DOCSLIB.ORG

Daimabad: Beginning of Agricultural Life in the Godavari Valley

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Daimabad: Beginning of Agricultural Life in the Godavari Valley Daimabad: Beginning of Agricultural Life in the Godavari Valley Sanjay Paikrao1 1. School of Liberal Arts, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India (Email: [email protected]; spaikrao265@ rediffmail.com) Received: 11 August 2017; Revised: 22 September 2017; Accepted: 26 November 2017 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 5 (2017): 856‐861 Abstract: Godavari valley in Deccan has played a vital role in the process of enhancing agricultural life in Maharashtra. Excavations at Daimabad throw light on agricultural life in Maharashtra. There is a need to study these evidences to understand agro based socio‐economic life in Maharashtra. Daimabad is an interesting chalcolithic site. This site was discovered by B. P. Bopardikar in 1958. It has been excavated three times so far by the ASI. The first excavation in 1958‐59 was carried out under the direction of M. N. Deshpande. The second excavation in 1974‐75 was led by S.R. Rao and finally; the excavations between 1975‐76 and 1978‐79 were carried out under the direction of S. A. Sali. Discoveries at Daimabad suggest that late Harappan culture extended into the Deccan Plateau in India. The roots of agricultural revolution can be traced in this paper. The excavations at Daimabad have yielded variety of charred seeds. Carbonized grains from the site were acquired by using flotation technique and their identification was carried out by noting their external morphological features under low power binocular microscope. This study has brought to light 16 wild and cultivated species of plants, some of them being the oldest record in the Indian subcontinent as well as in Africa. The agricultural evidences show that farming was established by Daimabad people in a systematic manner. The people were able to develop farming systems for each crop. Their adoption of different crops was unique. Along with agriculture they developed acultural life. The painted potshard of Daimabad has reflected the first dancer in Maharashtra. Keywords: Daimabad, Agricultural Life, Godavari Valley, Architecture, Social Archaeology, Chalcolithic Period, Excavation Introduction Daimabad (19 31ʹ N, 74 42ʹ E) is at present a deserted village, situated on the left bank of Pravara river a tributary in Ahemdnagar district. Daimabad does not exist on any map today; it is only deeply incised on the memory of the people of the surrounding areas. The top sheet marks the area by a cross indicating that is a deserted village. It was discovered by B.P. Bopardikar in 1958 who was then working under the “village‐ to‐village survey” of the Archaeological Survey of India (Dhavalikar1988‐89). Here in this paper agricultural life in Daimabad has been carefully studied. Godavari valley in Deccan has played a vital role in the process of enhancing agricultural life in Paikrao2017: 856‐861 Maharashtra. Excavations at Daimabad throw light on agricultural life in Maharashtra. There is aneed to study these evidences to understand agro based socio‐economic life in Maharashtra. Daimabad is an interesting Chalcolithic site. It has been excavated three times so far by the ASI teams. The first excavation in 1958‐59 was carried out under the direction of M. N. Deshpande. The second excavation in 1974‐75 was led by S. R. Rao finally; the excavations between 1975‐76 and 1978‐79 were carried out under the direction of S. A. Sali. Discoveries at Daimabad suggest that, Late Harappa culture extended into the Deccan plateau in India. The roots of agricultural revolution can be traced in this paper. The fertile land was an attraction for agriculture in the Pravara valley. It can be understood through the site catchment analysis of Diamabad that the greatest attraction to the pioneering colonizer was the large track of extremely fertilized black cotton soil(Dhavlikar1988‐89) This soil was mainly responsible for agriculture revolution in the region. The flat water of the river was diverted for agricultural purpose. The fortification of Daimabad was constructed and protected it from flood waters. This may account for the flood of Maharashtra during C.1400.1200 B.C and the construction of embankments at Daimabad and Inamgaon. It is not unlikely that at Daimabad the embankments were built for diverting the flood water to irrigate fields lying to the south of the settlement (Dhavlikar1988‐89) Availability of water for agriculture was in Daimabad culture. Features of Agriculture Agriculture life in Daimabad has a background of earlier culture. Succession of five Chalcolithic cultures was recognized at Daimabad such as Phase I‐ Salvada culture; Phase II‐ The Late Harappa culture; Phase III – The Daimabad culture; Phase IV‐ The Malva culture and Phase V–The Jorwe culture (Sali1986) In all these phases agriculture was an important component in Daimabad. The plant economy for the Savalda, the Malwa and the Jorwe cultures was first briefly reported in 1977 by Kajale to consist of Barley, Lentil and Zizyphus jujube for the Salvada culture: Wheat, Barley, Pisum, Lathyrus, Dolichos, Lentil and Zizyphus for the Malwa culture and addition to these Rice, Ragi, Paspalum, Sorghum, Vigna species, Carthamus tinctorius, Linum unitatissimum for the Jorwe culture (Kajale 1977) This was also prevailing in Late Harappa culture period. The report about agricultural life in Daimabad is based on the plant economy of the site based on carbonized seeds and fruits and leaf impressions from the levels of the Salvada, the Malwa and the Jorwe cultures given to the senior author for investigation and the charcoals sent separately for radiocarbon assay to Dr.G. Rajgopalan of the Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory at the Birbal Sahani Institute of Palaeobotany (Sali 1986) The Late Harappa period at Daimabad also supported by finds of bronze chariots. A sculpture of a chariot, 45 cm long and 16 cm wide, yoked to two oxen, driven by a man 16 cm high standing in it; a sculpture of a water Buffalo, 31 cm high and 25 cm long standing on a four legged platform attached to four solid wheels; a sculpture of a 857 ISSN 2347 – 5463Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 5: 2017 rhinoceros 19 cm high and 25 cm long standing on two horizontal bars, each attached to an axle of two solid wheels. The archaeologists are not unanimous about the date of these sculptures. On the basis of the circumstantial evidences and on the basis of analysis of the elemental composition of these artifacts, M. N. Deshpande, S. R. Rao Dhavalikar and S. A. Sali are of view that these objects belong to the Late Harappa period. Thus this rich evidence amply testifies well developed agriculture life in Daimabad. The excavations at Daimabad have yielded a variety of charred seeds. The carbonized grains from the site were acquired by using flotation technique and their identification was carried out by noting their external morphological features under low power binocular microscope. This study has brought to light 16 wild and cultivated species of plants, some of them being the oldest record in the Indian subcontinent as well as in Africa. The following features of agricultural life can be noted below: o In Daimabad, its surrounding provide ample natural resources. The site is situated on an elevated ground which is normally out of reach of normal flood waters and affords commanding view (Shinde and Pappu 1990) Thus availability of water wasmainly responsible for development of agriculture. o The site is located at the crossing point of river Pravara. Which has provided scope for agriculture development. Instances of crossing of antiquity and repute may be found on all the great rivers of India (Allchin1962). o Easy access to resources was mainly responsible for agriculture development in Daimabad. Daimabad is located in the midst of an extensive plain area of black cotton soil. At a distance of about 5 km is an extensive patch of coarse shallow sols supporting excellent growth of pasture (Shinde and Pappu 1990) Thus Daimabad became a favorable site for agricultural development. o Lack of technology was a major problem in traditional agricultural system. But agricultural production could not go beyond a certain level because of lack of adequate technology. The black cotton soil could not be effectively cultivated in the absence of the iron plough and perhaps this is the most important reason why the Chalcolithic cultures ultimately died as village culture and could not achieve the urban status such as that which developed in the Indus valley first and in the Ganges valley much later (Dhavlikar1984) In Daimabad agriculture could have taken new term if technology have been available to them. o The rural culture could not turn into urban culture which was a major problem in Late Harappa culture. The Harappa civilization in Saurashtra owed its existence solely to foreign trade and vanished with it around 1800 B.C (Dhavlikar1984) Daimabad was no exception to this. 858 Paikrao2017: 856‐861 o The Indian river sites have provided rich background for socio‐economic change. These phases are represented in habitation mounds on the plains adjacent to the rivers and tributaries that flow from the Malwa and Jorwe period, although some site like Daimabad and Kothe have earlier evidence (Fuller 2002). This background was responsible for failure of agricultural revolution in Maharashtra. Critical Analysis There was no marketing method of food grains. Barley, Wheat, Finger Millet, Beans, Horse Grain, Peas, Ber, Tarla were main grain produced by Daimabad people (Sali 1986) The critical analysis of agricultural life in Daimabad during Chalcolithic age reveals that, the extension of agricultural life was limited to Pravara‐Godavary valley. The availability of natural sources was the main reason behind this process. The following facts can be noted if we critically examine different aspects of theperiod: o The public architecture was limited.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Subsistence Strategies and Burial Rituals: Social Practices in the Late Deccan Chalcolithic
    Subsistence Strategies and Burial Rituals: Social Practices in the Late Deccan Chalcolithic TERESA P. RACZEK IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM B.C., THE RESIDENTS OF THE WESTERN DECCAN region of India practiced an agropastoral lifestyle and buried their infant children in ceramic urns below their house floors. With the coming of the first millennium B.C., the inhabitants of the site of Inamgaon altered their subsistence practices to incorporate more wild meat and fewer grains into their diet. Although daily practices in the form of food procurement changed, infant burial practices remained constant from the Early Jorwe (1400 B.c.-lOOO B.C.) to the Late Jorwe (1000 B.c.-700 B.C.) period. Examining interments together with subsistence strategies firmly situates ideational practices within the fabric of daily life. This paper will explore the relationship between change and continuity in burial and subsistence practices around 1000 B.C. at the previously excavated Cha1colithic site of Inamgaon in the western Deccan (Fig. 1). By considering the act of burial as a moment of social construction that both creates and reflects larger traditions, it is possible to understand how each individual interment affects chronological variability. That burial traditions at Inamgaon were continuously recreated in the face of a changing society suggests that meaningful and significant practices were actively upheld. Burial practices at Inamgaon were both structured and fluid enough to allow room for individual and group expression. The con­ temporaneous variability that occurs in the burial record at Inamgaon may reflect the marking of various aspects of personhood. Burial traditions and the ability and desire of the living to conforITl to them vary over time and it is important to consider the specific social context in which they occur.
    [Show full text]
  • (Social Sciences) Ancient Indian History Culture
    PUNYASHLOK AHILYADEVI HOLKAR SOLAPUR UNIVERSITY, SOLAPUR Faculty of Humanities (Social Sciences) Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology M.A. Part I Semester I & II w.e.f. June, 2020 1 Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Solapur University, Solapur School of Social Sciences Dept. of Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology M.A. Part-I CBCS Pattern (New)w.e.f. June 2020 Marks : 100 (70+30) SEMESTER -I AIHCA Hard Core HCT 1.1 History of Ancient India up to 650 A.D. HCT 1.2 Ancient Indian Iconography HCT 1.3 Prehistory of India Soft Core (Anyone) SCT 1.1 Introduction to Archaeology SCT 1.2 Ancient Indian Literature Practical/Field Work/Tutorial HCP 1.1 Practical/Field Work-I SCP 1.2 Practical/Field Work-II Tutorials (Library Work) Note: - 70Marks for theory paper & 30 Marks on Class room Seminars/ Study Tour/ Tutorials/ Field Work/ Project. 2 Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Holkar Solapur University, Solapur School of Social Sciences, Dept. of Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology M.A. Part-I, Semester-I CBCS Pattern (New)w.e.f. June 2020 Marks : 100 (70+30) HCT-1.1 History of Ancient India Up to 650 AD 70 Unit- 1: Sources and Historiography of Ancient India i)Geography ii)Historiography iii) Sources of Ancient Indian History Unit 2: Early of political institutions in ancient India i. Janapadas, Republic (Ganrajya) , Mahajanapadas in ancient India ii. Rise of Magadha Empire iii. Persian and Greek Invasions: Causes and Impacts Unit 3: Mauryan and Post-Mauryan India i. Chandragupta Maurya and Bindusara ii. Ashoka, his successors and decline of the Mauryas iii.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyrighted Material
    Index Note: Page numbers in italics refer to figures and tables. 16R dune site, 36, 43, 440 Adittanallur, 484 Adivasi peoples see tribal peoples Abhaipur, 498 Adiyaman dynasty, 317 Achaemenid Empire, 278, 279 Afghanistan Acharyya, S.K., 81 in “Aryan invasion” hypothesis, 205 Acheulean industry see also Paleolithic era in history of agriculture, 128, 346 in Bangladesh, 406, 408 in human dispersals, 64 dating of, 33, 35, 38, 63 in isotope analysis of Harappan earliest discovery of, 72 migrants, 196 handaxes, 63, 72, 414, 441 skeletal remains found near, 483 in the Hunsgi and Baichbal valleys, 441–443 as source of raw materials, 132, 134 lack of evidence in northeastern India for, 45 Africa major sites of, 42, 62–63 cultigens from, 179, 347, 362–363, 370 in Nepal, 414 COPYRIGHTEDhominoid MATERIAL migrations to and from, 23, 24 in Pakistan, 415 Horn of, 65 related hominin finds, 73, 81, 82 human migrations from, 51–52 scholarship on, 43, 441 museums in, 471 Adam, 302, 334, 498 Paleolithic tools in, 40, 43 Adamgarh, 90, 101 research on stature in, 103 Addanki, 498 subsistence economies in, 348, 353 Adi Badri, 498 Agara Orathur, 498 Adichchanallur, 317, 498 Agartala, 407 Adilabad, 455 Agni Purana, 320 A Companion to South Asia in the Past, First Edition. Edited by Gwen Robbins Schug and Subhash R. Walimbe. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 0002649130.indd 534 2/17/2016 3:57:33 PM INDEX 535 Agra, 337 Ammapur, 414 agriculture see also millet; rice; sedentism; water Amreli district, 247, 325 management Amri,
    [Show full text]
  • Model Test Paper-1
    MODEL TEST PAPER-1 No. of Questions: 120 Time: 2 hours Codes: I II III IV (a) A B C D Instructions: (b) C A B D (c) A C D B (A) All questions carry equal marks (d) C A D B (B) Do not waste your time on any particular question 4. Where do we find the three phases, viz. Paleolithic, (C) Mark your answer clearly and if you want to change Mesolithic and Neolithic Cultures in sequence? your answer, erase your previous answer completely. (a) Kashmir Valley (b) Godavari Valley (c) Belan Valley (d) Krishna Valley 1. Pot-making, a technique of great significance 5. Excellent cave paintings of Mesolithic Age are found in human history, appeared first in a few areas at: during: (a) Bhimbetka (b) Atranjikhera (a) Early Stone Age (b) Middle Stone Age (c) Mahisadal (d) Barudih (c) Upper Stone Age (d) Late Stone Age 6. In the upper Ganga valley iron is first found associated 2. Which one of the following pairs of Palaeolithic sites with and areas is not correct? (a) Black-and-Red Ware (a) Didwana—Western Rajasthan (b) Ochre Coloured Ware (b) Sanganakallu—Karnataka (c) Painted Grey Ware (c) Uttarabaini—Jammu (d) Northern Black Polished Ware (d) Riwat—Pakistani Punjab 7. Teri sites, associated with dunes of reddened sand, 3. Match List I with List II and select the answer from are found in: the codes given below the lists: (a) Assam (b) Madhya Pradesh List I List II (c) Tamil Nadu (d) Andhra Pradesh Chalcolithic Cultures Type Sites 8.
    [Show full text]
  • Unit 10 Chalcolithic and Early Iron Age-I
    UNIT 10 CHALCOLITHIC AND EARLY IRON AGE-I Structure 10.0 Objectives 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Ochre Coloured Pottery Culture 10.3 The Problems of Copper Hoards 10.4 Black and Red Ware Culture 10.5 Painted Grey Ware Culture 10.6 Northern Black Polished Ware Culture 10.6.1 Structures 10.6.2 Pottery 10.6.3 Other Objects 10.6.4 Ornaments 10.6.5 Terracotta Figurines 10.6.6 Subsistence Economy and Trade 10.7 Chalcolithic Cultures of Western, Central and Eastern India 10.7.1 Pottery: Diagnostic Features 10.7.2 Economy 10.7.3 Houses and Habitations 10.7.4 Other 'characteristics 10.7.5 Religion/Belief Systems 10.7.6 Social Organization 10.8 Let Us Sum Up 10.9 Key Words 10.10 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises 10.0 OBJECTIVES In Block 2, you have learnt about'the antecedent stages and various aspects of Harappan culture and society. You have also read about its geographical spread and the reasons for its decline and diffusion. In this unit we shall learn about the post-Harappan, Chalcolithic, and early Iron Age Cultures of northern, western, central and eastern India. After reading this unit you will be able to know about: a the geographical location and the adaptation of the people to local conditions, a the kind of houses they lived in, the varieties of food they grew and the kinds of tools and implements they used, a the varietie of potteries wed by them, a the kinds of religious beliefs they had, and a the change occurring during the early Iron age.
    [Show full text]
  • The Decline of Harappan Civilization K.N.DIKSHIT
    The Decline of Harappan Civilization K.N.DIKSHIT EBSTRACT As pointed out by N. G. Majumdar in 1934, a late phase of lndus civilization is illustrated by pottery discovered at the upper levels of Jhukar and Mohenjo-daro. However, it was the excavation at Rangpur which revealed in stratification a general decline in the prosperity of the Harappan culture. The cultural gamut of the nuclear region of the lndus-Sarasvati divide, when compared internally, revealed regional variations conforming to devolutionary tendencies especially in the peripheral region of north and western lndia. A large number of sites, now loosely termed as 'Late Harappan/Post-urban', have been discovered. These sites, which formed the disrupted terminal phases of the culture, lost their status as Harappan. They no doubt yielded distinctive Harappan pottery, antiquities and remnants of some architectural forms, but neither town planning nor any economic and cultural nucleus. The script also disappeared. ln this paper, an attempt is made with the survey of some of these excavated sites and other exploratory field-data noticed in the lndo-Pak subcontinent, to understand the complex issue.of Harappan decline and its legacy. CONTENTS l.INTRODUCTION 2. FIELD DATA A. Punjab i. Ropar ii. Bara iii. Dher Majra iv. Sanghol v. Katpalon vi. Nagar vii. Dadheri viii. Rohira B. Jammu and Kashmir i. Manda C. Haryana i. Mitathal ii. Daulatpur iii. Bhagwanpura iv. Mirzapur v. Karsola vi. Muhammad Nagar D. Delhi i. Bhorgarh 125 ANCiENT INDlA,NEW SERIES,NO.1 E.Western Uttar Pradesh i.Hulas il.Alamgirpur ili.Bargaon iv.Mandi v Arnbkheri v:.Bahadarabad F.Guiarat i.Rangpur †|.Desalpur ili.Dhola宙 ra iv Kanmer v.」 uni Kuran vi.Ratanpura G.Maharashtra i.Daimabad 3.EV:DENCE OF RICE 4.BURIAL PRACTiCES 5.DiSCUSS10N 6.CLASSiFiCAT10N AND CHRONOLOGY 7.DATA FROM PAKISTAN 8.BACTRIA―MARGIANAARCHAEOLOGICAL COMPLEX AND LATE HARAPPANS 9.THE LEGACY 10.CONCLUS10N ・ I.
    [Show full text]
  • Kenoyer2004 Wheeled Vehicles of the Indus Valley Civilization.Pdf
    1 Kenoyer, J. M. 2004 Die KalTen der InduskuItur Pakistans und Indiens (Wheeled Vehicles oftbe Indus Valley Civilization of Pakistan and India). In Bad unil Wagen: Der Ursprung einer Innovation Wagen im Vorderen Orient und Europa (Wheel and Wagon - origins ofan innovation), edited by M" Fansa and S. Burmeister, pp. 87-106. Mainz am Rhein, Verlagg Philipp von Zabem. Wheeled Vehicles of the Indus Valley Civilization of Pakistan and India. By Jonathan Mark Kenoyer University of Wisconsin- Madison Jan 7,2004 Introduction The Indus valley of northwestern South Asia has long been known as an important center for the emergence of cities and urban society during the mid­ third millennium Be. However, it is only in the last two decades that new and more detailed scientific excavations and analysis have begun to reveal the complex processes through which these urban centers emerged (Kenoyer 1998, 2003, Posseh12002). In this paper I will focus on the early use and gradual development of wheeled vehicles at the site of Harappa, Pakistan, in order to better understand the role of carts in this process of urban development. The earliest Neolithic communities that emerged along the edges of the Indus VaIley around 7000 Be do not reveal the use of wheeled vehicles Oarrige et al. 1995; Jarrige and Meadow 1980), but as sedentary farming communities became established out in the alluvial plain of the Indus river and its tributaries (Figure 1), more effective means of transporting heavy raw material would have been a major concern. In the alluvial plains that make up the core area of the later Indus civilization no rock is available exceptin the region around the Rohri Hills, Sindh.
    [Show full text]
  • South Asian Archaeology 2012
    South Asian Archaeology 2012 21st EASAA Conference / 21ème colloque de l’EASAA Paris, 2nd-6th July 2012 / 2-6 juillet 2012 Ecole du Louvre Organisation Avec le soutien de / with the support of et du / and of Transporteur officiel / Offical carrier President Dr. Vincent Lefèvre Comité d’organisation / Organisation committee Vincent Lefèvre, Bérénice Bellina-Pryce, Sophie Mouquin Comité de selection / Bérénice Bellina-Pryce, Laurianne Bruneau, Aurore Didier, Vincent Lefèvre, Edith Parlier-Renault, Amina Taha Hussein Okada South Asian Archaeology 2012 - Abstracts Nota: the following abstracts are reproduced in the form in which they have been submitted by the participants; no editiing work has been undertaken and we are not responsible for any inconsistencies in the spelling of proper nouns. Keynote lecture: Jean-François Jarrige Indus-Oxus Civilisations: More Thoughts Some thirty years ago excavations in the north-west of Afghanistan, in Tadjikistan and Uzbekistan (Bactria) and later on in Turkmenistan (Margiana) revealed the existence of a so far unknown extensive original cultural complex whose climax could be dated around 2100/1900 BC. Since then excavations of major sites such as Gonur, Togolok or Sappali Tepe have contributed to show the obvious economical dynamism and the great wealth what has been termed by some specialists as the Bactria-Margina Archaeological Complex (BMAC) or by others as the Oxus civilisation. So, some of the few “exotic” objects found at several sites of the Indus civilisation, could be then related to this “Oxus” civilisation and no longer to rather poorly known invaders in the context of what was assumed to be the collapsing process of the Indus cities.
    [Show full text]
  • Royal “Chariot” Burials of Sanauli Near Delhi and Archaeological Correlates of Prehistoric Indo-Iranian Languages
    ROYAL “CHARIOT” BURIALS OF SANAULI NEAR DELHI AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF PREHISTORIC INDO-IRANIAN LANGUAGES Asko Parpola University of Helsinki The article describes the royal cart burials excavated at the Late Harappan site of Sanauli near Delhi in the spring of 2018 on the basis of the available reports and photographs. The author then comments on these finds, dated to about 1900 BCE, with the Sanauli cart burials being the first of their kind in Bronze Age India. In his opinion, several indications suggest that the Sanauli “chariots” are actually carts yoked to bulls, as in the copper sculpture of a bull-cart from the Late Harappan site of Daimabad in Maharashtra. The antennae-hilted swords associated with the burials suggest that these bull-carts are likely to have come from the BMAC or the Bactria and Margiana Archaeological Complex (c.2300–1500 BCE) of southern Central Asia, from where there is iconographic evidence of bull-carts. The ultimate source of the Sanauli/BMAC bull-carts may be the early phase of the Sintashta culture in the Trans-Urals, where the chariot (defined as a horse-drawn light vehicle with two spoked wheels) was most probably invented around the late twenty-first century BCE. The invention presupposes an earlier experimental phase, which started with solid-wheeled carts that could only be pulled by bulls. An intermediate phase in the develop- ment is the “proto-chariot” with cross-bar wheels, attested in a BMAC-related cylinder seal from Tepe Hissar III B in northern Iran (c.2000–1900 BCE). The wooden coffins of the Sanauli royal burials provide another pointer to a possible Sintashta origin.
    [Show full text]
  • Unit 3 Harappan Civilisation and Other Chalcolithic Cultures
    Introductory UNIT 3 HARAPPAN CIVILISATION AND OTHER CHALCOLITHIC CULTURES Structure 3.0 Introduction 3.1 The Background 3.2 The Harappan Culture 3.3 Urbanism 3.4 State Structure 3.5 Social Structure 3.6 End of the Harappan Civilization 3.7 Other Chalcolithic Cultures 3.8 Summary 3.9 Glossary 3.10 Exercises 3.11 Suggested Readings 3.0 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this Unit is to investigate more complex social structures than those covered in the previous Unit. This complexity arises due to the emergence of the state in the 3rd millennium BC. This early state is an inchoate one, incorporating many elements of tribal societies. This Bronze Age state is also quite different from the states of later periods, in no small measure due to the lack of commoditisation and coined money in this period. That this period also witnessed the first experiments in urbanism in the subcontinent adds to its complexity. These developments were basically confined to the North-western parts of the subcontinent and one must be aware that other socio-political structures, like band, tribal or chiefship level societies, may have existed contemporaneously in this and other areas. So far, we have seen incipient stages of social development, encompassing the band and tribal levels. In this Unit, we will discuss the other two stages of development, namely chiefdom (or chiefship) and state. Structurally, the chiefdom resembles the tribal level with the beginnings of social stratification, a political office and redistributive economy. On the other hand, there is a marked difference between tribal or chiefdom and state societies.
    [Show full text]
  • Chalcolithic Cultures of India
    4/1/2020 .The discovery of the Chalcolithic culture at Jorwe in 1950 opened a new phase in the prehistory of the Deccan. Chalcolithic Cultures of India .Since then a large number of Chalcolithic habitation sites have been discovered as a result of systematic exploration not only in the Deccan but also in other parts of the country bringing to light several regional Hkkjr dh rkezik’kkf.kd laLd`fr;k¡ cultures. .Large scale excavations have been conducted at Ahar and Navadatoli, both are Chalcolithic sites. .Most of these cultures are post Harappa, a few like Kayatha are contemporaneous Harappa. .An important feature is their painted pottery, usually black-on-red. Dr. Anil Kumar .The people subsisted on farming, stock-raising, hunting and fishing. .They used copper on restricted scale as the metal was scarce. Professor .They were all rural culture. Ancient Indian History and Archaeology .It is enigmatic that most of these settlements were deserted by the end University of Lucknow 2nd millennium B.C. [email protected] .The Chalcolithic cultures such as Ahar, Kayatha, Malwa, and Jorwe are [email protected] discussed further. Kayatha Culture Out of over 40 sites of Kayatha Culture, two of them namely Kayatha and Dangwada have been excavated. This Chalcolithic culture was named after the type site Kayatha, in Ujjain dist., Madhya Pradesh. The excavation was due to the joint collaboration of Deccan College, Pune and Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Vikram University, Ujjain. They lived in small huts having well-rammed floors. The main ceramics of Kayatha- Chocolate-slipped, incised, sturdy and well baked Kayatha ware.
    [Show full text]
  • 4 a Decade of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archreology in India, 1951-1960
    4 A Decade of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archreology in India, 1951-1960 B. B. LAL INTRODUCTION That the Asian Perspectives has decided to include within its compass the coun­ tries of India, Pakistan and Ceylon is welcome news, and its Editor, Professor Wilhelm G: Solheim II, deserves to be congratulated on his breadth of vision, for there is no gainsaying that archreological discoveries in these countries not unoften have a bearing on their counterparts in the land segregated as 'Far East'. Indeed, is not the influence of Buddhism on various cultural aspects-metaphysical as well as material-ofthe life ofthe people in eastern Asia a matter ofcommon knowledge? Or, is not a visitor to the temples at Angkor reminded of their Hindu prototypes in India? Though no doubt less known, yet in no way less significant, are the simila­ rities between the Early Stone Age 'chopper-chopping' tools (Fig. 2) or the (? Neolithic) shouldered axes (Fig. 6) from India and their counterparts in eastern Asia. In the case ofthe shouldered axes, for all one knows, the influence might have travelled in the reverse direction, from eastern Asia to India. Thus, it is hoped that other readers too of the Asian Perspectives will regard this Indo-Pak-Ceylon 'intrusion' as a not unwelcome event. Elsewhere in this issue is a summary of the archreological work done in India during the year 1961-62; and it is understood that relevant issues in future will also be having similar yearly reviews. Thus, in order that the readers may grasp the significance of these yearly discoveries and place them in the right perspective, it is felt that a resume, of necessity very general in nature, ofthe recent developments in the prehistoric and protohistoric archreology of the country may be placed before them.
    [Show full text]