The Lost World

[Guest guest]

Does any archeologist have an opinion on the following news report yet?

 

 

 

Title: The Lost World

Publication: The Indian Express

May 27, 2001

 

Introduction: Santwana Bhattacharya maps the stunning

discovery of an ancient city submerged in the Gulf of Khambat

".and the island of Atlantis in like manner disappeared in the depths of the

sea. For which reason the sea in those parts is impassable and impenetrable,

because there is a shoal of mud in the way."

That was Plato, writing in Critias & Timaens around 300 BC, describing the

submergence of a mythical city which was already dated back some 9,000 years

by raconteurs in his day. Here and now, the pas sage resonates with meaning

for quite a different reason: Plato's words could well used be to describe

the 'mysterious acropolis' dredged up from the depths of the Gulf of Cambay,

just a few weeks ago. Replace 'Atlantis' by 'Khambhat', and we go back to a

pristine, technocratic urban civilisation dating anywhere between 4000 and

6000 BC. Except, of course, for the shoal of mud in the way.

If Plato's mention of Atlantis has offered people a fascinating vision for

over 2,000 years, the story of a pre-Harappan city should hold no less

allure for us. If not for itself, then for the dramatic way it was

accidentally discovered by a team of scientists below the sea bed in Cambay,

rather in the manner of a Hollywood superhit.

This is how the script goes. A huge liner belonging to the National

Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) is quietly surveying the Gulf of

Cambay. Nobody's telling, but it's actually a recce for a high-stakes, but

under-wraps gas pipeline project - probably for a British oil company. They

take a series of underwater photographs of the sea-bed - sophisticated

acoustic images - about nine km west of Hazira in Gujarat. The team cruises

back to their lab in Chennai, process the images for the project 'in the

pipeline'. And what do they find? Small pebbles and boulders strewn on the

sea-bed, the sort you associate with flowing river waters. Curiosity grows

into fascination, as other photographs seem to reveal geometric structures,

unlikely to have been put there by God. An ancient riverine civilization in

the middle of the sea?

The next six months go by in cross-checking and cruising back and forth to

collect more evidence. Though increasingly sure of a coup, the NIOT is

careful not to let information leak out. First, they secretly sound out a

few archaeologists, before announcing their exciting find to the world. N

Ravindran, NIOT director, had finally spoken: "The acoustic images obtained

by the Institute point to the existence of some Harappan-like ruins below

the sea-bed." The NIOT team had picked images of several excellent geometric

objects, undoubtedly man-made, Ravindran added. "The entire area is seen to

be lined with very well-laid out features that resemble house basements,

partially covered by the sand waves and sand ripples, in water depths of

around 30m to 40m. All the basements are seen to be well-laid as straight

lines, and at many places channel-like features are seen, indicating the

existence of proper drainage in the area," he explains. As the team dug

deeper, a sub-bottom profiler revealed what seemed to be a buried settlement

of 44m x 19m, complete with an enclosure and dwelling sizes. How did this

mini -acropolis - whether pre Harappan or not - slide into the Gulf of

Khambat to be forgotten by history? Theories abound. One of the more

mainstream theories avers that a couple of major rivers may have been

flowing approximately in the east-westerly direction coinciding with the

course of the present day Tapti and Narmada rivers. Due to geological and

tectonic events, the entire Cambay area might have sunk - taking down with

it the western-most section of the then existing river and the habitation

settled along its banks. On the other hand, the NIOT team, supported by the

Department of Ocean Development (DOD) secretary Harsh Gupta, an expert

seismologist, forwards the earthquake theory to explain the disappearance of

this town by the river.

In the wake of the Bhuj catastrophe, no one will argue with the fact that

western India has tectonically been an active terrain from the pre-Cambrian

era to die present day. It is just the attendant spectacle - recall the low

drama that accompanied the 'discovery' of presumed channels in the Rann

after the quake - of cheerleaders chanting the name of Saraswati at the mere

sight of water, that reminds you how close beneath the surface of modern

science lies the submerged continent of myth.

Be that as it may, it is reported that between 2700 and 2500 BC, there were

geological movements of similar calamitous proportions in this region.

"Obviously, these were responsible for the submergence of this part of the

course of the ancient Saraswati along with the ancient civilization,"

remarked Minister for Science & Technology and Ocean Development Murli

Manohar Joshi. Obviously well-briefed by his scientists, the Minister went

on triumphantly: "In all probability, this course could have been one the

major tributaries of the Saraswati. It seems, then, what we read in our

literature is true. We've been proved right - Saraswati actually existed!"

Then, barely suppressing his excitement, he delivered his coup de grace.

Pointing to a structural image on the enlarged map, he cried: "And, here is

the temple!" As expected, the turf war which had already begun the day

before with the NIOT's "unilateral" announcement of a major archaeological

find - which is in no way its area of expertise - got bitter with the line

of interpretation taken by Joshi. "We had no idea about this," said R S

Bisht, senior Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) official. "Like everybody

else, we read about it in the newspapers. We have written to the secretary

to share the information with us. If it's true, it could change our

understanding of things."

An official in the DOD, the department that funds the NIOT and which is

going to finance the next piece of investigations slated for November,

rebuts this: "It is not true. We consulted archaeologists in the southern

region ASI office - R N Satyamurthy, to be specific - before we went public

with our discovery." In the event, the ASI, which comes under the Ministry

of Tourism and Culture, might get left out in the next expedition as well.

Instead, the Goa-based National Institute of Oceangraphy (NIO), which has a

marine archaeology division and comes under Joshi's ministry, will most

likely be invited to come on board.

This may not necessarily mean a smooth editing out of the clutter of

opinions. Archaeologist V H Sonwane, a member of the NIO monitoring board,

scales down the NIOT's implied claim of a grand city. "It is quite unlikely

that there is a site in isolation. The late R N Mehta discovered ruins of

three eras a few kilometres away from Khambat. There may be other satellite

sites around. And of course, there was no concept of a temple in the

Harappan and pre-Harappan era!"

As for the rest of us, waiting to know how the script unfolds beyond this

point, the story of the mystery city of Khambhat - or shall we call it the

second Atlantis - will resume only after a six-month-long interval.