A History of Agriculture in India v1.c19.s7.31

v1.c19.s7.31

The earliest-known occurrence of chickpea and a specimen, probably belonging to a wild species of *Cicer*, were reported from the Hacilar site near Burdur in Turkey. The deposits in these layers were dated by using the ¹⁴C method to about 5450 years B.C. (Helbaek, 1970). For later millennia (*c.* 3300 B.C. onwards during the Bronze Age) the proof of its cultivation was found in Iraq and at Jericho. The late Bronze Age specimens of chickpea were discovered stored in large vessels in Crete. In India the introduction of chickpea may be attributed to the Harappans, who were the earliest to cultivate it.