Porbandar
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Porbandar, popularly famous as a birthplace of the father of nation Mahatma Gandhi, had been the attraction for the ancient traders since the late Harappan times. Historical period settlements have been noticed at Srinagar, a nearby site of Porbandar. However, it was a very important port and center of maritime activities during early medieval period. It is centrally located between two important Hindu religious centers Dwarka and Somnath on the Saurashtra-Kathiyawad coast. An onshore archaeological exploration was undertaken in and around Porbandar during November 2003 for locating the remains of ancient maritime activities such as anchors, ancient port installation and submerged habitational site, etc. similar to those found at Dwarka, Bet Dwarka and Somnath.

Porbandar has been referred as Bardaxema, by Ptolemy, which Burgess identified with Bardiya, situated very near to Srinagar, which according to him, may be a reminiscence of the Greek name. A copper plate dated to AD 989 (V.S. 1045) discovered from Ghumli mentioned Porbandar as Paurvela Kula and Jeshthuka Desh.

Porbandar is also mentioned in the Hindu scriptures as Sudamapuri commemorating he friendship of Lord Krishna with Sudama, a childhood friend. The town has a temple dedicated to Sudama. The oldest site in the area is referred as near Dhingeswar Mahadev temple which is pre Chalukyan period. There are remains of the 8th century AD temple of Saptamatrika near present Porau Mata temple in Porbandar. During historical period Porbandar had trade relations with Sri Lanka, Java, Sumatra, Gulf Countries and East African countries.

Explorations around Porbandar brought to light interesting findings about the maritime activities of the region. Though Saurashtra coast has witnessed the rise of several Harappan and historical period ports, however, no significant remains of ancient ports or habitation of protohistoric period were recorded around Porbandar. The discovery of a late Harappan site at Porbandar added a new dimension in the arena of Harappan domain in the Gujarat. The site is locally known as Kotada Bandar. Bandar means a port, and it is very likely that in the nearby area towards the creek, boats may have berthed about 3500 years before. The site would have been an important port during the late Harappan period. The pottery is very similar to Rangpur IIC and Bet Dwarka. From the section it appears that a total habitational deposit is not more than 1 m similar to the late Harappan deposit at Bet Dwarka. The discovery is also significant to suggest that the late Harappans continued to stay near the coastal area and exploited resources from the sea, which was their main source of economy. As per local information an ancient jetty was situated near by the site and about 500 m away from the creek. It is likely that during Harappan period the creek extended up to this point. On the basis of comparative study the late Harappan habitation at Bhokhira can be dated between 16th century BC and 14th century BC.

Ancient jetties in the Bhokhira creek suggest that this was an important maritime trade center. The location of jetties suggests that these were used as tidal jetties. During high tide boats could reach up to the jetty and again boats would move out during high tide. These jetties are also indicative of the advancement in harbour architecture during medieval period. However, to date these jetty we need some more data and finds like anchors or nearby ancient habitational site. So far no parallel structure has been discovered from the coastal area, yet some remains of ancient jetties have been reported from offshore area of Dwarka and Rupen Bandar in Okhamandal region. The tradition of construction of jetty and dockyard is as old as Harappan period in Gujarat but they are presently located either at a higher level or far hinterland. As per local information these jetties were in use till late 19th century AD.

While interviewing age-old fishermen, they informed that stone anchors were present in Porbandar, however, due to reclamation of the land for construction of the new port, most of the ancient remains have been destroyed and buried under modern structures. A few local fishermen have mentioned that stone for anchors, used to come from Barda hills, which is of basalt.
 

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