The Kutch district in Gujarat with its harsh lands has revealed a 4,000-year-old secret that connects modern Gujarati business sense with their ancient forefathers. Gujaratis namely the Patel community have been the one to describe the most accurate character of what the motel industry in America is like by saying that they are the dominators.
However, a new piece of research indicates that the one which characterizes the business spirit of the Gujaratis well could be quite literally be the elements that make up the soil of Gujarat.
Archaeologists have found Kotada Bhadli, an Indus Valley settlement that is considered the world's first caravanserai—a rest area for traders during the Bronze Age. It is between 2300 and 1900 BCE that this place served as a vital rest point along the trade routes of the Indus Valley Civilization.
The revelation, along with the research from Deccan College, Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts, and the Archaeological Survey of India communicated in L’Anthropologie has redrawn the history of South Asian trade infrastructure.
Kotada Bhadli was a well-planned complex unlike temporary camps. The excavations brought to light the fortified walls, defensive towers, multi-chamber buildings for management, large yards for pack animals, and the remains of the food provision areas for travelers.
This was a safe, efficient facility giving up food, rest, and security to merchants on long journeys—it was not just a pit stop.
With the help of advanced instruments such as ground-penetrating radar, satellite mapping, isotopic, and lipid analysis, the team under the leadership of Dr. Prabodh Shirvalkar located the proof that the area was a temporary stopover rather than a permanent settlement.
The destruction of the pottery, food, and import goods along with other artifacts reflect the core crowed points where traders would meet, and then proceed further into the Harappan trade network.
Kotada Bhadli was an intersection of major inland roads that connected such cities as Dholavira, Lothal, and Shikarpur. While the sea trade of the Harappans with Mesopotamia is very clear and open, this finding is taking us to a new level because it is revealing how the land-based trade operated.
Actually, the Harappan trade system is almost two thousand years older than the Silk Route, therefore, it shows that they had already figured out logistics, security, and trade long before other civilizations.
The thing that makes this finding more interesting is that it has much in common with the Patel motel phenomenon of the present-day America.
The elements of location, family cooperation, hard work, and providing a service at a reasonable price while making sure it is safe are the things that both of them have in common.
The discovery of the Kotada Bhadli not only puts a richer glow on India's ancient past but also shines through an unbroken commercial legacy. The story of merchants from the Harappan era managing caravanserais and modern Gujaratis running roadside motels is essentially the same—the guiding principles are still the same, identify a need, deliver comfort, guarantee safety, and earn trust.
It does not matter if one is tending to pack animals in 2000 BCE or handling motel check-ins in 21st-century America, the entrepreneurial spirit of Gujaratis is still alive and well—thus, they are proving that business is truly in their DNA.
