Dholavira

Dholavira is an endangered town of ancient metropolitan culture situated in Khadirbet area of ​​Bhachau taluk of Kutch. This civilization is five thousand years old and it is estimated that around fifty thousand people lived in this metropolis at that time. The whole town, the water system, the structure of the Rajmahal or the provincial palace, the habitation of the people, etc. are worth seeing.Local people call Dholaweera as Kotdo or Kotda Timba. Originally, the place was named Dholavira because it was located near Dholavira village. In the period of 1967-68, Indian archaeologist Jagat Pati Joshi visited this place and disclosed its information for the first time. Mohen-jo-dado and Haddapa are constructed using raw bricks.

While this Dholavira is built with almost square and rectangular stones and the stones are quarried from side to side. Dholavira has a walled city around it.The 47 hectare (120 acre) quadrant city lies between two seasonal streams, the Mansar in the north and the Manhar in the south. The site dates back to c 2650 BC. was used untilWhich is around 2100 B.C. Then the use gradually declined, the site was briefly abandoned, and after 15050 B.C. was used again. The town of Dholavira is divided into three main parts 

(1) The palace of the king/ruling officer which is situated on an elevated site. It was strongly fortified all around. This fort had four gates,(2) Other officers' residences which were also surrounded by a protective wall and consisted of two to five-room houses., (3) Common townspeople's residences were made of hand-laid bricks. A large factory for making pearls has been found in this town. Copper smelting furnaces were found among the remains recovered here.

A rich center of Indus civilization in Gujarat. The remains of a deserted prehistoric city lie north-west of Khadir Bet in the Great Desert of Kutch. 16.5 m of the fort. The highest part is 10 km. visible from afar. Local people call the fort Kotdo-Mahadurg. It is known as Dholavira as it is near Dholavira village. The remains of the city are spread over 100 hectares. Two canals pass by it, with ruins lying on the opposite bank as well.

In 1967, Jagatpati Joshi of the Archaeological Survey of India visited Kotda. After that archaeologist Dr. Sumanbehan Pandya visited Dholavira and publicized its importance locally and nationally. Consequently Rabindra Singh Bisht of the Archaeological Survey of India undertook limited excavations in 1989–93; Based on the archaeological remains found, the city is divided into three periods namely pre-Indus civilization, Indus civilization and North Indus period.

The people of the early period used earthenware with two-color paintings and various types of vessels with white and colored opals. He mastered the art of coppersmithing. Much of the present fort was built at this time. The cairn burials at the edge of the city are likely to be of this period. This city seems to be associated with the cities of Balochistan, Sindh, Rajasthan of the pre-Indus Civilization period.

In the same place, similar to Mohen-jo-daro (Muen-jo-daro), urban remains of the Indus civilization are found without any breaks, including seals, sealings, weighing weights, compasses, charts. Stone leaves, various types of beads, gold, silver, copper and lead ornaments, bangles, semi-precious stone beads and ornaments have been found. Pottery bags, sling balls, buggies, toy carts, conch bangles, kadachis, achamanis and inlaid ornaments have been found.

The pottery of this period is durable and useful. They include pots, bowls, dishes, pedestal dishes, knives, pots, cups, bowls and perforated jars etc. Pottery paintings and moldings belong to the Indus culture.

The city has two main parts: the Darbargarh area and the urban area. The entire Darbargarh area is a rectangular fortified structure. It has two parts - North and South. Between the walls of these two sections is a 55 m wide street. There are tall wide doors with steps connecting both the parts.

The northern part is called 'Middle Town', which is 333 m from east to west. and 181 m in north-south east. And 200 m in the west. is In the northern part there are remains of stone built houses. The north gate of this structure opens onto the main road of the city. On either side of this door are rows for the watchmen to sit.

South 15 m to 18 m. high and 300 m in east-west, and 160 m in north-south respectively. and 140 m portions in the west are the main ones. On its north-south wall there are two more parts. In this, the high and important part is called citadel and the lower part is called wado (court). There is a gate and steps connecting these two parts. Ruins and houses, stones and walls are found in both parts. An important part of the city is the southern part and seems to have been the seat of an administration. This part is excavated.7 m to 8 m from Darbargarh. The thick outer walls are plastered with stones and gypsum. Raw bricks have also been used in the interior. This darbargarh row has structures like watering hole, bathhouse, well and toilet and steps and ventilated private way to exit the darbargarh from the fort wall.

The most important are the 27 cm above the wooden planks above the door of the southern Durbargarh. high and 25 to 27 cm. are Sindhi script characters with a width of Which, when solved, will prove important for the identity of the administrative authority and for the Indus culture.

In the urban area adjacent to the city on three sides, the houses adjacent to the north gate and the Durbargarh row are made of stone and plastered with gypsum. The houses are a sloping open valley carved in sandstone. The streets are straight and parallel; But towards the outskirts of the city, the houses are made of stones and mud, which shows the socio-economic levels of the city. It is believed that the entire city had a moving coat.

The dried-up channels of the great rivers flowing through Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Sindh in the past and emerging from the Himalayas have been found. This Mahanadi was the ancient Saraswati river and it is evident that it falls into the sea in place of the desert of Kutch. In such circumstances and evidence, Dholavira is of international importance situated above the mouth of the Saraswati on the waterways of Sindh, Rajasthan and Kutch-Gujarat along the Iranian Gulf waterways.Hence archaeologists consider it equivalent to Mohen-jo-dado of Punjab and Mohen-jo-dado of Sindh and call it another Mohen-jo-dado of Indus civilization.