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Home , Aravalli Range, Rawatsar

Reid A. Bryson and David A. Baerreis ma or climatic modification University of Wisconsin, Madison and their implications: Northwest , a case lor study

Abstract trasts in rainfall amounts, and this in spite of the fact On the basis of field observations and theoretical studies that the two regions have so many similar climatic con- it is believed that the dense pall of local dust over trols, presents a problem"[l]. To be sure, the Rajputana northwestern India and West is a significant is in the normal latitude of the sub-tropical anticyclones factor in the development of subsidence over the in winter and the deserts associated with them, but a desert. Archeological evidence derived from the north- shallow monsoon flow of humid air does enter the area ern portion of the desert within India suggests a pattern in summer. One obtains the impression from the litera- of intermittent occupation with the role of man being ture [2] that if the atmospheric subsidence over the area important in making the desert. As man has made the were less, the moist monsoon layer would be deeper and desert, so through surface stabilization can he reduce the the slight summer rainfall maximum would be consider- dust and consequently modify the subsidence and ably larger. In fact, it appears that the desert coincides precipitation patterns in the region. The social conse- with the extent of divergent, sinking air at about 10,000 quences of such climatic modification are briefly con- ft [3]. sidered. The magnitude of the subsidence over the desert area has been studied by Das who computed the daily vertical The Desert velocity distribution over India using a ten-layer numeri- Nearly half of the Indian sub-continent is arid or semi- cal model, then averaged these values to obtain mean arid. By far the larger part of this dry area is located in vertical motions [4]. Generally speaking, mean vertical northwestern India and southeastern West Pakistan, motions imply mean diabatic changes and Das converted centering on the very dry area (less than 5 inches annual his computed vertical velocities into the required cooling precipitation) known as the (Fig. 1). The rates in mid-troposphere in degrees per day. Over the larger area of deficient rainfall surrounding and includ- wet areas of India the warming rates associated with ing the Thar Desert is variously known as the Rajputana ascending motion were found to be quite compatible or Rajasthan Desert, and occupies an area of a quarter with the observed release of latent heat. Quite a different to a half million square miles depending on the defini- situation prevailed over the desert, for the required tion used. In the following discussion the term diabatic cooling to maintain the subsidence amounted "Rajputana Desert" will be used loosely to identify the to about 2.4C day-1—a figure which did not agree with dry area lying between New and Karachi, between the radiation divergence calculated for the observed the and the Himalayan foothills. distribution of water vapor and normal carbon dioxide With regard to the climate of this area, Trewartha content. This latter figure came to about 1.8C day-1, has said: and the difference between these two figures is too large "What appears to be a . . . striking peculiarity of the to be computational error. sub-continent's rainfall, considering the fact that almost Some insight into the possible explanation of the dis- the entire region is dominated by a surface flow of crepancy is to be found in the work of Bryson et al. who equatorial-tropical maritime air in summer, and is measured the radiation divergence in the troposphere crossed twice by the Intertropical Convergence, is the over northern India [5]. They found that the observed widespread deficiency of rainfall." and rate of cooling in mid-troposphere was very nearly the "The fact that the northeastern and northwestern ex- same as that required to match the subsidence calculated tremities of the continent exhibit such impressive con- by Das, and that the calculated cooling due to the i Various aspects of the research leading to the preparation distribution of water vapor and carbon dioxide was also of this paper have been supported by the Atmospheric very nearly the same as his value—but could show that Sciences Section of the National Science Foundation, GP-444; the observed cooling rate differed from the calculated the Geography Branch of the Office of Naval Research, Nonr 1202(07); the Environmental Science Services Administration; by 50% due to the presence of atmospheric dust over and the Indian Meteorological Department. the desert. This suggests that dust over the desert in-

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creases the mid-tropospheric subsidence rate by per- of the , to 30,000 ft and more over the haps 50%. Rajputana Desert, thinning to 17,000 ft over the lower They concluded that in the absence of dust there Valley. The southern edge of the premonsoon would be less radiation divergence in mid-troposphere. dust is thought to be about 8N, and was so observed There would thus be less subsidence and a deeper along the Malayan peninsula. Over Burma and Thailand monsoon layer. With less subsidence, the low level di- the dust was thinner and layered, 20,000 ft or so being vergence would be less and areal extent of the divergent a common level for the main layer. air less as well—with the monsoon rains extending, In the South Asian area the greatest dust density then, farther into the present Rajputana Desert area. appears to be in the West Pakistan-Northwest Indian If the source of the dust is the desert itself, then the region, vertical visibilities of 1-2 miles being fairly com- desert would appear to be self-sustaining, for the pres- mon there. ence of a vegetative cover would inhibit the raising In May 1963, still within the premonsoon period, of dust by the wind, and thus the development of the Gordon Cooper took several pictures during his 22 desert climate which is inimical to the vegetative cover. orbit flight which give further information about the dust and its origin. His pictures of the Iranian and The atmospheric dust blanket of West Pakistan coasts show the "washed out" aspect Flights through South Asia in April 1962, 1963 and characteristic of photographs taken through haze. The 1966 (Fig. 2), winter 1963 and 1966 and October 1964 degree of contrast reduction in his picture of the Indus provided a view of the dust distribution which agrees in Valley appears to be even greater. The most interesting general with the small amount of previously known in- photograph shows the clouds along a trough line over formation. Deep, dense dust over North Africa and the Rajputana Desert. On this photograph the wind Arabia in the spring appears to thin eastward along the directions are easily discernible in the cloud patterns, southern coast of Iran and Baluchistan (Mekran and and imbedded in the winds behind the trough is a LasBela coasts) but becomes very dense and deep over cloud of dust sweeping out of the desert. This dust the Rajasthan Desert. From there it appears to diminish cloud is dense enough to obscure totally the ground. southward and eastward, though present in considerable Recheck of the Indian Meteorological Department quantities over , and observable as layers charts for 15-16 May 1963 showed that this trough was over Burma, Thailand and Cambodia. There appears evident on the standard synoptic reports and analysis, to be little dust over Iran proper. Reconnaissance in and the data corroborated the analysis of Cooper's the spring of 1963 indicated that the top of the dust photograph, but the dust cloud had been missed. Cooper's layer was around 25,000 ft over the northeastern part photograph of the Calcutta area shows some evidence

FIG. 1. India and surroundings. The Rajputana Desert is indicated by the stippled area.

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infrared radiation flux divergence, increasing the diabatic cooling rate by 50% over what it would be if the air were free of particulates. Rough estimates of the dust mass concentration over India were made from the radiation flux measurements on the assumption that dust particles acted as "grey bodies" and were fairly uniformly distributed in height. Both assumptions seem fairly well justified for the layers considered. Estimated particle concentrations ranged from 500 to 7000 per cm3, assuming a diameter of 0.25 v for the dust particles, in good agreement with the visibilities observed at the time of measurement of the radiation fluxes. In late March and early April of 1961, Junge found Aitken nuclei particle densities of 100 to 1000 per cm3 for comparable levels over Hyderabad [8]. The difference is in the expected direction and magni- tude if the dust haze thins southward over India. Direct measurement of the dust concentration was also made in April 1966 using a U. S. Navy Orion aircraft (Fig. 3). Analysis of the data is not complete at the time of this writing but suggests that the magnitudes and distribu- tions arrived at indirectly are correct. In the preceding discussion a close connection between the desert, a deep, dense, dust layer centered over the desert area, and the desert climate has been indicated. One might then ask whether the region has always been desert, and whether it might not be reclaimed by controlling the dust source and thus modifying the climate. A closely related question is whether the desert is man-made or the result of non-human natural FIG. 2. Aerial photograph of dust from 28,000 ft over desert change. surface (April 1966) in southern Asia. Original color photo presents brilliant blue sky at the top, and tan-brown dust The archeological history of desert occupation beneath. Note emerging surface detail near base of photograph. An abundant literature may be found pertaining to what was formerly known as "The Great Indian Desert" of haze (plus complete obscuration of Calcutta by local but much of it is conflicting. The reasons for this are air ), but his photographs of the Burma coast doubtless similar to those involved in another account were crisp and clear—apparently free of haze. attributed to Indian sources in which a group of These photos agree with the visual observations of blind men individually attempt to describe an elephant April 1963 made from aircraft and lend weight to the on the basis of the anatomical part they have grasped. suggestion one would get from the dust distribution that The most adequate archaeological exploration of the the major source of dust for the Indian area is the desert region within the present limits of India of a Rajputana Desert itself. systematic survey character is confined to the northern If the dust is so dense that it drastically reduces part of the desert between the now dry beds of the visibility, and extends to heights of 30,000 ft, one might Sarasvati and Drishadvati while the southern part of expect that it would have a pronounced effect on radia- the desert watered by the Luni and its tributaries tive fluxes in India, and on the climate of the area. is less satisfactorily explored. In view of this we may Mani and Chacko have shown that the visible spectrum narrow our attention to the northern portion of the atmospheric turbidity in northwest India is greatest Rajputana desert making use of the survey of remains in March, April, and May, but is high for essentially of the protohistoric period carried out by the Archaeo- the whole year. An average yearly Angstrom turbidity logical Survey of India with the assumption that it is coefficient of 0.045 was found for Delhi, and 0.020 for representative of the area as a whole. The survey was Poona [6], carried out by A. Ghosh, present Director General of Bryson, Wilson and Kuhn investigated the infrared Archaeology in India, and represented a further exten- radiation fluxes over Northwest India using the Suomi- sion of earlier investigations by Sir Aurel Stein [9]. Only Kuhn radiation sonde in a series of ascents at Poona, a brief preliminary report of this work is available [10]. , Delhi and Srinagar in April 1963 [7]. They Extensive excavations in subsequent years have concen- found that the dust had a pronounced effect on the trated upon one site, , but again only brief

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 01:48 PM UTC Bulletin American Meteorological Society summaries of this work by the School of Archaeology of the Archaeological Survey of India are available [11]. The archeological survey cited was confined to an exploration of desiccated river valleys of northwest- ern Rajasthan where the river system, now containing water only in its upper reaches, once reached the sea either independently or as a tributary of the Indus. The limited stretch of the valleys of the Sarasvati (modern Ghaggar) and Drishadvati (modern ) explored by Ghosh in presently arid regions contained in excess of a hundred sites representing a considerable chrono- logical and cultural range. Of strategic importance is the site of Kalibangan, located on the left bank of the Ghaggar in the District of Gangan Ganganager, where evidence for the existence of a pre-Harappan culture has been obtained [12]. While this site is primarily an im- portant regional center of the Harappan culture, similar FIG. 3. Instrument pod on the U. S. Navy Orion aircraft. in many architectural features and other details to the Light colored round object on pod bottom is radiometer great cities of the Indus valley, lower levels contain which measured long wave (terrestrial) and short wave (reflected) upward radiation. Within the pod, the sensor and a distinctive black-on-red ceramic tradition of non- an aluminum parabolic reflector can be seen which measured Harappan affiliation. Ceramics of this variety had pre- reflected (collimated) solar radiation. All components of the viously been recognized as more characteristic of the radiation budget were measured. Atmospheric particulates Drishadvati valley where the sites had been designated were captured on slides by means of an impactor, and the culture and regarded on typological grounds particulate concentration was measured by a dust photometer on board the aircraft. as being later than the Harappan culture. This inter- pretation, as is indicated above, is now reversed on the basis of stratigraphic evidence. The most detailed study reported permit no statement as to the relative density of the ceramics of the pre-Harappan levels available, as compared to the earlier Sothi occupation, the fact indicates they . . show a generic relationship with the that one-quarter of the sites located may be attributed Sind-Baluch sites of pre-Harappan vintage, notably Amri, to the Harappan culture would seem to indicate that Kot-Diji, pre-defence levels at Harappa, etc"[12]. Four this was a highly favorable period for occupation in the radiocarbon dates are available for the Kot Diji culture region. Since a total of seventeen radiocarbon dates are from the type site located some 40 km east of Mohenjo- now available for the Harappan occupation at Kali- daro in Pakistan. The dates for Kot Diji range between bangan [15], the cluster is sufficient to establish a range 2470 ± 141 (P-196) and 2075 ± 134 B.C. (P-195) and of 2000-1700 B.C. for the Harappan civilization in the while B. B. Lai feels that the latter date may indicate a region. While the terminal date for the culture must be somewhat late survival of the culture [13], the range held in abeyance, the continuity of occupation with the is essentially in agreement with recently determined suggested dates for the earlier Sothi occupation seems dates for the comparable horizon in the lowest levels at confirmed. Kalibangan [14]. Five radiocarbon dates for the Sothi The peoples of the Harappan civilization were fol- culture at Kalibangan range between 2245 ± 115 B.C. lowed in the area by the Painted Grey Ware culture. (TF-155) and 1660 ± 110 B.C. (TF-240). While the latter A. Ghosh indicates that twenty sites of this culture have date seems young in the light of age determinations been found in the explored region of the Sarasvati val- of the Harappan culture, present evidence does suggest ley in Bikaner but only one greyware site was found in some contemporaneity of the two cultures and the lag the Drishadvati valley. While reports on excavated sites in time as compared with the Pakistan dates is not in the region are lacking, Ghosh does comment that the unreasonable if we are dealing with the expansion of sites are small in extent and present few features. One this general culture complex. further bit of evidence which may be derived from the summary accounts is that greyware sites were not At the site of Kalibangan a sterile, sandy layer superimposed upon the Harappan sites but that new marks a temporary abandonment of the site prior to locations were chosen. The Harappan sites were located the initiation of Harappan occupation but clearly no overlooking the valleys as though the floodplains were extended period of time is involved. A. Ghosh reports farmed, while the later sites are on the river channels that more than twenty-five mounds of the Harappan cul- proper where the last bit of a dwindling water supply ture have been identified in the desiccated river valleys 2 might be used. An estimate of the time of occupancy we have been using to illustrate the early occupation of the Painted Grey Ware culture is of obvious im- in the desert region. They begin at the Pakistani border portance but is handicapped by lack of excavation re- while the site of Kalibangan marks the presently-known eastern outpost in the Sarasvati valley. While the data 2 Ghosh, A., 1964: Personal communication.

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ports. Ghosh had estimated 600 BrG. as a very rough beginning with Harappan times an economy based upon central date for the culture S%ma ^pggested they both agriculture and domestic animals is present, these may have arrived in the itgi6n around 1000 B.C. Radio- being the same plants and animals that characterize the carbon dates run by the Tata Institute [16] on the site economy of the historic period. In modern India where of Hastinapur on the left bank of the Ganga River in populations have increased the forests have been de- Meerut District, Uttar Pradesh, provide one set of stroyed for timber and fuel so that large areas, as in the absolute dates which can be provisionally extended into Indo-Gangetic , are almost completely cleared of the Rajasthan region. Five dates from Period II at this trees. Lacking wood, cow dung, which should be used site, the period being ^characterized by ceramics of the as a manure for fields, is burned as fuel. The consequent Painted Grey Ware, range in age from 500 to 270 B.C. loss of fertility can in turn promote overgrazing just Dates reported in 1965 [17] on work of a joint expedi- as the destruction of the forests, even if these were tion by the University of Rajasthan and UCLA at the limited to a gallery strip near the rivers, can also site of Noh near Bharatpur, Rajasthan, bn Painted Grey to land destruction and sand movement. These factors Ware are 740 ± 220 B.C. (UCLA-703B) and 530 + 250 are mentioned as possible ones that might lead to en- B.C. (UCLA-703A). The two sets of dates thus appear vironmental deterioration which brought the cultural to confirm Ghosh's estimate and in turn indicate the periods enumerated to a close. However, it should be possibility of an actual break in regional occupation stressed that no archeological evidence has been reported between Harappan and Painted Grey Ware on the that will permit one to choose between cultural prac- order of a thousand years. Excavations by Ghosh at a tices as opposed to natural climatic factors as the causa- site north of Anupgarh, an area where occupation by the tive factor in terminating occupation, or at least exten- Painted Grey Ware culture was in close proximity to a sive occupation, in the region. However it is an in- Harappan occupation, revealed that the occupations triguing feature of the archeological record that a pat- were separated by sterile layers thus confirming the tern of intermittent, relatively intense occupation within time break between the cultures. the past four thousand years is indicated. There may A final group of sites has been classed by Ghosh as have been at least two phases when the occupation was the Rangmahal culture. While actual numbers of sites reduced or perhaps eliminated, yet from which the are not given, they are cited as comprising a "large region eventually recovered. While the present desert number" and specific mention is made of their large size, conditions may well be the most extensive in this recent some middens ranging up to 35 and 40 ft in height, period, it may be of some significance that the Rang- while others had mud fortification walls around them. mahal occupation which preceded the recent period was One is given the impression that this is an extensive seemingly also the most extensive in the region and occupation phase of considerable importance, and thus consequently may have made the greatest impact on the reflecting again favorable conditions for occupancy of natural environment. The occurrence of many dust the region. Ghosh states that there is little doubt that storms in south-western Rajasthan was reported in the the culture flourished in the early centuries A.D., bas- seventh century A.D. [18], and the accumulated evidence ing this upon similarities in pottery types to excavated seems to be that by 1000 A.D. considerable spread of sites and on the presence of one or two Kushan coins in the desert had occurred, becoming accentuated in the the Bikaner sites themselves. A temporal gap between recent past [19]. Rangmahal and the Painted Grey Ware phase may be Climate-induced change and man-induced change present though it clearly would not be as extensive as the preceding one and indeed may not exist. At least There seems to be little doubt that the Rajputana two sites revealed occupation layers of the Rangmahal Desert is more hostile to human occupation at the pres- culture superimposed on the greyware complex but the ent time than in 2000 B.C. or 400 A.D. It is hard to character of these stratigraphic conditions is not re- conceive of the region providing a basis for the Harap- ported. So far as the terminal phase of occupation of this pan "empire" today. Inevitably one must consider region is concerned, Ghosh indicates that after the decay whether the deterioration of the region is due to cli- of the flourishing Rangmahal sites in the seventh or matic change as part of the now fairly well-documented eighth century the population seems to have turned worldwide pattern, or whether there has been local largely to a nomadic existence with campsites as the climatic change induced by human activities. characteristic archaeological manifestation to be found, It is not necessary to invoke changes of large magni- though these sites may indeed have been occupied by tude. Indeed, the evidence is that the plants that grew descendents of the Rangmahal tradition. Medieval ruins in the region during Harappan occupation are largely in the Drishadvati valley east of Rawatsar suggest, how- those found in the fringes of the area today and the ever, some continuity of occupation into more recent same can be said of the animals. At the present time, times. the desert is said to be advancing into the arable lands Lack of excavation in the region makes a precise at the rate of half a mile a year, indicating that the evaluation of the pattern of ecological relationships in ecological balance of man, plant, and climate is imper- the region of occupancy impossible. However, at least fect. This does not seem to be a recent development, yet

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 01:48 PM UTC Bulletin American Meteorological Society the climate around the world has changed within the would reach the ground during the day and there would past hundred years. If one assumes that the advance has be less direct heating by absorption in mid-troposphere. averaged a quarter to a half mile per year for some At night the surface would cool more and the mid- time, and extrapolates backward, the appearance of a troposphere less. This yields two consequences—more in- widening fringe of desert about the Thar Desert core stability during the day (more showers?), and a larger would date to 400 to 1000 years ago, at the end of diurnal temperature range at the surface which would Rangmahal time. appear largely in lower nocturnal minima.5 The pattern of human occupation in some ways sug- With less subsidence and low-level divergence, the gests agreement with the pattern of climatic change— eddy flux of moisture into the area should produce occupation during early Sub-Boreal time, abandonment, a higher absolute humidity, both because there would then occupation during Sub-Atlantic time and some- be less mass outflow for the eddy flux to run against, and what later. At the same time it would appear that the less dry subsident air for admixture. This would make range of climates within the last millennium is such the greater daytime instability more effective. According that if only climatic change were involved, there should to preliminary calculations the lower nocturnal minima have been flourishing periods—yet none appear so far. should result in dew formation on the grass. The grass It appears more likely that from Rangmahal times itself should lower the thermal admittance of the surface, onward there has been a progressive deterioration of the further depressing the nocturnal temperature minima. vegetation and perhaps structure of the surface such Lower mean temperatures and dew would make small that deflation has increased. This was the considered amounts of precipitation more effective. opinion of the experts assembled at the How to accomplish the stabilization is a problem in Symposium on the Rajputana Desert in 1952 according agricultural engineering that will not be treated here to S. L. Hora, who summarized the consensus, saying: beyond saying that discussions with appropriate experts "One thing which was pointedly brought out in the indicate that it is by no means an impossibly large or Symposium, was that the Rajputana Desert is largely a hopeless task.6 man-made desert ... by the work of man in cutting Assuming, pending further investigation, that the down and burning forests . . . (and by) the deterioration above qualitative analysis of the effects of dust control of the soils" [20]. by surface stabilization with grass is correct and self- Yet, whether the dust over the Rajputana Desert is the maintaining, what would be the social and economic result of human activity or climatic change alone, analy- consequences of such an experiment in regional climatic sis indicates that the climate would be different in the modification? absence of the dust. History suggests that the role of man has been important in the making of the desert. Consequences of climatic modification Science suggests that man might have a role in unmaking If we assume that climatic conditions of the desert the desert. area can be modified and wish to consider the conse- Possible consequences of surface stabilization quences or implications of such an action, it is necessary to review first some basic facts concerning India's eco- Let us consider qualitatively the reasonable consequences nomic and social conditions. One crucial fact is the im- of soil surface stabilization in the Rajputana Desert. portance of agriculture to India. Agricultural activities Let us further assume that ultimately the stabilization provide employment to 69% of the population and would be by use of grasses. contributed almost 51% of the total national income First, with an adequate grass cover there would be lit- (1955). Yet despite this prominent role of agriculture, tle blowing dust, in which case the average subsidence food shortages require the importation of agricultural over the desert would be reduced by perhaps one-third, products. The Indian government, appreciating the because the infrared cooling rate in mid-troposphere seriousness of the problem, allocated 38% of the budget would be reduced.3 Assuming that the variance of the of the First Five Year Plan to agriculture, irrigation, and vertical velocity would be unchanged, moving the mean rural community development projects. But while more closer to zero would mean more frequent cases of con- efficient methods of production, including mechaniza- vergence and upward motion.4 More summer showers tion, will undoubtedly increase food production they in turn would aid the grass which in turn would hold may also aggravate other problems. It is recognized that down the dust, etc. agricultural activities disguise unemployment since the A second effect of dust control would be an increase number of agricultural workers has increased without a of the diurnal radiative forcing function amplitudes. corresponding increase in land cultivated, a factor at- With a smaller turbidity factor, more solar energy tributed to the decline of village industries under 3 The infrared effect of the atmospheric dust blanket is to reduce the infrared radiation divergence at the surface and s Lettau, H. H., 1965: Personal communication. increase it at upper levels. e Experiments at the Central Arid Zone Research Institute, 4 The present summer rainfall maximum is apparently , indicate that it is only necessary to exclude animals associated with a few such changes of direction of the vertical for a year or two in order for a fine stand of native grass velocity (Trewartha, op. cit., p. 166). to spring up.

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Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 01:48 PM UTC Vol. 48, No. 3, March 1967 competition with cheap manufactured products. Bound References up with all of these factors is India's continued popula- 1. Trewartha, G., 1961: The Earth's Problem Climates. tion increase which is occurring despite the fact that Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, p. 166. there are no empty land spaces capable of absorbing in- 2. Trewartha, G., op. cit., 151-170. Contains a compact ternal migrants and thus relieving population pressures. review. Reclamation of desert lands can thus contribute to the 3. Sawyer, J. S., 1947: The structure of the intertropical improvement of a condition of food shortage and in front over NW India during the SW monsoon. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 73, 346-369. addition provide desperately needed space for India's 4. Das, P. K., 1962: Mean vertical motion and non-adiabatic large population. Since the Rajputana desert comprises heat sources over India during the monsoon. Tellus, an area of over 250,000 square miles, over 20% of 14, 212-220. the total land area of India, the very size might seem to 5. Bryson, R. A., C. A. Wilson, III, and P. M. Kuhn, 1964: indicate that the region is indeed the solution to the Some preliminary results of radiation sonde ascents problem mentioned. This, however, would be mislead- over India. Proc. WMO-IUGG Symp. Tropical Meteor., Rotorua, New Zealand, November 1963. Wellington, ing. Portions of the region lying to the southeast of the New Zealand Meteor. Service, 737 pp. Aravalli range, are already up to 30% under food grain 6. Mani, A., and O. Chacko, 1962: Atmospheric turbidity cultivation though with generally very poor yields. measurements at Poona and Delhi. India Meteor. Further, the more profound desert region of the north- Dept., 6 pp. plus tables. west sector is under partial cultivation but even with 7. Bryson et al., op. cit. A radiation sonde network of favorable conditions perhaps should not be expected to Poona, Delhi, Jodhpur and Calcutta was operated by the India Meteorological Department as part of this be transformed into an area of intensive cultivation, research. but may be more suitable for limited patterns of land 8. Junge, C. E., 1962: Condensation nuclei profiles over use such as pasturage. India. Joint Indo-United States Balloon Flight Program But while the reclamation of the Rajputana desert is 1961. GRD Research Report AFCRL-62-1135, 41-50. not in itself the solution to India's problems, its im- 9. Stein, Sir Aurel, 1944: A survey of ancient sites along the portance is still great. Partial relief to the food and "lost" . Geographical J., 99, 173-182. 10. Ghosh, A., 1952: The Rajputana Desert—its archaeo- land problem provides time during which India can logical aspect, Proc. Symp. on the Rajputana Desert. achieve further industrialization, population stabiliza- Bull. National Institute Sci. India, 1, 37-42. tion, and eventual resolution of her economic problems. 11. Indian Archaeology 1960-61—A Review (1961), pp. 31-32; The availability of reclaimable lands in this area is also Archaeological Remains, Monuments and Museums, of psychological importance to the nation in providing Part I, pp. 4-7 (1963); Indian Archaeology 1961-62—A a real means by which the aspirations of the dispossessed Review (1964), pp. 39-44; Indian Archaeology 1962-63 —A Review (1965), pp. 20-31. New Delhi. farmer, for partition created many landless refugees, or 12. Indian Archaeology 1962-63—A Review (1965), p. 27. the farmer whose inherited lands have become so frac- 13. Lai, B. B., 1963: A picture emerges: An assessment of tionated as to be uneconomic, can be resolved. The the carbon-14 datings of the protohistoric cultures of region also provides a means by which some of India's the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent. Ancient India, Nos. international problems might be aided. The desert area 18 and 19, 210-211. under discussion is not confined to India but extends 14. Agrawal, D. P., S. Kusumgar and D. Lai, 1965: Tata Institute radiocarbon date list III. Radiocarbon, 7, across into Pakistan. Problems of desert reclamation or 291-295. surface stabilization to be effective must cover the entire Agrawal, D. P., and Sheela Kusumgar, 1966: Tata Insti- area and this requires international cooperation. tute radiocarbon date list IV. Radiocarbon, 8, 442- Through such a project as this, paths may be found to 452. ease some of the issues under dispute between these two 15. Radiocarbon dates in Radiocarbon, 1, 6, 7 and 8- nations. Finally, as new lands are made available the 16. Radiocarbon, 6, 227-228. occupancy of these lands should provide some oppor- 17. Radiocarbon, 7, 335. 18. Seth, S. K., 1961: A review of evidence concerning changes tunity for social experimentation. As was suggested of climate in India during the protohistorical and above, patterns of inheritance in India have led to historical periods. Proc. WMO-UNESCO Symp. on fractionization of land holdings beyond efficient levels. Changes of Climate, Rome, October, 443-454. Provisions can be made to restrict such procedures in 19. Hora, S. L., 1952: The Rajputana Desert: Its value in this new area and novel forms of cooperative units can India's national economy, Proceedings of the Sympos- be established to effectively use the new lands made ium on the Rajputana Desert. Bull. National Institute Sci. India, 1, 4. available. 20. Hora, op. cit., p. 5.

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