LOTHAL

On the south-east edge of the Harappan world, in the Indian state of Gujarat, the ruins of Lothal were explored in the 1950s by S. R. Rao of the Archaeological Survey of India. Although much smaller than Mohenjo-Daro, this city displays many of the same key features of urban design and architecture. Size differences thus did not affect the basic template of the Harappan city.

Laid out on a grid plan and provided with a good system of drainage, the city originally occupied 12ha within a fortification wall (Figure 4.4). Later the town expanded beyond the wall, eventually doubling its area. Like other Harappan sites, Lothal too had its “citadel,” 48.5m X 42.5m, built on an artificial platform of mud brick, ca. 4m high. But this citadel lay clearly within the

Figure 4.4 City plan, Lothal

Town and, unusually, in the south-east sector. The citadel would have served for defense against floods, to secure storage for food, and as a showcase for the prestige of the rulers of the town. The notable building on the citadel is a mud brick structure with ventilating channels, here, Rao proposed, possibly the foundation for a warehouse.

In the town proper, the main street runs north-south. The principal streets are 4—6m wide, the lesser streets only 2-3m. Houses were built of baked brick, and were routinely provided with brick-lined drains. Workshops have been identified, among them a copper and goldsmith shop and a bead factory.

On the east side of the city mound, at the edge of the citadel, lies Lothal’s most fascinating monument, a massive brick platform alongside a large rectangular enclosure, ca. 225m X 37m X 4.5m, lined with baked brick. The enclosure had a sluice gate at one of the short ends. Heavy pierced stones, perhaps ancient anchors, were found on its edge. The excavator considered this structure a dock for ships sailing up the river from the Indian Ocean. Lothal lies ca. 20km from the sea, near a tributary of the Sabarmati River. Channels or estuaries would have provided a connection with the river. If this interpretation is correct, Lothal has given us an unusually early and sophisticated port installation from western Asia. A more recent analysis, however, has proposed this to be a vast storage tank for fresh water in this low-lying region where the modern water resources, at least, are saline. The issue is not yet settled.