Lothal : World's First Dockyard // Ancient Port City // लोथल - सिंधु सभ्यता का बंदरगाह // PART- 1

#lothal #indusvalleycivilization #harappancivilisation #harrapa #mohenjodaro #ancient #ancienthistory #ancientindia #sindhu_ghati_sabhyata #history #byjus #dholavira #portcity #dockyard #oldest #firstknown #india #indianheritage #unesco #unescoworldheritage
Lothal : was one of the southernmost sites of the ancient Indus Valley civilisation, located in the Bhāl region of the modern state of Gujarāt. Construction of the city is believed to have begun around 2200 BCE.
Lothal was a vital and thriving trade centre in ancient times, with its trade of beads, gems and valuable ornaments reaching the far corners of West Asia and Africa. The techniques and tools they pioneered for bead-making and in metallurgy have stood the test of time for over 4000 years.
Lothal is situated near the village of Saragwala in the Dholka Taluka of Ahmedabad district. Resuming excavation in 1961, archaeologists unearthed trenches sunk on the northern, eastern and western flanks of the mound, bringing to light the inlet channels and nullah ("ravine", or "gully") connecting the dock with the river. The findings consist of a mound, a township, a marketplace, and the dock. Adjacent to the excavated areas stands the Archaeological Museum, where some of the most prominent collections of Indus-era antiquities in India are displayed.
The Lothal site was nominated, in April 2014, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its application is pending on the tentative list of UNESCO.
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the official Indian government agency for preservation of ancient monuments, discovered Lothal in 1954. Excavation work in Lothal commenced on 13 February 1955 and continued till 19 May 1960. According to the ASI, Lothal had the world's earliest known dock, which connected the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati river on the trade route. This trade route stretched between Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra where the surrounding Kutch desert of today was a part of the Arabian Sea. However, this interpretation has been challenged by other archaeologists, who argue Khufu's Red Sea harbour at Wadi al-Jarf is older, dating its construction to between 2580 to 2550 BC and that Lothal was a comparatively small town, and that the "dock" was primarily an irrigation tank.
Town planning :
Bathing platform and communal drain, acropolis
A flood destroyed village foundations and settlements (c. 2350 BCE). Harappans based around Lothal and from Sindh took this opportunity to expand their settlement and create a planned township on the lines of greater cities in the Indus valley.[15] Lothal planners engaged themselves to protect the area from consistent floods. The town was divided into blocks of 1- 2m high (3-6ft) platforms of sun-dried bricks, each serving 20-30 houses of thick mud and brick walls. The city was divided into a citadel, or acropolis and a lower town. The rulers of the town lived in the acropolis, which featured houses with paved bathing platforms, underground and surface drains (built of kiln-fired bricks) and potable water well. The acropolis also housed the towns warehouse, with a ramp down to the basin, on the towns eastern flank. The lower town was subdivided into two sectors. A north-south arterial street was the main commercial area. It was flanked by shops of rich and ordinary merchants and craftsmen. The residential area was located to either side of the marketplace. The lower town was also periodically enlarged during Lothal's years of prosperity.
Pottery from Lothal.
All the construction were made of fire dried bricks, lime and sand mortar and not by sun-dried bricks as bricks are still intact after 4000 years and still bonded together with each other with the mortar bond
Economy and urban culture
Pot furnace at Lothal
An ancient well, and the city drainage canals
The uniform organization of the town and its institutions make it evident that the Harappans were very disciplined people.[17] Commerce and administrative duties were performed according to standards laid out. Municipal administration was strict - the width of most streets remained the same over a long time, and no encroached structures were built. Householders possessed a sump, or collection chamber to deposit solid waste in order to prevent the clogging of city drains. Drains, manholes, and cesspools deposited the waste in the river which was washed out during high tide maintaining the cleanliness of the city. A new provincial style of Harappan art and painting was pioneered. The new approaches included realistic portrayals of animals in their natural surroundings. Metalware, gold and jewellery and tastefully decorated ornaments attest to the culture and prosperity of the people of Lothal
Source : Wikipedia