Dwaraka Update (3): The City submerged by Tsunami

One question that has often come  regarding the under water archaeology happening in Dwaraka is about age of the retrieved artifacts. When some artifacts were retrieved in 2002, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi made the claim that a 9500 year old civilization, which pre-dated the Harappan civilization has been discovered, but some experts remained skeptical, both about the age and the use of the word “civilization”.

Under water earthquakes or volcanic eruptions can cause water to move as fast as 600 miles/hour and cause waves as tall as 100 meters  capable of destroying islands and coastal cities without any warning. It is believed that the shore temple at Mahabalipuram which survived the 2004 tsunami is one of seven temples, of which six got destroyed in previous tsunamis.

In a recent conference, it has been revealed that the debris found under water in Dwaraka are the ruins of a city dated to 2280 BCE and destroyed by a tsunami. The region around Dwaraka had suffered tectonic upheavals in 3000 BCE, 1000 BCE and 550 BCE, but since the city has been dated to 2280 BCE, it is believed that the second upheaval destroyed it.

One of the earlier complaints about the mapping and under water photography of the Dwaraka site has been addressed. The site has been scanned through high resolution underwater photography and the sea bed mapping has also been done.

Previously it was found that during the Late Harappan Phase, Bet Dwaraka had an extensive shell industry which provided artifacts to the Indus Valley Civilization. One significant find now has been a glyptic clay seal identical to ones found in Mohejo-Daro, thus confirming the contact between Indus Valley and the Gujarat coast.

See Also: Dwaraka Update (1), Dwaraka Update (2)