An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c19.s8.1

v1.c19.s8.1

A dock is an artificial basin for the reception of vessels, while a wharf is a platform built along the sea-shore or river-bank for the loading and unloading of ships. The earliest dock in India is the one laid bare in the excavation on the e. flank of the Harappa site of LOTHAL. This trapezoid basin measuring 214 × 36 m and enclosed by walls of kiln-fired brick was built for the sluicing of ships at high tide through an inlet channel 12 m wide in the n. embankment. Excess water escaped through a spillway built in the s. one. It could be closed by the insertion of a door to retain the volume of water necessary for the floating of ships in low water. The embankment walls are 1·78 m thick and 3·3 m high, but originally they were built to a height of 4·15 m. The dock was designed to withstand the thrust of water at the maximum draft of 3·75 m. Anciently an arm of the sea extended almost up to LOTHAL and further access to ships lay through a river mouth and nullah connecting the dock. The river changed its course in *c.* 2000 B.C. necessitating the construction of an inlet channel linking up the dock with the river. The perfect verticality of the walls, the absence of steps or ramps to reach the water level, the occurrence of marine shells in the basin and the presence of stone anchors prove that the basin was not used for storing potable water but as a dock for the berthing of ships. A mud-brick platform 260 m long was built adjoining the n. wall to serve as a wharf. A warehouse covering an area 1930 sq m stood at the s. end and quarters for dock-workers were provided in the n.-w. corner. The dock fell into disuse after it was destroyed by a flood. [Shah, 1960, Leshnik, 1968, and Pandya, 1977, however, think that the reservoir was not a dock but was meant to hold water for irrigation or potable water. Sankalia, 1974, leaves the question open.]