An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c15.s1.8

v1.c15.s1.8

For the ancient bead-making centres there is reasonably good archaeological and literary evidence. The archaeological evidence goes back to the 3rd millennium B.C. and indicates that sites like Chanhu-daro, Lothal and other sites of the Harappa civilization were centres of bead manufacture. In the post-Harappa period, NAVDATOLI, KAYATHA and PRABHAS PATAN were the places where bead-making seems to have been a prosperous art. In the early historical period a number of centres like UJJAIN, KAUŚĀMBĪ, AHICCHATRĀ, TAMLUK, PAITHAN, BHOKARDAN, TER, KOLHAPUR, MASKI, KOPIA and KONDAPUR prospered and the artistic excellence also seems to have been noteworthy. Several medieval sites in the Deccan and Ganga valley seem to have come up, though the nature of their glass-bead industry remained essentially of a small-scale cottage industry.