The Personality of India: Pre- and Proto-historic Foundation of India and Pakistan c14.s1.t7.69

c14.s1.t7.69

The most interesting area is Kathiawad. On account of its proximity to the Indus basin, we find the direct penetration of the Indus Valley cultures of the III Millennium B.C. The earlier excavations of M. S. Vats,¹ G. S. Ghurye,² H. D. Sankalia and M. G. Dikshit³ at Rangpur have been followed by large-scale work of S. Ranganatharao.⁴ Now there is no doubt about the Harappan affinities of the site, with the further excavations at Lothal,⁵ where systematic town-planning was brought to light in addition objects, including seals, typical of the classical Harappa.⁶ Thus it represents the southernmost extension of this culture known so far. *At Lothal and the earlier site of Rangpur, Harappan and its derivative Post-Harappan cultures are seen in isolation.* Fortunately we are in a better position to correlate these cultures in a general framework of regional chronology of Kathiawad, as a result of extensive explorations carried out by P. P. Pandya⁷ and the excavations carried out by the writer jointly with Pandya, at Somnath, Amra and Lakhabawal⁸. These excavatons at Somnath, continued by Pandya,⁸ have thrown further light on the culture sequence. Hence an attempt will be made now to construct such a sequence for Saurashtra with Somnath providing the main framework. (Fig. 35)