Discovered in 1954, Lothal is an important archaeological find not only for its own antiquity and advanced civilization but also because it is a vital key to understanding the full story of the ancient Indus Civilization. The discovery of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro earlier showed evidence of one the most ancient civilizations of the world, but left many mysteries due to the apparently sudden destruction of Indus cities. Thus a number of misconceptions have arisen over the years about the Indus Civilization, e.g. that it was land-locked, conservative, short-lived and made no contribution to the progress of mankind. The excavations at Lothal throw light on a large number of hitherto unexplained points and refute the earlier arguments that the destruction of Harappan cities was primarily due to Aryan invasion. With its unique dockyard and well-developed industries, Lothal played an important role in the Indo-Sumerian trade of the Bronze Age. In the present volume, the author, S.R.Rao (who discovered Lothal and directed the extensive excavations) gives a coherent account of the Indus and post-Indus periods for the first time. He is able to view the Indus Civilization as a whole on the Harappan substratum in the apparently unrelated chalcolithic cultures of the second millennium B.C. in India. In the words of Sir Mortimer Wheeler, “Lothal and the Indus Civilization is an essential contribution to a study of the civilization of the world as a whole”. About the Author: Born in 1922 and educated in the Universities of Mysore and Nagpur, Shikaripur Ranganatha Rao (d. 2013) started his career as Assistant Director of Archaeology in the erstwhile Baroda State in 1947. His services were requisitioned by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1948. He served the Survey in various capacities for over three decades. Mr. Rao, who was one of the foremost excavators in India, had to his credit the discovery of 50 sites of the Indus Civilization including the famous port-town of Lothal. Among the various Bronze Age sites excavated by him the noteworthy are Rangpur, Lothal and Bhagatrav in Gujarat, and Theur and Shastewadi in Maharashtra. His interest was not confined to the Bronze Age only. He excavated a neolithic site at Paiyampalli and a passage-grave site at Hunur (Mysore) and early historical sites at Kanheri (Maharashtra), Amreli (Gujarat), Aihole (Mysore) and Kaveripattinam (Tamilnadu). In the last mentioned site he found a unique brick wharf going back to 300 B.C. Mr. Rao had travelled extensively in Europe, U.S.S.R., U.A.R. and Iran and had made a first-hand study of the archaeological material from the west Asian sites. He had participated in international seminars on 'Megaliths' and 'Archaeology of the Bronze Age' and delivered lectures in London, Paris, Rome, Moscow and Leningrad on the subject of his research. In addition to numerous papers on archaeology his publications include Excavations at Rangpur and Other Explorations in Gujarat and Amreli: A Kshatrapa-Gupta Town.