Lothal
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The city, in brief
No child growing up in India fails to study the Indus Valley Civilisation, which is now more popularly referred to as the Harappan Civilisation after Harappa, the first of its sites to be excavated in the 1920s by British archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler. Growing up, I was fascinated by Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, which now top my bucket list. I remember being awestruck, like many, when I saw in Delhi’s National Museum the famous bronze beauty, the ‘Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro’, cast some 4,500 years ago.
The Harappan Civilisation was widespread: it covered parts of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Even though, post-Partition, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro fell in Pakistani territory, there are many sites of the Harappan Civilisation in India too. I intend to learn as much about them as possible before my dream of visiting Mohenjo-daro and Harappa comes true.
The importance of trade
Indian archaeologists started the search for cities of the Harappan Civilisation post-1947 in Saurashtra, Gujarat, and were amply rewarded. Archaeologist S.R. Rao led teams who discovered a number of Harappan sites, including the port city of Lothal in 1954-63. Two sub-periods of Harappan culture are marked out: period A dating to 2,400-1,900 BCE, and period B dating to 1,900-1,600 BCE. The word Lothal, like Mohenjo-daro, means the mound of the dead. Lothal is located between the Bhogavo and Sabarmati rivers near the Gulf of Khambat.
When I got a chance to visit Lothal recently, I jumped at it. It was a long and dusty ride from Ahmedabad to the village of Saragwala where the archaeological site of Lothal is located, but it was well worth it. I really couldn’t believe my eyes when I first saw the remains. The bricks truly look as though they are from the recent past and not from 2,400 BCE!
My first stop was the rectangular basin that was said to be the dockyard. It is 218 m long and 37 m wide and is bound on all sides by baked bricks. It had gaps for a sluice gate and inlet. As we haven’t yet deciphered the Indus script, we don’t know if this was really India’s first port as is claimed by some and questioned by some historians. But it is true that the discovery of Lothal seals in other ancient cities points to its importance in trade that was conducted with other ancient civilisations. The dockyard proves the maritime activity of the Harappans.
The 4,500-year-old city was mathematically planned. It had a grid pattern with proper streets crossing at right angles, drainage systems, and a great bath. The emphasis on cleanliness can be judged from the discovery of toilets and lota-like jars described by Tony Joseph in his fascinating book, The Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From. He writes that “the way South Asians wash themselves hasn’t changed all that much”. Imagine, our fixation with washing up goes back all the way to the Harappan Civilisation!
As this thought was crossing my mind, I made my way past an ancient well, the remains of a storehouse, and found myself in the upper town or citadel. The city was divided into two parts: the upper town and the lower town. The remains of the brick walls there suggest wide streets, drains and bathing platforms.
Bead-making factory
After spending some time in the citadel I followed the signs to a bead-making factory. I wish the signs were more accurate. Amidst ruins, my search turned into a guessing game with all the signboards being so vague.
Lothal was in the thick of Harappan maritime trade, and beads made from semi-precious stones, terracotta, gold, etc. were popular in areas as far as Sumer (modern-day Iraq), Bahrain and Iran. The Lothal bead-makers were highly skilled. According to the signboard in the Archaeological Survey of India museum there, which displays these beads, a bead-maker’s house was excavated in the lower town. It had several rooms and a kiln. Eight hundred cornelian beads in various stages of production and tools and raw materials were also recovered from there. In the cool confines of the museum, I was also bewitched by the unicorn seal. There must be few students in India who have not seen that seal in their history textbooks.
I also learnt from The Early Indians about a vase discovered at Lothal. It has the painting of a crow standing next to a pitcher with a deer looking back at it. It reminds one of the tale of the thirsty crow in the Panchatantra. As Joseph writes, “So some of the tales we tell our children may have been the same ones told by the Harappans to their children.”
Dockyard
2024 findings
Ritu Sharma, Sep 3, 2024: The Indian Express
From: Ritu Sharma, Sep 3, 2024: The Indian Express
Since the discovery of Harappan sites at Lothal, located in the Bhal region of Gujarat, in the 1950s, archaeologists have been divided on whether a dockyard existed at the location during the Indus Valley Civilisation.
This may now change as a new study by the Indian Institute of Technology-Gandhinagar (IITGn) has found fresh evidence which can confirm the dockyard’s existence. The study has revealed that the Sabarmati river used to flow by Lothal (currently, it flows 20 km away from the location) during the Harappan Civilisation. There was also a travel route connecting Ahmedabad, through Lothal, the Nal Sarovar wetland, and the Little Rann, to Dholavira — another Harappan site, according to analysis.
“Satellite images have unveiled the old channels of the River Sabarmati, suggesting Lothal’s key location on a significant river route linked to Koth [a village in Ahmedabad] and other resource-rich areas on the one hand and Little Rann of Kachchh through the Nal Sarovar on the other. The research supports the dockyard theory and addresses concerns about historical inlets, demonstrating Lothal’s importance for trade via river and sea routes,” according to a statement by the Press Information Bureau (PIB).
The study, ‘Sabarmati and its connection with the Harappan port Lothal and the Nal corridor: A study using multi-sensor data, cloud-computing and multi-platforms’, was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science in August. It has been carried out by Ekta Gupta, V N Prabhakar, and Vikrant Jain of IITGn.
Here is a look at the findings and the techniques used for the study.
What are the findings of the study?
The researchers based their study on the hypothesis that from Lothal, there was an inland network connected to the Rann of Kutch.
When investigating, Gupta identified a water channel which ultimately turned out to be the Sabarmati river. It flowed by Lothal and later shifted to the present-day course — now flowing 20 km from the location, according to the study.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Prabhakar said, “Using the technology we could find a gradual shifting of the Sabarmati river where it reached its present day course. One of these is coinciding with Lothal. So it means when Lothal was there as a Harappan port, definitely this river was flowing at the spot. The Nal Sarovar was in full flow out from which one river came out. So there was a connection from Lothal as one can directly go to the Nal Sarovar and from here to the Little Rann, then on to Dholavira. If one person travels by boat, he can reach there within two days. So this is how the traders might have travelled, transferred goods because, from Lothal, we have got the evidence of foreign trade.”
The study suggests that traders came to Gujarat through the Gulf of Khambhat, probably went to Ratanpura to get materials, and carried them to Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq).
Those who believed that a dockyard existed at Lothal based their hypothesis on the discovery of a 222 x 37 metres basin at the location. Others, however, argued that it was just an “irrigation tank”.
How was the study carried out?
For their study, the researchers used data from early maps, satellite imagery, and digital elevation models — 3D models that represent the topography of a planet or celestial body.
The researchers particularly focused on two 19th Century topographic maps. They used the maps to distinguish paleochannels — old or ancient river channels — from the perennial streams and understand geomorphic changes that occurred in the past 150 years.
Prabhakar highlighted that studying satellite images helped him and his team save time that would have been spent on ground surveys.
He said that the technology allowed them to “peep anywhere in the world, access remote areas, which are inaccessible to humankind and helped to identify potential spots that can be later verified on ground”.
Maintenance
Neglect and shortage of funds
The Times of India, Jun 22 2015
Himanshu Kaushik
Lothal, 4,400-yr-old `City of Dead', being killed slowly
The vestiges of Lothal -a city dating back to the 4,400-year-old Harappan civilization -are being obliterated. The city , which lies only 74 km from Ahmedabad, has no guards to protect it. So it is common to see people stealing bits of history . Tourists trample on the structure with little concern for its fragility. The site is overrun with weeds, adding to the picture of neglect and chaos.
Lothal's cemetery is no longer accessible due to wild growth on the approach. The cemetery houses two skeletons found during excavations at the site, carried out between 1955 and 1962.
Lothal, which means `The City of Dead' in Gujarati, attracts legions of visitors, par ticularly students. A museum containing articles belonging to the Harappan era is another major draw. The excavation sites and museum are under the care of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Officials said shortage of funds has lead to a staff crunch, affecting even routine maintenance. The museum gateman has to run to the historical Lothal dock to caution visitors against moving on the precarious structure. Boundary walls of wells are broken. The funds crunch prevents officials from carrying out further excavations.
