Lothal

Brief History

About 80km southwest of Ahmedabad, the city that stood at this archaeological site 4500 years ago was one of the most important of the Indus Valley civilisation, which extended into what is now Pakistan. Excavations have revealed the world’s oldest known artificial dock, which was connected to an old course of the Sabarmati River. Other features include the acropolis, the lower town, the bead factory, the warehouses, and the drainage system. The site has been nominated to be enlisted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The traveller can see fascinating finds by archeologists like canals and dockyards that explain how this was an important trading city. Artefacts suggest that trade may have been conducted with Mesopotamia, Egypt and Persia. An entire township with market and dock has been unearthed here. An Archaeological Museum (10am–5pm, Friday closed) near the site houses a number of artefacts like jewellery, pottery, seals, religious symbols, and objects of daily use here.

It is said that Lothal is a combination of two words; Loth and thal, which in Gujarati means ‘the mound of the dead.’ The city was inhabited during 3700 BCE and was a thriving trading port. The excavation started from 13 February 1955 to 19 May 1960 by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to unearth the ancient city. Archaeologists believe that the city was a part of a major river system on the ancient trade route from Sindh to Saurashtra in Gujarat. Excavations here have offered the greatest number of antiquities in the archaeology of modern India.

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