Early Historic Archaeology of India

General Historical Chronological Sequence

• Regional variations in chronology

North India• Pre-Mauryan c. 600 – 400 BCE• Mauryan – Sunga c. 400 – 100 BCE• Kushan c. 1st cen. CE – 300 CE• Kshatrpas c. 1st cen. CE – 200 CE

Deccan• Satavahana c. 50 BCE – 250 CE• Gupta-Vakataka c. 250 CE – 550 CE

Pre-Mauryan Period

Sixteen Mahajanapada

• Kamboj Kashi

• Gandhar Magadha

• Matsya Anga

• Kuru Vatsa

• Panchal Chedi

• Kosal Avanti

• Shursena Malla

• Vajji Asmaka

Sixteen Mahajanapadasc. 600 BCE

• Literary DataEspe. Buddhist literature (Jataka stories)

• Archaeological DataStructures like fortification, residential, religious, and other objects of material culture, etc.

• Numismatic Data Coins of sixteen Mahajanapadas

Sources for Period

Kashi PMC

Kausambi (Dt. Allahabad)

Defence area

Four Periods

• 1165 to 885 BCE

• 885 to 605 BCE

• 605 to 45 BCE

• 45 BCE to 580 CE

Rajghat (Dt. Varanasi)• Representing the ancient city of Varanasi, the capital of Kasi

Mahajanapada.• First trial excavation – in 1940 • Later extensively excavated by A.K. Narain (BHU) during

1960-67.• Habitation divided into VI periods-

I 800 - 200 BCEIA Black-and-Red ware IB Introduction of NBPWIC coarse grey ware and deterioration of NBPW

II 200 BCE - 0 CEIII 0 CE - 300 CEIV 300 - 700 CEV 700 -1200 CEVI 1200 - disturbed

• In period IB – Massive clay embankment was built as measure against flood.

• The embankment was built directly over the natural soil.

• Its vertical extent height is 5.10m and basal width 19.80m.

• A series of successive gravel-sandy deposits alternating with silt just over the outer toe of embankment shows that the embankment was breached several times by floods on the river side, which also affected some portions of the habitation.

• Associated with this structural phase (IB) is kachcha drain passing close to a soak-pit. The presence of mud plaster with reed impressions in several pits suggests the existence of houses having reed walls plastered with mud.

UJJAIN

The site briefly excavated in 1938-39, later it was more fully excavated in 1955-58.

• Period I 700-500 BCE

• Period II 500-200 BCE (NBPW)

• Period III 2nd century BCE to 9th -10th centuries CE

• Period IV Medieval

Irregular oblong Surrounded by a

rampart- 8 openings seemingly gateways

The river flanks the site almost immediately on the west and distantly on the northern side.

On two of the other sides- east and south- there was a moat.

The rampart which was made of heaped up clay and battered both inside and outside was built in period I and lasted up to the end of Period III. In period I it was 245ft broad at the base and 132ft wide at the top.

The rampart was strengthened on the river side in period I itself by the placement of well cut wooden sleepers or beams (stretch of nearly 350ft alongside the river) to avoid the erosion of soil.

Inside the fortified habitation area no structural evidence was obtained for Period I.

In Period II (500-200 BCE) the houses were made of mud, mud brick , stone rubble or burnt bricks.

14C Dates of fortification

• Kausambi 500+105 BC

• Ujjain 450+95 BC

• Varanasi 490+110 BC

Pauni (Bhandara district)

• Excavations at Pauni (Deo and Joshi 1972) were first conducted by the Nagpur University and the ASI, Nagpur Branch, and later by the ASI, Nagpur Branch.

• During the second excavation evidence of fortification came into light. Period I (600-400 BCE) witnessed the construction of the first rampart at the site.

• It was built of laterite occasionally mixed with dark brown clay chunks. Built over the natural gravel, it measured 2.45 m in height and 11.90 m in width at the base.

Adam

• Adam, one of the largest fortified Early Historical sites of Maharashtra is situated in the Wardha-Wainganga divide.

• An important discovery from Adam occurring in a stratified context, was a rampart assigned to Period III (Iron Age).

• The rampart wall running north-south was exposed over a stretch of upto 10 m, with an average height of 1.40 m and width of 7 m. It was built of yellow murum and earth.

• It rested over layer 15 which yielded iron slag, Black-and-Red ware and Black-on-Red ware.