Dholavira – City of Indus Valley Civilization

This article talks about an important city of Indus valley civilization called Dholavira. It also discusses the technological potential of inhabitants of Dholavira, their developed city life, trade and architecture.

Introduction

Location of Dholavira

Architecture of Dholavira

Construction Material

Why Dholavira is a part of Indus Valley Civilization?

Archaeological Findings in Dholavira

Achievements of Inhabitants of Indus Valley Civilization

Conclusion

Introduction

Dholavira is one of the five most important cities of Indus valley civilization discovered till date. The city existed between 3^rd and 2^nd millennium BC for duration of 1500 years. It was discovered in 1967 when Harappan pavements were being searched from Sindh to Kuchh. The excavations in this region started later in 1990s. The discovery and findings obtained from excavations of Dholavira has added new dimensions to our understanding about Indus valley civilization. The city gives evidential support for the rise and fall of Indus valley civilization.

Location of Dholavira

Dholavira site is located in Khadir Beyt village of Kuchh district of Gujarat state. The site is situated on North Western end of Khadir Beyt village and it spreads on an area of 120 acres. Khadir Beyt is a part of Rann of Kuchh which is a large salt field. Geological studies reveal that in past, Rann of Kuchh stayed about 10 m below sea level for 3000 years. Khadir was an island in the sea. The inhabitants of Dholavira selected an island for settlement rather than mainland. The reason may be the relative abundance of resources on island and strategic location of island. Dholavira was a port city which strengthened trade relations with gulf countries. Even today, heavy rainfall in monsoon season breaks the land connectivity of Khadir beyt from mainland.

The city of Dholavira was developed between two river streams. They were Mansar and Manhar in north and south of city respectively.

Dholavira Excavation Site

Architecture of Dholavira

Architectural feature of Dholavira are enumerated below:

1. Like other cities of Indus Valley Civilization, Dholavira is also quadrilateral in shape. The city had a grid pattern.
2. Roads were cutting each other at right angle.
3. Dholavira was a multivariate city. The three divisions of Indus valley architecture are clearly visible in the site of Dholavira. The three parts were: Citadel, Middle town and Lower town. The people of high society used to reside in citadel. The citadel was located at relatively higher position than middle and lower town. Upper part is 13 m above the lower part.
4. Several water reservoirs were developed in south western and northern parts. They were made by rock cutting.
5. A ceremony ground is also found in Dholavira which is surrounded by a series of water reservoirs.  
6. There were 16 large water reservoirs in the city of Dholavira. Their collective storage capacity is 2.5 lakh Km². Stairs were also built in the reservoirs to enable people to access water level.
7. The entire city was developed on a platform and enclosed in boundary walls from all sides.
8. The town planning was done using the scientific principles of mathematics, geometry and architecture.
9. Different structures found in the city of Dholavira have specific ratios of their dimensions.
10. The measurements of walls of city are found to be in the ratio of 5:4. The absolute measurements of north to west and north to south are 771.1 m and 616.85 m respectively.
11. Similarly, measurements of inner walls of castle are 114 m and 92 m for length and width respectively. Their ratio is also 5:4.
12. Length and width of outer walls of castle are 151 m and 118 m respectively which is again 5:4.
13. The ratio of length and width of ceremony ground is found to be 6:1 which are 283 m and 47 m in absolute number.
14. The dimensional ratio of middle town is 7:6.
15. The main road of the city was 9 m wide. The other paths attached to main road had specific dimensions. The pavements out the residences were 1.5 to 5 m wide.  
16. There were 17 gates found in castle’s wall of Dholavira. Larger gates were found in northern, eastern and western walls.
17. Drainage system of each residence was emptied in to a common sewerage tank.

Construction Material

Buildings of Dholavira were made up of dried soil, stones, baked bricks and dry wood. Constructions made up of bricks were covered with stones.

Why Dholavira is a part of Indus Valley Civilization?

Though the cities of Indus Valley Civilization were located at distance of thousands of Km from each other but they are considered part of same civilization that is Indus Valley Civilization. The convincing arguments are:

• Analogous town planning

• Similarity in sewerage system

• Common techniques of stone carving

Inscription at Dholavira

Courtesy Image from Wikipedia 

Archaeological Findings in Dholavira

The largest Harappan inscription discovered so far was found at the site of Dholavira. It was found near the apartment base of northern gate of Dholavira city. It was made up of opaque glass on a wooden strap. The inscription is 37 cm long and 27 cm wide. The letters of inscription are not yet deciphered. Archaeologists believe that this inscription was a sign board. 

A circular structure was also found in the city which is believed to be a graveyard. Surprisingly, unlike all other Harappan sites, coffins in Dholavira were found in eastern and north eastern direction. In other Harappan sites, their direction was north. Some archaeologists also assume that the circular structure of Dholavira could be monumental rather than graveyard because almost all the coffins were empty. 

Archaeologists also found a large well in Dholavira which is three times the size of Great Bath of Mohanjo Daro.

The other findings are utensils, statues, gold, silver, copper, stones of Lapis lazuli, seals etc.

Achievements of Inhabitants of Indus Valley Civilization

Much earlier than Romans, Harappans had learnt to use natural slope to take water from reservoirs to city. They developed the complex hydrological system which enables the inhabitants to do farming throughout the year

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Development of complex drainage network was an assurance for prevention of floods in the city and excess water could reach reservoirs.

     

Harrappans were successful in establishing trade relations with gulf countries. The beads of Indus Valley Civilization were also found in Mesopotamia which is present day Iraq. This indicates export of beads from Indus Valley Civilization to Mesopotamian civilization.

The city planning of Harrappans reveal their architectural potential, knowledge of civil engineering, geology, hydrology, trigonometry, and geometry.

Conclusion

Dholavira is one of the well preserved cities of Indus Valley Civilization. More than 5000 years ago, inhabitants were able to establish a well planned city in a strategically selected location. They transformed a water deficit area in to habitable region by best utilizing the available resources. No one knows, why did this site vanish away but it is speculated that an earthquake was responsible for this loss. The earthquake might tilt the flow of Ghaggar River towards Ganga basin. Deviation of river Ghaggar could precipitate famine in Dholavira and lead to destruction of the invaluable unique heritage.

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