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==History== [[File:CiviltàValleIndoMappa.png|thumb|Location of Lothal in the [[Indus Valley]] and extent of [[Indus Valley Civilization]] (green).]] Before the arrival of [[Harappa]]n people (c. 3000 BCE), Lothal was a small village next to the river providing access to the mainland from the [[Gulf of Khambhat]]. The indigenous people maintained a prosperous economy, attested by the discovery of copper objects, beads and semi-precious stones. Ceramic wares were of fine clay and smooth, [[mica]]ceous red surface. A new technique of firing [[pottery]] under partly oxidising and reducing conditions was improved by them—designated black-and-red ware, to the micaceous Red Ware. Harappans were attracted to Lothal for its sheltered harbour, rich cotton and rice-growing environment and bead-making industry. The beads and gems of Lothal were in great demand in the west. The settlers lived peacefully with the Red Ware people, who adopted their lifestyle, evidenced from the flourishing trade and changing working techniques. Harappans began producing the indigenous ceramic goods, adopting the manner from the natives.<ref name="Rao3">{{cite book | title = Lothal | publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]] | author = [[S. R. Rao]] | page = 5 | year = 1985 }}</ref> ===Town planning=== A flood destroyed village foundations and settlements ({{Circa|2350 BCE}}). Harappans based around Lothal and from Sindh took this opportunity to expand their settlement and create a planned township on the lines of greater cities in the Indus valley.<ref name="Rao10">{{cite book | title = Lothal | publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]] | author = S. R. Rao | author-link = S. R. Rao | page = 6 | year = 1985 }}</ref> Lothal planners engaged themselves to protect the area from consistent floods. The town was divided into blocks of 1- 2m high (3–6 ft) platforms of sun-dried bricks, each serving 20–30 houses of thick mud and brick walls. The city was divided into a [[citadel]], or [[acropolis]] and a lower town. The rulers of the town lived in the acropolis, which featured houses with paved bathing platforms, underground and surface drains (built of kiln-fired bricks) and potable water well. The acropolis also housed the towns warehouse, with a ramp down to the basin, on the towns eastern flank. The lower town was subdivided into two sectors. A north–south arterial street was the main commercial area. It was flanked by shops of rich and ordinary merchants and craftsmen. The residential area was located to either side of the marketplace. The lower town was also periodically enlarged during Lothal's years of prosperity.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} [[File:Ancient site at Lothal16.jpg|thumb|Pottery from Lothal.]] All the construction were made of fire dried bricks, lime and sand mortar and not by sun-dried bricks as bricks are still intact after 4000 years and still bonded together with each other with the mortar bond.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/78538322.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=25 April 2014 |archive-date=1 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201193030/http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/78538322.jpg |url-status=dead }}</ref> ===Economy and urban culture=== [[File:Pot furnace lothal.jpg|thumb|Pot furnace at Lothal]] [[File:Lothal - ancient well.jpg|thumb|An ancient well, and the city drainage canals]] The uniform organization of the town and its institutions make it evident that the Harappans were very disciplined people.<ref name="Rao1A">{{cite book | title = Lothal | publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]] | author = S. R. Rao | author-link = S. R. Rao | page = 8 | year = 1985 }}</ref> Commerce and administrative duties were performed according to standards laid out. Municipal administration was strict – the width of most streets remained the same over a long time, and no encroached structures were built. Householders possessed a [[sump]], or collection chamber to deposit solid waste in order to prevent the clogging of city drains. Drains, manholes, and cesspools deposited the waste in the river which was washed out during high tide maintaining the cleanliness of the city. A new provincial style of Harappan art and painting was pioneered. The new approaches included realistic portrayals of animals in their natural surroundings. Metalware, gold and jewellery and tastefully decorated ornaments attest to the culture and prosperity of the people of Lothal. Most of their equipment: metal tools, weights, measures, seals, earthenware and ornaments were of the uniform standard and quality found across the Indus civilization. Lothal was a major trade centre, importing ''en masse''{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} raw materials like copper, [[chert]] and semi-precious stones from [[Mohenjo-daro]] and [[Harappa]], and mass distributing to inner villages and towns. It also produced large quantities of bronze [[celt (tool)|celts]], fish-hooks, chisels, spears and ornaments. Lothal exported its beads, gemstones, ivory and shells. The stone blade industry catered to domestic needs—fine chert was imported from the [[Larkana]] valley or from [[Bijapur, Karnataka|Bijapur]] in modern [[Karnataka]]. [[Bhagatrav]] supplied semi-precious stones while ''chank'' shell came from [[Dholavira]] and [[Bet Dwarka]]. An intensive trade network gave the inhabitants great prosperity.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} The network stretched across the frontiers to [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], Bahrain and [[Sumer]].<ref name="RaoY"/> One of the evidence of trade in Lothal is the discovery of typical Persian gulf seals, a circular button seal<ref>[[Bridget Allchin|Bridget]], [[F. Raymond Allchin]], ''The rise of civilization in India and Pakistan'', p. 187</ref> ===Architectural development=== [[File:Lothal - bathroom structure.jpg|thumb|The bathroom-toilet structure of the ruler's house in Lothal]] While the wider debate over the end of [[Indus Valley civilization|Indus civilisation]] continues, archaeological evidence gathered by the ASI appears to point to natural catastrophes, specifically floods and storms as the source of Lothal's downfall. A powerful flood submerged the town and destroyed most of the houses, with the walls and platforms heavily damaged. The acropolis was levelled (2000–1900 BCE), and inhabited by common tradesmen and newly built makeshift houses. The worst consequence was the shift in the course of the river, cutting off access to the ships and dock.<ref name="Rao12">{{cite book | title = Lothal | publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]] | author = S. R. Rao | author-link = S. R. Rao | page = 12 | year = 1985 }}</ref> The people built a new but shallow inlet to connect the flow channel to the dock for sluicing small ships into the basin. Large ships were moored away.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} Houses were rebuilt, yet without removal of flood debris, which made them poor-quality and susceptible to further damage. Public drains were replaced by soakage jars. The citizens did not undertake encroachments, and rebuilt public baths. However, with a poorly organised government, and no outside agency or central government, the public works could not be properly repaired or maintained. The heavily damaged warehouse was never repaired properly, and stocks were stored in wooden canopies, exposed to floods and fire. The economy of the city was transformed.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Trade volumes reduced greatly, though not catastrophically, and resources were available in lesser quantities.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Independent businesses caved, allowing a merchant-centric system of factories to develop where hundreds of craftsmen worked for the same supplier and financier.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} The bead factory had ten living rooms and a large workplace courtyard. The coppersmith's workshop had five furnaces and paved sinks to enable multiple artisans to work.<ref name="Rao13">{{cite book | title = Lothal | publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]] | author = S. R. Rao | author-link = S. R. Rao | page = 13 | year = 1985 }}</ref> The declining prosperity of the town, paucity of resources and poor administration increased the woes of a people pressured by consistent floods and storms.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} Increased salinity of soil made the land inhospitable to life, including crops.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} This is evidenced in adjacent cities of [[Rangpur, Gujarat|Rangpur]], [[Rojdi]], [[Rupar]] and Harappa in [[Punjab region|Punjab]], [[Mohenjo-daro]] and [[Chanhudaro]] in [[Sindh]]. A massive flood ({{Circa|1900 BCE}}) completely destroyed the flagging township in a single stroke. Archaeological analysis shows that the basin and dock were sealed with silt and debris, and the buildings razed to the ground. The flood affected the entire region of Saurashtra, Sindh and south [[Gujarat]], and affected the upper reaches of the [[Indus river|Indus]] and [[Sutlej]], where scores of villages and townships were washed away. The population fled to inner regions.<ref name="Rao134">{{cite book | title = Lothal | publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]] | author = S. R. Rao | author-link = S. R. Rao | pages = 13–14 | year = 1985 }}</ref> [[File:Lothal - Gujarat, India (5933608331).jpg|thumb|Archaeological feature]] ===Later Harappan culture=== [[File:Lothal - warehouse.jpg|thumb|upright 1.5|The warehouse of Lothal]] Archaeological evidence shows that the site continued to be inhabited, albeit by a much smaller population devoid of urban influences. The few people who returned to Lothal could not reconstruct and repair their city, but surprisingly continued to stay and preserved religious traditions,{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} living in poorly built houses and reed huts. That they were the Harappan peoples is evidenced by the analyses of their remains in the cemetery. While the trade and resources of the city were almost entirely gone, the people retained several Harappan ways in writing,{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} pottery, and utensils. About this time ASI archaeologists record a mass movement of refugees from Punjab and Sindh into Saurashtra and to the valley of [[Sarasvati River|Sarasvati]] (1900–1700 BCE).<ref name="RV">{{cite book | title = Lothal | publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]] | author = S. R. Rao | author-link = S. R. Rao | pages = 13–15 | year = 1985 }}</ref> Hundreds of ill-equipped settlements have been attributed to this people as [[Cemetery H culture|''Late Harappans'']] a completely de-urbanised culture characterised by rising illiteracy,{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} less complex economy, unsophisticated administration and poverty.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} Though Indus seals went out of use, the system of weights with an 8.573 gram (0.3024 [[avoirdupois|oz avoirdupois]]) unit was retained. Between 1700 and 1600 BCE, trade would revive again. In Lothal, Harappan ceramic works of bowls, dishes and jars were mass-produced. Merchants used local materials such as [[chalcedony]] instead of [[chert]] for stone blades. Truncated sandstone weights replaced hexahedron chert weights. The sophisticated painting style reduced itself to wavy lines, loops and fronds.
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