Dholavira, the 40thUNESCO’s World heritage site of India

Context

Dholavira, the archaeological site of a Harappan-era city has received the UNESCO world heritage site tag. Dholavira became the fourth site from Gujarat and 40^th site from India to make to the list. It is the first site of the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) in India to get recognition.

Important facts about Dholavira

• The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC)city is located on a hillock near the present-day Dholavira village in the Kutch district.
• Dholavira is located on Khadir Island.
• The site was discovered in 1968 by archaeologist Jagat Pati Joshi and was excavated between 1990 and 2005 under the supervision of archaeologist Ravindra Singh Bisht.
• After Mohen-jo-Daro, Ganweriwala, and Harappa in Pakistan and Rakhigarhi in Haryana of India, Dholavira is the fifth largest metropolis of IVC.
• The ancient city was a commercial and manufacturing hub for about 1,500 years.
  

What are the distinct features of this ancient site?

• The site has a fortified citadel, a middle town, and a lower town.
• The walls of the city are made of sandstone or limestone instead of mud bricks like in many other Harappan sites.
• The city also has a cascading series of water reservoirs, outer fortification, and two multi-purpose grounds, one for festivities and another used as a marketplace.
• It also had nine gates with unique designs, and funerary architecture, which featured tumulus hemispherical structures like Buddhist Stupas.
• Like the graves at other IVC sites, no mortal remains of humans are discovered at Dholavira.
• Memorials that contain no bones or ashes but contain offerings of precious stones, etc. add a new dimension.

Links with other civilizations

• People in Dholavira knew metallurgy.
• The traders of Dholavira used to source copper ore from Rajasthan, Oman, and UAE and export finished products.
• The manufacturing of jewelry that was made of shells and semi-precious stones, like agate also took place.
• Export of timber is also noticed.
• The beads specific to the Harappan workmanship have also been found in the royal graves of Mesopotamia that indicatesDholavira used to trade with the Mesopotamians.
  

Reasons behind the decline

• Dholavira entered a phase of severe aridity due to climate change and rivers like Saraswati drying up.
• Because of the drought-like situation, the people at Dholavira started migration toward the Ganges valley or towards southern Gujarat and further beyond in Maharashtra.