CHAPTER- VIII-A -By plotting the sites of each pottery complex one can roughly define the boundaries of their geographical distribution*. (Mellaart, 1965» 236). 237 PRE-HARAPPAN MOTIFS FROM THE SARASVATI-DRISHADVATI VALLEYS : THEIR DESCRIPTION AND COMPARISON Three memorable works exist on the comparative study of Indian pre-historic pottery motifs. "Indus Valley Painted Pottery" by Richard F. Starr (1941), "Indian Art And The West From Protohistoric To Early Buddhist Times" by Irene N« Gajjar (1966), and Omi Manchandas "Study of Harappan Pottery In Comparison With Pre-Harappan and Post- Harappan Protohistoric Ceramic Industries". This chapter owes its orientation to these works to some degree as far as ceramic motifs from the Sarasvati Valley are concerned. The treatment is brief and to the point but very important as far as this thesis is concerned. Each motif is describ­ ed and then stated to have occurred at pre-historic sites outside India or/and at Harappan and Chalcolithic sites within the country. No random implications or hypothesis have been made. It has been suggested that Indian artistic or "symbolic parallels were perhaps the off-springs of motifs conceived many cultural generations earlier in a focal region West which gradually diffused to India. The apparent chronological priority of the West Asian examples indicates that the direction of diffusion probably was from the West to India rather than vice-versa. Moreover, motifs may have refrained in a ceramic tradition pending expression for 238 several periods and when they ultimately appeared or dis­ appeared they could no longer be considered foreign" (Gajjar, 1966: 71). This is very true of the Sarasvati-Drishadvati Valleys, where schematizations of animal forms or elabora­ tions of simple geometric designs "may be described as related to but not immediately borrowed from motifs in foreign artistic traditions'*. Sometimes, even if certain proto-types of designs are found outside India, the parentage is still of a doubt­ ful nature simply because closely allied or identical ceramic motifs cannot be interpreted or said to be the same in different geographic regions. Coincidences may occur due to trade or transformation of ideas, and even if one can suggest a relationship on the strength of chronological priority it will not be a final criterion for determining the parent motif from its offspring. Gajjar (1966: 12) is of the opinion that an "artistic tradition may exist in a culture long before it is expressed and what material ultimately reaches the archaeologists is only a sampling. There is always a chance that new excavations will upset the chronological scheme". This is very true as far as Kalibangan I ceramic motifs are concerned. Without doubt the comparisons of motifs in this chapter shows that they have counterparts in Western Asia, and that what we have in the Sarasvati-Drishadvati Valleys is a product of that very continuity. It is difficult to find out the extent of tradi­ tional symbols with regard to the values that they have retained to the present day in the motifs discussed under­ neath. They highlight the aesthetic feeling, traditional concepts and the urge for survival of the culture in vhich they lived. Wenty-five motifs, ranging from the simplest to the most naturalistic have been discussed according to their occurrence and extent. The concluding remarks are given at the end of this chapter. Comparisons have been made with 1 site in Turkey, 1 site in Syria, 9 sites in Mesopotamia, 16 sites in Iran, 1 site in Afghanistan, 32 sites in Pakistan, 1 site in Raj asthan, 5 sites in Punjab, 2 in U.P., 2 sites in M.P., 7 sites in Gujarat and 5 sites in Maharahstra. (A) A BRIEF COMPARISON OF HARAPPAN POTTERY MOTIFS WITH THOSE OF KALIBANGAN I AND SOTHI The most outstanding feature of the pre-Harappan culture found at Kalibangan was its painted pottery. It is the finest collection of its kind to be found in the region of North Raj asthan. No other allied site has yielded half its designs. No early Indian site except Navdatoli can rival it in its profusion of designs* Due to the unavail­ ability of other finds, we can guage the high extent of 240 the evolution of human consciousness displayed by these earlier people of Kalibangan from their art alone* This is mostly of a stylized convention and one in which the absence of man is a remarkable point. The most Important faunal motif consists of that of the bull, which is at times reduced to a formal, abstract, dominant motif reminiscent of Halaf. On Kalibangan pottery naturalistic and stylistic motif mix with an ease rarely met with on other pre-hlstoric Indian wares, and these are a direct contradiction to the tired, monotonously oft repeated Harappan motifs met with in Raj as than. As regards the Harappan ware from the major sites of the Punjab and Sind , it must be admitted that their superiority far outweighs any of its relations found in North Rajasthan. Black on red ware pottery from Sothi, Kalibangan I, Kot-Diji and Binjor 3 share the same hurried brush strokes technique with Periano Ghundai black-on-red ware (Falrservis, 1959: 336a, Cj 402.' 194). The brush, often contains too much pigment which results in uneven lines, this is especially noticeable on the interiors of rims (Rao, 1963.' XXIX«* E). The start and finish of a horizontal brush stroke is easily discernible, probably because the vessel was painted on the wheel. Sothi pottery was mainly self-slipped whilst that of Kalibangan I was self-slipped as well as decorated in red, plum, purple, red and grey. At Mohenjo-daro, 241 Harappa and Chanhu-daro the slips range from cream, pink, red and chocolate to purple. No dark chocolate slip was found on the other prehistoric sherds found although tan and light brown slips were common at Berore and Binjor 3. Monochrome pottery from the Harappa culture sites of the Punjab and Sind bore certain popular motifs which were used in various ways on jars, their monotony being relieved to some extent by several new designs from Chanhu- daro. A brief comparison between the Harappan motifs and the pre-historic pottery of Kalibangan I would not be out of place here. The Harappan black on red ware was mainly decorated by very narrow borders on the top of jars or below the rims, the design often consisting of a single motif framed between two or more horizontal lines (Mackay, 1938, II: LXVIII: 3; LXIX: 18). Some Kalibangan I sherds are also decorated from rim to neck or girth by thick black bands or a series of thin lines (Fig. 115; IAR. 1962-63: Fig. 5: 1-3, 6-8). Single motifs framed between bands are also found (Fig. 115; IAJI, 1962-63: Fig. 5: A-E). On Harappan pottery the decoration below the neck is often divided into panels or registers by broad bands to or trees and plants which are madeAserve as vertical borders (Mackay, 1938, II: LXVIIi: 24). Similar cases occur in Kalibangan I where we have the stalk design serving as a divider (Fig. 112; IAR. 1962-63: Fig. 2'. Y) or wavy lines 242 which form panels (Fig. 115; IAR, 1962-63: Fig. 5: H). How far this Is a general trend one cannot say due to the paucity of published material. On most Harappan pots the lower part is undecorated. The same can be said of the vessels of Kalibangan I, Plant motifs are the commonest and most popular devices of the Harappan painters. Various trees, plants and shrubs and weeds are depicted on the pots; bananas, nim, pipal, accacia, mimosa and euphorbiacae berries are common representations. Here it is necessary to mention that the plant described as a banana tree by Mackay (1933: II: LXIX: 19; LXX, 18) is identically represented on a sherd from Kalibangan I where it is seen to be growing in p pot with a bird facing it (Fig. 115; IAR. 1962-63: Fig. 5; a). The pipal leaf is found at Kalibangan (Fig. 114; IA&., 1962-63: Fig. 4: A, J, K.) and so is a stalk which appears in conjunction with bull horns (Fig. 112; IAR. 1962-63: Fig. 2: Y). This stalk appears on Harappan pottery also where it is described as a tuft (Mackay, 1938: 112 LXIX: 19). Insects are only to be found at Chanhu-daro on Harappan pottery* One sherd depicts a water boatman with a curved leg or filament on each side. A possible spiders web is depicted on a sherd from Mohenjo-daro (Mackay, 1938, Ii: LXX*. 39). A spider occurs on Kalibangan I ware(Fig.H4; IAR. 1962-631 Fig. 4: T) and so does a scorpion (Fig. 114; IAR. 1962-63: Fig. 4: F). 243 Birds are most popular at Chanhu-daro on Harappan ware, the peacock being the most popular of the lot (Mackay, 1943: XXXII: 34; . XXXIII: 2-12; XXXV: 1; XXXVI: 4,12,16,22). The ostrich (ibid.. XXXII : 7), the water hen (ibid., XXXIII: 3) and the coot (lbiq.. XXXIII: 7) are are also represented. Only one bird illustration has been found at Kalibangan I (Fig. 115? IAR. 1962-63: Fig. 5: Q). The larger types of animals found at Chanhu-daro and Mohenjo-daro are the ibex, wild goat and antelope. At Chanhu-daro one finds the squirrel (Mackay, 1943.' XXXVI: 23), the hare (ibid.. XXXVI: 19) and serpent associated with cone-like objects (ibid.. XXX.' 15; XXXVI: 14, 32; XXXVII: 30, 35, 36). A fish is found on a single polychrome sherd from Mohenjo-daro (Mackay, 1938, II.* LXXI 10).