An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c18.s1: 13.1 Distribution
An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c18.s1
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13.1 Distribution
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At present some 150 sites of rock art are known in the country. On the basis of their clustering these sites can be grouped into following 19 areas: (1) Mirzapur, (2) Raigarh, (3) Pachmarhi, (4) Hoshangabad, (5) Bhopal, (6) Raisen, (7) Rewa-Panna-Chhatarpur, (8) Banda, (9) Katni, (10) Sagar, (11) Narsinghapur, (12) Bastar, (13) Gwalior, (14) Chambal valley, (15) Ghatsila, (16) Vikramkhol, (17) Hyderabad-Raichur, (18) extreme s., and (19) Attock in Pakistan.
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The majority of these are situated in the hilly regions of c. India, with the main concentration in the w. Vindhyas. Here within a radius of 50 km of the city of Bhopal there are several hundred painted rock-shelters scattered around the sources of the Betwa and Kali Sindh rivers. The main centres of painted shelters in this area are BHIMBETKA, Jaora, Dharampuri, Shyamala hill, KHARWAI, RAISEN and ADAMGARH. Of these BHIMBETKA, situated 45 km s. of Bhopal, is the largest repository of rock art in the country. Here there are well over 600 caves scattered on seven hills within a radius of 10 km. The next important site in this area is Jaora, some 50 km n.-w. of Bhimbetka. It has more than 100 painted shelters. Other major concentrations of painted shelters in Dt Raisen are Putli Karar, Kharwai and Ramchhajja. Altogether in that Dt there are 11 sites with over 1000 painted shelters. ADAMGARH near Hoshangabad discovered as far back as 1922 is another famous site with two dozen shelters.
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Twelve sites of rock art are situated in and around PACHMARHI town in the Mahadeo Hills in Dt Hoshangabad. In the Kaimur Range between Chhatarpur on the w., Robertsganj on the e., Mirzapur on the n. and Rewa on the s. as many as 40 sites of rock art are known. Other important centres are the Chambal valley around Rampura and Bhanpura towns in Dt Mandasaur, KABRA PAHAR and SINGHANPUR near Raigarh in e. Madhya Pradesh, Baroda forest area near Sagar in the same State, and Benakal forest area near Raichur in Karnataka. Isolated rock paintings are known from as far n. as Barachhira in Dt Almora in the Middle Himalayas and as far s. as Maraiyur in Dt Idukki in the Nilgiris.
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In spite of this wide distribution more than three-fourths of the rock art sites are situated in the Vindhyan sandstone hills of c. India. The reason for this lies in the geology of this region. Being a soft sedimentary rock sandstone is easily susceptible to weathering. The action of heat, cold, wind and water leads to the slow but steady decay of the weaker strata in the rocks. In the process cavities of various forms and sizes in the shape of holes, chambers, shelters and caves are formed. Sometimes the softer sediments in the lower portions of the rocks are washed away, leaving the harder upper portions standing as long projecting roofs. The same action leads to the formation of all kinds of weirdly shaped rocks. Sometimes massive rocks fall and come to rest against other rocks, thereby forming shelters.
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The region of the Vindhyan sandstone receives a rainfall of well over 100 cm per year and has several perennial rivers. At many places there are natural springs. Even today much of the hill country has a dense forest cover and in the past the vegetation must have been far thicker. There is a large variety of trees and plants with edible flowers, fruits, seeds, roots and tubers. The forests even today support a rich and varied fauna which again in pre-agricultural times must have been more plentiful. Abundant fossilized remains of mammals from the NARMADA Pleistocene deposits [9.8.2; 15.1] amply support such an inference. Ecologically therefore the region of the sandstone hills was well-endowed for supporting hunting-gathering populations. And it is no surprise that the entire region was colonized by man from early Acheulian times [4.2]. Though most of the settlements were in the open air along perennial as well as seasonal streams, caves and shelters were also occupied by man. Excavations at BHIMBETKA show that Stone Age communities lived in the shelters almost continuously since Late Acheulian times. Elsewhere as in Mirzapur area the earliest habitation in shelters goes only to the early Mesolithic times [4.5], though Carlleyle had encountered what he termed 'archaic' tools below Mesolithic levels. In the last 10000 years man also painted the walls and ceilings of the shelters with figures of wild animals and other subjects.
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Fig. 51. Rock paintings