One
of the southernmost outposts
of the Indus civilisation,
and certainly one of the most
interesting example of Harrapan
townplanning, Lothal is around
80 kms from Ahmedabad. The
unique lockgated dockyard
is perhaps the greatest example
of maritime architecture from
the ancient world, and to
the Sabarmati river just before
its meeting with the sea in
Gulf of Cambay.
The citadel is obviously divided
into two parts an acropolis,
with its own paved baths, and
a lower town more humble residential
quarters, coppersmithing workshops,
sheds and bead factories. The
whole is marked by an excellent
of sanitary drainage.
map of
lothal
A
museum is stocked with archaelogical
findings that offer an insight into
the Indus Valley period. The Indus Valley
Civilisation at Lothal Ahmedabad district
was a hub centre for the Indus valley
civilisation when it moved down from
Sindh to the Saurashtra coast to establish
trading zones. Rangpur and Lothal, both
around 75 kms south from Ahmedabad,
were among the first 2 places where
the Indus valley civilisation was discovered
in India.
Lower
town
Not only
is it one of the southernmost
outposts of the sub-continent's
oldest civilisation but it saw
all the phases of the Harrapan
culture including the most mature
period when the civilisation
had all but disappeared from
present day Pakistan. Originally
Lothal was the site of the Red
Ware culture, named for its
micaceous pottery, until 2400
BC when the Harrapans arrived
here from the Indus Valley in
search of more fertile lands
and potential ports. Gradually
they colonised many areas along
the Gulf of Cambay, forming
citadels that include the southernmost
outpost of the Indus Valley
civlisation, which spanned an
area larger than those of the
Nile Valley civilisation in
Egypt and Euphrates-Tigris river
civilisation in Sumeria.
Lothal developed as the most
important port and a centre
of the bead industry until
1900 BC when the great flood
resulted in 300 years of decline.
However, the civilisation
survived here in the 1600s
and 1500s, after it disappeared
from the northern provinces,
and the result is a high maturity
in town planning and a fine
insight provided by less derelict
ruins. The vitality of the
civilisation at Lothal can
be judged by the 3 floods
that resulted in large scale
destruction, but did not dampen
the ambitions of the inhabitants.
Instead they breached the
gaps and rebuilt the important
structures on higher platforms.
On the contrary, after the
2200 BC floods, the northwest
section beyond the bazaar
was enlarged further and additions
were made to the ruler's palace
and the merchant houses.
map of
lothal
A long wharf connected the dockyard
to the main warehouse, which was
located on a plinth some 3.5 meters
above the ground. The first concern
of the Harrapan engineers would
have been to ensure against floods
and tides which had been their undoing
in Mohan Jo Daro and Harrappa. The
whole town was situated on a patch
of high ground, rising up from the
flat alluvial plains of Bhal, a
wall was erected to encircle the
town and a platform was built for
the warehouse where goods were checked
and stored.
The warehouse was divided into 64
rooms of around 3 1/2 sq meters
each, onnected by 1.2 meter wide
passages, and 12 of these cubical
blocks are visible even today. Seals
were used to lable the imports and
exports from the dock, and some
of these lables have been found
during digs. Klin fired bricks,
which the Harrapans had learnt from
experience were unaffected by tidal
waters, were used in making passages
to protect the cargo. Beside the
warehouse, and also on a high plinth,
is the upper town or acropolis,
spanning 128x61 meters. The rulers
home is no longer a grand palace,
but the foundations show signs of
it having been a 2 or 3 storeyed
mansion. The rooms of the upper
town were obviously built for ruling
classes, as they had private paved
baths, and a remarkable network
of drains and cess pools. The proximity
of the seat of power to the warehouse,
ensured that the ruler and his entourage
could inspect stocks easily. An
ivory workshop at the acropolis
suggests that elephants may have
been domesticated for the purpose.
