Mahabharat Times

Mahabharat Times

Continuation of Jambudwipa Series

Compared to Ramayana, which is a simple story of adventure of a prince in exile, Mahabharata is a story of generations of kings encompassing many dynasties and regions with encyclopedic detail. To restrict it to a limited geographical context is an extremely difficult exercise. Yet, attempts were made, and the most popular one is its identification with the Painted Grey Ware cultures of Upper Ganges Basin as the central stage of the epic.

Central to this geographical context is the capital city, of feuding cousins in the principal story, 

Hastināpura. 

A site near Meerut was excavated by Prof. Lal in early fifties. Majority scholars are of the opinion that it is the same as Hastinapur, the capital city of Kurus in Mahabharata. Fortunately, it is one of the sites where proper archeological method was followed and the sequence of occupation over long period – from 1300 BCE to the 15th century CE – is established. See table.

If the above hypothesis of PGW context is correct, the Mahabharata battle should have had taken place towards the end of that period that is 800 BCE. Our tradition maintains that Vedavyasa, who had codified the Vedic lore into four distinct compendia, belonged to the same period. Max Muller’s sequence of 200 years per each literary tradition until the birth of Buddhism conveniently fits in.

Pre 800 BCE                  Vedic Period

800 – 600 BCE               Brahmanic Period

600 – 400 BCE            Upanishadic Period

Pargiter’s examination of Puranas had thrown up some very strong arguments against this conventional chronology. But he belonged to late 19^th and early 20^th Century, a fact that had forced him to fit the data – he so painstakingly collated – into a chronology agreed by majority.

His inferences have left more unanswered questions than settling the matter. Nevertheless he had to agree – though reluctantly – to a date of 2200 BCE or earlier for the beginning of Puranic tradition. 

Therefore, it can only be counterproductive if we continue to delve on conventional chronology given in our text books. 

Aryan Invasion is a closed chapter in our historiography.

Our Ancient Indian Historical Sources – Puranas and Epics – have adequate data to reconstruct India’s prehistory.

Our challenge is not to be carried away to make religious brownies but to anchor the tradition in verifiable archaeological fact.

A date is given…

Mahapadma abhisekatstu

yavaj janma  Pariksitah

evam  varşa-sahasram tu

jneyam  pancadasuttaram

1050 years have passed

between birth of Parikshit

and

coronation of Mahapadma

Puranas also say that Nandas ruled for 90 years and were replaced by Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta, known in Greek sources as Sandrocottus, came to power in 321 BCE.  Therefore, Parikshit was born in 321 + 90 + 1050 = 1461 BCE. As per the epic and puranic tradition, Parikshit is posthumous son of Abhimanyu, who died in the Great War. That takes the main story of Mahabharata to circa 1500 BCE.

Now let us look at the genealogical table of Bharata lineage. The table shows the list of kings between the close of Treta Yuga, marked by the story of Ramayana, to the end of Dwapara Yuga, marked by the Mahabharata. The capital, Hastinapura was built by Hasti, an ancestor of the heroes of the epic who reigned 20 generations before the war. Taking an average of 18 years per generation, considering factors related to a declining civilization, we may conclude that the capital was founded around 1850 BCE. See table.

If you look at the archaeological sequence of Hastinapura excavated by Prof. Lal, there is a thin layer of Pre 1200 BCE before one reaches the natural soil. This earliest level consisted of sporadic occupations with the presence of Ochre Colored Pottery. OCP is seen as a degenerate continuation of Late Harappan style by many. Even if it is an independent style, archaeological continuity at many sites is noted. Whereas, Painted Grey Ware always occurred after a short gap in occupation or presence of Black and Red pottery in between.   

Therefore, the site Hastinapura excavated by Prof. Lal  cannot be the city in Mahabharata. It is probably a settlement that came into existence a few centuries after the original city was destroyed by floods. This original capital must have been somewhere to the west-northwest of the doab. There are more than 563 candidates that show Late-Harappan occupation between Sutlej and Yamuna in the time bracket 1900-1400 BCE. The easternmost site being Alamgirpur – 30 miles to the west of Ganges – the capital cannot be further east. 

This brings us to the possibility that the city belonged to a period when Yamuna was still flowing westward into Drishadvati valley, course of erstwhile Saraswati or commonly called Ganga as a remembrance of its past glory. So the city of Hastinapura, was in the environs of the region currently known as Kurukshetra – the Land of Kurus – where the battle had taken place. 

Let us look at the simple logic. 

If Point A is the capital of the kingdom and the Point B is a city of the challenger, the battle for possession of capital can only take place between A and B and not a place away from both. 

The present identification of Hastinapur falls between the Panchala capital, Ahicchatra and the battlefield Kurukshetra. So it is reasonable to assume that the capital of Kurus was on the Drishadvati valley when a large volume of Yamuna headwaters still flowed into it.

You may ask, “Why the Drishadvati Valley?”

Archaeologically speaking, the largest concentration of Late-Harappan sites – 563 by the latest count – is between Sutlej and Yamuna with Drishadvati at its center.

Secondly, Viswamitra, the progenitor of Bharata race, The Bull of Bharatas (Bharata-Rishabha) has his wife Drishadvati, indicating a connection. I have indicated in my earlier post (Geography of Ramayana) a possible connection between Kekeya region and the rise of Bharatas.

Thirdly and most importantly, the legend of Balarama associated with the destruction of Hastinapura.

BALARAMA ... BLACK & RED WARE ... IRON 

RICE CULTIVATION ... END OF HARAPPAN ERA

Mahabharata and most of the principal puranas relate this story. 

Balarama, angered by the abduction of his son, Samba, threatens to destroy the Elephant City. He wields his plough and makes a furrow drawing the waters of Yamuna away from the city. This indicates a riparian migration of the headwaters of Yamuna away from Drishadvati valley to its current channel. This had happened towards the end of Late-Harappan phase, hastening its end. 

We know that this archaeological phase was followed immediately by the BRW phase from circa 1400 BCE. Black and Red pottery is associated with the sites of Gujarat and Malva before its spread to the Gangetic basin. The culture has strong association with rice as its staple. BRW phase heralded the widest spread of agrarian cultures to the east and south of the subcontinent. Rice cultivation involves transplantation of seedlings and Balarama’s another name is Sankarshana – meaning ‘Transplant’ or ‘Transplanter’.  

Further, BRW culture is strongly identified with Yadavas. Puranic genealogies indicate a short tenure of Yadavas operating out of Hastinapura immediately following the Great War. Atharva Veda deride the users of Nila-Lohita (Black & Red) pottery as inferior people. Both puranic and epic tradition of Bharatas confirms that its compilation had taken place not in the cities but in the hermitages in Naimisha forest, indicating separation from mainstream civilization after the war.

All these indicate a disruption in the Bharata line after the Mahabharata. Attempts later at connecting the ruling lineage of Kāmpilya with the protagonists of Mahabharata legend had taken place during the reign of Adhisima Krishna, who claimed his descent from its heroes. See table.

His name – Adhisima-Krishna – suggests a final reconciliation of Yadava and Bharata lines and the incorporation of Yadava heroes into the epic. 

 Puranas make Adhisimakrishna a contemporary of Senajit of Magadha and Divakara of Ayodhya in the east, bringing the middle Gangetic basin into civilization orbit coinciding with the establishment of early BRW and PGW centers there leading up to the Second Urbanization.

So what was the original Hastinapura, the celebrated Elephant City?

Is it Banawali or Rakhigarhi? Both are large enough to qualify. 

Since Rakhigarhi probably falls on late Yamuna-Drishadvati course, 

I shall cast my vote on Rakhigarhi … until further evidence.

Archaeology: Karnataka’s Best Kept Secret

Archaeology: Karnataka’s Best Kept Secret

Now out in the open!

We know about Halebid, Badami and Pattadakal and of course the famous ruins of Hampi, part of what we call the World Heritage. 

Now, the Archaeological Survey of India springs a surprise. 

They want Hirebenekal to be included in the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, deservedly!

 360 degrees view of Hirebenekal Site

Hirebenekal….???? 

Ever heard of it? 

I’m sure you haven’t … unless you are a part of the closely knit group of archaeologists.

Let me tell you. It has been a couple of years since I had visited this site, prodded by a few archaeologist friends. Even though I have this habit of writing about the sites I visit almost immediately, I had refrained from doing it … with very good reason. 

“Why?” You may ask.

Probably it is some kind of instinctive reaction, to guard a treasure that you have found. 

Hill of Hirebenekal

Nature had kept it away from the human eyes and their desecrating hands for millennia, a fact that allowed its preservation in its virginal state. 

You may be getting a bit restless and want to shout,

“Where the hell is this?”

Now that the news is out in the open, let me tell you where it is.

The easier route to reach the place requires eight kilometers of trek through the hills and bush, with every chance of getting lost in the zigzagging goat paths. The tougher, more scenic route is a day’s trek through the leopard and sloth-bear infested hills from Hampi. Few people, not even the local shepherds, will be able to guide you. Your compass or GPS is of no use. Some field archaeologists of ASI had made some markings on rocks to guide us from the nearest village. It is easier to decipher Harappan script than these enigmatic signs. 

Rangappa, the Guide

Then, how do you go there?

Firstly, don’t even look at the Google Maps. You won’t find it. Hirebenekal is a nonexistent village. Hire means ‘old’ in the local lingo. There is a Benekal village a kilometer off the Gangavati - Koppal Road … if you drive 14 km from Gangavati – it is a mile after the bridge across Tungabhadra High Level Canal.

 An easy walk through the paddies

If you are lucky, you may find this very helpful farmer who lives there called Rangappa. He knows his way through the jungle like the back of his hand. He speaks Kannada and Telugu, spoken locally. It is essential that you find him before venturing across the rice paddies and the few orchards at the edge of human habitation. Once you start climbing the hills with its characteristic granite outcrops, you just follow him. 

Carry lots of water, you’ll need it, not only to quench your thirst but to sprinkle generously on the rocky walls of the shelters used by our Neolithic ancestors, to share the rock-art that they had left behind. The rock-art depicts some hunters on horseback and has a few similarities with the Mesolithic art of Bhimbetka and the Neolithic sites of Kurnool region. This alone is worth the trek.  

But, once you reach the top, it’s a wide undulating plain surrounding a small lake fed by a natural spring ... 

There are no words to describe the spectacular man-made landscape. 

 

Hundreds of huge ‘Dolmens’ …

It looks like some kind of uninhabited town with stone houses. These houses certainly are bigger than the Dharavi shanties. But, they were not meant to house the living. They are tombs. Their sizes are more or less uniform – Eight to Twelve feet square – built of stone slabs, more than half a foot thick. 

What are these Dolmens? 

They are burial chambers – above the ground. A base slab for floor, four vertical square slabs making it into a box and a cap stone – a slab usually circular – covering the chamber. The smallest of the chambers is about 8X8 feet square and a capstone of 10 feet diameter. The slabs are anywhere between 8 to 10 inches thick made of granite. 

Let us calculate the weight of 175 cubic feet of granite. Average weight of one cubic foot of granite is 168 pounds = 76 kilos. So a capstone weighed nothing less than 13 metric tons. Even the walls weighed ten tons a piece. How did they carry them – leave aside lifting them to ten foot height. 

Easy, isn’t it? 

You just need a crane, call Caterpillar. 

But the guys who did this belonged to a period which we call – Stone Age. 

They used tools knapped out of natural rock. Probably, they smelted iron from the Hematite that abounds in the neighbourhood … but that doesn’t explain their ability to cart and lift those weights.  

The area 500 Mts. above MSL, with a small spring-fed lake wouldn’t have supported a large labour force permanently. If you see the terrain, the possibility of their using any wheeled transport is out of the question. Assuming that one individual can lift and carry forty kilos, they would have needed 400 people to lift a single capstone.

Yet, they had built these dolmens – hundreds of them.

Sometimes I wonder if their intention in leaving them for us to discover was not to shock us and spoil our feeling of superiority. 

Shocked … Certainly, I was. 

I began exploring the valley with a small camera in hand. With a sharp eye, one may find a few unfinished hand axes and scrapers that lay on the surface and a few potsherds too. The area was certainly inhabited by people, two thousand years ago, probably a small unit of workmen, who mined the stone. 

 Stone working area next to the lake

They must have used a simple technique of heating the surface stone – layer over layer, formed eons ago due to some sequential volcanic activity – and suddenly cooled them by pouring water from the lake to induce fractures. The area surrounding the lake clearly shows the evidence of such activity.

But the actual carting and building of dolmens was done by larger groups of men, probably by those who gathered at the funeral and lent a hand. Even then, whoever afforded such burial and a funeral so grand must have been a very rich person. 

The number of dolmens raises a couple of question … for how long and how prosperous the country surrounding this place had been. 

Archaeologists estimate that these dolmens belong to a period of five centuries immediately before Christ that coincides with the Iron Age in India.

Debatable! 

The potsherds found certainly are similar to those found in other Iron Age (Mauryan / Asokan) sites like Brahmagiri etc. But the stone tools used are of an earlier milieu. More research may throw up facts that may shock us even more. 

Finally, you may now ask, why I had refrained from mentioning this site in my earlier posts. 

Protective Boundary Wall

Because, this greatest archaeological treasure is unprotected, except for a short wall of stones marking the boundary, away from the greatest depredator of artifacts and monuments, who is commonly called ‘tourist’. 

Until, ASI installs a proper protection and conservation mechanism, it is better the site stays away from the human eye and the tourist map, as it is. 

UNESCO ... 
and its conservation regimen 
are essential now to protect this heritage

also read  
http://www.archaeology.org/1005/etc/india.html