A History of Agriculture in India v1.c26.3

v1.c26.3

THE invasion of India by the Aryans was not a single action. It extended over centuries, and wave after wave of the Aryans came and poured into India through the passes, viz. Khyber, Gomel, Bolan and Tochi. It seems that about 1100 B.C. a large wave of iron-using Aryans entered India. Slowly, they moved from north-west to east. They entered the area now known as western Uttar Pradesh about 1000 B.C. From about 1000 B.C., the use of iron spread from Baluchistan, Gandhara to eastern Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. It reached eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the seventh century B.C. Apart from iron objects, a grey pottery, known as Painted Grey Ware, is also associated with the later Aryans. The location of some of the important sites of Painted Grey Ware is shown in Fig. 154. This type of pottery has been found in numerous sites in the Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. It always overlies the layers associated with the Harappan culture.