A History of Agriculture in India v1.c19.s5: Protection of Crops from Wild Animals and Birds
A History of Agriculture in India v1.c19.s5
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Protection of Crops from Wild Animals and Birds
v1.c19.s5.1
Here I may as well refer to the wildlife of the Harappan period, as represented in seals and toys. In some cases, bones of wild animals have also been recovered. The wildlife consisted of the elephant, rhinoceros, wolf, jackal, *nilgai*, gaur (Indian bison), wild buffalo and species of deer, such as the *hangul* or Kashmir stag, *chital*, *sambhar*, *barasingha*, four-horned antelope, black buck and hog deer. The *sambhar*, *barasingha* and *chital* were fairly widespread.
v1.c19.s5.2
The Harappa toys contain representations of the rhinoceros, the tiger, and the elephant. There are toys shaped as monkeys, squirrels, mongooses, snakes, pangolins, wild boar and crocodiles (Fig. 84). From among the birds, the duck, peacock, hen, kite, pigeon, dove and parakeet are represented in the toy art.
v1.c19.s5.3
Out of these wild animals and birds, *nilgai*, deer of different varieties, wild boars, and parakeets must be the cause of damage to the crops of Harappans, as they do even now wherever they are found. How did the Harappans protect their crops? Terracotta sling-balls are found in all Harappan excavations. Possibly, the farmers used these sling-balls for scaring away pests. The sling is the earliest device by which force and range were given to the arm of a thrower of missiles. Slings and sling-balls are even now used by the farmers for protecting the maize crop in the submontane areas of northern India. A boy armed with a sling standing on a *machan* in the midst of a field of maize is not an uncommon sight.