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.jpg) Part of the excavated site | |
  Shown within Gujarat  Dholavira (India)  Dholavira (South Asia) | |
| Location | Khadirbet, Kutch district, Gujarat, India |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 23°53′18.98″N 70°12′49.09″E / 23.8886056°N 70.2136361°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| Area | 47 ha (120 acres) |
| History | |
| Periods | Harappa 1 to Harappa 5 |
| Cultures | Indus Valley civilization |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Public access | Yes |
| Official name | Dholavira: A Harappan City |
| Criteria | Cultural: (iii)(iv) |
| Designated | 2021 (44th session) |
| Reference no. | 1645 |
| Region | Southern Asia |
Dholavira (Gujarati: ધોળાવીરા) is an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India, which has taken its name from a modern-day village 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south of it. This village is 165 km (103 mi) from Radhanpur. Also known locally as Kotada timba, the site contains ruins of a city of the ancient Indus Valley civilization.[1] Earthquakes have repeatedly affected Dholavira, including a particularly severe one around 2600 BCE.[2]
Dholavira's location is on the Tropic of Cancer. It is one of the five largest Harappan sites[3] and the most prominent of archaeological sites in India belonging to the Indus Valley Civilization.[4] It is located on Khadir bet island in the Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary in the Great Rann of Kutch. The 47 ha (120 acres) quadrangular city lay between two seasonal streams, the Mansar in the north and Manhar in the south.[5] The site was thought to be occupied from c.2650 BCE, declining slowly after about 2100 BCE, and to have been briefly abandoned then reoccupied until c.1450 BCE;[6] however, recent research suggests the beginning of occupation around 3500 BCE (pre-Harappan) and continuity until around 1800 BCE (early part of Late Harappan period).[7]
The site was initially discovered by a resident of Dholavira village, Shambhudan Gadhvi, in early 1960s who made efforts to bring government attention to the location.[8][9][10] The site was "officially" discovered in 1967-68 by J. P. Joshi, of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and is the fifth largest of eight major Harappan sites. It has been under excavation since 1990 by the ASI, which opined that "Dholavira has indeed added new dimensions to personality of Indus Valley Civilisation."[11] The other major Harappan sites discovered so far are Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Ganeriwala, Rakhigarhi, Kalibangan, Rupnagar and Lothal.
It was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name Dholavira: a Harappan City on 27 July 2021.[12]
- ^ Gopinath, P. Krishna (15 July 2017). "Ruins on the Tropic of Cancer". The Hindu.
- ^ Lal, B. B., & General, F. D. (2010). HOW DEEP ARE THE ROOTS OF INDIAN CIVILIZATION?--An archaeological and Historical Perspective.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
frontlinewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Where does history begin?". 19 October 2017.
- ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Dholavira: A Harappan City - UNESCO World Heritage Centre". whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ Possehl, Gregory L. (2002). The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective. Rowman Altamira. p. 17. ISBN 9780759101722. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ Sengupta, Torsa, et al. (2019)."Did the Harappan settlement of Dholavira (India) collapse during the onset of Meghalayan stage drought?" in Journal of Quaternary Science, First published: 26 December 2019.
- ^ Namit Arora (18 January 2021). Indians: A Brief History of A Civilization. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5305-287-4.
- ^ Avikunthak, Ashish (31 October 2021). Bureaucratic Archaeology: State, Science and Past in Postcolonial India. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-316-51239-5.
- ^ Vasa, Pulin. "Nani Rayan | Read jain books online at Jainebooks.org". jainebooks.org. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ^ "Excavations-Dholavira". Archaeological Survey of India. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
- ^ "'Long overdue': Indians celebrate as Dholavira gets UNESCO World Heritage tag". The Indian Express. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.