Walking with the Unicorn Social Organization and Material Culture in Ancient South Asia
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Harappan Geometry and Symmetry: a Study of Geometrical Patterns on Indus Objects
Indian Journal of History of Science, 45.3 (2010) 343-368 HARAPPAN GEOMETRY AND SYMMETRY: A STUDY OF GEOMETRICAL PATTERNS ON INDUS OBJECTS M N VAHIA AND NISHA YADAV (Received 29 October 2007; revised 25 June 2009) The geometrical patterns on various Indus objects catalogued by Joshi and Parpola (1987) and Shah and Parpola (1991) (CISI Volumes 1 and 2) are studied. These are generally found on small seals often having a boss at the back or two button-like holes at the centre. Most often these objects are rectangular or circular in shape, but objects of other shapes are also included in the present study. An overview of the various kinds of geometrical patterns seen on these objects have been given and then a detailed analysis of few patterns which stand out of the general lot in terms of the complexity involved in manufacturing them have been provided. It is suggested that some of these creations are not random scribbles but involve a certain understanding of geometry consistent with other aspects of the Indus culture itself. These objects often have preferred symmetries in their patterns. It is interesting to note that though the swastika symbol and its variants are often used on these objects, other script signs are conspicuous by their absence on the objects having geometric patterns. Key words: CISI volumes, Geometric pattern, Grid design, Swastika 1. INTRODUCTION Towns in the Indus valley have generally been recognised for their exquisite planning with orthogonal layout. This has been used to appreciate their understanding of geometry of rectangles and related shapes. -
Tracing the Tradition of Sartorial Art in Indo-Pak Sub-Continen
TRACING THE TRADITION OF SARTORIAL ART IN INDO-PAK SUB-CONTINEN ZUBAIDA YOUSAF Abstract The study of clothing in Pakistan as a cultural aspect of Archaeological findings was given the least attention in the previous decades. The present research is a preliminary work on tracing the tradition of sartorial art in the Indo-Pak Sub-Continent. Once the concept of the use of untailored and minimal drape, and unfamiliarity with the art of tailoring in the ancient Indus and Pre Indus societies firmly established on the bases of early evidences, no further investigation was undertaken to trace the history of tailored clothing in remote antiquity. Generally, the history of tailored clothing in Indo-Pak Sub-Continent is taken to have been with the arrival of Central Asian nations such as Scythians, Parthians and Kushans from 2nd century BC and onward. But the present work stretches this history back to the time of pre-Indus cultures and to the Indus Valley Civilization. Besides Mehrgarh, Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, many newly exposed proto historic sites such as Mehi, Kulli, Nausharo, Kalibangan, Dholavira, Bhirrana, Banawali etc. have yielded a good corpus of researchable material, but unfortunately this data wasn’t exploited to throw light on the historical background of tailored clothing in the Indo-Pak Sub-Continent. Though we have scanty evidences from the Indus and Pre-Indus sites, but these are sufficient to reopen the discussion on the said topic. Keywords: Indus, Mehrgarh, Dholavira, Kulli, Mehi, Kalibangan, Harappa, Mohenjao- Daro, Clothing, Tailoring. 1 Introduction The traced history of clothing in India and Pakistan goes back to the 7th millennium BC. -
Autochthonous Aryans? the Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts
Michael Witzel Harvard University Autochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts. INTRODUCTION §1. Terminology § 2. Texts § 3. Dates §4. Indo-Aryans in the RV §5. Irano-Aryans in the Avesta §6. The Indo-Iranians §7. An ''Aryan'' Race? §8. Immigration §9. Remembrance of immigration §10. Linguistic and cultural acculturation THE AUTOCHTHONOUS ARYAN THEORY § 11. The ''Aryan Invasion'' and the "Out of India" theories LANGUAGE §12. Vedic, Iranian and Indo-European §13. Absence of Indian influences in Indo-Iranian §14. Date of Indo-Aryan innovations §15. Absence of retroflexes in Iranian §16. Absence of 'Indian' words in Iranian §17. Indo-European words in Indo-Iranian; Indo-European archaisms vs. Indian innovations §18. Absence of Indian influence in Mitanni Indo-Aryan Summary: Linguistics CHRONOLOGY §19. Lack of agreement of the autochthonous theory with the historical evidence: dating of kings and teachers ARCHAEOLOGY __________________________________________ Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies 7-3 (EJVS) 2001(1-115) Autochthonous Aryans? 2 §20. Archaeology and texts §21. RV and the Indus civilization: horses and chariots §22. Absence of towns in the RV §23. Absence of wheat and rice in the RV §24. RV class society and the Indus civilization §25. The Sarasvatī and dating of the RV and the Bråhmaas §26. Harappan fire rituals? §27. Cultural continuity: pottery and the Indus script VEDIC TEXTS AND SCIENCE §28. The ''astronomical code of the RV'' §29. Astronomy: the equinoxes in ŚB §30. Astronomy: Jyotia Vedåga and the -
^Ol N E 20% Number
^ol n e 20% Number ( (-,()RI)()N OGD _P07ING ROi 5E HALIFAX, CANADA NEW -i. ENN, CO;' N't.I`IR:i I' M O[-,'SC H(;ER. TIE NYA I II',l> t; t , 1 11i!.1 . SWITZERLAND 'k,7 $. Y . YALE UNIVER,S NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT 06520 RADIOCARBON Editor: MINZE STUIVER Managing Editor: RENEE S KRA Published by THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE Editors: JOHN RODGERS, JOHN H OSTROM, AND PHILIP M ORVILLE Managing Editor: MARIE C CASEY Published three times a year, in Winter, Spring, and Summer, at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520. Subscription rate $45.00 (for institutions), $30.00 (for individuals), available only in whole volumes. All correspondence and manuscripts should be addressed to the Managing Editor, RADIOCARBON, Box 2161, Yale Station, New Haven, Connecticut 06520. INSTRUCTIONS TO CONTRIBUTORS Manuscripts of radiocarbon papers should follow the recommendations in Sugges- tions to Authors, 5th ed.* All copy (including the bibliography) must be typewritten in double space. Manuscripts for vol 21, no. 1 must be submitted in duplicate before September 1, 1978, for vol 21, no. 2 before January 1, 1979. General or technical articles should follow the recommendations above and the editorial style of the American Journal of Science. Descriptions of samples, in date lists, should follow as closely as possible the style shown in this volume. Each separate entry (date or series) in a date list should be considered an abstract, prepared in such a way that descriptive material is distinguished from geologic or archaeologic interpretation, but description and interpretation must be both brief and informative, emphasis placed on significant comments. -
Oilseeds, Spices, Fruits and Flavour in the Indus Civilisation T J
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 24 (2019) 879–887 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jasrep Oilseeds, spices, fruits and flavour in the Indus Civilisation T J. Bates Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, Brown University, United States of America ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: The exploitation of plant resources was an important part of the economic and social strategies of the people of South Asia the Indus Civilisation (c. 3200–1500 BCE). Research has focused mainly on staples such as cereals and pulses, for Prehistoric agriculture understanding these strategies with regards to agricultural systems and reconstructions of diet, with some re- Archaeobotany ference to ‘weeds’ for crop processing models. Other plants that appear less frequently in the archaeobotanical Indus Civilisation record have often received variable degrees of attention and interpretation. This paper reviews the primary Cropping strategies literature and comments on the frequency with which non-staple food plants appear at Indus sites. It argues that Food this provides an avenue for Indus archaeobotany to continue its ongoing development of models that move beyond agriculture and diet to think about how people considered these plants as part of their daily life, with caveats regarding taphonomy and culturally-contextual notions of function. 1. Introduction 2. Traditions in Indus archaeobotany By 2500 BCE the largest Old World Bronze Age civilisation had There is a long tradition of Indus archaeobotany. As summarised in spread across nearly 1 million km2 in what is now Pakistan and north- Fuller (2002) it can be divided into three phases: ‘consulting palaeo- west India (Fig. -
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EXCAVATIONS AT RAKHIGARHI [1997-98 to 1999-2000] Dr. Amarendra Nath Archaeological Survey of India 1 DR. AMARENDRA NATH RAKHIGARHI EXCAVATION Former Director (Archaeology) ASI Report Writing Unit O/o Superintending Archaeologist ASI, Excavation Branch-II, Purana Qila, New Delhi, 110001 Dear Dr. Tewari, Date: 31.12.2014 Please refer to your D.O. No. 24/1/2014-EE Dated 5th June, 2014 regarding report writing on the excavations at Rakhigarhi. As desired, I am enclosing a draft report on the excavations at Rakhigarhi drawn on the lines of the “Wheeler Committee Report-1965”. The report highlights the facts of excavations, its objective, the site and its environment, site catchment analysis, cultural stratigraphy, structural remains, burials, graffiti, ceramics, terracotta, copper, other finds with two appendices. I am aware of the fact that the report under submission is incomplete in its presentation in terms modern inputs required in an archaeological report. You may be aware of the fact that the ground staff available to this section is too meagre to cope up the work of report writing. The services of only one semiskilled casual labour engaged to this section has been withdrawn vide F. No. 9/66/2014-15/EB-II496 Dated 01.12.2014. The Assistant Archaeologist who is holding the charge antiquities and records of Rakhigarhi is available only when he is free from his office duty in the Branch. The services of a darftsman accorded to this unit are hardly available. Under the circumstances it is requested to restore the services of one semiskilled casual labour earlier attached to this unit and draftsman of the Excavation Branch II Purana Quila so as to enable the unit to function smoothly with limited hands and achieve the target. -
Ancestral Dravidian Languages in Indus Civilization
ARTICLE https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00868-w OPEN Ancestral Dravidian languages in Indus Civilization: ultraconserved Dravidian tooth-word reveals deep linguistic ancestry and supports genetics ✉ Bahata Ansumali Mukhopadhyay 1 Ever since the discovery of Indus valley civilization, scholars have debated the linguistic identities of its people. This study analyzes numerous archaeological, linguistic, archae- 1234567890():,; ogenetic and historical evidences to claim that the words used for elephant (like, ‘pīri’, ‘pīru’) in Bronze Age Mesopotamia, the elephant-word used in the Hurrian part of an Amarna letter of ca. 1400 BC, and the ivory-word (‘pîruš’) recorded in certain sixth century BC Old Persian documents, were all originally borrowed from ‘pīlu’, a Proto-Dravidian elephant-word, which was prevalent in the Indus valley civilization, and was etymologically related to the Proto- Dravidian tooth-word ‘*pal’ and its alternate forms (‘*pīl’/‘*piḷ’/‘*pel’). This paper argues that there is sufficient morphophonemic evidence of an ancient Dravidian ‘*piḷ’/‘*pīl’-based root, which meant ‘splitting/crushing’, and was semantically related to the meanings ‘tooth/tusk’. This paper further observes that ‘pīlu’ is among the most ancient and common phytonyms of the toothbrush tree Salvadora persica, which is a characteristic flora of Indus valley, and whose roots and twigs have been widely used as toothbrush in IVC regions since antiquity. This study claims that this phytonym ‘pīlu’ had also originated from the same Proto-Dravidian tooth-word, and argues that since IVC people had named their toothbrush trees and tuskers (elephants) using a Proto-Dravidian tooth-word, and since these names were widely used across IVC regions, a significant population of Indus valley civilization must have used that Proto-Dravidian tooth-word in their daily communication. -
Secondary Education Department Government of Balochistan 0
E3092v2 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT Public Disclosure Authorized (ESIA) Promoting Girls Education in Balochistan (PGEB) Project Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized (AUGUST 2012) Public Disclosure Authorized Project Director PROMOTING GIRLS EDUCATION IN BALOCHISTAN PROJECT SECONDARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT GOVERNMENT OF BALOCHISTAN 0 Tel: + 92 81 9202102 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The present environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) study of the Promoting Girls Education in Balochistan (PGEB) project has been carried out in compliance with the national environmental laws of Pakistan and the World Bank Operational Policies (OPs). The ESIA delineates the environmental and social issues emerging from the PGEB project, identifies the potentially adverse environmental and social impacts of the project activities, and suggests appropriate mitigation measures to offset or reduce these impacts. The report also suggests guidelines for environmental enhancement opportunities available during various phases of project implementation to maximize the benefit to environment. The mitigation measures and guidelines have been organized in the form of an environmental and social management plan (ESMP) to be implemented by the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the PGEB project for avoiding or mitigating the significant environment and social impacts. 2. The scope of the study entails assessment of the environmental and social impacts of PGEB project activities in the selected 12 districts of the province including Kachhi, Loralai, Jhal Magsi, Khuzdar, Kalat, Lasbela, Jaferabad, Kech, Panjgur, Kila Saifullah, Pishin and Naseerabad districts. The project area spreads over from north to south of the province covering almost 138,011 square kilometers (40%) area of the province. The environmental and social assessment covers physical, biological and social impacts of project activities during various implementation stages from site selection and designing to construction and operational phase of the school buildings. -
Balochistan Review” ISSN: 1810-2174 Publication Of: Balochistan Study Centre, University of Balochistan, Quetta-Pakistan
- I - ISSN: 1810-2174 Balochistan Review Volume XXXIV No. 1, 2016 Recognized by Higher Education Commission of Pakistan Editor: Ghulam Farooq Baloch BALOCHISTAN STUDY CENTRE UNIVERSITY OF BALOCHISTAN, QUETTA-PAKISTAN - II - Bi-Annual Research Journal “Balochistan Review” ISSN: 1810-2174 Publication of: Balochistan Study Centre, University of Balochistan, Quetta-Pakistan. @ Balochistan Study Centre 2016-1 Subscription rate in Pakistan: Institutions: Rs. 300/- Individuals: Rs. 200/- For the other countries: Institutions: US$ 15 Individuals: US$ 12 For further information please Contact: Ghulam Farooq Baloch Assistant Professor & Editor: Balochistan Review Balochistan Study Centre, University of Balochistan, Quetta-Pakistan. Tel: (92) (081) 9211255 Facsimile: (92) (081) 9211255 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.uob.edu.pk/journals/bsc.htm No responsibility for the views expressed by authors and reviewers in Balochistan Review is assumed by the Editor, Assistant Editor and the Publisher. - III - Editorial Board Patron in Chief: Prof. Dr. Javeid Iqbal Vice Chancellor, University of Balochistan, Quetta-Pakistan. Patron Prof. Dr. Abdul Hameed Shahwani Director, Balochistan Study Centre, UoB, Quetta-Pakistan. Editor Ghulam Farooq Baloch Asstt Professor, Balochistan Study Centre, UoB, Quetta-Pakistan. Assistant Editor Waheed Razzaq Research Officer, Balochistan Study Centre, UoB, Quetta-Pakistan. Members: Prof. Dr. Andriano V. Rossi Vice Chancellor & Head Dept of Asian Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies, Naples, Italy. Prof. Dr. Saad Abudeyha Chairman, Dept. of Political Science, University of Jordon, Amman, Jordon. Prof. Dr. Bertrand Bellon Professor of Int’l, Industrial Organization & Technology Policy, University de Paris Sud, France. Dr. Carina Jahani Inst. of Iranian & African Studies, Uppsala University, Sweden. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ashraf Khan Director, Taxila Institute of Asian Civilizations, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan. -
Unit 5 Antecedents, Chronology and Geographical Spread
UNIT 5 ANTECEDENTS, CHRONOLOGY . AND GEOGRAPHICAL SPREAD 5.1 Introduction 5.2 An Old City is Discovered 5.3 The Age of the Harappan Civilization 5.4 Why it is called the Harappan Civilization 5.5 Antecedents 5.6 Geographical Features 5.7 Origins of Agriculture and Settled Villages 5.8 The Early Harappan Period 5.8.1 Southern Afghanistan 5.8.2 Quetta Valley 5.8.3 Central and Southern Baluchistan 1 5.8.4 The Indus Area 5.8.5 Punjab and Bahawalpur 5.8.6 Kalibangan 5.11 Key Words 5.12 Answers to Check Your Progress 'Ekercises 5.0 OBJECTIVES I After reading this unit, you will be able to learn: how the Harappan Civilization was discovered, how its chronology was determined, how the village communities gradually evolved into the Harappan Civilization, and the geographical spread of the Harappan Civilization. 5.1 INTRODUCTION In Block 1 you learnt about the evolutiqn of mankind from hunting gathering societies to agricultural societies. The invention of agriculture led to far reaching changes in human societies. One important result was the emergence of cities and civilizations. In this Unit you will be made familiar with the birth of one such civilization namely the Harappan civilization. 5.2 AN OLD CITY IS DISCOVERED In 1826 an English man Charles Masson visited a village named Harappa in Western Punjab (now in Pakistan). He noted the remarkably high walls, and towers of a very old settlement. He believed that this city belonged to the times of Alexander the Great. In 1872, a famous archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham came to this place. -
The War-Ravaged Cultural Heritage of Afghanistan: an Overview of Projects of Assessment, Mitigation, and Preservation
The War-Ravaged Cultural Heritage of Afghanistan: An Overview of Projects of Assessment, Mitigation, and Preservation Qalat Ihtiyaraddin Citadel in Herat – restored by the Agha Khan Trust for Culture, with funding from the US Department of State. Photograph by Gil Stein. Gil J. Stein fghanistan is the quintessential “crossroads of cultures” looked, impact on their historical development. As early as the where the civilizations of the Near East, Central Asia, 5th millennium b.c.e., lapis lazuli from Afghanistan was traded South Asia, and China interacted over the millennia in a to Iran, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt (Herrmann 1968). The Aconstantly shifting mixture of trade, emulation, migration, imperial Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages (4th–2nd millennia b.c.e.) saw the formations, and periodic conflict (fig. 1). This complex history of rise of a linked set of urbanized proto-state and state societies contacts gave rise to some of the most important archaeological, across Afghanistan, eastern Iran, Turkmenistan, and Uzbeki- artistic, architectural, and textual treasures in world cultural stan in a development parallel and linked to the flourishing of heritage – encompassing cultures as diverse as the Bronze Age urban societies in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley (Hiebert cities of Bactria, the Persian Empire, the easternmost colonies and Lamberg-Karlovsky 1992; Kohl 1981; Masson 1992; Masson founded by Alexander the Great and his Hellenistic successors, the and Sarianidi 1972; Tosi 1973, 1973–74; 1977; Tosi et al. 1992). Kushan Empire astride the Silk Road, the monumental Bamiyan Afghanistan encompasses some of the most important eastern Buddhas, and Islamic dynasties such as the Ghaznavids, Timurids, satrapies of the Persian Empire – Bactria/Balkh, Araeia/Herat, and Moghuls. -
World Bank Document
GOVERNMENT OF BALOCHISTAN SECONDARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (ESIA) OF BALOCHISTAN EDUCATION SUPPORT PROJECT (BESP) Public Disclosure Authorized ( April 2019) Project Director Project Management Unit GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATION-BALOCHISTAN EDUCATION PROJECT SECONDARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Public Disclosure Authorized GOVERNMENT OF BALOCHISTAN Tel: +92 81 2864293 Acronyms ADB Asian Development Bank AZRI Arid Zone Research Institute BEF Balochistan Education Foundation BEMIS Balochistan Education Management Information System BESP Balochistan Education Sector Plan BHU Basic Health Unit BOQ Bill of Quantity Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management BUITEMS Sciences C&W Communication and Works CA Coordinating Agencies CMR Central Mountains Range CO Carbon Monoxide DEO District Education Officer DFAT Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Australia DFP District Focal Person DPD Deputy Project Director EA Environmental Assessment EDSQA Engineering Design Supervision and Quality Assurance EFA Education For All EFP Environmental Focal Person EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EO Education Officer EPA Environmental Protection Agency ESIA Environmental and Social Impacts Assessment ESMP Environmental and Social Management Plan E&SSO Environmental and Social Safeguard Officer EUS European Union Standard FATA Federally Administered Tribal Areas FGD Focus Group Discussion GBHS Government Boys High School GBPS Government