Exploration in the Ghaggar Basin

Exploration in the Ghaggar Basin and excavations at Girawad, ( District) and ( District), ,

Vasant Shinde Deccan College, , Toshiki Osada Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, M.M. Sharma M.D. University, Rohtak, Akinori Uesugi Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto Takao Uno International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Hideaki Maemoku Hiroshima University, Prabodh Shirvalkar Deccan College, Pune, Shweta Sinha Deshpande Deccan College, Pune, Amol Kulkarni Deccan College, Pune, Amrita Sarkar Deccan College, Pune, Anjana Reddy Deccan College, Pune, Vinay Rao Assam University, Silchar and Vivek Dangi M.D. University, Rohtak

ABSTRACT This paper is a preliminary report of the archaeological investigation conducted in the Ghaggar Basin from March to April 2007. This research mission forms a part of the Indus Project of Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto. This venture aims at various study purposes, such as the holistic understanding of the Harappan culture in the Ghaggar Basin including aspects such as archaeology, geology, climatology and related environmental studies. The work conducted in 2006-2007 consists of exploration along the Ghaggar River in Haryana and in India, and excavations at Girawad, Farmana and Mitathal with different objectives and scales of research. Along with the results of the above work, the general outline of this research project is also mentioned.

INTRODUCTION culture in the Indian territory. Because of the attempts of numerous organizations and individual scholars, The discovery of the Harappan Culture in the 1920's approximately 1000 sites have been reported from was hailed as the most significant archaeological the Indian side, which are twice the number of sites find in the Indian Subcontinent, mainly because it reported from . Large number of Harappan connected chronologically, the Stone Age with the sites (more than 1000) have been discovered in the Early Iron Age of this region. The excavations at Ghaggar-Hakra Basin, owing to the efforts of scholars numerous Harappan sites like , Mohenjodaro, like Aurel Stein, K.T. Frenchman, Rafique Mughal , , , , , (in the Hakra region), A. Ghosh, J.P. Joshi, Suraj etc. to name a few, have not only revealed various Bhan, R.S. Bisht and the Departments of History facets of this great culture, but have also enabled the and Archaeology of Universities of Kuruksheta and reconstruction of their socio-economic organizations. M.D. University, Rohtak and the Haryana State The partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 was a Department of Archaeology. boon in disguise for the Harappan studies in India. A cursory glance at the distribution of Harappan As almost all the known Harappan sites entered into sites in India reveals the highest number of Harappan Pakistan, the Indian archaeologists, particularly from sites in Haryana (350 sites), followed by (230 the Archaeological Survey of India, a few from various sites), Punjab (147 sites), (133 sites), State Departments of Archaeology and selected Rajasthan (75 sites), (4 sites), Himachal universities accepted the challenge to successf