A History of Agriculture in India v1.c23.s8.13

v1.c23.s8.13

**Archaeobotanical Record of Rice.** The earliest archaeobotanical record of rice in India is from Lothal (2300 B.C.) and Rangpur (2000 to 1800 B.C.) in Gujarat. This is in the form of impressions of spikelets on potsherds. Gujarat, which is largely a dry area, is hardly the habitat for rice. It is what is known as an accident of archaeology and no attempt should be made to read too much in it. In due course, older sites may be discovered in eastern India, which is the true home of rice. It is the find of *Oryza sativa* from Neolithic Chirand in Bihar (2000 to 1300 B.C.) which is much more significant. *Oryza sativa* was also found from Pandu Rajar Dhibi (second millennium B.C.) from West Bengal. It is also recorded from Navdatoli (1550-1400 B.C.), Hastinapur (1100-800 B.C.) and Atranjikhera (1200-600 B.C.) in Uttar Pradesh. The location of these sites is shown in Fig. 144. Spikelets, husks and grains of rice found in an excavation at Hastinapur are shown in Fig. 147.