A METROPOLIS OF 2650 B.C.-DHOLAVIRA

THE OLDEST SIGNBOARD WAS WRITTEN IN GYPSUM

My fascination for historical places and  ruins of ancient civilisations has taken me to different places in India and abroad too. I had always wanted to see Mohenjodaro and Harappa which are now in Pakistan, and when I was told that getting a visa to go there could be problematic,  I was quite disappointed.  As soon as I came to know that the ruins of Dholavira in Gujarat belonged to the Indus Valley Civilisation and probably was  a city which was as big as Mohenjodaro,  I planned a trip to this lovely island right in the middle of the Rann of Kutch. Dholavira sounds like the name of an exotic story, could be romantic, heroic or the name of some famous person of some folklore. Turned out that the village closest to the ruins discovered in 1967 and excavated in 1990, was named Dholavira. 

SALT VISTA

Dholavira is situated in the middle of nowhere. Oh yes, correction - it is situated on the Tropic of Cancer. The nearest inhabited place is a small town called Rapar, which is about 93 Kms away. The nearest airport is at Bhuj which is about 210 kms away. The road from Bhuj is good, except for a small stretch and as you reach Dholavira, on both sides of the road one sees vast expansive stretches of salt vista where nothing grows.  Along the way from Bhuj onwards, we saw a lot of local tribal people in their traditional dresses, walking along the road or towards some local temple. To my eyes used to the uninteresting- almost drab clothes of the city folk, it was a lovely scene to be captured. Their dresses and their jewellery were quite unique, some shell bangles were almost like the ones worn by women 4,500 years ago.

COLOUR, BEAUTY, GRACE

Dholavira is located between the Mansar stream in the north and Manhar stream in the south, in the island of Khadir and is locally called "Kotada”(large fort). Ruins have shown that thousands of years ago this city was  well planned, had monumental structures and  had an excellent water management system.  From the excavations one can observe that there were seven stages of this civilisation from development to maturity to decay. After the peak of civilisation in 2650 B.C. to 2100 B.C. when the city was abandoned either due to a massive earthquake or floods,  to the 1900 B.C. when people returned with a de-urbanised culture and perhaps chose a more simple way of life. In 1400 B.C. the place was abandoned again, once and for all.

This excavated city of Dholavira is spread in about 120 acres and was  quadrangular, it measured 771 metres x 616 metres width and had a fortification wall all around it. There was a  Citadel in the east and Bailey in the west. The Middle town was within the general fortification. There was a granary towards the west and about sixteen  reservoirs towards the south of the fortification, of which six can be seen.

This city was most probably built after Mohenjodaro and Harappa as the city was constructed according to a geometrical plan. The Citadel/Acropolis and the Middle town as well as the Bailey where important people lived had its own wall and gateways.   Beyond the gateway is the Lower town where people of lesser stature lived, they may have been the artisans. Most of the structures and buildings are made of stone as against Mohenjodaro, Harappa and Lothal where most structures were made of bricks. Saving the town from floods led them to build their town at a much higher level, for which they built walls and a platform over which they built their city. 

THE FIRST RESERVOIR THAT I SAW

As one enters the excavated space from the East side, one can see a huge reservoir. There are steps which lead into the reservoir. As one goes further up one can see a huge upright wall made of stone. The base is wider and narrows as it goes up. As our guide told us, " this was built like a pyramid", what he meant was that the base was broad and narrowed as it went up to be the raised platform. On top of this raised platform was situated the Citadel or Acropolis which had good  built up area, a uniform street system, wells, large open spaces and was well fortified. Roads were broad, houses were in straight rows, there were big houses with rooms, halls, kitchen and best of all en suite or attached bathrooms. Drainage system was in place and the city looked quite well planned. The Citadel and Bailey where the richer people and their officers stayed had double ramparts and a better defence system. People of the lower town were not so well protected as they were beyond the walls. 

There were three gates for entry into the City, the North, East and West gate. On the south side no gate has been found so far.  The North gate was the most impressive gate as perhaps it was the main entrance. As you entered through this gate there were two elevated chambers flanking the sunken passageway which was connected with a L shaped   staircase coming down from the Citadel.  

NOTCH FOR BOLTING THE DOOR

Near this sunken passage we find two stone slabs with notches cut in them which was used for bolting the gate. Outside of the North gate was the Stadium which was a long stretch of clear ground. 

THE STADIUM

I wonder what the stadium was used for, could be for running races like the Olympic stadium or cart/chariot races as in the Roman Forum.  There are places on both sides of the gate which could be used by the important people for sitting and watching what went on at the Stadium.

NORTH GATE OVER WHICH WAS THE SIGNBOARD

On top of this North gate was found the most ancient sign board of the world. This sign board had ten characters made of gypsum fixed on a wooden plank.  Although the wooden plank has frayed, the signboard has stood the ravages of time. It has been taken down and stored very carefully by the archeologists. A replica of the same has been kept on top of the carefully preserved original. It is amazing to look at the alphabets/characters, as one goes back to some unknown times and unknown people who wrote that sign board. What did it indicate will be known once the script is deciphered. The characters are 37 cms high and the board on which it was fixed is 3 meters long.

POLISHED BASE

As we walk in further away from the gate, we see  the base of two pillars on both sides. The base of the pillars are made of highly polished stone and are square in shape. Above this square base is another highly polished base which is circular and most probably housed the pillar which may have gone up to the ceiling.    

PILLAR BASE

 As we walk up the stairs we enter the citadel area and  come across residential quarters.   

WELL WITH MARKS OF ROPE

A BATHING ROOM WITH INLET

Further on we come across a large well with a stone-cut trough which has grooves/markings of the rope with which the water may have been hauled up in a receptacle and then conducted to a storage tank. Wood fire was lit under the tank to heat the water which  was then supplied to the  bathroom meant for the women of the house through an inlet for running hot water.

Nearby is the bathing room, which has steps descending inwards.  

A 1900 B.C. CIRCULAR HOUSE

As we walked further on, we came across the ruins belonging to some later period of time. These are  circular houses,  which were made perhaps by the people who came back in 1900 B.C. These later day residents had lost the sophistication of the earlier civilisation with planned houses and straight streets. The urban nature of a planned city was lost and de-urbanisation had set in.  We can see similar round houses in the present day villages of this area which are called "Bhunga".  The igloo,  and similar round huts are also found in some parts of Africa.

A STOOL AND A MORTAR

Water, the lifeline of mankind, was treated with the deference that it deserves. The  efficient system  for conservation, harvesting and storage of water speaks eloquently about their advanced hydraulic engineering. It is  indeed amazing to see the system that they adopted. 

CONNECTED RESERVOIRS

We saw 6 reservoirs inter connected at the south side of the town. These  reservoirs are unique and are the earliest water conservation system of channels built by stone masonry. There was a natural incline in the landscape, which was used to their advantage by the people of those times. While most reservoirs were lined with stone, in some places natural rock wall has also been retained. These reservoirs are about 7 meters  deep and 79 metres long and  are cut through stone vertically. The reservoirs were made at different levels and water inlet and outlet drains were placed in such a way that the sediments would settle at the bottom of the reservoir and the clear water would go forth to the next reservoir. Thus the water would pass through five more reservoirs and the sediments would keep settling at the bottom of each reservoir. There was therefore filtration of the water. 

The museum at Dholavira houses a lot of material that has been found here. Jewellery made of agate, jasper, steatite, shell, gold and silver were found. Beads, earrings and bangles made of gold have also been found.

Carnelian beads were very popular, agate was heated to change the colour to red or deep orange and then drilled with a stone drill and then the beads were etched to make patterns. A small pot containing beads made of semi precious stones and other material was found in a drain at Dholavira during excavation. Some of the beads found were 1mm to 3 mm. in length and 1mm diameter with perforation.

Shell was found in abundance here as it was close to the coast and  was used extensively for making bangles, inlays, beads, ladles, vessels, pins and also for engraving. They used a bow of copper wire and circular saw of bronze for cutting and making grooves.

The museum houses pottery, seals and weights made of stone with rounded edges. Terracotta pots, tumblers, grinding stones and mortars were also found in a very large number. Terracotta drain, tiles too have been found.

DRAIN & TILE

Observing the ruins of an immensely advanced civilisation left me feeling very thoughtful. 

Over a period of time the urban features of the city changed into a de-urban pattern. 

A planned city seemed to have become unplanned. 

What could have happened? 

We go by the general premise that progress goes forward and there is always improvement in facilities but what I saw at Dholavira made me become philosophical-it does not always happen like that.