Editing Lothal (section)

==Archaeology==
[[File:Lothal-layout-en.svg|thumb|Layout of Lothal]]
[[File:Indus Valley Civilization, Mature Phase (2600-1900 BCE).png|thumb|left|300px|Extent and major sites of the [[Indus Valley civilization]].]]
When [[Partition of India|British India was partitioned]] in 1947, most Indus sites, including [[Mohenjo-daro]] and [[Harappa]], became part of [[Pakistan]]. The Archaeological Survey of India undertook a new program of exploration, and excavation. Many sites were discovered across northwestern India. Between 1954 and 1958, more than 50 sites were excavated in the [[Kutch]] (notably [[Dholavira]]), and [[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra]] peninsulas, extending the limits of [[Harappan civilisation]] by {{convert|500|km|mi|abbr=off}} to the river Kim, where the [[Bhagatrav]] site accesses the valley of the rivers [[Narmada River|Narmada]] and [[Tapti]]. Lothal stands {{convert|670|km|mi|abbr=off|sp=us}} from [[Mohenjo-daro]], which is in [[Sindh]].<ref name="Fam5">{{cite book
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vDmgMC-l17IC&q=Lothal&pg=PA276
| title = Rajasthan and Gujarat Handbook: The Travel Guide
| publisher = Footprint Travel Guides
| author = Robert W. Bradnock, Anil Mulchandani
| page = 276
| format = PHP
| isbn =1-900949-92-X
| access-date = 26 October 2006
| year = 2001
}}</ref>

The meaning of Lothal (a combination of ''Loth'' and ''(s) thal'') in [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] is "the mound of the dead". This is not unusual, as the name of the city of [[Mohenjo-daro]] in [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]] translates to the same. People in villages neighbouring to Lothal had known of the presence of an ancient town and human remains. As recently as 1850, boats could sail up to the mound. In 1942, timber was shipped from [[Bharuch|Broach]] to Saragwala via the mound. A silted creek connecting modern Bholad with Lothal and Saragwala represents the ancient flow channel of a river or creek.<ref name="Rao1">{{cite book
| title = Lothal
| publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]]
| author = S. R. Rao
| author-link = S. R. Rao
| pages = 2–3
| year = 1985
}}</ref>

Speculation suggests that owing to the comparatively small dimensions of the main city ({{convert|7|ha|acre|}}),<ref name="Unesco1" /> Lothal was not a large settlement at all, and its "dock" was perhaps an irrigation tank.<ref name = "JSTOR"/> However, the ASI and other contemporary archaeologists assert that the city was a part of a major river system on the trade route of the ancient peoples from Sindh to [[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra]] in Gujarat. Lothal provides with the largest collection of antiquities in the archaeology of modern India.<ref name="Rao2">{{cite book
| title = Lothal
| publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]]
| author = S. R. Rao
| author-link = S. R. Rao
| pages = 30–31
| year = 1985
}}</ref> It is essentially a single culture site—the Harappan culture in all its variances is evidenced.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} An indigenous [[micaceous]] Red Ware culture also existed, which is believed to be{{who|date=May 2015}} [[indigenous peoples|autochthonous]] and pre-Harappan.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} Two sub-periods of Harappan culture are distinguished: the same period (between 2400 and 1900&nbsp;BCE) is identical to the exuberant culture of [[Harappa]] and [[Mohenjo-daro]].{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

[[File:Gujarat Gulfs.jpg|thumb|300px|To the northwest of Lothal lies the [[Kutch]] (see also [[Dholavira]]) peninsula, which was a part of the [[Arabian Sea]] until very recently in history. Owing to this, and the proximity of the [[Gulf of Khambhat]], Lothal's river provided direct access to sea routes. Although now sealed off from the sea, Lothal's topography and geology reflects its maritime past.]]

After the core of the [[Indus Valley civilization|Indus]] civilisation had decayed in [[Mohenjo-daro]] and [[Harappa]], Lothal seems not only to have survived but to have thrived for many years.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} Its constant threats – tropical storms and floods – caused immense destruction, which destabilised the culture and ultimately caused its end. [[Topography|Topographical analysis]] also shows signs that at about the time of its demise, the region suffered from [[aridity]] or weakened [[monsoon]] rainfall. Thus the cause for the abandonment of the city may have been changes in the [[climate]] as well as natural disasters, as suggested by environmental magnetic records.<ref name = "PDF"/> Lothal is based upon a mound that was a [[salt marsh]] inundated by tide. Remote sensing and topographical studies published by Indian scientists in the ''Journal of the Indian Geophysicists Union'' in 2004 revealed an ancient, meandering river adjacent to Lothal, {{convert|30|km|mi|abbr=off}} in length according to [[satellite imagery]]— an ancient extension of the northern river channel bed of a tributary of the Bhogavo river. Small channel widths ({{convert|10|–|300|m|ft|abbr=on| disp=or}}) when compared to the lower reaches ({{convert|1.2|–|1.6|km|mi|abbr=on| disp=or}}) suggest the presence of a strong tidal influence upon the city—tidal waters ingressed up to and beyond the city. Upstream elements of this river provided a suitable source of [[fresh water]] for the inhabitants.<ref name="PDF">{{cite web
| url = http://www.igu.in/8-1/5khadkikar.pdf
| title = Paleoenvironments around Lothal
| publisher = Journal of the Indian Geophysics Union (Vol. 8, No. 1)
| author = Khadkikar| year = 2004
|display-authors=etal}}</ref>