Eternal India Encyclopedia
Eternal India encyclopedia
ARCHAEOLOGY
The inscription on the Bet Dwaraka jar (fig:28) signifies the evolution of Brahmi script from the Late Indus script. Similarly the Semitic script was evolved from the Late Indus Script and much later vowels were added. Its Egyptian origin is unconvincing. The Harappan skeletal remains from Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro and the Lothal show the same ethnic features which the present population of Punjab, Sind and Gujarat show respectively (Rao S.R. 1991). There is therefore no reason why the Harappan population should be termed as non-Aryan if at all the racial element has any connection with the language spoken. The Harappans knew the horse and rice. They spoke an Aryan language and followed the same religious rites which the Aryan speakers of the Vedic period did. As regards the date of the Rig Veda, its composition could not have taken place later than 2000 B.C. in the Sarasvati valley. Accuracy in measuring mass and space is essential for prog- ress in mathematics and physics. The usefulness of the metric system with a decimal graduation in measuring length or mass as been widely recognised in recent years. The credit for introducing decimal graduation must go to the Harappans. They had two types of stone weights, one a hexahedron or cubical (fig:29) and the other, truncated spheriod, both occurring in large numbers at Har- appa, Mohenjo-Daro and Lothal besides other sites during the period 2500 B.C.-1600 B.C. V.B. Mainkar, Director of the Indian Standards Institution who studied the Harappan weights, has di- vided them into 2 groups. The unit weight of 27.584g of the first series is 50% higher than the unit weight 18.1650g of the second series. Normally there are two basic weights in a series namely the lower unit weight used for weighing small quantities of precious objects like gold and silver and the higher unit weight meant for weighting objects of daily use. The lower unit in the first series was 27.584 g and the higher unit was 546.70g. The smaller denomina- tions are in the decimal divisions of 1:2: 5:10:20:50:100:200:500: etc. The smallest division is 0.05 times the lower unit weight. The karsa-o r suvarna of the Arthasastra (8.720g) is related to the Indus weight of (8.575g) in the second series. Furthermore it is the Har- appans who determined the weight of the Gunja at lOOmg which is more accurate than 109mg given to Gunja by Mainkar who however admits that the weight of the seed Gunja used by goldsmiths differs from region to region and from season to season. The Lothal weights of small gold discs run in very small divisions Mathematics, Science and Technology of the Indus Civilization METROLOGY
The seal no. 307 from Har- appa depicting a God with a tri- dent like head- gear and stand- ing in a niche from which tongues of flame are blazing (fig:26) is inscribed bhag- rk-a = bhaga
Arka conveying the sense 'Lord (or God) Arka' who stands here for Agni as indicated by the flames. Another seal (no. 320) from Harappa with a so-called motif of brazier, which is really a fire altar of the Iranian type, is inscribed pag bhag-rka-ha = paga bhaga arkaha meaning” (seal) of the mighty God Arka" which again stands for Agni and not sun. The so-called Pasupati figure in
seal no. 420 (fig : 27) of Mohenjo-Daro surrounded by animals and Agni ( Fire God) who has three faces symbolizing his three forms(tridha) fire, sun and lightning or fire in water as described in the Rig Veda. The fire-altars of Kalibangan, Lothal and Banawali built of bricks and containing terracotta cakes (purodasas) men- tioned in the Vedic literature confirm that the Harappans were Fire worshippers. In the Satapatha Brahmana one of the names of Agni is Pasupati as he is the sustainer of animals which depend on plants. The seals mention names of sacrifices, such as ekaha, sap- taha, astaka asvasattra which are also Vedic sacrifices. Actual re- mains of animal sacrifice have been found in the altars of Lothal and Kalibangan. The names of Vedic seers occurring in seal-inscrip- tions are Atri, Kasapp, (Kasyapa), Baka, Mana (Manu), Bhad- rasva etc. The Kalibangan seal reads bhadrama dvappa ( dvipa) conveying the sense ‘most auspicious or holy region’. This town is noted for fire altars and is situated on the Sarasvati river of yore. The vocabulary, syntax and grammar of the Harappan language decoded from inscriptions are compatible with those of old Indo- Aryan. The nominal compounds ( samasas ) are similar.
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