Pariksha SaathiLesson 1 of 10 · Rajasthan General Knowledge
Ancient Rajasthan: Kalibangan, Ahar-Banas Culture, Matsya and the Pratiharas
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Why ancient Rajasthan matters
Rajasthan holds one of the longest records of human settlement in India. Stone Age tools have been found along the Banas, Berach, Chambal and Luni valleys, and the state has key sites of almost every later stage: the Mesolithic at Bagor, the Harappan at Kalibangan, the Chalcolithic at Ahar, Balathal, Gilund and Ganeshwar, the Mahajanapada and Mauryan periods at Bairat, and early medieval kingdoms such as the Gurjara-Pratiharas. Exams pair each site with its district, river, excavator and signature find, so learn them in that pattern.
Bagor and the Stone Age
Bagor, on the Kothari river near Bhilwara, is one of the largest Mesolithic sites in India. Excavated by V.N. Misra, it has yielded microliths (tiny stone tools) and some of the earliest evidence of animal domestication in India, chiefly of sheep and goat. Tilwara on the Luni is another Mesolithic site. Such sites show the shift from pure hunting and gathering to herding, which is why Bagor appears in questions on the beginnings of pastoralism.
Kalibangan, the Harappan town
Kalibangan, meaning 'black bangles' after the bangle fragments on its mounds, lies on the bank of the Ghaggar (identified by many with the ancient Saraswati) in Hanumangarh district. A. Ghosh identified it as a Harappan site in 1952, and B.B. Lal and B.K. Thapar excavated it between 1961 and 1969. It has two levels: an Early (pre-) Harappan settlement and a mature Harappan town with a fortified citadel and a separately fortified lower town. Its most-asked finds are a ploughed field with criss-cross furrows from the Early Harappan level, one of the earliest such fields found anywhere, and rows of fire altars that point to ritual practice. It also preserves evidence of an ancient earthquake. Sothi, also in the north, gives its name to an Early Harappan pottery tradition.
Ahar-Banas culture
The Chalcolithic (copper-stone) people of south-eastern Rajasthan are named after Ahar, a mound locally called Dhulkot on the Ahar (Ayad) river at Udaipur, and after the Banas basin where most of their villages lie. Ahar's old name is given as Tamravati because of its copper working; it was excavated in stages from the 1950s, most fully by H.D. Sankalia. The culture's hallmarks are black-and-red pottery painted with white designs, copper axes and rings, houses of stone and mud, and farming that included rice. Gilund in Rajsamand district is a large site of the same culture. Balathal near Udaipur, excavated from 1993 under V.N. Misra, is a fortified Ahar-culture village; a skeleton found there, dated to about 2000 BCE, is the oldest known skeletal evidence of leprosy in India.
Ganeshwar, the copper hub
Ganeshwar, near Neem ka Thana at the source of the Kantli river in north-eastern Rajasthan, is called the mother of India's copper-age cultures. Excavated by R.C. Agrawal and Vijay Kumar, it has yielded a large number of copper objects, including arrowheads, fish-hooks, spearheads and axes, made from ore of the nearby Khetri belt. Because many of these tools resemble Harappan ones, Ganeshwar is seen as a supplier of copper to Harappan towns. Related sites form the Ganeshwar-Jodhpura culture.
Matsya, Bairat and the Mauryas
Of the sixteen Mahajanapadas of the 6th century BCE, Matsya lay in Rajasthan, covering the Jaipur-Alwar-Bharatpur region, with its capital at Viratnagar, modern Bairat north of Jaipur. The Mahabharata links it with King Virata, at whose court the Pandavas spent their year in disguise. Bairat gives two Mauryan records: the Bhabru edict, found by Captain Burt in 1837 and now kept in Kolkata, in which Ashoka declares his faith in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, and a minor rock edict. The remains of a circular Buddhist shrine on Bijak ki Pahadi belong to the same age. After the Mauryas, tribal republics held the region: the Malavas around Nagar near Tonk, the Yaudheyas in the north, the Arjunayanas in the Alwar-Bharatpur area and the Shibis at Madhyamika (Nagari) near Chittorgarh. In 1948 the name Matsya was revived for the first union of princely states.
Guptas and the Gurjara-Pratiharas
Samudragupta's Prayag (Allahabad) pillar inscription records that the Malavas, Arjunayanas and Yaudheyas paid him tribute, and the Bayana hoard found in 1946 near Bharatpur is the largest find of Gupta gold coins. The region around Bhinmal, Jalore and Mandore later came to be called Gurjaratra, the land of the Gurjaras. Bhinmal (Bhillamala) was a centre of learning: the mathematician Brahmagupta wrote his Brahmasphuta Siddhanta there in 628 CE, and the poet Magha belonged to it. From this region rose the Gurjara-Pratiharas, who claimed descent from Lakshmana, the doorkeeper (pratihara) of Rama. One branch ruled at Mandore; the imperial line of Nagabhata I checked the Arab advance from Sindh in the 8th century. Nagabhata II took Kannauj, and Mihir Bhoja (title Adivaraha) ruled from it an empire that fought the Palas and Rashtrakutas in the tripartite struggle; the Arab traveller Sulaiman (851 CE) praised his cavalry. Temples at Osian near Jodhpur show the Pratihara (Maha-Maru) style, and the Prithviraj Raso later counted the Pratiharas among the four fire-born (Agnikula) Rajput clans.
Key facts
- Kalibangan (Hanumangarh, on the Ghaggar): 'black bangles'; identified by A. Ghosh in 1952, excavated by B.B. Lal and B.K. Thapar (1961-69); ploughed field and fire altars.
- Ahar (Udaipur, Ahar/Ayad river): mound called Dhulkot, old name Tamravati; gives its name to the Ahar-Banas chalcolithic culture with black-and-red pottery.
- Bagor (Bhilwara, Kothari river): large Mesolithic site excavated by V.N. Misra; early evidence of sheep and goat domestication.
- Balathal (near Udaipur): fortified Ahar-culture village; a skeleton of about 2000 BCE is the oldest skeletal evidence of leprosy in India.
- Ganeshwar (near Neem ka Thana, at the source of the Kantli): 'mother of copper-age cultures'; copper arrowheads and fish-hooks made from Khetri ore and supplied to Harappan towns.
- Matsya Mahajanapada: capital Viratnagar (Bairat); Ashoka's Bhabru edict (found 1837) names the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha.
- Samudragupta's Prayag inscription names the Malavas, Arjunayanas and Yaudheyas; the Bayana hoard (1946) is the largest find of Gupta gold coins.
- Bhinmal (Bhillamala): Brahmagupta wrote the Brahmasphuta Siddhanta there in 628 CE; the region was called Gurjaratra.
- Gurjara-Pratiharas: rose in Gurjaratra (south-west Rajasthan); Nagabhata I checked the Arabs, Nagabhata II took Kannauj, Mihir Bhoja (Adivaraha) was the greatest king.
Quick revision
Bagor Mesolithic (Kothari river, V.N. Misra); Kalibangan Harappan on the Ghaggar, Hanumangarh, ploughed field and fire altars, Lal-Thapar 1961-69; Ahar (Dhulkot, Tamravati) names the Ahar-Banas culture; Balathal leprosy skeleton c. 2000 BCE; Ganeshwar copper, Kantli source; Matsya capital Viratnagar (Bairat), Bhabru edict; Bayana Gupta hoard 1946; Brahmagupta at Bhinmal 628 CE; Pratiharas from Gurjaratra, Mihir Bhoja ruled from Kannauj.