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| A wall at Dholavira |
Dholavira
is not as famous as Mohenjadaro or Harappa. But it is one of the largest cities
of the Harappan civilization though not part of the Indus valley, it is in
India rather than in Pakistan, it is well excavated and documented and worth
viewing.
As part
of our fifth Site Seminar, we visited the state of Gujarat, and Dholavira was
one of the main attractions. We had three lectures in preparation –one by Badri Seshadri summarizing Michel Danino’s book on Sarasvati; one by TS Subramaniam
of Frontline magazine who has written widely about it and showed some excellent
photographs; and one on Harappan seals by Krishnakumar.
On the second day we visited Lothal – I’ll write about it later – the most famous sea-port of the Harappan civilization. We saw the standard sized bricks, the settlements, the large port and so on. A long strong desire fulfilled, a stroked curiosity somewhat satiated, several minor surprises.
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| Harbour at Lothal, made with bricks, not cut stone |
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| Bricks at Lothal- not stones |
But the
major surprise was at Dholavira : not a single brick! Every reservoir or tank,
every “house”, every well, the “Citadel”, the “Stadium” : every building in
Dholavira was made out of cut stones.
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| Cut stone at Dholavira |
There seems no mention of it in the literature.
The first thing we read about this massive civilization is its uniformity: uniform
script, uniform roads, uniform houses, uniform drains, and most tellingly
uniform bricks the uniform size in the ratio 1:2:4 height to width to length.
And yet here was the largest site without a single brick, and the stones of all
shapes and sizes.
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| Another cut stone at Dholavira - notice difference from previous one as measure by my finger |
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| Crude stone wall at Dholavira - stones of varying sizes - contrast with first photo |
Badri
Seshadri, for one, shocked at this obvious neglect by scholars. Wikipedia mentions it, but in a passing line: a pity we never read it. I thought he would have blogged about it, but since
he hasn’t in two weeks, here goes.
The contrast with Lothal could not be more stark. Why was such a large harbor in Lothal made with so many bricks, when stones would have done just as well and would have been simpler, while heavy stones hauled up on the mounds and hills of Dholavira when it would have been easier to lift standard bricks?
Hello 'Varahamira Gopu,'
ReplyDelete// Badri Seshadri, for one, shocked at this obvious neglect by scholars
Thanks for the interesting info, dunno what BSeshadri's response was, but, it is not very correct to say that Scholars have neglected to mention the fantastic and intriguing differences (stones, bricks etc) between Dholavira and the rest of IV sites. Wikipedia is NOT a scholarly site, IMO. At best, you get some kichadi kind of mostly amateurish information from it, that's all.
I can rattle off names like - Gregory Possehl, Ravi Singh Bisht, Upinder Singh, Jane McIntosh who have done this - but thanks to Frontline kind of rabblerousing pseudo journals talking stridently about IV and supporting only certain negatively biased views, one does NOT hear of solid viewpoints based on research findings.
So perhaps, it is correct to say that, Scholars who talk about these facts based on ground realities are neglected as they are not the mainstream, left, dravidian superiority spouting, aryan invasion theorist kind of folks. They do not get enough publicity, which is unfortunate.
Also, the ASI site at http://asi.nic.in/asi_exca_2007_dholavira.asp mentions the information that you have seen in person.
Of course, I have not been to Dholavira or any of the IV sites, but have been following these for the past few decades and have been fortunate enough to discuss with a few fantastic and level headed archaeologists, that's all.
When you get a chance, please go thru the great works of scholarship by the aforesaid folks.
Thanks, my two paise and what not,
__r.
Thank you, sir. I had a copy of DP Aggarwal's excellent and extensively researched book on Harappan technology - you can see it in the photo. He references Possehl, Bisht and other scholars in his book, but I have not read those : my, our group's, oversight.
DeleteI find Wikipedia very useful as a first source of information. Similarly, while I disagree with the far left views expressed in Frontline & the Hindu on economics, social and political affairs, I find their articles on archaeology, culture, science and technology generally informed and informative. That other newspapers pay very little attention to these aspects is sadder.
Lothal and Dholavira were first visits for most of our group to Indus-Sarasvati sites - except Badri who has visited Harappa, I think. I strongly recommend it - a visit is worth a reading a thousand articles. I intend to visit other sites in the future as well.
"...while heavy stones hauled up on the mounds and hills of Dholavira when it would have been easier to lift standard bricks?"
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't already found the answer, could this be the answer?
"Dholavira,situated on the Tropic of Cancer,is believed to be a port city for trading with West Asia during the peak period of the Harappan civilization when the sea levels were higher."
If this is true, your observation is so pertinent.
The Harappan Civilization, (Indus-Saraswati Civilization) is majorly divided into three phases -
ReplyDeleteEarly Harappan Phase
Mature Harappan Phase, and
Late Harappan Phase
In many excavations it has been found that the cities which began during the Early Harappan Phase, construction was mainly done using mud bricks which were dried in the sun. This is because mud was locally available and it was easier for them to construct using mud.
It was also observed that as the time progressed, the Harappans started using fired bricks instead of sun dried bricks. Infact, during the excavations in the city of Rakhigarhi, the largest city of this civilization, it was observed that the Harappans had devised a very detailed method of construction. In the residences, all the wet areas - drains, bathrooms, and the hearth (place to cook food/ boil milk), fired bricks were used, while in other areas, regular sun dried bricks were used.
In case of Dholavira, probably the Harappans did not find mud to be a suitable material. Geographically, Dholavira is an island in the middle of the Kutch Salt waste. It was also a port city. Remains of a harbour and even a water reservoir have been excavated there. Considering, the city had a close relationship with water - in the landscape, and the infrastructure they created, the Harappans probably considered using stone blocks over the dominant mud bricks used elsewhere.
One wonders why or how they could build a significant city in the middle of a salt marsh - I suspect that
Delete(1) the salt marsh or Rann of Kacch was created by some freak geological event and killed the city Dholavira
OR
(2) Dholavira (and perhaps similar nearby settlements) itself created the salt marsh because of some industrial activity
This theory of yours (both options) look v interesting. Did u figure this out on ur own or did u find any study/write up with this conjecture?
DeleteInfo sourced from Quora
ReplyDeleteYa. You are right.
ReplyDeleteMany Indologists such as A. S. Gaur and Mani Murali hold the view that the Rann of Kutch was, rather than the salt marsh that it is today, a navigable archipelago at the time of the Indus Civilization. The Indus Civilization was known to have an extensive maritime trade system, so it has been proposed by Gaur et al. that there were perhaps ports in the Rann of Kutch.
So at thar time, Dholavira was not conceived/planned to be in the midst of a salt marsh.
Moreover, the Rann of Kutch also contained the industrial site of Khirasara, where a warehouse was found. So it is well possible that Industrial pollution from the settlements created the salt marsh later.
Thank u for this fresh insight.