by Roshen Dalal
Neolithic settlements have also been found in the central Ganga plain. Excavations at Lahuradeva in Sant Kabir Nagar of east Uttar Pradesh show that it dates to the late 6th and early 5th millenniums BCE. The culture was similar to that of southern Uttar Pradesh.
Other settlements in the central Ganga plain include sites between the Ghaghara and Gandak rivers, extending up to the foothills of the Himalayas. Sohagaura in Gorakhpur district lies on a mound of 60 hectares, and begins with a Neolithic settlement. There are several Neolithic sites on the plains of north Bihar including Chirand, Senuar, Maner, and Taradih, some of which have settlements beginning before 2500 BCE. These sites generally had simple mud and reed structures, pottery, stone and bone tools, and beads of semiprecious stones, steatite, and faience. There were terracotta figurines including those of humped bulls, birds, and snakes. Crops grown included rice, wheat, barley, and lentils. Cattle, goat, and sheep were domesticated, and some sites had evidence of buffalo, dog, and pig domestication as well. Animal bones indicate hunting and fishing. Senuar, on the Kudra river in the foothills of the Kaimur range, even has evidence of a domestic cat, a rare occurrence. A copper-using culture followed. Farther east, Neolithic stone tools occur in various parts of West Bengal, while Kuchai is a Neolithic site in Orissa. The north-eastern states also have Neolithic tools but the dates are uncertain.
In central India, the Kayatha culture—with the type site of Kayatha in Ujjain district—dates back to 2500 BCE. It has at least three varieties of pottery, some of which are similar to that found in Early Harappan. The people seem to have lived in houses made of mud and reed, and reared cattle. It is significant that even bones of horses were found. Copper was used; copper artefacts and bangles were found as well as necklaces with beads of agate, carnelian, and crystal. There were thousands of tiny steatite beads strung on threads. Kayatha was deserted around 1800 BCE and reoccupied after about a hundred years. But, in this phase beginning around 1700 BCE, it was a part of the Ahar/Banas culture.
In Rajasthan, north of Jaipur and west of Alwar with the main area in Sikar district, is what is known as the Ganeswar–Jodhpura culture, with over eighty sites. Some of the settlements date to 3800 BCE, and copper began to be used from around 2800 BCE. There was some pottery similarity with Early Harappan. It is thought the Harappan culture may have obtained copper from here.
The Ahar/Banas culture is also located in Rajasthan, extending into the Malwa plateau. More than ninety sites have been found. Ahar, one of the excavated sites, has three settlement phases beginning at circa 2500, 2100 and 1900 BCE, respectively. In the first phase, there were house remains, a number of copper objects, some iron, semiprecious beads including one of lapis, spindle whorls, rice grains, and animal bones. Iron finds, which predate 2100 BCE, are not known elsewhere in India at such an early date. Other excavated sites are similar, though some have earlier dates. Wild animals were hunted and eaten. Deer bones were found, as well as those of fish, turtle, and fowl. Domestic animals included cattle, buffalo, sheep, and pig. Plants included wheat, barley, rice, two types of millet, black gram, green gram, pea, linseed, and ber. Grain seems to have been ground into flour. Later levels had connections with the Gujarat Harappan culture.
In the western Deccan, the Savalda culture, dating to the 3rd millennium BCE, is named after the type site of Savalda in the Tapi valley. There are several sites in north Maharashtra between the Tapi and Godavari rivers. Savalda has wheel-made, chocolate-coloured pottery. Paintings on the pottery include geometric designs as well as paintings of tools and weapons. Kaothe, a large Savalda site, covers 20 hectares. It has house remains, bone tools, and beads of shell, semiprecious stone, and terracotta. There are bones of wild and domestic animals, including deer, cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, and dog. Plants included millet, and green and black gram.
There were several Neolithic cultures in south India, merging into the Chalcolithic; dates for these are broadly between 3000 BCEand 1000 BCE. In the early stages, there may have been a mix of nomadic pastoralism and farming in some areas, while others were settled village sites. Bone remains indicate that cattle were predominant among domestic animals though the sheep, goat, buffalo, and fowl were also kept. Horse bones are found but it is not clear whether they are from wild or domesticated horses. Wild animal remains included bones of the nilgai, blackbuck, antelope, monitor lizard, tortoise, birds, fish, crab, and molluscs. Millets seem to have been the main crop but pulses, Indian cherry, amla, and ber have also been found; betel nut (Acacia catechu) was found, the earliest such remains in South Asia, and probably grew wild. Horse gram was grown. Some sites had pottery, stone and bone tools, and items made of marine shells, semiprecious stones, as well as copper and bronze though there is no evidence of copper smelting. Animal and human terrcaotta figurines have been found.
A pair of gold earrings was found at Neolithic Tekkalakota; gold may have been obtained from the Kolar goldfields. The items found indicate that trade existed, including trade with coastal areas. There were human burials, including urn burials and extended burials.
Thus it can be seen that by around 2000 BCE, the whole of India was already occupied, though there must have been many forested and unoccupied regions. We now look at some settlements of a later period.
LATE HARAPPAN
To start with, we will look at sites classified as Late Harappan. This terminology indicates that there were Harappan elements but the typical Mature Harappan urban characteristics were missing. In the north-west, the number of sites in the Late Harappan period in Cholistan and Sindh showed a decline. The Mature Harappan was succeeded by the Jhukar and Jhangar cultures in Sindh and the Cemetery H culture in Punjab. The Jhukar culture is named after the site of Jhukar, northwest of Mohenjodaro, while the Cemetery H type of culture is found at Harappa and other sites. In both cultures, some of the pottery was similar to that of the Mature Harappan, but there were also new types. There was a general decline as well as a decline in the number of sites. The graves in Cemetery H contained extended burials with urn burials in upper levels. In eastern Punjab and Haryana, there was an increase in sites. In western Uttar Pradesh, there are several sites occupied for the first time, which have been classified as Late Harappan. Ochre Colour Pottery (OCP) sites and Copper Hoards (CH) are within the same time frame in this region. The Late Sorath Harappan can be identified in Gujarat.
Late Harappan sites can generally be dated after 1900 BCE. Structures are simple compared with the Mature Harappan but various crops including wheat, barley, and millet were still grown and animals were domesticated.
Late Harappan/OCP sites are found in large numbers in western Uttar Pradesh. The two representative types of pottery are often found mixed together in an unstratified context. OCP was so called because of its ochre colour. It was originally considered an ill-fired soft pottery, with a colour that rubbed off when touched. Later research and excavations revealed that the ochre colour only occurred under certain weather conditions, and was not an intrinsic part of the ware. Thus it often cannot be distinguished from Late Harappan pottery. Contemporary with these was the Copper Hoard culture.
In western Uttar Pradesh, Alamgirpur and Sanauli are among the important Late Harappan sites. Sanauli, in Baghpat district, seems to have a huge Late Harappan cemetery, and there must have been a habitation site nearby. Among the notable finds was the head of a goat in one of the graves, and a copper container with tiny copper objects shaped like arrowheads. Grave goods included copper and gold objects, bracelets, beads of semiprecious stones, as well as of glass, faience, and steatite. Another significant grave find is a copper antennae sword with a sheath, which provides a link with the CH culture. Another antennae sword was also found here. CH implements are also found in association with OCP sites.
The CH culture is so named because, typically, a large number of copper implements are found buried together in a hoard, though stray implements too have been found. The main region for such hoards is the Ganga–Yamuna region, exten
ding to Orissa, Bihar, and Bengal. There are also some finds in Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and other parts of India but some of these are of different types. Bihar, Bengal, and Orissa had flat celts, shouldered celts, bar celts, and double axes. In Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, in addition, there are anthropomorphs, antennae swords, hooked swords, and harpoons. Rajasthan has mainly bar celts and flat celts. In Madhya Pradesh, the Gungeria hoard has 424 copper objects along with more than one hundred silver objects. Analysis of the CH objects shows that the composition and alloys were different from that of Harappan copper objects. Looking at the distribution pattern of these three cultures, which can be dated approximately between 1900 BCE and 1200 BCE, it would seem that the CH-using people entered the Ganga–Yamuna region from the east, and the Late Harappans from the west. The OCP culture has some elements, which are indigenous to the region, influenced by the Late Harappan culture. Both the OCP and the CH probably had an earlier level and could go back to 2500 BCE.
These three cultures are particularly significant for the Rig Veda, as some theories equate the Rig Vedic people with the Late Harappans, and some others with the CH culture. Alternatively, CHs have been attributed to the people represented in the Atharva Veda.
In Gujarat, Kutch, and Saurashtra, Late Harappan sites increased to 120 from eighteen in the Mature Harappan. Two phases have been identified on the basis of the pottery found, all varieties of Red Ware. In the first phase, there is some cultural decline, which intensifies in the second phase.
There are numerous other Neolithic/Chalcolithic sites in other parts of India.
CENTRAL GANGA REGION
In the central Ganga region is the site of Narhan, on the northern bank of the Sarayu (Ghaghara). Period I, known as the Narhan culture, was occupied from circa 1300 BCE to 700 BCE. The site was in continuous occupation till the 7th century CE.
The early period had simple structures, along with several varieties of pottery and bone, copper, and terracotta objects, with iron in the latter phase. A wide variety of plants were grown, including rice, barley, wheat, millets, mustard, and flax. There was also evidence of various trees including jackfruit, mahua (Madhuca longifolia), sal (Shorea robusta), tamarind, teak, Indian siris, babul (Acacia nilotica), mulberry, ganiyari (Premna spinosa), strychnine (Strychnos nux vomica), mango, and bamboo. Animal remains included domestic humped cattle, sheep/goat, wild deer, horse (possibly wild), and fish. There are several similar sites in the central Ganga plains, both north and south of the Sarayu, and others of the same period in adjacent regions. Among them, Imlidih Khurd near the Kuwana river had bone remains of both horse and dog.
In Bihar–Bengal, some sites continued from the Neolithic period and there were many new settlements, which can be dated between 1700 BCE and 1500 BCE.
In Rajasthan, the site of Ganeshwar continued to be occupied. From 2000 BCE, there were a number of copper objects and a variety of pottery types. Ganeshwar has also been linked with the CH culture. Ahar, after 2000 BCE, had a variety of pottery, microliths, terracotta objects, including animal figurines of bull, horse, and possibly elephant as well as objects of copper and semiprecious stones. Rice and millet were grown. The Chalcolithic agrarian Ahar people seem to have interacted with the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers.
The Ahar phase was followed by the Malwa culture, with the type site of Navdatoli. The earliest dates are between 2000 BCE and 1750 BCE. Maheshwar, Nagda, and Eran are other important sites. Malwa pottery has paintings of animals and, at times, people. Among the animals were tigers and panthers. A large pit in the floor of a house has been identified as a fire altar. Other evidence of some sort of religion is a storage jar decorated with a female figure, an alligator or lizard, and a shrine in between. Another human figure with wild hair is thought by some to be a Proto-Rudra. At Prakash, Maharashtra, was a shell amulet shaped like a tortoise, perhaps a precursor of the god Vishnu’s Kurma avatara. At Azadpur, Indore, was a child buried without its feet, which seem to have been cut off after death.
In general, in the Deccan, the Savalda culture was followed by the Malwa and Jorwe cultures. The Jorwe culture, named after the site of Jorwe, begins around 1400 BCE. But some sites have Late Harappan influence. The site of Daimabad has the following sequence: Savalda, Late Harappan, Daimabad culture, Malwa, Jorwe. In the Late Harappan period, there was copper slag and copper smelting. Daimabad was known for its bronzes probably of this phase; these include a chariot yoked to oxen, with a man and a dog in it, as well as depictions of buffalo, elephant, and rhino. Also suggestive of Harappan connections are the number of bull figurines found at Malwa sites.
Imamgaon in Pune district begins with the Malwa period, circa 1600 BCE. More than one hundred and thirty-four houses have been excavated here. People at Imamgaon had a mixed culture of farming, fishing, and hunting. Cattle domestication was important, and other domestic animals included buffalo, goat, sheep, and pig. The Malwa period was followed by that representing the Jorwe culture. This was the richest period at the site, with pottery, items of semiprecious stone, and some gold and copper. Animal remains included those of horse and ass. In a slightly later period, one of the structures was thought to be a granary or a temple for fire worship. Burials were beneath the floor of the house or courtyard; the adults in the graves mostly had their feet cut off after death; children were interred in urns. Cutting off the feet of the dead is a mystical practice in some other cultures too, including the early Saxons of England, and is believed to prevent the dead from returning to haunt the living. It is also seen in some Moche (South American culture) graves. One urn burial at Imamgaon, dated circa 1000 BCE, had a painting of a boat with oars. Inside was an approximately forty-year-old male in a foetal position, with feet intact. Boats may have been used for trade.
At Walki in Pune district, another major site, a bone ploughshare was found. Around 1000 BCE, most of the north Deccan sites were deserted. In the four southern states, following the early Neolithic, some sites continued to be occupied, but there were also several new sites. Settlements were on granite hills, hillsides, and plateaus. There were simple wattle and daub structures with stone, copper and bronze tools, pottery and other items. In general, there was agriculture with cattle, sheep, and goats being domesticated. Possibly, chicken and water buffalo were also domesticated.
IRON USE
The use of iron is considered a transformatory factor in history. Among the early iron-using centres in India–Pakistan are places in the north-west and Balochistan; the Indo-Gangetic divide and upper Ganga valley; Rajasthan; Bihar and Bengal; Malwa and central India; Vidarbha, the Deccan, and south India. There is no evidence that iron use reached India from West Asia, or elsewhere; it seems to have been an independent development within the country. In northern India, iron is associated with the Painted Grey Ware (PGW) culture, dating to 1200 BCE. Ahar in Rajasthan probably has the earliest evidence of iron, dating to 2000 BCE. Recent excavations indicate that the central Ganga region also used iron fairly early. Radiocarbon dates for iron at Dadupur near Lucknow are circa 1700 BCE from Black and Red Ware (BRW) levels. The site of Malhar has evidence of iron, dating to the early 2nd millennium BCE. Also, iron has been found in levels dated to 1300 BCE at Raja Nal ka Tila in the upper Belan valley and at Jhusi near Allahabad.
Iron has been found in BRW levels of the Malwa culture of central India, dated back to 1300 BCE. In Assam, Orissa, and Gujarat, there is no evidence of the use of iron before the historical period. In south India, the first evidence of iron is between the Neolithic and Megalithic levels.
MEGALITHS
Megaliths, known in Europe from around 4000 BCE, existed in India from 2000 BCE, though in most parts of the country, they occur after 1300 BCE. They continued to be constructed up to the early centuries CE and still are, in some parts of the country. Megaliths are of different kinds but all include the use of large stones and usually, but not always, cover or mark grave sites. They include tombs made of granite slabs, partly or wholly underground, pit or
urn burials surrounded by circles of tall stones, sometimes with cap stones on top, and sarcophagus burials. Megalithic burials are usually away from habitation sites. Within the tombs, bodies are arranged in different ways; there are also fractional burials while some are buried after cremation. There are joint and common burials, many with grave goods. Some are only memorials without burials. Megaliths are not of the same culture or period.
There are several megalithic sites in the Aravallis in Rajasthan, in Mirzapur of south Uttar Pradesh, in Almora and other northern hill regions, at Burzahom and Gufkral in Kashmir, in Balochistan, and in most upland areas of the peninsula.
Megalithic sites with habitation areas in Maharashtra have iron in levels that can be dated to 800–400 BCE. Horse remains, with iron bits and wearing copper ornaments, have been found in stone circles at Mahurjhari and Naikund. One grave at Mahurjhari had a full horse skeleton along with a human. The horse bones had cut marks, suggesting a sacrifice. In another grave, the human male had an arrow stuck in his collarbone. One male was buried with a copper-hilted iron dagger placed on his chest. Megaliths in different areas of south India can be dated to 1300–200 CE. The people were agriculturalists, and practised hunting, fishing, animal husbandry, and different crafts. Cattle, sheep, dog, and horse were domesticated. There was inter-regional trade. Kudatini in Bellary district has a child burial in a sarcophagus. At Kodumanal in Erode district of Tamil Nadu, dated 3rd century BCEto 1st century CE, is a cist with a deer buried in an urn, along with carnelian beads, a sword, and axes. There were rock paintings at megalithic sites. At Paiyamapalli were scenes of fighting and horse raiders, among others. The Tamil sangam (cankam) literature has sometimes been correlated with southern megaliths.