The Personality of India: Pre- and Proto-historic Foundation of India and Pakistan c15.s2: The problem of the "Dark Period"
The Personality of India: Pre- and Proto-historic Foundation of India and Pakistan c15.s2
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The problem of the "Dark Period"
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The problem of the gap between the Proto-historic and the Early historic periods has been described dramatically as the "Dark Period" in Indian Archaeology. The work of the last few years is closing this gap equally dramatically. We have already discussed those problems of overlaps between the various cultures—particularly the Harappan and the Post-Harappan (Fig. 36). The problem of the various Post-Harappan cultures of Western and Central India were discussed at a symposium held at Delhi in September 1957. For convenience, about thirteen distinctive forms and fabrics were selected for a detailed study of comparative stratigraphy and typology and the results are given below:¹
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¹ A sub-committee consisting of Dr. H. D. Sankalia, Shri B. B. Lal, Dr. B. Subbarao, Shri B. K. Thapar, Shri N. R. Banerji, Shri S. R. Rao, and Shri M. N. Deshpande was appointed to carefully examine the actual materials. The following equivalents were agreed and these are reproduced. Even the drawings were published but, this came too late after the manuscript was finalized. See *Minutes of a Symposium held at Delhi on 16th September 1958*. p. 11 and Appendix I. I am very much obliged to my colleagues of the Committee and the Director General of Archaeology. In presenting this material here, the abbreviations used for the sites have been dropped for convenience and the name "Somnath" substituted for "Prabhas" to avoid confusion. The first season's work at this site has been referred to as Somnath in this volume, as well as in *Indian Archaeology 1956-57, A review*, New Delhi.
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1. *Concave sided carinated bowls* Rangpur III, Ahar Ib, Prakasha Ib, Jorwe and Nevasa.
2. *Concave sided bluntly carinated bowl* Somnath IIa & IIb, Rangpur IIc.
3. *Carinated dishes on or without stand* Rangpur IIa, IIb, Prakasha Ia, Somnath Ib.
4. *Dishes with clubbed rims* Rangpur IIc & III, Prakasha Ia, Navdatoli Ia and Ib, Somnath IIa, and Ahar Ia.
5. *Corrugated stems* Rangpur III, Nagda I, Somnath IIa, Ahar Ia, Navdatoli Ib, and Bahal Ia.
6. *Tube spouted vessels* Jorwe, Nevasa I, Bahal Ib, Prakasha Ib and Nagda I.
7. *Painted channel-spouted vessels* Navdatoli Ia and Ib, and Nagda I.
8. *Short-handled bowls* (previously being described as sauce-pan handles) Somnath Ib, and Rangpur IIa, and IIb.
9. *Long-handled bowls* Somnath IIa and Rangpur IIc.
10. *Long-necked jars with bulbous body, often painted with horizontal rim-bands* Rangpur IIc & III, Somnath IIc, Bahal Ib, Prakasha Ia, Ahar Ia, Nasik I, Jorwe, Navdatoli Ia and Ib.
11. *Basins or dishes with beaded rims* Rangpur IIc and III, Somnath Ib, Nevasa I, Navdatoli Ia and Ib, Ahar Ia and Nagda I.
12. *Coarse grey lids with oblong or semi-circular section and knob lids* Bahal Ia and Ib, Nevasa I, Navdatoli Ia and Ib, Ahar Ia, Jorwe and Nagda I.
13. *Burnished black-and-grey or black-and-red ware with designs both inside and outside* Prakasha Ia & Ib, Bahal Ib, Ahar Ia and Navdatoli Ia.
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Generally speaking, there is some resemblance between Nagda I, Navdatoli and Ahar, particularly the first two.
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This impressive evidence of overlaps and interlocking of sites by associated finds over vast areas of Western and Central India cannot be ignored. Thus we can very easily imagine for ourselves the picture of various Post-Harappan cultures surviving together with the phases of true-Harappa (in terms of culture traits) or those cultures derived from Harappan. Thus if we accept the new C-14 dates (see p. 109) which became available when the book was running through the press, we see that by the beginning of the first millennium B.C., the whole of the country upto the borders of Mysore (the main nuclear areas) was inhabited by Copper Age or Chalcolithic people with slight regional or local variations in culture, but in close contact with each other. (See Fig. 36).
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Similarly for the Upper Indus basin and the Gangetic valley, the picture is becoming clearer with the palpable evidence of overlaps between the Harappan or its late derivatives and the Grey Ware. The newly discovered site of Ukhlina near Meerut and the Kausambi evidence of the association of Grey ware with certain "Harappan" (?) traits in ceramics and architecture, support this hypothesis. Dr. Y. D. Sharma has noticed slight differences between Kotla Nihang, Rupar and Bara (all within the Harappan). Kathiawad is an eye opener and it would be fantastic to believe that Harappan culture remained unmodified from its inception to its death. One is not wrong in expecting a slightly modified or decadent Harappan culture, which might have been contemporary with the Grey Ware people and the Aryans.
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Another crucial evidence is provided by the black-and-red ware which has an epi-centre (in a cultural context) in the Rajasthan (Ahar area) and the influence of this technique is seen in all the contemporary cultures. Following the nature of these contacts—fusion with the dominance of the resident traits—we see an affinity with the forms of the local ceramics. This is natural and those who argue in favour of the occurrence of a mere technique, should explain the origin of this technique, if they do not agree with the author that its epi-centre is Eastern Rajasthan. The evidence from Bikaner, Rupar, Kausambi, Patna and Sonepur can be explained as follows. The black-and-red ware which appears with the Post-Harappan cultures bridges the gap between the Grey ware and the N.B.P., which very significantly carries the influence in forms and technique of the Grey ware as well as the black-and-red wares of the Gangetic basin. Thus here we see the illumination of the so called "Dark period". We should be aware of the dangers of inflating our chronology and exaggerating the gaps; and at the same, we should not go the other extreme of simplifying the system either. We are well on our way, and if one were allowed to use the expression, we are at the end of the beginning of the reconstruction of the entire culture sequence in the nuclear areas.