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HISTORY CONCEPT SERIES BY DEEPAK SINGHAL 01_GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS OF HISTORY Geographical Factors India or Bharatvarsa is bounded on north by Himalayas and on the south by ocean. A part of Jambudvipa, the scriptures called it Bharatvarsa or where the descendants of Bharatas live. The name Hindu or India is given by the Persians. They call it Sapta-Sindhu, a land watered by the river Sindhu. The ancient name Bharatvarsa has its authenticity in ancient literature that refers to Bharat clan that dominated the large area of the country. On the north the huge range of Himalayas ren- der very strong frontier to this country. The oth- connect Iran and central Asia with India. The er mountains like Hindukush and Vindhyachal Thesepasses five eased natural the movementroutes, known and as the five invaders fingers, have equally played decisive roles in molding the used these to conquer the land ultimately chang- history of land. ing the entire court of history and moulding the civilisation. - The five passes of Himalayas—Khyber, Bolan, tal and Dandan-Shikan that connect Western Tochi, Gomal and Kurram served as important AfghanistanHindukush rangeand Hari has Rudtwo valley passes-Qora-Kot with Balkh waysand Bolan for invasion passes and are migrationsthe major thatones. influenced Rig-Veda (Bactria). This route facilitates the eastward the formation of the history of the land. Khyber- vaders. - refers to Tochi-Kurram pass used by Aryan in Important passes: movementes offer several towards ways Kabul. to Punjab Between frontiers. Kabul and Kandahar, a series of valleys and mountain pass The Huns, Persians, Greeks, Sakas, Turks and Af- ghans entered the country through these passes. They not only politically dominated the land but Thealso influencedvast coastline the culturehad activated and the the society. maritime activities and led to the establishment of a num- ber of harbours. The trade relations with Rome, China, Malaysia, and South-east Asia were devel- “E oped. m The plains of north India” were fertile land that p rendered prosperityrs to the country owe vou ring En dThee variousa races that entered the region as invaders settled down here. In course of time they lost their identity. The Indian society is a mixture of various races like Aryans, Dravidians, Persians, Greeks, Turks, Mughals, Huns, Sakas, - posite culture in India. Kushans, etc. This led to the formation of a com WWW.EDENIAS.COM | CONTACT US-9311092321 1 HISTORY CONCEPT SERIES BY DEEPAK SINGHAL 02_MEGALITHIC CULTURES A megalith is a stone which is larger in size and has was by Sir Mortimer Wheeler (1948), who ex- been used to construct a monument or a structure. cavated the sites of Brahmagiri and Chandra- The monument or the structure has been construct- valli ed either alone or together with other stones. Mega- lithic has been used to describe buildings built by An extension in Karnataka of the in 1944.South Indian Megaliths to people living in many different periods from many Vidarbha has come to light by the excavation at parts of the world. The construction of this type of structures took place mainly in the Neolithic and at Khapa and Muhurjhari. The excavations at continued into the Chalcolithic Age, Bronze Age and Junapani and subsequent full-fledged excavtionsNai- Iron Age. kund have supported that the megaliths be- Khapalonged andto a Mahurjhariparticular section and another of the communitysite at - or people in each region. tion, the chronology of megaliths in India still poses Apartcertain from problems. the ethnic Wheeler affinities (1948) and assigned possible amigra date At Khapa, situated on the left bank of the river for the megalithic culture approximately to the 2nd Krishna there are a number of megaliths in the Century B.C. Gordon and Haimendorf (as quoted by form of stone circles, whereas on the opposite Srinivasan and Benerjee 1953:114)propsed dates side at Takelghat there is a habitation site. This, between c. 700 to 400 B.C. Seshadri (1956) dated at present on the evidence of C-14 date from them between 6th century B.C. to 1st century A.D. Takalghat, is placed around 556 B.C. Takalghat Sundara (1969-70) proposed a date at c. 1100 B.C. megalithic culture is believed to be similar to (1945) extended antiquity of the megaliths as far Compared to Khapa, Mahurjhari from Nagpur forback Terdal as the inIndian Karnataka. Neolithic Sundara times. Theand ChalcolithAiyappan- that of Hallur in Karnataka. is considered as a megalithic haven. With Juna- ic-megalithic contact period in Maharashtra goes pani, it is said to have more than 300 stone cir- back to c. 700 B.C. Megaliths of Vidarbha is dated to cles. the 6th or 7th centuries B.C. Megalithic Sites: at Mahurjhari. These are- In Locality-I, mega- - Altogetherliths yielded three iron localities axes, daggers, have been copper identified bowls, vation of Megalithic monuments also took place bells, bangles, numerous beads of semi-precious Asmore with than the a descriptive century ago. accounts, In the last the quarter first exca of stones, black-and-red pottery and gold leaves. the 19th century, Dr. Jagor In Locality-II, the megaliths yielded several cop- classic site of Adicanallur in the Tirunevelly per bangles, iron axes, chisels, gold spiral, iron district, Tamil Nadu. first excavated in the nails etc. This locality seems to be more im- portant because a human skeleton found asso- The extensive site of Junapani, near Nagpur in ciated with large number of objects and paint- Maharastra was also excavated on a small scale ed blackand-red potsherds, which were placed by Rivett-Carnac (1879). near the various parts of the interred body “E In Locality-III, megaliths yielded full length hu- In the later yearsm of the 19th century, Alexander man skeletons with iron and copper objects, in- excavated a number of megalith- ” Rea (1902-03) po cluding those for thers horse. Gold ornaments and ic sites in South India. we painted potteryou belonged to a family or persons rin whoe awerev rich and important- probably war- The classic site of Adichanallur was alsog reexca E-nd riors of a high status. vated in 1903-04 by Louis Lapicque. A new dimension to the megalithic problem in India was revealed with the discovery of a number of Megalithic sites had been excavat- By the end of the first quarter of the 20th century, megaliths in the districts of Banda, Allahabad, located in south-east- Indian Megaliths in a chronological framework Mizapur and Varanasi ed. However, the first attempt to place the South ern Uttar Pradesh. The monuments called as 2 WWW.EDENIAS.COM | CONTACT US-9311092321 HISTORY CONCEPT SERIES BY DEEPAK SINGHAL cairns (A cairn: is a man-made pile (or stack) ing orientation of the bodies or the graves have of stones.) and cists (A cist: is a small stone- been observed. In the Vidarbha region horses the dead.) are comparatively sparsely distrib- and this may have been a local ethnic tradition. utedbuilt, nearcoffin-like the junction box used of tothe hold northeast the bodies slope of wereHowever, buried the with tradition the dead, of erecting possibly megaliths after sacrifice, is still of the Vindhyas, and in the Ganga plains. It has found among the tribals living in Northeastern, East- been found at all excavated sites at Varana- ern, Central and South India. The reasons behind the si, Allahabad, Mirzapur and Banda, that their erection of megaliths are not very clear. makers dug fairly deep pits, deposited the fu- nerary goods and covered them with hemispher- In this situation, we can derive some clues on the ical cairns of boulders bounded by stone circle. megaliths’ associations by observing the practic- In case of a cist, a similar pit was dug and a box- es of the tribes who still include megaliths in their like chamber was prepared with orthostats. The religious beliefs, for example, the Gadabas, Gonds, box was packed with small stones, and covered with massive single stone slab resting directly on the four uprights. Kurumbas,still construct Marias, megalithic Mundas, manuments Savaras, Garos, for the Khasis, dead. ‘Megalithism’Nagas, Karbis, may Tiwas, be considered and Marams. as a livingThese tradition. groups Interestingly, unlike in the south, the Allahabad types- cairns, stone circles and cists-remain the megalithssame, but thereflect grave the goods cultural consist, change. instead The ofbasic mi- croliths, iron objects like sickle, adze, arrowhead and dagger. On the opposite bank of the River Belan at Kol- dihwa and Khajuri megaliths belonging to chal- colithic cultures were found, lying between cul- Megalithstures of Varanasi have also and been Kotla discovered of Allahabad. at Waztal, about 12 kms from the Matau Spring, and Brah, about 9 kms from Martand the sites a number of huge standing stones were found. But these are scattered in Kashmir. around withoutAt both any regular plan. It is interesting to note that in spite of the local variations, the inhabitants used, right from the beginning up to the end, a Black-and Red Ware. For nearly 1500 years the technique of making of and the way“ of life of the people remained the pottery,same. its decorationEm and firing did not change p rs” Burial Rituals and Socialo Organizationwer : vou The above description of the megalithicin gculture E ndea shows that the megalithic communities were dominated by religious and supernatural beliefs. This is evident from the elaborate objects asso- ciated with the burials. Different burial tradition could indicate different social and ethnic groups, - but so far no fixed regional conventions regard WWW.EDENIAS.COM | CONTACT US-9311092321 3 HISTORY CONCEPT SERIES BY DEEPAK SINGHAL 03_IRON AGE We study the Iron Age culture here because Mega- Painted Grey Ware Culture: lithic culture is very much a part of Iron Age.

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