Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-Daro (Paperback)

About the Book

The Dancing Girl Of Mohenjo-Daro is a historical-fiction novel that begins in 1934 during the British excavations at Mohenjo-Daro. A young British archaeologist, Stephen Burton, becomes intrigued by a local legend linking the famous "Priest King" and "Dancing Girl" statues to an ancient lost civilization. Through the account of an elderly man named Lala, the narrative shifts thousands of years into the past, depicting the rise of the city of Kukutarma, the forbidden love between the priest Poshwa and the slave girl Surni, and the life of their gifted son Puria. Against a backdrop of social inequality, religion, politics, and myth, the story explores how knowledge, power, and human ambition shape the destiny of a civilization that ultimately meets its tragic end.

About the Author 

Mirza Muhammad Shakir is a retired Professor of Dentistry and author born in Pakistan in 1955.

He completed his early schooling at Cantt Public School in Karachi before earning his Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) from Liaquat Medical College, followed by a Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) from the University of Karachi and a Membership in Oral Surgery (MCPS) from the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan.

He began his career with the Sindh Health Services as a Dental Surgeon and later joined Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi. There, he played a central role in establishing the university’s dental colleges, eventually serving as Professor of Dentistry as well as Principal and Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry until his retirement. Over the course of his academic career, he published six scientific papers in national and international dental journals and was instrumental in shaping dental education programs in Pakistan.

Drawing on a lifelong career in medicine, academia, and a deep connection to Pakistani heritage, he turned to literary writing. The Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro, a fiction inspired by the rich cultural legacy of the Indus Valley Civilization, is his debut novel.