Desalpar Gunthli is a village and site belonging to
Indus Valley civilisation
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...
located at
Nakhtrana Taluka,
Kutch District,
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
, India. Desalpar is approx 25 km away from
Bhuj
Bhuj () is a Municipality and District Headquarters of Kutch District in the state of Gujarat, India.
Etymology
According to legend, Kutch was ruled by the Nāga chieftains in the past. Sagai, a queen of Sheshapattana, who was married to Kin ...
. This site is of modest dimensions,( by ) situated on the northern banks of once depredatory (erosive) stream, Bamu-Chela, an affluent of the
Dhrud river.
History
The line of the walls, 2250 yards round and something of an oblong square in shape, though much decayed may be clearly traced. Inside is nothing but a heap of ruins, the remains of houses and temples. In I828, the villagers constantly turned up pieces of old vessels, ass coins, and occasional boxes of money. An old Mahadev temple was believed to hold snake-guarded treasured.
On the bank of a small lake to the west of the fort, seven grave stones, ''palia''s, with peculiar designs but no writings, are said to have been raised in honour of seven claimants for the hand of Guntri the adopted sister of the seven Sands, possibly
Vaghela Rajputs, once the rulers of the fort. It was from these seven Sands, probably early in the fourteenth century, that the
Sammas captured the fort and made themselves masters of western Kutch.
The story is that Mod and Mandi, two Samma outlaws from Sindh, by treachery gained possession of Vagham - Chavdagadh ten miles north of Kora near
Lakhpat
Lakhpat is a sparsely populated town and sub-district in the Kachchh district in the Indian state of Gujarat located at the mouth of the Kori Creek. The town is enclosed by 7km-long, 18th-century fort walls.
Etymology
The town is named after ...
. Vagham Chavda, whom the Sammas killed, was a vassal of the seven Sands. They at first threatened punishment, but were appeased by the offer of a larger tribute and of one of the Samma brothers as hostage. Part of the tribute was paid in grass, and one year the Sammas, in each cart of grass, hid some armed men. As the carts passed through the city gate, the blind gatekeeper smelling something more than grass, said, "There is either flesh or pulse in the cart?". A spear driven into one cart cut the thigh of a Jat soldier. But he, uttering no sound of pain, as the spear was pulled out rubbed off the blood, and, in spite of the blind man's warning, the carts passed in. At night the armed men left the carts, fell on the garrison, seized the fort, and drove the seven Sands into
Kathiawar
Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) in the east. In the northeast, it is ...
.
Excavation
Archaeological Survey of India undertook excavation at this site during 1963.
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]
Architecture
Desalpar had a massive stone fortification with a base of about , and height measuring from to .[ Several houses were built adjacent to fort wall inside the town and central part of the settlement had a structural complex with foundation offsets, massive walls and spacious rooms.][
]
Findings
Regular Harappan pottery, a thin grey ware carefully potted and painted with lines of bluish green pigment were found at lower excavation levels, similar to that found at Mohenjodaro
Mohenjo-daro (; sd, موئن جو دڙو'', ''meaning 'Mound of the Dead Men';[List of Indus Valley Civilization sites
Over 1400 Indus Valley civilisation sites have been discovered, of which 925 sites are in India and 475 sites in Pakistan, while some sites in Afghanistan are believed to be trading colonies. Only 40 sites on the Indus valley were discovere ...]
* Surkotada
* Gola dhoro
*Dholavira
Dholavira ( gu, ધોળાવીરા) is an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India, which has taken its name from a modern-day village south of it. This village is ...
* Pabumath
* Babar Kot
References
* This article incorporates Public Domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
text from {{cite book, title=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Cutch, Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLUBAAAAYAAJ, year=1880, publisher=Printed at the Government Central Press, pages=222
Indus Valley civilisation sites
Archaeological sites in Gujarat
Former populated places in India
Villages in Kutch district