Gujarat Forged Trade with Harappans

I'm glad to see this kind of research coming out of India. For too long, the Harappan civilization has been under-explored by its own descendants!

From The Times of India
Gujarat exported jewellery to Harappan cities
Parth Shastri , TNN, Mar 22, 2010, 03.39am IST

AHMEDABAD: A large quantity of seals and beads used in making jewellery during the Harappan civilisation were recently found at Kanmer near Bhachau. The archaeology experts in the state were elated as the discovery proved that Kutch region those days had a production capacity and also a trade link with other parts of India and world, like Himalayan regions and parts of Pakistan, where similar beads have been found.

Studies taken up by state and central archaeology institutes have also shown a trade route covering central Asia, Himalayan areas and Gujarat.

A research paper on the economy of Harappan civilisation and development of smaller centres published in a British journal this month shows how the civilisation spread from Gujarat plains to Himalayan regions and parts of Pakistan in Indus-Saraswati river valley. The research was carried out jointly by YS Rawat, director of State Department of Archaeology; DP Agarwal of Lok Vigyan Kendra, Almora; JS Kharakwal, department of archaeology, Rajasthan Vidhyapeeth, Udaipur; and T Osada, Institute of Humanity and Nature, Kyoto, Japan.

The paper also tries to define the specific regions producing items of trade. According to the researchers, the flourishing ports gave a huge boost to the region's development.

"Since the very beginning of Harappan civilisation, procurement and distribution of natural resources was a focal point of the people. Due to geographical distances, it led to development of small and medium-sized towns on the route that took shape of accepted trade highways," said Rawat.

"The Harappan elite needed ornaments made of gold, silver, agate, chalcedony, steatite, copper, shell, lapis lazuli and sodalite, many of which were taken from Gujarat to areas in northern Himalayan region. The requirements led to development of sites like Makran, Surkotada, Bagasara, Dholavira, Kuntasi, Kanmer and Shikarpur in Gujarat," said Rawat.

According to archaeology experts, various artefacts found in Himalayan and sub-Himalayan regions such as Manda (Jammu), Kotla Nihang and Ropar (Punjab), and Kashipur in Kumaon region are believed to have been manufactured in Gujarat.

"Most importantly, jewellery made of semi-precious stones, clay capsules and shells were the main items of trade from Gujarat. Agate also formed a large part of export from this state," said Rawat.

In Gujarat, sites like Kanmer yielded a large amount of bead-making material as more than 20,000 steatite beads were found at an excavation site in the area, indicating their industrial importance.

"Several small sites in Gujarat like Surkotada, Desalpur, Gola Dhoro, Kuntasi, Rajpipla, Kanmer and Shikarpur have disproportionately large fortifications compared to their settlement size. Such massive expenditure of energy and material on fortifications could be justified for economic protection," said Rawat.