Early India and Pakistan to Ashoka
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Ancient Peoples and Places EARLY INDIA AND PAKISTAN TO ASHOKA Sir Mortimer Wheeler, C.I.E. 57 PHOTOGRAPHS 25 LINE DRAWINGS AND 7 MAPS New York FREDERICK A. PRAEGER THIS lS VOLUME TWEc,VF IN THE SERIES _:..,READY PUBLISHED 6 THE CELTS :;) F R lJ T G. C. ro • T " B ' ' II p,,;t,ell ~~.' . n. 0. ti5 !me 7 Ti-lE ETRUSCAN~; ~· H!. SCYTHIA l•. S JZ,:rn:~.utd Blvc!J :--. Talbot Rice 8 LAF.LY CHRISTIAN JFELAND S.CILY BEFORE Maire a11d Lhu11 de P,wr -~FE GREEKS L. Bernabo Brca 9 \'i E S S L \ B E F 0 lZ L T H E C E L T ~-: ) F (," S'ttl/'1' j • -'-- • L...), L •- ~)Li'iMARK BEFOPE 1 0 l h PAN B E 1.- 0 R E 1.\ U D D li l S !v1 :~i:E VlKINGS _, 0. I<lindt~J ens en I Edward Ktdder Jr I l !\1 A LT ·\ ':.' li E L 0 W C 0 ll N T 1'. l 1:. S j I ['I l'.V;/111' .S. -·T Dr Laet 300i(S THAT MATTER -~ n:u·iJed in the United States cj A.mcriw Ali ri,~l!ts mf'!'vt'd r;; 1959 by Frederick A. Prae,~,·r, ln<., r.ibrary of C'cm.~reso· G,aalv:; Card Nufllber: 59-)'''15 ~,-,disiH·rs, 15 liVest 4711! Stn•et, Printed iH C re(i! Brir:1in - >'>U YDri; s6, N.Y. CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 7 PREFACE I3 I THE SCENE I5 '1T II TIME ~~ III STONES 34 NORTHERN INDIA CENTRAL INDIA SOUTH INDIA IV MORE STONES 63 v THE INDUS CIVILIZATION 93 VI THE GANGES CIVILIZATION II8 VII EARLY CIVILIZATION IN CENTRAL INDIA I34 VIII SOUTH INDIAN MEGALITHS I)O IX ASHOKA I70 NOTES I8I SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS !90 5 l9I CON I EN'C:i 'l'lfL PLATES ILLUSTRATIOl'~S PLATEs r Rouletted ware from Brahmagiri 2 Polished stone axes from Brahmagiri 3 Shouldered stone hoe fiom Midnapur 4 Mohenjo ... daro: the Great Granary 5 Harappa: revetment of defence of citadel 6 Mohcnjo ... daro: tank on the citadel 7 Mohcnjo ... daro: defensive towers of citadel 8 Mohenjo... daro: 'Low Lane' 9 Mohenjo ... daro: street with drains IO Bronze statuette of dancing girl from Mohenjo ... daro I 1 Stone head of 'priest ... king' or deity fi·om Mohenjo ... daro I2 Stone head from Mohenjo... daro I 3 Terracotta figurine from Mohenjo... daro 14, r 5 Grotesque terracotta figurines fi·om Mohenjo ... daro I 6 Terracotta bull fi·om Mohenjo ... daro 17 Tcrracotta bufl:1lo from Mohenjo ... daro I 8 Steatite seals from Mob en jo ... daro I 9 Copper flat axes from Mohenjwdaro 20 Chert flakes and polished cores from Mohenjo ... daro 21 Blacbpainted red vase from Harappa 22 Harappa: coffin burial 7 PLATLS Tctr,H urt;l 'c.lkcs' from Mohenjo"dato Copper axes from r-,u.vl1a r.-.Ji Kaushambi: rcvctmu1t of the defence~ ..,, ... -/ 1-b.stin;it•ura: terracottJ and .tt··ot:tnv I 'ring'I. wells' or 'soak,wclls' Kaushambi: uncxcav ..ncd defences 29 Shisbupalg2rh: stairclse in gateway Sbishnpalgarh: air view 3 1 Paimed pow:ry ii:om Navq:< Toll Tiruvcbngadu: megalithic cist 33 Ivbudur;Ultlkam taluk: stone circle 34 Vcngup;.tttu: megalithic cist with 'pon holc' 3:i Mandurantakam taluk; ttrracotta sarcophagus in nH.:galithic cist Sankhavaram: terracotta s:trcopbagus Pallav J.ram: terra cotta sarcophagus Brahmagiri: megalithic 'port-bole' cist Bralmugiri: burial/pit Talapalli taluk: 'umbrella stones' :.p Tabpalli taiuk: 'hoodstone' over burial Stone avenues ncar Gogi ]ron hoes or plouj;bshares from Polechatticherugudda 44 Entrance-chamber to rocbcut caves at Katakampal Pottery fl:om burial-cave at Eyyal Blaclva!ld,..rcd pottery from Brahmagiri 47 Old r::Jj;ir: oty,..y,·;, ll, J)anganga defile PLATES 48 Pataliputra: defensive palisade, Bulandibagh 49 Column capital from Pa~aliputra 50 Taxila: air/view of part of earliest city sr Achaemenid gems from Taxila 52 Mauryan inscription from Mahasthan 53 Silver bent/bar coins from Taxi! a 54 Charsada: defensive ditch and post;holes, Bala Hisar, 4th century B.C. 55 Terracotta figurine of goddess from Chars ada 56 Ashokan lion;capital at Sarnath 57 Entrance to Lomas Rishi cave, Barabar hills FIGURES 1 Painted grey ware, p. 27 2 Northern black polisl;ed ware, p. 29 3 Distribution map: painted grey and northern black polished ware, p. 32 4 Early Soan implements, p. 37 5 Late Soan industry, p. 41 6 'Series .1' trap bandaxe from Nevasa, p. 47 7, 8 Madras industry implements, p. 49, 51 g, 1 o Giddalur I implements, p. 53, 55 11 Dirtribution map: 'chopper chopping--tools', bifacial handaxes a11d cleavers, p. 59 12, 13 'Series l impleme11ts from Nevasa, p. 65, 67 14 Distribution map: stone axes and microlithic industries, p. 71 9 p. -7( .. I-~ 16 J'vfiaviii!Js ji·om Y cran,r;d. J' 7 i 17 J\i!a,;fir/:.,· I·vm Liru!Jill!igir,', p. ~~~ .18 [)j)·triiJfltiLJ1l tuap: sr-~nt:' )·j;Lit1ldfr:::d J.,~.,t'.).) p. S;· 19 1\L.:p ..:f Indr,,~ (;ll.~ih;.,,;~il)fl )~itt)', r·. -~;s .Zt> _i\'lt-~f_h·Jlfl-'r~d~11'tJ.' .~·ff!' rre;-rc,{ \1/'iJ-..'ill{tf fa)·:ottt) V. 1_)6 '"" (._ "'· > • ~ I .- J 1 "Hoi:oljo,dt~ro: plan '') rfx dtddtl, p. qg n HtJi«ppii: plaa ~f the C:i,ufc!J t'· 101 .,--. -) ()di'O,' J!· 10) !) Brvnze d<~,~,~,·r from Forc Alrmru and c,'J'J'fr tnllllllMkaXt _;i-om S!;aUozan !J,;!/cy) p. 116 26 Objnis ji·om 'Gangetic' cc'J'J'fY hvarJ,J p. 11 y 27 Sedhlfl t!.:rou,_~!.J lllOitlld ;:t Hastiniipril'cl; p. 1:!0 ,·JVIW 28 Di.mibtttic)l/ n:a":r 'CanN-tic'u J.).. !Joards and /J,l!lf'lfi if Cl'J'J'CI' j/at cl.'\'('j', J'· 122 29 Plan (~I [;[/estern Gateway, Si_:lipii(ear~J,,p. 135 ]'! C!Jahvlit!Jic )'vttery Ji'om Nc'ir•cfii {oli, p. LJ! i1 Cba/ced,my n:icrolitiH, Ch,dcolithc pbas:, p. 1 L> p DLn ibution !llci}J.' ii'l'g:J!itl)ic cisu l/litb t'('rt-· 1 _,-( J To my Colleagues of the old Archaeological Survey of India Preface HIS BOOK is a tentative sketch of a large and growing Tsubject. Much of its material is, in the present stage of research, fragmentary and disjointed; in fact, the archaeology of the subcontinent is passing through that phase of increasing complexity which inevitably precedes a more comprehensive synthesis. The examples here presented are chosen mainly as representative of the cultural trends in the arterial valleys and on the great plains and plateaux, where the major develop/ ments took place. Apart from incidental references, no attempt is made to describe the static communities which still, in the highlands and backwoods, occupy an appreciable part of India and often preserve their tribal usages and techniques sur/ prisingly intact in a closing world. There is much about these remote peoples that the archaeologist would like to know but does not. His turn will come; meanwhile the anthropologist holds the field. I have ended my survey with Ashoka for the good reason that it is thereby possible to anchor Indian prehistory to the first firmly documented epoch of Indian history. The common division of the study of human cultures into 'prehistoric' and 'historic' categories is an unhappy one; often enough, the inter/ relationships and vagaries which are intelligible enough on the historic scene are useful reminders in the interpretation of un/ documented material and help to bring it to muchmeeded life. Ashoka's era seems to me, in that fashion, to illumine much that went before it. No logical system has here been followed in the transcription of Indian names. Since 1947 a number of them have been corrected from the sort of Hobson/Jobson into which time and the British had corrupted them. In some instances this 13 revision has perhap:; l)ccn t1.11::.cu V/Hll ~~·\:d?ntry, 111 others a 1 ' ! ' ' i . ! . 11' ' b .. Jununcd or .Ang;iULlli spc m~~ IUS merely cen corrected. I b 1 1 1 1 1 .,,(.. ' l1d"Cl v ·nur...:•I:-~J~ ....,,~,.. 'l,;: .Ill':t ~ ... !.\.<-·;1L C:-d···--··v ..... h.-\1' -::vl, ... J.;l''1 1 ,.,;~;1 1 ·:..~.1. c-.,·!~···1''')i·~--t-~L tt.J v '1} "-·~ "f.~.l1'1S \., fOr Y ~.ununi aud ~-~an~J)c.i J h~;_":c rct::ti·ucd th:.; u1o1T 'Nidcly Euniliar .lumnJ. ;:.nJ c~m:•:S, ()n the utli:;· Lud, l have used the nw•c 'iccmly sr·"'l!ing oi- 1\hthurJ. for .tvl.uttra.. iu the c1se ,q of the old l:kllarcs l ha-., ..~ :;unc~- so l~tr ,ts adoot.j D:Ll:lf:lS but have shruuk hom i11e anbti.stic \/ir:inasl. l\'iy aim :ns been to retain suflicil'nt aif:uii'.'; l>crwr·~n- -old ' awl '-new tn' cu"ure recn'~/'0 n .. nition bv ~he .Enu:lish.._' J-1<.-_:· ..' f, ~:· -\.vbonl rhis bo()> i~; t'\rin1:1rilvt J mtendcu.. -: l in ,111 outlu'.&c of thi:; kind r-·>.1 l~.eftri.~uccs .a~-c ntccss~~nh'' uc~:ll to a minimum, but the lisr :tt ~he end is suH1cieut It) cr;ahlc the • 1 .,~ d l j persistent stuoent to vcn!y an· <:xtcnu tnc: text. My indebtedness to othns is necessarily txteusivc. In partiuJ; lar, 1 haw reo:ivcd cvu y possible J.ssistancc irom. Shri A. Ghosh, Director General of Archawlot;y in Tndia, aud his colleagues, especially Shri H.