An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c19.s1.36

v1.c19.s1.36

(viii) C. India. The first clearly defined focus of settlements is on Malwa, a fertile expanse of river-drained alluvium by itself, but also with the added importance of being on the direct route from the Ganga valley to the Deccan. Excavated settlements of this first phase are KAYATHA, NAGDA, NAVDATOLI, BESNAGAR, ERAN and TRIPURĪ, making explicit the nature and sequence of Chalcolithic [4.14.5] and early Iron Age [4.18.6] occupation in the region. The main historical settlements have been located at BESNAGAR (ancient Vidiśā), PAWAYA (ancient Padmāvatī) and UJJAIN, but many more must be lying unlisted and unexplored. Beyond Malwa c. India is mostly broken and hilly, and it is possible that its hilly terrain was not properly settled on before the early medieval period when temples came up at places like Amarkantak. Another area which should be considered is the Chattisgarh plain which, apart from having post-Gupta and early medieval temple complex at SIRPUR and other places, has revealed traces of early historical occupation near Raigarh which lies in the e. fringe of this plain.