WORLD’S OLDEST DOCK – LOTHAL

Context:

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the construction of the National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) site at Gujarat’s Lothal via video conferencing.

Lothal:

One of the southernmost sites of the Indus Valley civilization, located in the Bh?l region of what is now the state of Gujarat. The port city is believed to have been built in 2,200 BC. Lothal was a thriving trade Centre in ancient times, with its trade of beads, gems and ornaments reaching West Asia and Africa.

The National Institute of Oceanography in Goa discovered marine microfossils and salt, gypsum crystals at the site, indicating that seawater once filled the structure and it was definitely a dockyard.

Lothal was nominated in April 2014 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its application is pending on the tentative list of UNESCO.

National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC):

The project began in March 2022, and will have several innovative features such as Lothal mini-recreation, which will recreate Harappan architecture and lifestyle through immersive technology; besides four theme parks – Memorial theme park, Maritime and Navy theme park, Climate theme park, and Adventure and Amusement theme park.

It will also house the world’s tallest lighthouse museum, 14 galleries highlighting India’s maritime heritage starting from the Harappan time till today, as well as a coastal states pavilion displaying the diverse maritime heritage of Indian states and UTs.

Lothal:

 It was one of the southernmost sites of the Indus Valley civilization (IVC), located in the Bh?l region of what is now the state of Gujarat.

The port city is believed to have been built in 2,200 BC.

Lothal was a thriving trade center in ancient times, with its trade of beads, gems and ornaments reaching West Asia and Africa.

The meaning of Lothal (a combination of Loth and (s) thal) in Gujarati is “the mound of the dead.

Incidentally, the name of the city of Mohenjo-daro (also part of the Indus Valley Civilisation, now in Pakistan) means the same in Sindhi.

Lothal had the world’s earliest known dock, which connected the city to an ancient course of the Sabarmati River on the trade route between Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra.

Discovery: Indian archaeologists started the search for cities of the Harappan Civilisation post-1947 in Gujarat’s Saurashtra.

Archaeologist SR Rao led the team which discovered a number of Harappan sites at the time, including the port city of Lothal.