Ancient rock carvings of Gadap

I have discovered many rock art sites during my frequent trips to Gadap in the Malir district in the Karachi division. Gadap is home to many rock art sites which showcase the ancient history of the Karachi region. Amongst various rock art sites, the Gidran Waro Gharoto site is the most important and third-largest after Lahut Tar and Thado Dam rock art sites respectively. The Gidran Waro Gharoto is a hill stream which is located about 10 km east of Gadap town and 2 km southeast of the Thado Dam rock-art site. The main motifs in the rock art of Gidran Waro Gharoto include cupules, anthropomorphic figures, geometric figures, buildings, shoes, hands, and footprints.

Cup-marks or cupules are found almost in every valley in the Khirthar mountain range in Dadu and Kamber-Shahdadkot districts on which I have already written papers in the research journals and articles in newspapers. There are six cup-marks at the Gidran Waro Gharoto rock art site which are made along with other petroglyphs. One cup-mark is near the anthropomorphic figures of what are probably shamans – which possibly show that it might have been used for performing certain rituals by the community in the ancient Karachi region.

Anthropomorphic figures are the most interesting and impressive in the rock art of Gidran Waro Gharoto. These mostly include giant human figures at this rock-art site. Giant human figures are found in the world rock art. They are also found in the rock art of Pakistan. A few giant human figures in the rock art of Northern Pakistan have already been reported. These giant human figures have been found in the valleys of Oshibat, Dadam Das I, Thalpan V, Chilas, and Gichi Nala in the Diamer district in Gilgit-Baltistan by the German archaeologists and Pakistani anthropologists. They believe that these images belong to the Bronze Age and compared them with the images found in the Oknuve culture of Serbia. I have discovered similar giant images in Gadap tehsil of Malir district in Karachi division. They possibly represented the shamans.

The Gidran Waro Gharoto is a small hill stream. On both banks of the stream are to be found rock carvings. There are eight giant human figures on both banks of the hill stream. On the left is only one rock art panel whereas on the right are seven panels where one finds both petroglyphs and cup marks. There are four giant images on the first panel. All figures seem to be in movement, perhaps depicting a community ritual.

Friday Times