Eternal India Encyclopedia

ARCHAEOLOGY

Eternal India encyclopedia

Ochre-Coloured Pottery (OCP) This red to pink ceramic ware found in several sites in the Upper Ganga valley and in Rajasthan closely resembles the Late Harap- pan pottery in fabric and typology. Stratigraphically it is earlier than the Painted Grey Ware (PGW) traditionally considered to be the diagnostic ware of the Mahabharata people at Hastinapur in Meerut District of Uttar Pradesh. The overlap of the Late Harap- pan ware and the PGW in the excavation at Bhagwanpura should clear all doubts about Ochre-Coloured Pottery (OCP) which is only a water-logged Late Harappan Ware being the ceramic ware of the Mahabharat period which is now confirmed by its presence in Bet Dwaraka and at Bhagwanpura in Haryana, both of Mahabharata tradition. Bhagwanpura is not far from Kurukshetra. The secluded OCP is only a variant of Late Harappan Ware water-logged in the Ganga valley. It is also associated with the copper hoard at Bisauli and Rajpur Parsi. At Saipai in Meerut District an anthropomorphic figure of copper was found in stratified levels of OCP. Lothal Period B also yielded a similar but broken anthropomorphic figure of copper. In Rajasthan too OCP occurs with copper hoard at Noh. It is now fairly certain that it is OCP of the 15th century B.C. It had an earlier origin but also sometimes survives with PGW. The Aryan Problem The identification of the architects of the Indus civilization has baffled many archaeologists, linguists and historians. Wheeler’s theory that Harappan cities were destroyed by the invading Aryan tribes unsymphathetic to civilization is contrary to archaeological evidence available at Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Chanhu-Daro, Lothal, Kalibangan, Surkotada and Dholavira. The cultural deposit of the cemetery attributed to Aryans at Harappa stands widely separated stratigraphically from the mature Harappan deposit in the earlier levels. Obviously the invaded (Harappans) were not present when the invaders (Aryans?) came. At Mohenjo-Daro the so-called massacre which is an exaggeration of a few skeletons with cut marks do not belong to the latest phase. Here too there is no evidence of any invasion nor has the invader left any substantial evidence of his artefacts, weapons etc. At all the Indus cities and in Saurashtra and Sarasvati valley, it is flood that was responsible for destruction of Harappan settlements. The devastating flood of 1900 B.O: drove the inhabitants to safer places in the east, south and west. This accounts for the presence of hundreds of degener- ate, Late Harappan rural settlements in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bahawalpur District of Pakistan, in the south upto Daimabad in Maharashtra and in the north Kashmir valley on the one hand and Afghanistan and Allin Depe in South Russia on the other. * The Harappans, as mentioned earlier, spoke an Indo-Aryan language and followed the same religion which in most respects is similar to that of the Vedic Aryans. Anthropologial evidence shows close affinity in ethnic features to the ancient population of Lothal, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. There was no Aryan invasion of Harappan settlements, nor were the Harappans Dravidians. Ar- yan and Dravidian are linguistic terms. In the cosmopolitan popu- lation of. those settlements the Aryan-speaking people were prominent. The Indus Civilization was not destroyed. It declined as a sequel to natural calamities like flood, desiccation and perhaps tectonic activity in the case of Sarasvati valley. This civilisation made substantial permanent contribution to the progress of man-

kind in various fields such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics, as well as religious thought and spiritual concepts such as yoga. The Aryan-speakers who were already present in 3000 B.C. (calibrated 14 C date of early Harappan levels) in the Indus-Ghaggar (Sarasvati) valleys cannot be said to have been immigrants from the Caucasus or any other region outside India. The Rig Veda does not speak of any homeland outside India. The Dasas arid Dasyus with whom the Aryans fought in the battle of ten Kings mentioned in the RigVeda were also Aryan-speakers but did not strictly observe the Aryan rituals etc. Hence they were con- sidered as enemies. The deurbanisation of the Harappa Civilisation resulting in the dispersal of the craftsmen led to greater diffusion of the Harappan industries and crafts into rural areas. This is the picture one gets from the Late Harappan and Vedic periods. The Harappan Ruler was not a Priest King for third is no evidence of impressive religious structure in Harappan times. Recent excavations by the Deccan College, Poona, and various Universities have revealed that the region outside the Harappan territory was not of any lower grade culture although no impressive urban centres sprang up as in the Sarasvati, Indus and Sabarmati valleys, the chalcolithic cultured of Central India and Deccan pla- teau. The chalcolithic cultures of Central India and Maharashtra have several common features but they are named by excavators after the places of their discovery or after the regions in which they were found : Ahar or Banas Culture of the Banas Valley (Rajasthan) 2000-1300 B.C., Kayatha Culture (Madhya Pradesh) 2100-1300 B.C., Malwa Culture of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra 1600- 1200 B.C., Jorwe Culture of Maharashtra 1500-700 B.C. These dates based on 14-’C determinations need to be cali- brated are two earlier cultures namely the Sawalda Ware Culture of 2000 B.C. and the Late Harappa culture 1800-1600 B.C. The more outstanding evidence of Late Harappan occupation is provided hece by the famous bronze figures of chariot, buffalo, elephant and rhi- noceros, the last named one being a characteristically Harappan animal. All the these objects are wheeled and cast solid. The Ahar Culture is noted for a distinct Black and Red Ware which is burnished all over except at the bottom, and painted on the interior as well as on the exterior in dull white. The houses were built of rubble set in clay. The roof was supported by a central pole, and the floor was of rammed clay. The hearths were multi-armed and decorated. The Ahar people prepared copper objects such as axes and fish hooks. Copper ore and terracotta crucibles have been found here Saddle querns, weights of stone used with digging sticks and the occurrence of grain husks suggest agricultural op- erations. The Kayatha Culture in Madhya Pradesh is noted for a distinct ceramic ware well fired, sturdy and painted in violet or deep red. The ring-based vessels and the combed ware do suggest affinity with the Pre-Harappan Ware of Kalibangan. Some designs shov affinity with the Sothi ware. The micro-beads of steatite and the copper axes with numerous blow holes are reminiscent Of Harappa Culture at Kayatha. Chalcolithic Cultures of the Deccan and Central India.