Author:
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: 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.
