A History of Agriculture in India v1.c22.s3: Chalcolithic Sites in the Deccan

A History of Agriculture in India v1.c22.s3

Language: English

v1.c22.s3.t1 Nevasa (Ahmadnagar District, Maharashtra), 1500 B.C. — 5 parts
v1.c22.s3.t2 Discovery of Silk — 18 parts
v1.c22.s3.t3 Cultivation of Pulses — 11 parts
v1.c22.s3.t4 Millets — 3 parts
v1.c22.s3.t5 Oilseeds — 2 parts
v1.c22.s3.t6 Inamgaon — 3 parts
v1.c22.s3.t7 Fruits — 13 parts

Chalcolithic Sites in the Deccan

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In the north-western part of the Deccan plateau, traversed by the Narmada and the Tapti flowing westwards and the upper reaches of the Godavari and the Krishna flowing eastwards, a series of chalcolithic sites have been unearthed. These sites are Prakash, Bahal and Tekwada in the Tapti Valley, Daimabad and Nevasa in the upper reaches of the Godavari, Sonegao near the Krishna, Nasik, Jorwe and Chandoli on the plateau itself. An integrated study of this group of Maharashtrian sites has brought to light a number of phases. Daimabad I presents the earliest phase having cultural affinities with Saurashtra and Malwa as also with the upper neolithic phase of Karnataka. Stone axes, perforated ring-stone, a stone-blade industry and a coarse grey pottery form the cultural complex of the first phase. In the second phase, represented by Daimabad II and Prakash IA, copper knife blades, a fine reddish-brown ware and Malwa-type spouted wares appear. Jorwe, Nevasa, Chandoli and Sonegao, which represent the third phase, yield a variety of both stone and copper implements, painted red Jorwe wares with spouts, some lustrous red wares, and fibres of cotton, flax and silk. ¹⁴C datings on samples from Sonegao put the Jorwe phase between 1375 and 1290 B.C.; the second phase (Daimabad II, Prakash IA) may be placed between *c.* 1700 and 1400 B.C. by comparison with Navdatoli IIIB and IIIC, and the first Daimabad phase before 1800 B.C.³

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³ Sen, A.N. A Survey of Source Materials, in *A Concise History of Science in India*, pp. 11, 12

Nevasa (Ahmadnagar District, Maharashtra), 1500 B.C.

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Nevasa is the headquarters of a taluka of the same name in the Ahmadnagar District in Maharashtra. It is situated on both the banks of the River Pravara, a tributary of the Godavari, and is about 177 kilometres northeast of Pune. It is an important chalcolithic site in Maharashtra.

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A large mound overlooks the river. The portion lying on the left bank is nearly 300 metres long and 100 metres wide. It is called “Lādmod”, and is cut up into three smaller mounds. From the water-level it is nearly 21.5 metres high, the top 9 metres or so containing the debris of four cultural periods from 1500 B.C. to A.D. 1500.

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The earliest occupants settled on a thick layer of black soil. They cut the jungle with the help of copper and polished stone axes. For the rest of the cutting and clearing, they used short parallel-sided and Gravette-like blades and points of a limpid chalcedony. True saws also occur in this assemblage. The technique by which blades were removed has been described as a “Crested Ridge and Fluted Core” technique, and is a common feature of all the Chalcolithic cultures. Among the heavier tools, we have occasionally mace-head or weight for a digging-stick, small querns, mullers, and rubbers. Large querns are comparatively very few, as agriculture was in its infancy. Negatively, this is confirmed by the absence of any grains, and the recovery of vast quantities of animal bones, among which those of cattle predominate. Pottery is wheel-made, and is matt with geometric paintings in black over a red surface. It is so well-baked that when struck, it gives a metallic ring. The shapes are again comparatively limited, carinated bowls of various sizes, vessels with tubular spout and flaring mouth and carinated belly, and vessels with globular body and high neck. Among the unpainted group there are storage jars, with finger-tip decoration, basins or troughs and fine black slipped ware with red coating.

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The people of Nevasa lived in mud huts which were generally square or rectangular. These were built with the help of thick wooden posts (Fig. 133). The floors were made with lime and clay but at times with a bedding of sand or gravel. The size of the rooms is 2.7 × 1.5 metres. In a corner of the room was a squarish chulah.

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Burials. Burial within the house was an approved custom. Of the 131 burials found by Sankalia at Nevasa, 126 were of children. This indicates heavy child mortality. Children were normally buried in two urns, placed horizontally facing each other (Fig. 133). Adults were buried in pits dug for the purpose. The body was extended and lay north-south. It seems that before burial the body was exposed and the flesh was allowed to dry up. Feet were cut off and the rest of the skeleton was placed in a pit dug up in the house. This practice was probably adopted to ensure that the soul of the deceased ancestor may not walk off, deserting the family. Pots and pans used by the deceased were placed near the skeleton.

Discovery of Silk

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Several of the burials at Nevasa were endowed with funerary goods, such as small pots and beads made of shell, agate, carnelian and copper. In one burial, a copper bangle was found around the leg-bone of a child; the burial was very rich in pottery as well. The most remarkable find, however, was that of a necklace of 17 barrel-shaped copper beads strung with thread, worn round the neck of a child buried in urns. A.N. Gulati, who examined the thread, is of the opinion that it was of white silk, apparently spun from cocoons on a cotton nep. This is thus the earliest evidence of the use of silk in India.

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*Bombyx huttoni*, the Indian silk moth of north-western Himalayas, is ancestral to several of the domesticated *Bombyx* according to Zeuner. There are five silk-producing species of *Bombyx* in India. In addition to *Bombyx* silk, there are species of Saturniidae which are the producers of coarser and harder tusser silk. They include *Antheraea mylitta* of India (Fig. 134), which feeds on the leaves of ber tree, *Ziziphus mauritiana*.

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Gulati found the presence of millet-cells and epidermal hairs, besides fungal spores, in the earth sticking to the copper beads. This, according to him, would indicate the use of cattle-dung in the burial rite. In addition, he noticed the presence of oil-globules in the material surrounding the string, which suggests the use of oil for anointing the body. Polished celts and an adze were also recovered. The few copper objects included fish-hooks, wires and a bangle.

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NAVDATOLI (THE NIMAD DISTRICT, MADHYA PRADESH), 1657 B.C.—1443 B.C.

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Navdatoli is a key-site of the Chalcolithic culture of the Narmada basin. Now it is a small hamlet inhabited by boatmen (*nāvdas*). The Narmada, which in the past was below the hamlet, is now about 600 metres away.

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Sankalia, who excavated this site, thus describes its culture. ‘The inhabitants built round and square or rectangular huts, raised on thick wooden posts. Around these were put bamboo screens, plastered with clay from outside and inside. At Inamgaon in district Poona, huts were constructed in a similar manner (Fig. 138). The floor was also made of clay mixed with cowdung. Both were then given a thick coating of lime, so that the house when first built must have looked spick and span. The size of the largest rectangular room was 20 feet by 40 feet [6 metres by 12 metres]. But sometimes a circular hut was only three to four feet [0.9 to 1.2 metres] in diameter, the largest being of 8 feet [2.4 metres] in diameter. So, it is doubtful, if the small one was meant for habitation. Such small huts might have been used for storing grain or hay. But normally in Period II the size of a room was 10 feet × 8 feet [3 metres × 2.4 metres]. How many persons lived in a room or a house can only be guessed. But, possibly, not more than four in a room of 8 feet × 10 feet [2.4 metres × 3 metres]. Secondly, the settlement was so often rebuilt, as evidenced by house floors, that it is difficult to distinguish the house plans by mere occurrences of post-holes. But judging from the modern village of Navdatoli, one may guess that the prehistoric village might have had 50 to 75 huts, supporting a population of about 200 persons.

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‘In one house was found a well-made rectangular pit. Its sides are slightly bevelled; all round there are postholes; on either side at some distance is a pot-rest made into the ground, and possibly the remains of a single-mouthed hearth. Inside the pit were found two charred logs of wood and the remains of two pots. These have a high corrugated neck with everted rim, a ribbed ovalish body with one or two incised bands, filled in with lime and a high hollow base.

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‘These houses were built very close to each other. But between a row of 4 or 5 houses, it appears, there was an open space, like a *chowk*. These houses were furnished, as can be expected of those days and as we find in a farmer’s house even today, with earthen pots for storing, cooking and drinking. The large storage jars were strong and sturdy but generally decorated with an engraving along the neck. But what surprises us and delights our eye is their "table service", or dinner set. It is this which distinguishes these Early Navdatolians from the modern primitives like Santals and other tribes in Chota Nagpur, for instance. The Navdatolians had a large number of pottery vessels which according to their fabric, shapes and designs fall into four distinctive groups, each having certain shapes and designs associated with a particular period. The most common is a pale-red slipped fabric with paintings in black over it. Since this occurs throughout Malwa (an old geographical name for parts of Central India), it is called the "Malwa Ware". This occurs as a major pottery fabric right from the first occupation and runs through the entire Chalcolithic habitation. However, in the earliest period only certain shapes and designs figure, both becoming more varied later.

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'Then there is a sprinkling of black-and-red ware, with paintings in white, comprising generally bowls with gracefully inturned sides and cups. This fabric is confined only to Period I, and seems definitely to be an import from the adjoining region of Rajputana, where at Ahar it occurs in profusion.

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'The third important fabric is the white-slipped one. It is associated with the first two periods only, but died out later. It has several gradations in slip and texture, but the finest is smooth, lustrous and slightly greenish-white.

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'Though it copies some of the shapes of the Malwa ware, its own distinctive shapes are a shallow dish with broad, flat rim and stand, and a high concave-walled cup with bulging bottom. An almost complete bowl of the latter in fine white slip recalls a similar vessel from the earliest period at Sialk, in Iran. A band of running antelopes and dancing human figures seem to be characteristic designs.

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'A number of querns were found, as they were left by their users, right on the kitchen floor, near *chulhas* or hearths. The *chulhas* were quite large, made with clay and thinly plastered with lime. It is, however, not to be presumed that the inhabitants were strictly vegetarians. In the debris of their houses have been found remains of cattle, pig, sheep, goat, and deer. Except for the last, all must have been domesticated and eaten. But since the grains were varied and plentiful they relied less on animal food, and hence their remains are comparatively few in number as compared to those from Nevasa.

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'The early inhabitants of Navdatoli were fairly well off. They were essentially farmers or peasants, though a section might be living by hunting and fishing. They used copper but sparingly in the shape of simple, flat axes (Fig. 135), fish-hooks, pins and rings. In a later phase possibly they used daggers or swords with a midrib. So for their daily needs of cutting

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Fig. 126. Foodgrains, fruit and timber discovered from Navdatoli-Maheswar (After Vishnu-Mittre)

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vegetables, scraping leather and piercing stone, they had to rely upon stone tools; their blades are so small that we call them "microliths". These were hafted in bone and wooden handles.

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'The stalks of the crops were probably cut with sickles set with stone teeth, as thousands of such stone tools have been found.'¹³

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¹³ Sankalia, H.D. From Food Collection to Urbanisation in India, Indian Anthropology, Essays in Memory of D.N. Majumdar, pp. 89 to 93

Cultivation of Pulses

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Apart from two types of wheat and seeds of linseed (Linum usitatissimum), Navdatoli had five kinds of pulses, viz. (i) masur, or lentil (Lens culinaris), (ii) urd, or mash (Vigna mungo), (ii) mung, or green-gram (Vigna radiata), (iv) khesari (Lathyrus sativus), and (v) Lathyrus sp., besides four other leguminous weeds. This is the first record of pulses from India and shows their antiquity (Fig. 137).

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Mung (Green-gram). Grains of mung were discovered at Navdatoli. This discovery indicates that this pulse was eaten by the people of Navdatoli.

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Botanical evidence shows that the original home of mung is India. A wild relative of mung, Vigna sublobata (Phaseolus sublobatus) is found in the tarai jungle near Pantnagar, District Naini Tal. It is immune to yellow mosaic virus and is used in plant breeding. From India, mung spread to other countries in the ancient times. The regions between Afghanistan and the Soviet Republics of Tadjikistan and Uzbekistan have been proposed as the secondary homes of this pulse.

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Mash, Urd (Black-gram). Mash was consumed as a pulse crop by the Chalcolithic (c. 1500 B.C.) people of Navdatoli, as already stated. In the Vedic (before 800 B.C.) and post-Vedic periods, mash enriched the Indian diet and cookery to a great extent. In fact, it was so much accepted in the ancient Indian culture that it was even used in the socio-religious ceremonies. It began to be used as a horse food from the Maurya and Sunga periods (300 B.C. to A.D. 75). The Sanskrit name mash gave origin to the word masha, used as a unit of weight in India. Botanical evidences suggest that the original home of mash is India, where it seems to have been first domesticated. From India this pulse spread to other countries in the ancient times and its spread is closely connected with the cultural histories of the recipient countries. The regions between Afghanistan, Soviet Republic of Tadjikistan, Uzbekistan and Western Tian Shan are proposed as the secondary homes of this pulse.⁴

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⁴ Mehra, K.L., History of Mash Pulse in India, V.I.J. Vol. III, 1970

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Masur. The history of masur (Lens culinaris) is complicated. It was consumed by the Chalcolithic (c. 1500 B.C.) people of Navdatoli, as already stated. In the Vedic (before 800 B.C.) and post-Vedic periods, masur enriched the Indian diet and cookery. The fact that the masur pulse was interdicted in the sraddh ceremony would indicate its exotic origin. However, it was only after A.D. 1000 that masur was accepted as a sacred gift to Brahmins. It began to be used as a horse food after A.D. 800 but it was considered to be of lower quality than gram. Fig. 127 illustrates a masur plant with pods.

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Vavilov proposed four centres of origin for masur, viz. the Central Asiatic Centre, the Near Eastern Centre, the Mediterranean region extending from N.W. India, Kashmir, N.W. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Soviet Republics of Tadjikistan, Uzbekistan and West Tian Shan, the interior of Asia Minor, the whole of Transcaucasia, Iran and the highlands of Turkmenistan, the Mediterranean extending to Abyssinia, Eritrea and Somaliland. Helbaek believed the Anatolian-Caucasian region as the centre of origin of the masur pulse, from where it spread to Europe at an early date. The earliest record of masur is from Jarmo in Iraq, dating to the seventh millennium B.C. Renfrew considered Greece to be the centre of the origin and domestication of the masur pulse. The fact that the masur pulse was identified among the plant remains of an early neolithic habitation (6220 ± 150 B.C.) in Nea Nikomedia (N. Greece) would point to its ancient cultivation in Europe. Once domesticated as a cultivated plant in Europe, the masur pulse spread to Egypt and eastwards to India. Once grown in India, masur has enriched the Indian diet and cookery to such an extent that many of us hardly feel that it was first domesticated in ancient Europe.⁵

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⁵ Mehra, K.L. History of Masur Pulse in India, V.I.J. Vol. X, 1972

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Fig. 127. Lens culinaris (lentil)

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Pulses are now grown over one-seventh of the cultivated area of India.

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They figure prominently in the crop rotations and crop mixtures practised by the farmers. They are legumes and, hence, help to maintain soil fertility. They are rich in proteins and supply the major part of the protein requirements of the population of India.

Millets

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Jowar (*Sorghum bicolor*). Sorghum, or *jowar* as it is known in India, is an African plant. In Fig. 142, the stalk of a *jowar* plant is shown. Its cultivation started in East Africa 5000-7000 years ago. Its earliest record in India is from Ahar, Rajasthan, 1725 B.C. Its next record is from Bhatkuli, District Amraoti, fifth century B.C. and Paunar, third century B.C. From these centres, it seems, *jowar* spread to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

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At present, there are about 18 million hectares under *jowar*, with a production of 9 million tonnes of grain. *Jowar* occupies more area in India than any other food crop except rice. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, in that order, are the States where grain sorghum is chiefly grown. The largest area under *jowar* is in Maharashtra, i.e. to the extent of 34 per cent. Its grain is roasted when it is green. When ripe and dry, it is the favourite cereal of the Maharashtrians. There are two main types with regard to stem character: the pithy or dry stem, and the juicy stem. The stalks of the juicy type are relished by cattle.

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About 25 species of *Sorghum* are found in India. Of these, about 12 species with a number of varieties and forms belong to the series Sativa, and are grown to a greater or lesser extent for their grain in different parts of the country; their stems and leaves are used as fodder. The most important among these are *S. cernuum*, *S. durra* and *S. subglabrescens*. The rest of the species are the so-called wild sorghums, although many of them are also grown for fodder; of these, *S. halepense* is widespread in India.

Oilseeds

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Linseed. Carbonized seeds of linseed (*Linum usitatissimum*) were found at Navdatoli (Vishnu-Mittre, 1962). Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are the main linseed-growing areas. It is noteworthy that the nuclear area, viz. the area from where the seeds were first reported, is surrounded by the area in which the crop has spread most. The total area under linseed in India is now about 1.37 million hectares, with a total annual production of about 370,000 tonnes.

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Castor. A carbonized seed of castor (*Ricinus communis*) has been discovered from Ter in Maharashtra, 150 B.C. to A.D. 100 (Vishnu-Mittre, 1968).

Inamgaon

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Fig. 128. Seeds of crops, fruits and timber recovered from Inamgaon (Maharashtra), 1600 B.C. to 1000 B.C. (After Vishnu-Mittre)

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Castor had its origin in India and North Africa. India, after Brazil, is the second largest producer of castor seed with about 26 per cent of world production. Castor is mainly grown in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Fruits

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Ber (*Ziziphus nummularia*). Carbonized fruits of ber (*Ziziphus nummularia*) were found at Navdatoli (1660-1400 B.C.), and also from Kaun-dinyapur, Ter, and Inamgaon (Vishnu-Mittre) (Fig. 126). Wild ber grows all over India and Pakistan. In the food-gathering stage, it provided a fruit diet to the hunters. Its fruit is eaten fresh and is also sun-dried for storage.

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Amla (*Emblica officinalis*). Carbonized seeds of amla (*Emblica officinalis*) dated 1600 B.C. were found at Navdatoli (Vishnu-Mittre). The amla fruit is rich in vitamin C. It is pickled and candied. Its medicinal Fig. 129. Seeds of sorghum, gram and other crops from prehistoric sites Top row, left: *Eleusine coracana*, Hallur, Karnataka, 1800 B.C.; right, impressions of *Sorghum* spikelets on a pots-herd from Ahar, Rajasthan Middle row, left: *Sorghum* sp., carbonized grains from a charred mass, Bhatkuli, Maharashtra, fifth century B.C.; right, *Dolichos biflorus*, Tekkalakota, Karnataka, 1780 B.C. Bottom row, left: *Cicer arietinum*, Bhatkuli, Maharashtra, fifth century B.C.; right, carbonized fruits of *Ziziphus nummularia* from Malva-Jorwe site, Inamgaon, Maharashtra (After Vishnu-Mittre)

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[Figure: Fig. 130. Finger-millet, or ragi (Eleusine coracana), is commonly grown in Karnataka as a food crop Fig. 131. Seeds of crops from early historical site of Ter, Osmanabad, Maharashtra First row, left: *Hordeum* sp.; right, *Triticum sphaerococcum* Second row, left: Carbonized spikelets of rice from a charred mass; right, spikelets of *Oryza sativa* Third row, left: *Paspalum scrobiculatum*; right, *Pisum sativum* Fourth row, left: *Lens culinaris*; right, *Ricinus communis* Fig. 134. *Antheraea mylitta*, the tusser silk moth (female). Below are the cocoons from which silk is spun out (Courtesy: Indian Silk Board)

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Fig. 132. Reconstruction of the Chalcolithic village of Navdatoli, c. 1500 B.C. The inhabitants of Navdatoli lived in rounded huts raised on thick wooden posts. Around the framework were bamboo screens coated with clay and lime (After H.D. Sankalia)

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Fig. 133. Life and death at Nevasa, Chalcolithic, c. 1300 B.C. In the foreground is a potter's hut. Spouted pot and vessel with flaring mouth are his products. The corpse of a child is being buried enclosed in a pitcher. On a slab are polished stone-axes (Reconstruction by H.D. Sankalia)

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[Figure: Fig. 135. Copper implements from Navdatoli (Madhya Pradesh), 1400 B.C., Nevasa (Maharashtra) and Jorwe (Maharashtra)

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Fig. 136. Seeds of pulses First row: *Lens culinaris* and *Vigna radiata* Second row: *Vigna mungo* and *Cajanus cajan* Third row: *Lathyrus sativus* and *Cicer arietinum* Fig. 137. Seeds of crops from Navdatoli-Maheswar First row: *Triticum aestivum* and *Vigna mungo* Second row: *Vigna radiata* and *Lens culinaris* Third row: *Lathyrus sativus* and *Linum usitatissimum* Bottom: *Pisum sativum* value can be judged from the fact that it is one of the three ingredients of triphala, an Ayurvedic medicine and tonic.

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Fig. 138. Isometric reconstruction of Chalcolithic village, Inamgaon, District Pune, c. 700 B.C. Houses were rounded and had straw roofs supported by wooden poles (After H.D. Sankalia)

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Fig. 139. *Sorghum bicolor*

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Fig. 140. A bronze chariot with a cult figure, possibly Pasupati, Shiva, from Daimabad, Ahmadnagar District, Maharashtra, of the Chalcolithic period, c. 1300 B.C. (Courtesy: National Museum, New Delhi; Archaeological Survey of India)

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Fig. 141. A pot from Inamgaon with engraving of a cart drawn by zebu cattle (After H.D. Sankalia)

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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)