The Personality of India: Pre- and Proto-historic Foundation of India and Pakistan c14.s1.t4.26

c14.s1.t4.26

In this connection, it will not be out of place to discuss a very interesting phenomenon at the north western edge of the Malwa plateau and the adjoining Indo-Gangetic divide about the beginning of the first millennium B. C. or a little earlier. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to gauge the full significance of it because of our ignorance of the position on the other side of the Indo-Pakistan frontier. Our knowledge of the position inside the Indian frontier, however, tends to suggest that the Bikaner area was some sort of a rendezvous with various elements apparently converging, but in fact diverging from this point. The significance of this which one may call the "Proto-Historic-Tri-junction" (Fig. 31) cannot be over-emphasized and calls for immediate attention. This also brings into prominence the role of the Aravallis and the Vindhyas in Indian archaeology. The Harappan civilization spread along the river Ghaggar (Vedic Sarasvati) into the Bikaner area. But it does not seem to cross the Aravallis. The second element is the Grey Ware culture. The authors of this culture seem to have moved straight from the Upper Indus basin into the Gangetic, as already described. They never used any stone implements and they also carried the urban tradition into the Gangetic valley and established the first towns and villages. The second, but more interesting element is constituted by the small quantities of black-and-red ware, occurring in association with the Grey ware in the Bikaner area.¹