Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c16.s4: South India
Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c16.s4
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South India
v1.c16.s4.1
The presence of very large number of ground stone axes in Karnataka in the valleys of the river Krishna and its tributaries, was first established by Bruce Foote. There is evidence that a Neolithic culture developed in this part of India by c. 3000 BC. Apart from developing a ground stone-axe industry and stone-flake or blade tradition, the inhabitants domesticated cattle in cattle pens and used grey ware with the use of bands of red ochre applied after firing. This truly neolithic phase, without any trace of metal, flourished up to 2000 BC at Utnur, Kodekal and Pallavoy in Karnataka.
v1.c16.s4.2
Stone axes were found in large numbers in Tekkalakota, Hallur and other sites of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The commonest axe form was pointed-butt axe. Considerable time must have been spent to produce one finished item. Rocks such as dolerite, basalt and gneiss were first brought to the required shape by flaking. Crystalline rocks such as granite would not flake regularly, and were therefore hammered or pecked into shape. Then the blades were ground in deep grooves of nearby rock and then polished. This tradition persisted even after the introduction of iron and was shared by a wide variety of communities located from Central India to the southernmost tip of the peninsula. (Sankalia, 1974: 541; Allchins, 1983: 286-96)
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During the second period (2100-1700 BC), stone-axe industry continued on the hillside and a small number of copper, bronze and gold items appeared in sites such as Tekkalakota, Piklihal, T. Narsipur, Brahmagiri, Hallur etc. The style of the potteries changed resembling the Early Indus level style and this suggests some contact with the north.
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Commenting on the chalcolothic culture of Maski and other sites of the Deccan, B.K. Thapar (1957: 20-24) suggested that the following elements of culture were common between the Harappan and the Deccan traditions: (a) the tradition of painted pottery, dishes-on-stand etc., (b) long stone blades of the Deccan are reminiscent of the Harappan ribbon-flakes, (c) low grade bronze (1.78 per cent tin and 98.2 per cent copper) celts recovered from Jorwe closely parallel those at Mohenjo-Daro. It is possible that the Late-Harappan Culture people of Gujarat might have migrated and initiated chalcolithic traditions in Central and South India.
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The third phase (1700-1000 BC) in the Deccan witnessed an increase in the number of tools of copper and bronze, although the axe and blade industries in stone continued right up to the early Iron Age. A copper hook was discovered at Hallur. The predominant tool types — other than the fish-hook — were chisels, flat axes etc., reminiscent of Malwa and Maharashtra. Certain new or exotic types also emerged on the scene such as copper or bronze antennae swords of Kallur and the antennae dagger or spearhead of Chandoli. The Kallur swords belonged to the era of rock paintings showing horses and riders and intimate interaction with the Jorwe phase in Maharashtra (c. 1500 to 1050 BC).
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In the Chalcolithic cultures of Maski, the use of beads was quite prominent. (Thapar, 1957: 104-19) The use of carnelian, coral, shell, glass and paste, indicative of contacts with Gujarat, started in the chalcolithic period and was boosted in the subsequent megalithic-cum-iron using culture period in the first millennium BC. During the latter period, terracotta beads were produced and green jasper, lapis lazuli and garnet beads imported. During the Christian era, South India became a major centre for precious gems. The use of copper in the chalcolithic Maski was scanty, the site yielding only a few rods of uncertain use.
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It is evident from the previous narratives that Chalcolithic Cultures existed in the Central and Western India continuously from 2000 BC to 900 BC. Three successive cultures — Kayatha, Malwa and Jorwe — arrived on the scene with typical pottery styles. Kayatha was the earliest but later the cultures intermingled. At Prakash, Inamgaon, Nevasa etc. for example, the Malwa and Jorwe Cultures co-existed and interacted.
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Kayatha Culture was not autochthonous. Its dark slipped ware resembled that of sothi and the combed ware that of Mohenjo-Daro. Its sophisticated ornaments and copper objects remind one of the Pre-Harappans who had settled in the Bikaner area of Rajasthan. The settlements at Kayatha and Dāimābād started during the period 2000 to 1800 BC, and it is quite possible that the late Harappans migrated to these sites. These cultures being in the decadent stage, could not spread very far, and were gradually replaced by the new Malwa Culture.
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Navdatoli and Prakash were outstanding centres of Malwa Culture. Navdatoli was not only a centre of bead-making, specially glass and shell beads, but also a centre of metallurgy — copper and lead in the early ages, and of iron at a later stage. The metallurgical knowledge of the Navdatolians was superior to that of the Aharians. That this culture had some connection with the cultures of Rajasthan and Gujarat are evident from the white painted black and red ware of Ahar type and lustrous red ware of Rangpur type found in the Malwa sites such as Navdatoli. It is plausible that there was a southward migration of the Post-Harappan craftsmen.
v1.c16.s4.10
Prakash was also an important centre of Malwa culture. It was a centre of bead manufacture and metal-alloying facilities. Chandoli had the ivory industry. These sites started with Malwa Culture but later became engulfed with Jorwe tradition which evolved after Malwa tradition. The two traditions remained side by side in many habitations.
v1.c16.s4.11
Jorwe sites of Nasik, Chandoli and Ināmgāon were important bead and metallurgical centres. Nasik excavation yielded copper, lead, bronze pieces and terracotta crucibles. At Chandoli, the waste pieces of shells and shell-beads in different stages of manufacture suggest that though shells were imported, the beads were made locally. Full-scale copper metallurgical activities were practised at Inamgaon; excavation has unearthed the workmen’s quarters and special types of furnaces. These Jorwe Culture sites continued the Malwa traditions of industrial complexes and commercial activities with far-off places. These sites had contacts with Late Harappans, Malwa people of the Central India and the neolithic farmers of the northern part of Karnataka.
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The three Cultures of the Central India fill up the gap between the Harappan and the PGW Cultures, and even might have influenced the Copper Hoard Cultures of the Eastern India to some extent. For example, the black and red ware potteries, the *loṭā*-shaped jar and even the burial systems of the Malwa and Jorwe Cultures have been noticed in the Bengal site of Pāṇḍu Rājār Dhibi.
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We are not certain whether the Chalcolithic cultures in the Eastern and Southern India had independent origins. It is definite however that by the end of the second millennium BC, the East and the South received considerable influence from the North, Centre and the West of the Indian sub-continent. Late-Harappan influence on the neolithic cultures of the Central and Southern India to promote chalcolithic traditions has been strongly suggested. By 1000 BC, sufficient concourse had taken place in the sub-continent between diverse cultures, and therefore, once production and use of iron was initiated (we are not certain where) in India, the tradition spread all over in the course of only a few centuries.
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Agrawal, D.P., Krishnamurthy, R.V., and Kusumgar, S., 1978, “New Data on the Copper Hoards and the Daimabad Bronzes”, In *Man and Environment*, 2: 41-46.
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Agrawal, D.P., and Chakrabarti, D.K., 1979, *Essays in Indian Protohistory*, B.R. Publishing Corporation, Delhi.
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Agrawal, D.P., 1984, *Archaeology of India*, Select Book Service Syndicate, New Delhi.
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Allchin, B., and Allchin, R. 1983, *The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan*, Select Book Service Syndicate, New Delhi.
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Chakrabarti, D.K., 1977, *Man and Environment*, pp. 25-38.
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Deo, S.B. and Ansari, Z.D., 1965, *The Chalcolithic Chandoli*, Deccan College Post Graduate Research Institute, Poona.
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Dhavalikar, M.K., 1982, “Daimabad Bronzes”, In *Harappan Civilization*, edited by Possehl, G.L., Oxford and IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi, pp. 361-66.
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Possehl, G.L., 1982, (edited) *Harappan Civilization*, op. cit.
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Sali, S.S., 1982, “The Harappans of Daimabad”, In *Harappan Civilization*, edited by Possehl, G.L., Oxford and IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi, pp. 175-84.
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Sankalia, H.D. and Deo, S.B., 1955, *The Excavation at Nasik and Jorwe*, Deccan College Post Graduate Research Institute, Poona. Sankalia, H.D., Deo, S.B. and Ansari, Z.D., 1971, *The Chalcolithic Navdatoli*, Deccan College P.G. Research Institute, Poona. Sankalia, H.D., 1974, *The Prehistory and Protohistory of India and Pakistan*, Deccan College P.G. Research Institute, Poona. Thapar, B.K., 1957, “Maski: A Chalcolithic Site of the Southern Deccan”, In *Ancient India*, no. 13, pp. 4-142. Thapar, B.K., 1964-65, “Prakash, 1955”, In *Ancient India*, no. 20-21, pp. 5-167.