The Dholavira Water-Management Complex

Record summary

Dholavira was a planned Indus-period settlement with fortification zones, reservoirs, channels, monumental architecture, and distinctive inscriptions or signboards. It offers a strong comparison for urban planning, water management, craft specialization, and adaptation to an arid island environment. Interpretation remains dependent on excavation phase, conservation, and the still-undeciphered Indus script. Claims about centralized authority, population size, and the precise function of individual structures should therefore remain provisional rather than being inferred directly from monumental appearance.