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{{Short description|Geologist from Gujarat who discovered the Indus valley site of Dholavira}}
'''Shambhudan Gadhvi''' ({{lang-gu|શંભુદાન ગઢવી }}) is a former master clerk and amateur [[geologist]] from Gujarat who discovered the Indus valley site of [[Dholavira]] in the early 1960s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Arora|first=Namit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jE1tDwAAQBAJ|title=Indians: A Brief History of A Civilization|date=2021-01-18|publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited|isbn=978-93-5305-287-4|language=en|quote="Most guides also resent that all credit for the discovery of Dholavira went to J.P. Joshi of the ASI, with no mention at all of two villagers, Shambhudan Gadhavi, master clerk and amateur geologist, and Velubha Sodha, former sarpanch, who had earlier found the site"}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Avikunthak|first=Ashish|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OPw7EAAAQBAJ|title=Bureaucratic Archaeology: State, Science and Past in Postcolonial India|date=2021-10-31|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-316-51239-5|language=en|quote=The official ASI marker—the painted iron board erected at the entrance of the Dholavira site—erased the local narrative of discovery and officially announced: "The Harappan site at Dholavira has been discovered by Shri Jagat Pati Joshi in 1967–1968".}}</ref>

== Discovery of Dholavira ==
During the [[Kutch district|Kutch]] famine in 1960s, Shambhudan Gadhvi was supervising on a [[drought]] relief work at Kotda ({{cvt|1|km|mi}} from the Dholavira site) when he found [[Indus Valley civilisation|Harappan]] seals with the shape of animals.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Kutchhi Family Directory|url=http://asanjokutch.com/dignitaries/manjula03.asp|access-date=2022-01-25|website=asanjokutch.com|quote="when famine stroked on Kutch, the relief work was going on at Kotda half km. from Dholavira. Clark Shambudan Gadhavi found some seals of the shape of animals. He informed the museum of Kutch that is at Bhuj but didn't found much encouragement, so he published the news in 'Kutchmitra' at Bhuj. In 1990, the government of India started research in Kotda."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Vasa|first=Pulin|title=Nani Rayan|url=https://jainebooks.org/books/11177/nani-rayan|access-date=2022-01-25|website=jainebooks.org|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Bandyopadhyay|first=Brishti|date=2003-12-22|title=5000 Years Old Quake-proof Town|url=https://www.pitara.com/news-for-kids/world-news/5000-years-old-quake-proof-town/|access-date=2022-01-25|website=Pitara Kids Network|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Crisscrossing Rann of Kutch and Rajasthan - Dholavira - Frozen In Time|url=https://www.parveendua.com/2020/04/rann-of-kutch-and-rajasthan11.html|access-date=2022-01-25}}</ref>

While supervising the digging of a small dam to collect the monsoon waters, he discovered numerous artifacts; prominent among them were fragments of [[Indus Valley civilisation|Indus seals]]. He recognized that the seals belonged to the [[Indus Valley civilisation|Harappan civilization]] by comparing it to the pictures that he found in his son's history textbook issued by the [[Government of Gujarat|Gujarat government]]. He subsequently searched for more seals and collected numerous artifacts — decorative ceramics, fragments of carnelian beads, and metal objects.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Gopinath|first=P. Krishna|date=2017-07-15|title=Ruins on the Tropic of Cancer|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/ruins-on-the-tropic-of-cancer/article19284214.ece|access-date=2022-01-25|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

Shambhudan preserved the ancient relics in his house and also sent many relics to [[Kutch University]]. He collected some beads, pottery shards, and artefacts from the Dholavira site and went to the curator of [[Kutch Museum]] in [[Bhuj]] and reported the site to the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] (Archaeology Department).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1"/>

Gadhvi also published the news of the discovery in ''[[Kutchmitra]]'' at Bhuj to garner official support from the government.<ref name=":2" />

== Excavation ==
Due to the continued efforts of Shambhudan Gadhvi, excavation work finally began in 1990 and lasted until 2005. The government of India started research in Kotda. Under the observation of [[Ravindra Singh Bisht|Ravindra Singh Bist]], in around three years, they found a town. It revealed a city that had a [[citadel]], an intermediate city, a lower town, fresh water reservoirs, underground sewage pipes, bead-making workshops, copper smelters, etc.<ref>{{Cite web|last=admin|title=Sunday Story: Le village de Dholavira au Gujarat espère un renouveau grâce à l'étiquette du patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO {{!}} AllInfo|url=https://allinfo.space/2021/09/07/sunday-story-le-village-de-dholavira-au-gujarat-espere-un-renouveau-grace-a-letiquette-du-patrimoine-mondial-de-lunesco/|access-date=2022-01-25|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-09-05|title=Sunday Story: Gujarat's Dholavira village hopes for renewal via UNESCO world heritage tag|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/indus-valley-civilization-dholavira-unesco-7489291/|access-date=2022-01-25|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Neha|date=2021-09-05|title=Sunday Story: Gujarat's Dholavira village hopes for renewal through UNESCO world heritage tag|url=https://newsislands.com/sunday-story-gujarats-dholavira-village-hopes-for-renewal-through-unesco-world-heritage-tag/|access-date=2022-01-25|website=Newsislands.com|language=en-US}}</ref>

R. S. Bisht was the first ASI official to visit the site in the mid-1980s. By that time, Gadhvi had the backyard of his house laden with artifacts, ceramics, and structural members from the site. Gadhvi has been an important collaborator with RS Bisht in the late 1980s, when extensive exploration work was underway in the area to map the settlement of [[Khadirbet|Khadir]] Island, where Dholavira is located. Shambhudan also contacted people in other villages to help ASI discover more sites. Once the excavation work began in 1990, Gadhvi assisted the ASI to set up the camp and recruit [[laborer]]s from the village of [[Dholavira]] for the first season of excavation.<ref name=":1"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=Excavations at Dholavifra 1989-2005 (RS Bisht, 2015) {{!}} PDF {{!}} Nature|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/262316120/Excavations-at-Dholavifra-1989-2005-RS-Bisht-2015|access-date=2022-01-25|website=Scribd|language=en|quote="How can I forget the untiring help and services of the villagers of Dholavira, Kharoda, Dungrani Vandh and Phapharani Vandh, in particular S/Shri Shambhudan, Ranmal Ahir, and Velubha Sodha!"}}</ref>

== Recognition ==
Despite Shambhudan's efforts at bringing light to the discovery of Dholavira, his work remained unacknowledged by the state government and the [[Archaeological Survey of India|ASI]]. The credit of the discovery of Dholavira was instead given to [[J. P. Joshi]].<ref name=":1"/><ref name=":0"/>

== References ==

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gadhvi, Shambhudan}}
[[Category:Indian geologists]]
[[Category:Charan]]
[[Category:People from Gujarat]]
[[Category:Gadhavi (surname)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People associated with the Indus Valley civilisation]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian archaeologists]]
[[Category:People from Kutch district]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

Shambhudan Gadhvi - Revision history

Ajay Kumar: Add new article