A History of Agriculture in India v1.c18: Chapter 12. Harappan Chalcolithic Culture in India

A History of Agriculture in India v1.c18

Language: English

v1.c18.s1 Punjab (India) — 8 parts
v1.c18.s2 Haryana — 5 parts
v1.c18.s3 Jammu — 1 part
v1.c18.s4 Western Uttar Pradesh — 4 parts
v1.c18.s5 Rajasthan — 2 parts
v1.c18.s6 Gujarat — 3 parts
v1.c18.s7 The Late Harappans in the Godavari Valley — 4 parts
v1.c18.s8 Madhya Pradesh — 2 parts

Chapter 12. Harappan Chalcolithic Culture in India

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PUNJAB, HARYANA, JAMMU, UTTAR PRADESH, RAJASTHAN, GUJARAT AND MADHYA PRADESH

FROM the nuclear area in Harappa in the western Punjab, the Harappan Chalcolithic Culture slowly diffused to Bahawalpur, eastern Punjab, Haryana and Jammu in about a century. From Haryana it reached the border districts of western Uttar Pradesh. From Mohenjo-daro in Sind it reached Lothal in Gujarat. Most of the Harappan settlements in Gujarat are situated on the coast of Kutch and Kathiawar. From Gujarat the Harappan culture diffused to eastern Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. A brief account of these sites is given below.

Punjab (India)

(i) Kotla Nihang Khan, District Rupar

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In the Punjab (India), a number of Harappan sites have been discovered. M.S. Vats excavated Kotla Nihang Khan near Rupar in 1939, and demonstrated the parity of its antiquities with those of Harappa. A row of furnaces was discovered. They might have been used for manufacturing implements or ornaments. The date of Kotla Nihang Khan is about 2200 B.C.

(ii) Rupar and Other Sites

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The Nalagarh mound at Rupar on the Satluj was excavated by Y.D. Sharma in 1953-56. In the lowest stratum, Harappan potteries, bronze implements and inscribed steatite seals were discovered (Fig. 67). The details of these objects are shown in Fig. 68. The mound also contained a number of ringed soak-wells (Fig. 69). The burials were typically Harappan, with lots of pots accompanying the corpse (Fig. 70). In the proto-historic Punjab, Rupar could claim the status of a town. Round about Rupar are a number of sites, viz. Dher Majra and Bara, north of Rupar, Kotli, south-west of Rupar, Chamkaur, west of Rupar, and Hawara, south-west of Chamkaur. At Bara, Y.D. Sharma found a distinct culture with its antecedents traceable to a pre-Harappan tradition. Dher Majra is a Bara culture site. The same is the case with Sanghol. The Bara culture is rich in pottery, terracotta cakes and faience. Bronze is known and Barans seem to have subsisted on agriculture and fishing. At Rupar and Chandigarh, both the Bara and Harappa cultures overlap. Bara is dated to 2350 B.C. to 1950 B.C. by Y.D. Sharma, and hence it was a contemporary of Harappa.

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Schematic Section Across Rupar Mound 1953

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North Inscribed Sealings (C 500-600 AD) Gold Coin of Chandragupta I (AD 320-330) Coin-Hoard of Vasudeva (AD 143-176) Coin of Soter Megas (C 100 AD) (Plus AD 800-1000) V IV (C 200 BC-AD 600) III (C 600-200 BC) II (C 1000-700 BC) I (C 2000-1400 BC) Punch-Marked Coins Inscribed Seal (C 300-250 BC) N.B.P. WARE Iron and Copper Implements PAINTED GREY WARE Chert Blades Terracotta Cakes Inscribed Steatite Seal Bronze Implements HARAPPAN WARE NATURAL

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Fig. 67. A schematic section across the Nalagarh mound at Rupar, 1953, showing strata, 2000 B.C. to A.D. 600. In the lowest stratum, Harappan wares with bronze implements were discovered. These were overlain by Painted Grey Ware

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The Harappan and late Harappan sites have also been located at Kurrara-Kurrari and Manikpur-Sharif in Tehsil Kharar, and Arnauli, Bara-Samana and Kainor in Tehsil Rupar.

(iii) Sector 17 of Chandigarh

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In Sector 17 of Chandigarh, while the foundations of a shop were being dug, the remains of a Harappan cemetery were found. Several types of pottery were excavated, viz. pre-Harappan, Harappan and Bara wares. On the one hand, there were unmistakable Harappan forms, such as dishes-on-stand, pointed goblets, beakers, lids, basins, ring-stands, troughs, including a funnel-shaped vase with an inscription in Harappan characters. And on the other hand, there were certain decorative designs, both painted and incised, resembling Kalibangan pre-Harappan pottery. Other finds include a humped terracotta bull with forward-pointing horns. This bull combines the hump of the zebu with the horns of the urus. Toy cart-frames and wheels, stone querns and pestles are evidence of agriculture. Bangles of faience, terracotta and copper, and beads of agate, paste and terracotta were also found. A reconstruction of the Harappan town of Chandigarh shows flat-roofed houses below the Siwaliks (Fig. 71).

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Sarangpur near Chandigarh had pottery resembling the pre-Harappan ware of Kalibangan.

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Fig. 68. Sequence of Rupar culture from sections of the Nalagarh mound, Rupar, Punjab (After Y.D. Sharma)

District Ludhiana

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Sanghol. Period I revealed some Harappan material, viz. a chert weight, and pottery. Houses were made of packed clay, had mud flooring, chulahs, and circular pits for storage.

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Dadheri had a late Harappan horizon in period IA.

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Mandiala Kalan is known for a red ware painted in black-hatched triangles, and an externally incised ware which indicates affinities with the incised ware of Bara. Sharma observes, "The arrival of the Harappans on the Satluj was a continuous process; they came in wave after wave bringing in new ideas and ceramic traditions." He cites three Harappan sites, namely Deheru, Manupur and Kheri-Nodh-Singh along the course of the Budhanala, a dried-up bed of the Satluj near Ludhiana. It indicates the route followed by the Harappans to Rupar.

District Gurdaspur

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The sites in District Gurdaspur contain only Grey Ware associated with Painted Grey Ware and late Harappan Red Ware. The main sites are Kanwa, Dodwan, Haripur, Lohagarh, Hardo Rawal Khurd, and Gurdas Nangal da Theh.

District Amritsar

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At Gharinda, west of Amritsar towards the border, at a distance of six kilometres before Attari, Painted Grey Ware, Grey Ware and a few late Harappan sherds were discovered.

District Ferozepur

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In the District of Ferozepur at the site in Sosan, Painted Grey Ware, Grey Ware, and late Harappan Ware were discovered.

District Jullundur

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In the District of Jullundur Painted Grey Ware, Grey Ware and late Harappan Ware were found at Apara, Haripur and Chini Kanjri Ka Theh. On the north-western side of the district, Malsian, Karalan and Kartarpur. On the eastern side of the district, Nagar and Kathpalon yielded the evidence of Painted Grey Ware, Grey Ware and late Harappan Ware.¹

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¹ Joshi, J.P. 'Overlap of late Harappan Culture and Painted Grey Ware Culture in the Light of Recent Excavations in Haryana, Punjab and Jammu', *Indian Inst. Adv. Studies*, Seminar, Simla, Nov. 1977

Haryana

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A recent survey has brought to light 391 protohistoric occupations in Haryana. They are in the valleys of the Sarasvati, the Drishdavati, the Sabi and the Yamuna.

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Siswal in the Hissar District represents a pre-Harappan phase in Haryana.

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Excavations at Mithathal, in the Bhiwani District by Suraj Bhan revealed three cultural levels, dating from *c.* 2000 B.C. to 1500 B.C. About 145 late Harappan settlements have been located in the Karnal, Kurukshetra, Ambala and Gurgaon districts.²

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² Suraj Bhan, 'The Protohistoric Settlement Patterns in Haryana', *Indian Inst. Adv. Studies*, Seminar, Simla, Nov. 1977

Bhagwanpura

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Bhagwanpura is situated on the right bank of the Sarasvati in the Kurukshetra District. Here, the late Harappan culture was found interlocked with the Painted Grey Ware culture. The excavations revealed different house types also. The earliest were semi-circular thatched huts supported on posts fixed in post holes. In one house, four saddle querns and different types of pestles were found. In the second structural phase, a mud-walled house complex was discovered. It had 13 rooms, with a corridor in between the two sets of rooms, and a courtyard on the eastern side. The size of the Fig. 70. A burial from Rupar. A number of pots, some containing foodgrains, were buried along with the corpse (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India)

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Fig. 69. Ringed soak-wells for draining waste water from houses in the Nalagarh mound (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India)

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Fig. 71. A reconstruction of the Harappan town near Chandigarh, c. 2000 B.C. (Courtesy: Museum of Evolution of Life, Chandigarh)

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Fig. 72. A reconstruction of the proto-historic village of Ahar (After H.D. Sankalia)

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Fig. 73. Excavation at Ahar near Udaipur, in Rajasthan. Corn bins and chulahs are shown. Rice grains were found along with pottery, 1800 B.C. (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India)

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Fig. 74. A well and a public drain at Lothal, a Harappan site in Saurashtra, 2300 B.C. (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India)

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rooms varied from 1.60 x 1.60 metres to 3.35 x 4.20 metres. From these rooms, besides copper objects, faience bangles and beads, terracotta ghata-shaped beads, bone styli, terracotta figures, Painted Grey Ware vessels and plain Grey Ware vessels and late Harappan pottery were discovered. A statistical analysis of the pottery revealed 2 to 5 per cent of the late Harappan element.

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In the third structural phase, the houses were built of baked bricks. Two skeletons discovered from this place were oriented north-south, conforming to the Harappan tradition, but there were no grave-goods.³

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³ Joshi, J.P. 'Overlap of Late Harappan Culture and P.G.W. Culture in Haryana, Punjab and Jammu', Indian Inst. Adv. Studies, Seminar, Simla, Nov. 1977

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Banawali lies in the dried-up course of the Sarasvati. It has revealed three culture sequences, viz. pre-Harappan—c. 2500 to 2200 B.C.; Harappan—c. 2200 to 1700 B.C.; and Bara Ware culture—c. 1700 to 1450 B.C.⁴

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⁴ Bisht, R.S. 'Harappa Culture in Punjab: A Study in Perspective', Indian Inst. Adv. Studies, Seminar, Simla, Nov. 1977

Jammu

Manda

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The ancient site at Manda, Akhnoor, lies on the right bank of the Chenab River at the foothills of the Pirpanjal Range. It is 28 kilometres north-west of Jammu and about 1 kilometre from Akhnoor. Excavations at this site have revealed three sequences of cultures. The oldest consists of the pre-Harappan Red Ware and the Harappan Red Ware. The Harappan pottery consists of red ware, jars, dishes, dish-on-stand, beakers and goblets. The antiquities ascribable to this period include a copper double-spiral-headed pin, bone arrow-heads with a tang, terracotta bangles, cakes, chert blades, saddle querns, pestles and potsherds with Harappan graffiti.

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The next period shows the Harappan Red Ware and Grey Ware associated with Painted Grey Ware.

Western Uttar Pradesh

District Saharanpur

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The chief concentration of the Harappan sites occurs in the Saharanpur District. The settlements are not more than 200 metres in length, suggesting that they were small villages. Most of the sites are on the Yamuna River or on its tributaries. These sites are at Bahupur, Pilakhni, Chilhera, Krishni, Kalahetti, Tatarpur Kalan, Nirpalpur, Hulas, Piki, Redi Malakpur, Nayavans alias Nayagaon, Fatehpur Gujar, Chhaparheri, Salarpur, Khatauli, Kaulakheri, Sarkari Sheikh and Ratna Kheri.

District Muzaffarnagar

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Bhura: Situated at a distance of about 8 kilometres north of Kairana, the ancient site at Bhura is located along the dried bed of the Katha Nala, a tributary of the Yamuna.

District Meerut

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Alamgirpur: An Indus site has been discovered at Alamgirpur, 27 kilometres west of Meerut. Alamgirpur is located on the left bank of the Hindon, a tributary of the Yamuna. The excavations revealed a succession of four cultural periods. The earliest yielded kiln-burnt bricks, the Harappan pottery, terracotta objects comprising animal figurines, cakes, carts, cubical dice, beads and bangles. Beads of steatite and semi-precious stones, bangles of faience and a broken blade of bronze were also found. The use of cloth with a plain weave is a significant feature of objects recovered from Alamgirpur. Polished stone querns and pestles were also found.

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Singauli Taga: A Harappan site was discovered at Singauli Taga on the left bank of the Hindon River in 1966.

District Allahabad

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Indus sherds as well as dishes-on-stand have been reported from Kausambi in the Allahabad District.

Rajasthan

(i) Kalibangan

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An important discovery of a pre-Harappan township in Rajasthan was made by B.B. Lal and B.K. Thapar in 1971. The mound is known as Kalibangan or black bangles, as fragments of black bangles were found strewn over it by the local inhabitants. Another site which is close by is called Pilibangan, or yellow bangles.

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Kalibangan is on the left bank of the dry bed of the Ghaggar (the ancient Sarasvati) in the Ganganagar District in the erstwhile Bikaner State. The settlement is in two parts, following the Harappan pattern, viz. a citadel on the west, and the town on the east. Both the citadel and the town were protected by a fortified wall. The site has yielded evidence of two periods of occupation, of which the lower is pre-Harappan, and the upper belonged to the Indus civilization. Below the Harappan citadel are the remains of a pre-Harappan small township which represents a different culture. Carbon determinations show a date between 2450 and 2300 B.C. for the pre-Harappan levels. The pre-Harappans were in a chalcolithic stage like the Harappans. Proto-Harappan seems to be a more appropriate term for their culture.

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The pre-Harappan settlement was fortified, and within the walled area there were houses made of mud-bricks of the same size as that of the fortification wall. An ordinary house consisted of a courtyard, around which were located the living-rooms. Adjoining the walls of the houses were small platforms or *chabutaras*. Some of the houses had ovens resembling *tandoors*, and cylindrical pits lined with lime-mortar, used possibly for the storage of foodgrains. This is the pattern which prevails in the villages in Rajasthan even now.

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¹⁴ Deshpande, M.N. 'The Harappan Settlements in Ganga-Yamuna Doab', Indian Inst. Adv. Studies, Seminar, Simla, Nov. 1977

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The citadel consisted of two almost equal but separately patterned parts. Both these parts were surrounded on all sides by a fortification wall, reinforced at intervals with rectangular bastions. The southern half contained half a dozen massive platforms of mud and mud-bricks, each separated from the other by a passage, and the northern half contained the residences of the elite.

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Because of the depredations of brick-robbers, no plans are available of the buildings which stood upon the platforms. But the available remains indicate that some of these might have been used for religious purposes. On one of the platforms were located a well, a fire altar and a rectangular pit lined with baked bricks containing bovine bones and antlers, representing perhaps sacrifices. On yet another there was a row of fire altars, a well and a series of bathing-floors. The presence of these features in the citadel is noteworthy. In the city, there were no street-drains or bathing-platforms. These amenities suggest that the inhabitants washed and bathed and performed their rituals in the citadel area.

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The city had a grid of streets which divided the area into blocks. Four arterial streets running north-south and three running east-west have been uncovered, and it is surmised that the unexcavated northern portion of the city may contain more.

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To avoid damage to the houses from vehicular traffic, wooden fender-posts were provided on some of the street-corners. There has so far been no evidence of regular street-drains. House-drains, which were either of wood or of baked bricks, discharged their contents into storage-jars buried in the floor of the street.⁶

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According to Raikes, the desertion of Kalibangan and other sites in the Sarasvati Valley took place owing to a change in the course of the river about 1800 B.C. to 1700 B.C. Owing to the tectonic changes, the Yamuna, which used to flow in the present bed of the Sarasvati, turned westwards.

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Faulted strata and ruptured walls were revealed in the excavated trenches in the pre-Harappan settlement. It seems that the pre-Harappan settlement was destroyed by an earthquake. It was rehabilitated, and subsequently flourished for about six hundred years.

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The past never disappears. It survives in the present in some shape.

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⁶Thapar, B.K. ‘Digging up the Past’, *Times of India Annual*, 1977

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B.B. Lal¹ points out that the Marwari women cover their entire arms with silver bangles like the nude dancing-girl from Mohenjo-daro. Tandoor is still in use in the villages of the Punjab for baking chapaties. In Rajasthan, villagers have platforms in front of their homes where they sit to gossip or to enjoy the warmth of the sun in winter. Sets of copper instruments, viz. tweezers (mochna), tooth-pick, and a small spoon-like device for removing wax from the ears, are still sold in the towns of Himachal Pradesh. The Harappans had a similar kit of tools.

(ii) Ahar—Banasian Culture

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The village of Ahar, about 3 furlongs [605 metres] from the Udaipur Railway Station, is known in medieval inscriptions as Aghatapura. It was the capital of Guhila kings, the ancestors of the Ranas of Mewar, before they migrated to Chittor. Close to it, on the bank of a rivulet, also called Ahar, lies a mound locally known as Dhulkot. There are other sites on the banks of the Banas and its tributaries, and hence the culture is called Banasian.

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For security, a hill-girt valley was chosen by the people of Ahar. There is a fairly good amount of rainfall, so that water for drinking and irrigation is available. This region provided excellent hunting. Deer and wild boars are still plentiful.

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For building houses, schist was available and it could be easily broken into the required size of slabs. Quartz nodules were available in abundance to strengthen and beautify the walls of mud houses.

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The plinth of houses was built with roughly dressed slabs of schist. The walls were made with mud or mud-bricks. Timber was used, but sparingly. The roof was sloping and was thatched with bamboos, and additionally covered with grass and leaves.

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These stone-and-mud-walled houses, with sloping roofs, were fairly large. The largest one so far exposed has a length of 33 feet [10 metres]. Other houses have a range between 22 × 17 feet and 10 × 9 feet [6.7 × 5.2 metres and 3 × 2.75 metres]. A reconstruction of the village of Ahar by H.D. Sankalia (Fig. 72) shows that even now there are villages in Rajasthan which are not distinguishable from it.

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Saddle querns were found in the kitchen, near the chulah. Though grains—charred or not charred—have not been discovered from Phases Ia and Ib, some cereal, e.g. wheat, must have been ground into flour, made into dough and converted into chapaties by baking on pans of clay, numerous fragments of which were found. Initially, it appeared that jwari (a kind of millet) was used in Phase Ic, the grains of which were found mixed with

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¹Lal, B.B. ‘The Indus Civilization: Problems and Issues’, Indian Inst. Adv. Studies, Seminar, Simla, Nov. 1977 clay in making pottery. There is some doubt about this find, as it was from a disturbed layer.

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The prehistoric Aharians certainly ate rice. According to Vishnu-Mittre, rice was of the long-seeded strain, perhaps the ancestor of the fragrant *Basmati* rice. Abundant impressions of rice husks on potsherds have been found from Phase a, Period I.

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Fish, turtles, fowl, cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep, deer and pig were also eaten by the people of Ahar. The bones of the domesticated cattle, *Bos indicus*, predominate among those of other animals.

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Three terracotta toy wheels indicate the use of cart by the people of Ahar. The Aharians possessed seven kinds of pottery. Of these, the Black-and-Red was used as a table ware. Red Ware and Grey Ware were also used.

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Copper tools and weapons were made from the copper ore smelted from deposits in the Aravallis. Five copper axes, one knife blade, a copper sheet, a bangle and two rings were found. The occurrence of copper slag indicates that the Aharians smelted copper.

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The Ahar axes, though thinner and with a more flaring edge, are not otherwise different from the flat socketless axes discovered from other sites in India.

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Ahar is the only site where during this period lithic blades were not used for household purposes, along with copper, and stone axes. Hence the Ahar Culture has been called the Copper Age Culture.⁸

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⁸ Sankalia, H.D. *The Prehistory and Protohistory of India and Pakistan*

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The Banasian culture is distinctive in its absence of a stone industry of any kind in its earlier phases and in the presence of numerous copper objects, particularly axes made of locally available copper. Black and Red Wares are predominant, with lustrous Red Wares appearing in later phases. Radiocarbon datings carried out at the University of Victoria, Australia, indicate the beginning of the Ahar culture around *c.* 1990 to 2144 B.C. Some late dates, 1727, 1552, 1273 B.C., are indicated by samples analysed at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. According to Allchin, the Banasian phase might have extended from 1800 to 1400 B.C.

Gujarat

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Rangpur, a Harappan site in Gujarat, south-west of Ahmedabad, was discovered in 1934. Subsequently, Lothal was discovered. Five mounds were discovered at Somnath in the Sorath District. They are marked by a chalcolithic blade industry, Harappan segmented faience beads, and dishes-on-stand pottery. A Harappan mound was discovered at Rojdi on the Bhadar River, 34 miles [55 kilometres] south of Rajkot.

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value can be judged from the fact that it is one of the three ingredients of *triphala*, an Ayurvedic medicine and tonic.

Irrigation

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The farmers of Inamgaon cultivated wheat, barley, *kulth*, *mung* and peas. A large mud embankment on a stone foundation for diverting flood water in the Ghod River through a channel dug for the purpose was also discovered at Inamgaon. According to Dhavalkar⁶, this is the earliest evidence of irrigation in India.

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⁶ Dhavalkar, M.K. "First Farmers of Maharashtra," in *Dawn of Civilization in Maharashtra* (Ed. K. Khandalavala)

The Late Harappans in the Godavari Valley

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S.A. Sali⁷ has drawn attention to some late Harappans in the Godavari Valley in Maharashtra. From an ancient site at Kalivada on a bank of a small feeder stream of the River Pravara near the village of Ambhore, in the Sangamner Taluka of the Ahmadnagar District, potteries were found which closely resemble the late Harappan red ware. Sali believes that this is the first evidence indicating the southward extension of the Harappans into the Godavari Valley.

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⁷ Sali, S.A. The Harappan Contacts in the Deccan, *Indian Inst. Advanced Study, Seminar*, Simla, Nov. 1977

Daimabad

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The Chalcolithic site at Daimabad on the Pravara River in the Ahmadnagar District was excavated by Deshpande in 1958-59. It yielded evidence of four phases, viz. Neolithic, Late Harappa, Buff and Cream Ware, Malwa and Jorwe cultures. Apart from potteries, charred grain of barley, a fragment of a copper celt, and microliths of chert and chalcedony were discovered from the Late Harappan phase.

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In 1974, a hoard of bronzes was discovered by a Bhil from the roots of shrubs which he was uprooting for fuel. Sali ascribes them to the Late Harappan phase. These comprise a chariot with a pair of humped bullocks yoked to it. This must be the breed present in Maharashtra in 1300 B.C. It was used for ploughing, pulling carts and chariots (Fig. 140). The chariot is driven by a naked man. Attached to his penis is a four-hooded cobra. In front of him is a dog standing on the central pole. Other animals in the hoard are a rhino, a buffalo and an elephant. Obviously, it is a cult image. According to Sali, the man represents the Pasupati, Shiva, the Lord of Beasts.

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A pot recovered from Inamgaon has a painting showing two zebus yoked to a bullock-cart (Fig. 141).

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The Harappan Daimabad was a sizeable town covering more than 20 a thali combined with a stool.

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Utensils of quartz, copper, ivory and bone, terracotta toys, and seals and beads of sundry materials have been discovered. The toys include terracotta animal figurines and carts. The weights of quartz or agate are identical with those of the Indus Valley. Spearheads, arrowheads, axes and fish-hooks of copper or bronze were also recovered.

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According to S.R. Rao, ‘Lothal as well as the Indus Valley cities received gold from the Kolar and Hatti gold mines in Karnataka. The occurrence of typical Harappan products such as disc-beads of white steatite at Maski, Piklihal, Tekkalakota, Utnur (2300 B.C.), and flat copper celts at Tekkalakota (1700 B.C.) and Hallur, all situated within the gold-producing region of Deccan, assumes great significance in the present context. Recently some neolithic sites have been discovered in the ancient gold-working region around Kolar in Karnataka and Hosur in Tamil Nadu. It is not improbable that the gold from Kolar and Hatti mines was carried over land and sea routes through one of the ancient ports situated on the west coast mentioned by later Greek writers. 14Carbon date or the Indus culture of Lothal is 2300 B.C.

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(ii) RANGPUR

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Rangpur is 30 miles [48 kilometres] to the south-west of Lothal. In the second millennium B.C., a part of the population of Lothal apparently set out for the interior of Kathiawar, settling at Rangpur. Rangpur was undoubtedly inhabited earlier, since agate and jasper microliths, not associated with pottery, have been found there. The traces of Indus culture at Rangpur are the same as those at Lothal. They represent a later phase and include utensils of poorer quality. This deterioration is accentuated towards the end of the second millennium, when the pottery became decadent and the weights and knives of quartz disappeared. In the first millennium, two types of pottery were in use: the bright red and the red-and-black.

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‘Rangpur excavations have thus not only confirmed the Harappan penetration into Gujarat-Saurashtra, but have also shown that there was a pre-Harappan settlement, and a continuation after the destruction of Harappan.

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‘With these changes we should note the presence of the horse and bajra, besides the absence of so many typical Harappan objects of daily use and the presence of newer ones. Except in the climate and vegetation and to a great extent in the fauna—cattle, buffalo, sheep, goat, pig and deer—there was a great change in the lifeways of the inhabitants of Period III at Rangpur’.¹⁰

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¹⁰ Sankalia, H.D. The Prehistory and Protohistory of India and Pakistan, pp. 380, 381

(iii) Surkotda, District Kutch

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The site at Surkotda in the Kutch District was discovered in 1965, and has provided us with evidence regarding the diffusion of the Harappan culture from Sind via the land route. The excavation brought to light a sequence of three cultural periods. In the earliest period, the objects found were largely Harappan. They included long chert blades, beads of steatite, carnelian, lapis lazuli, faience and terracotta; copper rings, bangles and a spearhead; terracotta toy cart-frames, bangles and cakes; bone objects; and a large number of clay *lingas*. The pottery showed typical Harappan forms, the Indus goblet, dish-on-stand, perforated jar, handled cup, as also characteristic Harappan painted designs, such as the fish scale, *pipal* leaf, cranes, deer, and plantains.

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In Period II, the Harappan elements were less pronounced. Among the finds were a copper flat celt and a chisel, indicating some metallurgical sophistication. The upper levels yielded sherds of the white-painted black-and-red ware of the Ahar fabric which indicated that a new group of settlers had arrived.

Madhya Pradesh

Kayatha, District Ujjain

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The Kayatha culture was discovered by V.S. Wakankar in 1964. Kayatha is the ancient Kāpiṭṭhaka situated on the right bank of the River Choti Kali Sindh, a tributary of the Chambal, about 25 kilometres to the east of Ujjain.

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The Kayathans had distinctive pottery, copper tools and ornaments, and also lithic blades. Their houses were round or rectangular and had wooden posts, placed at intervals, supporting a split bamboo screen, plastered with mud inside as well as outside. The roofs were conical or flat.

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The Kayathans were the earliest settlers of Malwa who lived in houses, possessed wheel-made pottery, used tools and weapons of stone and copper or bronze and probably cultivated wheat. The period when the first settlement took place would be around 2000 B.C., as suggested by a few ¹⁴C dates. About 1800 B.C. the Kayathans disappeared from the scene.

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The people of Kayatha believed in the cult of the stylized bull. Kayatha has yielded a large number of these bulls in terracotta. A clay figure of a horse has also been discovered from Kayatha. It is a powerful piece of sculpture which conveys the restless energy of a horse.

Nagda

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Nagda on the Chambal was another important settlement. Like Kayatha it has thick debris of the Chalcolithic Period.

v1.c18.s8.t2.2

Bisht, R.S. Harappa Culture in Punjab: A study in Perspective, *Indian Inst. Adv. Studies, Seminar*, Simla, Nov. 1977

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Deshpande, M.N. The Harappan Settlements in Ganga-Yamuna Doab, *Indian Inst. Adv. Studies, Seminar*, Simla, Nov. 1977

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Dikshit, M.G. Excavations at Rangpur, *Deccan College Res. Inst.* B, XI, 1950-51

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Ghosh, A. *Indian Archaeology, 1953-54—a Review*, New Delhi, 1954

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Joshi, J.P. Overlap of Late Harappan Culture and Painted Grey Ware Culture in the Light of Recent Excavations in Haryana, Punjab and Jammu, *Indian Inst. Adv. Studies, Seminar*, Simla, Nov. 1977

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Khatri, A.P. Koregaon: The Mid-Paleolithic cum Chalcolithic site on R. Bhima (Maharashtra), *Anthropologist*, Vol. IV (Nos. 1-2), pp. 14-9

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Lal, B.B. The Indus Script: Some Observations Based on Archaeology, *Jour. Roy. Asiatic Soc.*, 1975

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Mackay, E.J.H. *Further Excavations at Mohenjo-daro*, Delhi, 1938

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Marshall, J. *Mohenjo-daro and the Indus Culture*, Delhi, 1931

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Piggott, S. *Prehistoric India*, London, 1950

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Rao, S.R. The Excavations at Lothal, *Lalit Kala*, III-IV, 1956-57

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Rao, S.R. *Lothal and the Indus Civilization*, Bombay, 1973

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Sankalia, H.D. *The Prehistory and Protohistory of India and Pakistan*, Poona, 1974

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Sharma, Y.D. Transformation of the Harappa Culture in the Punjab, in *Archaeological Congress and Seminar*, 1972, Kurukshetra, 1976

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Sharma, Y.D. Value of Common Painted Ceramic Designs from Different Sites as Guide to Chronology with Special Reference to Pottery from Bara (Punjab), in *Radiocarbon and Indian Archaeology* (Ed. D.P. Agrawal and A. Ghosh), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay, 1973