The Harappan-era city of Dholavira became the 40th Indian site and the first site of the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) in India to be conferred the UNESCO world heritage status on July 27, 2021 at the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee of the UNESCO. The site had been on UNESCO’s tentative list since 2014. UNESCO described Dholavira as one of the most remarkable and well-preserved urban settlements in South Asia dating from the 3rd to mid-2nd millennium BCE (before common era).
Dholavira Site
The Indus Valley Civilisation acropolis of Dholavira is located near present day Dholavira village in the Kutch district of Gujarat. The ASI has developed a museum here based on findings from excavation. There is also a fossil park near the site where wood fossils have been preserved. The site was discovered in 1968 by archaeologist Jagat Pati Joshi. Its excavation took place between 1990 and 2005 under the supervision of archaeologist Ravindra Singh Bisht. It is the fifth largest metropolis of the Indus Valley Civilisation after Mohen-jo-Daro, Ganweriwala and Harappa in Pakistan, and Rakhigarhi in Haryana India. Dholavira is known for its water management system, multi-layered defensive mechanisms, extensive use of stone in construction, and special burial structures. But it is to be noted that unlike graves at other Indus Valley Civilisation sites, no mortal remains of humans have been discovered at Dholavira. The site is characterised by a fortified citadel, a middle town and a lower town with walls made of sandstone or limestone unlike many other Harappan sites where mud bricks were used. It was inhabited for about 1,200 years starting 3000 BCE.
Other Indus Valley sites located in Gujarat are Lothal in Saragwala village on the bank of Sabarmati in Dholka taluka of Ahmedabad district, Rangpur on the bank of Bhadar river in Surendranagar district Rojdi in Rajkot district, Prabhas near Veraval in Gir Somnath district, Lakhabaval in Jamnagar, and Deshalpar in Bhuj taluka of Kutch.
Findings at Dholavira Site
A range of artefacts of copper, shell, stone, jewellery, terracotta, and ivory had been found at the site which are a good source of information about the ways of life of people living there. For example, finding of remains of a copper smelter indicate that Harappans of Dholavira, knew metallurgy. It is believed that copper was imported from other places and finished products of cooper were exported from Dholavira. Jewellery using shells and semi-precious stones was also manufactured.
According to archaeologist Bisht, beads of Harappan origin have been found in the royal graves of Mesopotamia which indicate that there were trade links between Dholavira and Mesopotamia.
For about 1500 years, the ancient city remained a hub of commercial and manufacturing activities.
Decline of Dholavira Site
According to Bisht, Dholavira entered a phase of severe aridity from 2000 BCE when River Saraswati dried-up. Due to drought like situation, people of Dholavira started migrating towards the Ganges valley or towards Maharashtra, as the Great Rann of Kutch used to be navigable in those days. Gradually, the sea receded and the Rann became a mudflat. Thus, the final collapse of Dholavira started about 4300-4100 years BP (before present) or 1500 BC.
The decline of Dholavira coincided with the fall of Mesopotamia as Harappans who had flourishing trade links with the region lost a huge market which adversely affected the local mining, manufacturing, marketing, and export businesses once Mesopotamia fell.
Criteria for Including a Site on the World Heritage List
A site must meet at least one of the following ten criteria to be included on the World Heritage List:
(i) to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius;
(ii) to exhibit an important interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design;
(iii) to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared;
(iv) to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates a significant stage/stages in human history;
(v) to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change;
(vi) to be directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance. (The Committee considers that this criterion should preferably be used in conjunction with other criteria);
(vii) to contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance;
(viii) to be outstanding examples representing major stages of earth’s history, including the record of life, significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms, or significant geomorphic or physiographic features;
(ix) to be outstanding examples representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals;
(x) to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.
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