Banbhore

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Floor of the courtyard of the mosque

Banbhore is a ruined city ​​in the Pakistani province of Sindh and is located approx. 60 km southeast of Karachi . These are the remains of the important medieval port city of Daibul .

Excavations made it possible to distinguish between three cultural strata, ranging from the first to the 13th century: There is a Parthian , a Hindu and an early Islamic phase. The city is identified with Daibul at the mouth of the Indus , known from written sources . Daibul is the first city ​​in India to be conquered by Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ; the first mosque on the Indian subcontinent was built here.

The important trading center with its valuable sea port was fortified under the Umayyads by a mighty city wall with three city gates. The mosque within the city walls had an almost square floor plan with 34 × 35 meters, its rows of columns were built around a central courtyard. It can be dated to the year 727 by means of an inscription. The large houses in the city were built of stone, the smaller ones of adobe .

The city is probably called Barbarikon in the Periplus Maris Erythraei and was important for the Indian trade . It appears as a place of the silk trade with the name Arbi in the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach , so it was already known in the West during the Middle Ages.

In 2004 it was proposed that the city should be declared a World Heritage Site.

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Coordinates: 24 ° 27 ′ 0 ″  N , 67 ° 18 ′ 36 ″  E