History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Incorporating the History of Hindu Chemistry by Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray c13.4

c13.4

In the Gangetic basin and on the uplands to the south-east quite a large number of copper tools, sometimes in hoards of 400 or more objects, have been found, notably at Gungeria, Balaghat (C. P.), in the valleys of the Ganges and the Jumna, and at or about the Ranchi uplands. They consist mostly of flat copper or bronze axes and the elongated axes or chisel called ‘bar-celt’, besides a number of copper harpoons. These seem to suggest a colonisation of the Ganges’ basin and the neighbouring hilly and forest regions by the refugees and the displaced persons from the Indus Valley, when the Harappan Empire broke up as a result of barbarian invasion from the west. The deposition of hoards suggests a time of instability and insecurity, as the panicky refugees were retreating from the pursuit of barbarian invaders.