The Study of Early Historic and Early Medieval India
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Derek Kennet, J. Varaprasada Rao, and M. Kasturi Bai Excavations at Paithan, Maharashtra Beyond Boundaries Religion, Region, Language and the State Edited by Michael Willis, Sam van Schaik and Lewis Doney Volume 5 Derek Kennet, J. Varaprasada Rao and M. Kasturi Bai Excavations at Paithan, Maharashtra Transformations in Early Historic and Early Medieval India With contributions by Shailendra Bhandare, Dorian Fuller, Jason Hawkes, Peter Rowley-Conwy, P. K. Thomas and Michael Willis Published with support of the European Research Council Beyond Boundaries: Religion, Region, Language and the State (Project No. 609823) ISBN 978-3-11-065353-3 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-065354-0 ISSN 2510-4446 Library of Congress Control Number: 2019952751 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Cover: “Lintel,” circa 475 CE, in Sārnāth, Uttar Pradesh, India. Photograph by Michael Willis Typesetting: Michael Peschke, Berlin Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck www.degruyter.com This volume is dedicated to the fond memory of Shri Ajai Shankar (1943–2000), Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India from September 1996, who encouraged and supported this project. His dear friendship, open mind, and deep love of Indian culture are remembered and missed by those who knew him. Preface This volume reports on the excavations carried out at seasons of yearly excavation took place from 1996 until the Early Historic and Medieval site of Paithan in Maha- 1999. rashtra between 1996 and 1999 as part of a collabora- tive project between the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the Society for South Asian Studies (SSAS) of Related Publications the British Academy (now the British Association for South Asian Studies or BASAS). In the course of the Paithan project, two lengthy unpub- The town of Paithan is known to have been an impor- lished interim reports were produced and circulated to tant Satavahana centre and must also have had something relevant parties (Rao et al. 1998; Rao and Kennet 1999). of an international reputation in the Early Historic period These incorporate the field reports written by the trench as it is one of the few inland sites in India mentioned in supervisors at the end of each field season. Copies the mid 1st-century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. It is of these reports are lodged with the ASI in Delhi and also known to have been an important centre in the Medi- also at the Goa Circle of the ASI, and are also lodged in eval period. This is reflected in the fact that it remains a Durham University library in the UK. They provide the centre of religious pilgrimage to the present day, attract- basis of much of Part I of the present monograph which ing pilgrims from across Maharashtra and beyond to its describes the site and the excavations. After the end of annual festival. the project a short paper was published by Kennet and Some limited archaeological excavation had been Rao (2003) in South Asian Studies summarizing the conducted at the site in 1937 and later in 1965, resulting development of the two Early Hindu brick temples at the in three very brief published reports, but there has been site. In addition, a number of spin-off publications has no further work published and no systematic attempts been produced related to the problems of investigating have been made at investigating the site’s archaeology. the nature of Medieval urbanism in India, for example The importance of the site and the opportunity it pro- Kennet 2004b and Kennet 2013. vides to investigate a number of key questions relating to the archaeology of the Early Historic and Early Medi- eval periods in India led, in 1996, to the conception of a Report Structure and Format joint Indian-British excavation project. At the broadest level, the project was aimed at providing more informa- This volume is made up of fifteen chapters divided into tion on the nature, chronology and development of an five parts. Part I includes an introduction to the project’s Early Historic and Early Medieval town in central India, research aims and their background along with a descrip- an issue that is key to our understanding of these periods tion of the site’s geographical location and context but about which, up to now, there is a real paucity of (Chapter 1). This is followed by a discussion of some concrete archaeological evidence. key historical texts related to Paithan (Chapter 2) and The project for the excavation of Paithan was there- a summary of previous archaeological work at the site fore initiated by a formal agreement between the Archae- (Chapter 3). Part II covers the 1996–1998 excavations, ological Survey of India and the Society for South Asian beginning with Trench A, the largest and most signifi- Studies of the British Academy, which was implemented cant trench (Chapter 4), followed by the smaller trenches on 15 February 1996. The project is one of a series of col- that were excavated at various locations across the site laborations between these two organizations, others (Chapter 5). Finally, Chapter 6 summarizes the site’s include the excavations of the Buddhist stupa at San- phasing and chronology. Part III covers the finds from the nathi in Gulbarga District, Karnataka, from 1986 to 1989 excavations, including pottery (Chapter 7), small finds (Howell 1995) and the excavations at Sopara in Thane and glass (Chapter 8), coins (Chapter 9) and a summary District, Maharashtra, carried out in 1992. The Paithan of the key finds from the first two seasons of excavations agreement outlined a five-year excavation project, to (Chapter 10). In addition Chapter 11 describes significant be carried out under the co-directorship of the Super- finds from the Balasaheb Patil Government Museum intending Archaeologist of the Aurangabad Circle, the at Paithan, many of which come from the site and the Archaeological Survey of India, and the Research Fellow immediately surrounding region. Part IV presents the of the Society for South Asian Studies. In the event, four environmental evidence, including a report on the large https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110653540-201 viii Preface archaeobotanical assemblage (Chapter 12), and a report Conventions on the faunal remains (Chapter 13). Part V contains the conclusions which bring together and contextualise the Transliteration: aside from Chapter 2, diacritical marks key themes and results of the project. A single appendix have not been used in the transliteration of words from lists the excavated contexts described by the project. Sanskrit or other languages. This includes architectural Further stratigraphical detail whose incorporation into terms as well as other terms and the names of people, a printed volume such as this would be impractical, for places, dynasties, and texts. Although some readers may example data tables and Harris matrices, are deposited find this unscholarly, it was decided that the inclusion of with the Archaeological Data Service and are available diacriticals, whilst presenting certain technical difficul- online (http://dx.doi.org/10.5284/1017460). ties, would have added nothing to the clarity or content of the text and that their absence did not risk creating any confusion or obfuscation of meaning at any point. Authorship Terminology: for the purposes of the present volume, the terms ‘Early Historic’ and ‘Early Medieval’ will be used A number of specialists and collaborators has been to refer to the following periods: involved in the present project in various ways. Author- – Early Historic: 5th century BC to 5th century AD, ship is indicated on each of the chapters throughout the – Early Medieval: 6th century AD to 9th century AD. volume. The role of J. Varaprasda Rao in the project and its final publication needs to be explained. He was the These dates are not precise, however, and acknowledge a joint director of the project, along with D. Kennet, during degree of overlap between the two periods. The authors the 1998 and 1999 seasons and took an equal part in key see no value in entering into a detailed discussion of the decisions about strategy, priorities, and research ques- definition of these historical periods at this point. On the tions related to the excavations. He also played a major use and meaning of these terms in Indian history, see role in the study season of February 2000 and traveled Chattopadhyaya 1994. to Durham University, together with M. Kasturi Bai, for three weeks during September 2002 in order to advance work on the final publication. It was during this time that Acknowledgements the final format of the publication and many of the key themes were agreed. He was also closely involved in the The authors would like to express their thanks to all of the study of the small finds, coins, and the Balasaheb Patil Directors General of the ASI that have held post since the Collection. Due to his tragic death in a car accident on project was begun in 1996. Most important amongst these 12 June 2006 the final writing up of the project – much is Shri Ajai Shankar, who was Director General during the of which took place in Dharwad, Karnataka, between key 1998 and 1999 seasons and who provided enthusias- October and December 2006 – very sadly took place tic support and assistance. It is to his memory that the without his wisdom, knowledge, and huge experience. It authors have dedicated this volume. is for this reason that none of the final chapters are cred- The following senior officers of the ASI were of par- ited to his authorship, although he made a major intel- ticular help to the project: Smt Achala Moulik, Dr R.