0/1
Top score	62	60*
Balls bowled	186	1077
Wickets	1	18
Bowling average	125.00	45.11
5 wickets in innings	0	0
10 wickets in match	0	n/a
Best bowling	1/46	3/33
Catches/stumpings	0/-	6/-
Source: Cricinfo, 11 February 2006

Ali Hassimshah Omarshah, (known as Ali Shah, born August 7, 1959 in Salisbury - now Harare) is a former Zimbabwean cricketer who played in 3 Tests and 28 ODIs from 1993 to 1996. Ali is currently living in Harare with his wife Aisha Omarshah, son Zain Omarhshah and daughter Fariyah Omarshah. He is currently in business trading in various commodities from around the world.

v t e Zimbabwe squad – 1983 Cricket World Cup 1 Fletcher (c) 2 Brown 3 Butchart 4 Curran 5 Heron 6 Hick 7 Hogg 8 Houghton (wk) 9 Paterson 10 Peckover 11 Pycroft 12 Rawson 13 Shah 14 Traicos

v t e Zimbabwe squad – 1987 Cricket World Cup 1 Traicos (c) 2 Arnott 3 Brandes 4 Brown 5 Butchart 6 Curran 7 Houghton (wk) 8 Jarvis 9 Meman 10 Paterson 11 Pycroft 12 Rawson 13 Shah 14 Waller

v t e Zimbabwe squad – 1992 Cricket World Cup 1 Houghton (c) 2 Arnott 3 Brandes 4 Burmester 5 Butchart 6 Campbell 7 Duers 8 A Flower (wk) 9 James 10 Jarvis 11 Pycroft 12 Shah 13 Traicos 14 Waller

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