Copper in Ancient India c7.s1: Copper Implements Discovered in Gunjeria

Copper in Ancient India c7.s1

Language: English

Copper Implements Discovered in Gunjeria

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"The most important discovery of instruments of copper yet recorded in the Old World", as Evans puts it in his Ancient Bronze Implements, was made by some shepherd boys who, while tending cattle in the village of Gunjeria in the district of Balaghat in the Nagpur Division of the Central Provinces, observed a piece of red metal peeping out of earth in a plot of waste land. On receipt of this news in 1870 Mr. Bloomfield, Deputy Commissioner of Balaghat, had the place excavated and as many as 424 copper implements and weapons and 102 pieces of thin silver plates were discovered in one place measuring about three feet in length, three feet in breadth and four feet in depth. The discovery of this remarkable find was announced at the May meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1870.²

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² Bloomfield, Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal; 1870, p. 131.

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The weight of the copper implements was 10 maunds 14 seers (about 826 lbs.) and that of the silver pieces 1 seer and 1/4 tola (about 2 lbs.). The copper implements were mostly celts, shovels, axe-blades, spades, &c. manufactured for warlike, domestic and agricultural purposes. The copper implements were of different sizes, the longer pieces being 24 3/4", 21 1/2", 17 1/2" long and variously broad by 6 1/2", 4" or 3". They were mostly 1/4" thick. Mr. Bloomfield presented 8 pieces of these silver discs Prehistoric copper implements discovered in Gunjeria. Central Provinces. (Proc. As. Soc. Beng. 1870).

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0.1 1.a 1.a' 0.13 1.b 1.b' 0.09 1.c 1.c' 0.21 2.a 2.a' 0.19 3.a 0.26 3.b 3.c' 0.23 3.c

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and 17 copper implements to the Asiatic Society and these have now been kept in the Archaeological Department of the Indian Museum, Calcutta.

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The copper implements were packed in regular layers with the silver objects lying in mass on one side. They appear to have never been put to use. It has been surmised that the place marks the site of a treasure house in which these articles were kept for safety. It is more likely, however, that there was a depot at that place in which these goods were stored for sale. Mr. Vincent A. Smith contends that this large collection of copper implements "affords conclusive evidence that at one time the manufacture of implements of pure copper was conducted in India on an extensive scale. It is impossible that more than four hundred such implements should have been collected in a single deposit unless they were of a kind in common ordinary use."

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There is no doubt that the implements are made of pure copper and not bronze. Mr. A. Tween has analysed them and found the metal to be pure copper mixed with only 1½ per cent lead. The silver was also pure, being contaminated with only 3.7 per cent gold.

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As regards other finds of copper implements in ancient India they may be summarised in the accompanying list as given by Mr. Smith. Most of these implements have been analysed and found to be made of pure copper. They may be conveniently divided into flat celts, bar celts, swords and daggers, harpoon or spear heads and arrow heads.

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*Ancient Indian Copper Implements*

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4. Fatehgarh 13 swords, 1 human figure.
5. Niori, Itawah District 1 harpoon head and 1 sword.
6. Bithur, Cawnpore District 2 flat celts, 3 harpoon heads.
7. Kosam, Allahabad District. 1 flat celt.
8. Parior, Unao District “A large number” of harpoon heads.
9. Saurajuri, Midnapur District 1 flat celt
10. Karharhari, Pachamba Subdivision, Hazaribagh District 3 unfinished flat celts and two pieces of unwrought copper
11. Bhagotoro, Karachi District, Sindh 1 flat celt
12. and 13. Kohistan Hill near Soorag and Tank in Beluchistan Arrow-heads associated with silver bracelet.

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Many new copper implements have, however, been discovered after Mr. Smith prepared his list. In a recent paper Pandit Hirānanda Sāstri gives an account of some additional copper implements discovered in Northern India specially at Bithur in the Cawnpore District.¹ Three copper hatchets about 7" long and 4¾" broad have been found in the temple of Bava Gudardās Uttam Dās in Bithur which resemble those already described by Mr. V. A. Smith. One similar specimen, though smaller, is lying in the sanctuary of Rādhākrishna at Bithur. Two additional copper hatchets have been found at Parior.

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¹ Journ. As, Soc. Beng., 1915, XI, pp. 1-5.

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Mr. Ortel has obtained four fine copper specimens from Bithur—one of them being a spear-head weighing about 1 lb 9 oz., the second a hatchet weighing 2lbs 5 oz., the third a sword resembling the Fatehgarh swords in the Calcutta Museum and the fourth a small hatchet. Pandit Shāstri has secured four additional copper implements, two being harpoon heads and two hatchets. They have been chemically analysed and found to be made of copper and not bronze. In addition to these, ten more copper implements from the Bulandshar and Hardoi districts—one of them being an axe-blade, two swords, one hatchet and the remainder celts—have been collected in the Lucknow Provincial Museum.

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In addition to these, quite a large number of copper implements has recently been discovered in different parts of Behar and Orissa and described in the the journal of the Behar and Orissa Research Society. Dr. A. Campbell describes 27 specimens of copper axe-heads in the Manbhum district of which he got possession of twentyfour. They were found by digging in the stretch of country between the hills running almost due east from Paresnath to Pokhuria in the north of the Dhanbad Subdivision and the Barakar river. A dozen of these magnificent specimens were dug up in a lot about a foot below the surface of the earth by coolies engaged in making the road going from the village of Kolher to the boundary of the Hazaribagh District. Regarding the method of construction of these axe-heads Dr. Campbell writes “the method of manufacturing these axe-heads seems to have been to run the metal into a mould, of the shape of but thicker and smaller than, the finished article. It was then beaten out to the required thickness. This appears to me to account for the variety of the shape of those that have been found. A little difference in the thickness of the cast in the mould or else the metal beaten irregularly would result in the slight differences in shapes which exist. I possess one of these rough castings.”¹

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¹ Dr. A. Campbell, “Note on the occurrence of copper celts in Manbhum,” Journal of the Behar and Orissa Research Society, 1916, 85-6.

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Mr. J. Coggin Brown describes a copper celt found in the Palamau District which he describes as a fine specimen, 18.5 cm. long and 15.4 cm. wide across the widest portion. Its greatest thickness, was 2.3 cm. It seems to have been roughly cast and then beaten into its present shape. The form is a very primitive one and closely imitates a well-known stone model. It is related to certain flat forms from the Gunjeria hoard.¹

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¹ J. Coggin Brown, Journ. B. & O. Res. Soc., 1915. 125-6.

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Twenty-one copper axes were excavated in a place in the Bassia Thana of the Ranchi District of which two are described by Mr. Coggin Brown.² They were similar to the Palamau celt and evidently similarly manufactured.

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² Ibid, p. 127.

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The Mayurbhanja State in Orissa has supplied its quota in respect of ancient copper implements in the shape of 3 double-edged copper battle-axes which have been collected by Mr. Cobden Ramsay, Political Agent, Feudatory States of Orissa. They were found with 6 or 7 similar pieces on the bank of the Gulpha River in the village of Bhagra Pir in the Mayurbhanja State. The large axe was 18½" in length and 15¾" in breadth and the two others were 10" by 8¼" and 10½" by 7" respectively in dimensions. The first two were about 1/8" and the third 1/20" thick.³

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³ Ibib, 1916, 386.

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The discovery of these numerous copper implements in different parts of Behar and Orissa, besides affording more conclusive evidence in favour of a copper age in ancient India supplies a missing link in the names of countries in Northern India where copper implements have been found. Behar and Orissa were originally represented in the list of places mentioned by Mr. Vincent A. Smith where copper implements were discovered by "3 unfinished flat celts and two pieces of unwrought copper" found in the Pachamba Subdivision of the Hazaribagh District but now more than fifty well-finished copper implements have been discovered in various parts of the two provinces. The evidence adduced by Mr. Smith in favour of a copper age in Northern India has been materially strengthened by the finds in the United Provinces described by Mr. Shāstri and in the new discoveries in Behar and Orissa. Almost all countries throughout Northern India down to certain parts of the Central Provinces in the south are now well-represented in the list of places where a copper age undoubtedly intervened between the stone and the iron age.