The excavated location of Lothal is the Indus Valley Civilisation's lone major port.
Lothal, in the Bhl area of the contemporary state of Gujarat, was one of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization's southernmost towns. The city's construction started approximately 2200 BCE. The Archaeological Survey of India, the authorized Indian government entity for the conservation of historical sites, explored Lothal from 13 February 1955 to 19 May 1960. Lothal had the world's earliest known dock, as per the ASI, which connected the settlement to an ancient flow of the Sabarmati stream on a commercial port between Harappan cities in Sindh and the peninsula of Saurashtra when the Kutch region of today was the portion of the Arabian Sea.
Other archaeologists, however, contend that Lothal was a tiny town and that the 'dock' was an irrigation tank, and that this interpretation is incorrect. Scientists at the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa identified foraminifera, salt, and gypsum crystals in the rectangular structure, indicating that the structure was formerly filled with seawater and used as a dockyard. In ancient times, Lothal was a prosperous commercial town, with its commerce of beads, diamonds, and expensive decorations stretching far into West Asia and
Africa. Their bead-making and metallurgical skills and tools have lasted the test of time for almost 4000 years.