Sources, Recent Excavations and Indian Culture Abroad — UPSC Ancient History Notes

1. Rakhigarhi (Hisar, Haryana) — Harappan

Size: One of the largest Harappan sites; often called the largest in India.

Finds: Planned settlement with mud-brick houses, drains, bead and shell workshops, and a large cemetery.

Ancient DNA (2019): DNA from a woman's skeleton showed ancestry from Iranian-related farmers and South Asian hunter-gatherers, with no steppe ancestry — evidence that Harappans were largely indigenous and that steppe ancestry came later.

Iconic site: The Union Budget 2020–21 named Rakhigarhi among five archaeological sites to be developed as iconic sites with on-site museums (with Hastinapur, Sivasagar, Dholavira and Adichanallur).

2. Sinauli (Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh)

Finds (ASI, 2018): Burials with wooden coffins on legs covered with copper sheets, swords, daggers, shields, a helmet and three solid-wheeled vehicles interpreted as chariots or carts, dated to around 2000–1800 BCE.

Debate: Whether these were horse-drawn chariots (no horse bones found) and how they relate to the Late Harappan, Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) and Copper Hoard cultures and to Vedic warrior culture.

3. Keezhadi / Keeladi (Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu)

Excavations: Found in a 2013 survey of the Vaigai valley; the ASI dug the first three seasons, after which the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology continued the work.

Finds: Brick buildings, ring wells, drains, a dyeing vat, spindle whorls, dice, ornaments, black-and-red ware and potsherds inscribed in Tamil-Brahmi and with graffiti.

Dates: Radiocarbon dates published by the state department place the settlement in about the 6th century BCE, which would make it an early urban centre of the Sangam/early historic period, contemporary with the Gangetic second urbanisation.

Contested: Scholars have questioned whether the inscribed sherds come from the same layers as the dated samples, so an early date for Tamil-Brahmi is not yet settled.

4. Sivagalai (Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu)

Claim (January 2025): The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister announced that iron objects from urn burials at Sivagalai had been dated (through labs abroad) to about 3345 BCE, suggesting the Iron Age began in Tamil Nadu about 5,300 years ago.

Caution: This would be far older than generally accepted dates for iron in India (late 2nd millennium BCE). Treat it as a claim awaiting peer-reviewed publication and independent confirmation, not an established fact.

Related sites: Adichanallur (urn burials, Iron Age) and Kodumanal (bead and gem industry, Tamil-Brahmi sherds).

5. Vadnagar (Mehsana, Gujarat)

Continuous habitation: Excavations reveal seven cultural periods from pre-Mauryan times to the present; a 2024 study (Quaternary Science Reviews) dated the earliest settlement to about 800 BCE.

Buddhist remains: A monastery of the 2nd–7th centuries CE with votive stupas; the site is identified with Anandapura, visited by Xuanzang (c. 640 CE).

Recognition: Added to India's UNESCO Tentative List in December 2022; the Archaeological Experiential Museum was inaugurated in January 2025.

6. Why these finds matter

New evidence: Scientific methods (AMS radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA, isotope studies) are replacing guesswork about chronology and migration.

Regional balance: South Indian and western Indian sites show that urbanisation and literacy were not limited to the Ganga valley.

Need for rigour: Claims with political or regional appeal must be tested by stratigraphy, multiple dates and peer review before textbooks change.

Practice

UPSC-style: Consider: 1. Sinauli is known for copper-covered coffin burials. 2. Keezhadi lies in the Vaigai valley. 3. Vadnagar is identified with Anandapura of Xuanzang. Which are correct? (Answer: all three.)

1. What epigraphy tells us

Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions; palaeography is the study of old scripts. Inscriptions were cut on rocks, pillars, temple walls, copper plates and seals.

Value: They are contemporary, often dated, and record names, genealogies, land grants, taxes, wars, religious gifts and local institutions.

Limits: Prashastis praise the patron and exaggerate victories; many grants record only the donor's view.

2. Scripts

Brahmi: Written left to right; parent of most Indian and Southeast Asian scripts; deciphered by James Prinsep (1837).

Kharosthi: Written right to left; used in the north-west (Gandhara).

Greek and Aramaic: Used in Ashoka's Kandahar edicts; Bactrian in Greek script was used by the Kushanas (Rabatak).

Later scripts: Gupta Brahmi, Siddhamatrika, Grantha (Pallava) and Tamil-Brahmi.

3. Languages over time

Prakrit dominated early inscriptions (Mauryas, Satavahanas, Kharavela). Sanskrit rose from Rudradaman's Junagadh inscription (150 CE) and became the language of royal prashastis under the Guptas. Regional languages such as Tamil and Kannada became common from the 6th–7th centuries.

4. Types of inscriptions

Edicts: Royal orders and messages (Ashoka).

Prashastis: Eulogies of rulers (Prayag, Aihole, Nasik, Gwalior).

Land grants: Copper plates recording grants to Brahmanas, temples and monasteries — key evidence for the spread of agriculture and 'feudalism'.

Votive and donative: Gifts by merchants, guilds and women at Sanchi, Bharhut, Karle and Nasik.

5. Frequently tested points

First Sanskrit: Junagadh inscription of Rudradaman I is the first long inscription in Sanskrit.

Name 'Ashoka': Appears in the Maski, Gujarra, Nittur and Udegolam minor rock edicts; elsewhere he is 'Devanampiya Piyadasi'.

Sati: The Eran inscription (510 CE) is the earliest dated epigraphic evidence of sati.

Local self-government: The Uttaramerur inscriptions describe elections to Chola village committees.

Not Ashokan: The Mahasthan inscription (Bangladesh) and Sohgaura copper plate are Mauryan-period Brahmi records on famine relief, not Ashokan edicts.

Practice

UPSC-style: Which inscription is the first long record in Sanskrit? (a) Hathigumpha (b) Junagadh of Rudradaman I (c) Nasik prashasti (d) Rummindei pillar — Answer: (b).

1. How Indian culture spread

Trade: Demand for spices, gold, tin and aromatic woods drew Indian merchants; ports such as Tamralipti, Arikamedu, Kaveripattinam, Mamallapuram and Kalinga's coast linked India with the Malay peninsula and Indonesia.

Religion: Brahmanas were invited to legitimise kings; Buddhist monks travelled with traders. Rulers took Sanskrit names and titles ending in '-varman'.

Not conquest: Except for the Chola naval raids, the spread was peaceful and driven by local choice — historians now speak of 'localisation' rather than colonisation.

2. Mainland kingdoms

Funan (Mekong delta, c. 1st–6th centuries): legend of the Brahmana Kaundinya marrying a local princess; port of Oc Eo with Indian and Roman goods.

Champa (central Vietnam): Shaiva kings; temple complex of My Son (UNESCO 1999).

Kambuja / Khmer (Cambodia): Jayavarman II (802 CE) began the devaraja cult; Suryavarman II built Angkor Wat (12th century), the largest religious monument in the world, dedicated to Vishnu; Jayavarman VII built the Mahayana Bayon temple at Angkor Thom.

Myanmar: Pyu city-states (Sri Ksetra) and the Pagan kingdom (Theravada Buddhism; Ananda temple); Bagan became a UNESCO site in 2019.

Thailand: Mon Dvaravati culture (Theravada); the Thai Ramayana is the Ramakien, and kings of the Chakri dynasty use the title 'Rama'.

3. Island kingdoms

Kutai (Borneo): Yupa (sacrificial post) inscriptions of King Mulavarman (c. 400 CE) — among the earliest Sanskrit inscriptions in Indonesia.

Srivijaya (Palembang, Sumatra, 7th–13th centuries): Mahayana centre controlling the Straits of Malacca; Yijing studied Sanskrit there; the Shailendra king Balaputradeva built a monastery at Nalanda, endowed by the Pala king Devapala (Nalanda copper plate).

Chola expedition (c. 1025 CE): Rajendra I sent a naval expedition against Srivijaya to protect Chola trade.

Shailendras (Java): built Borobudur (8th–9th centuries), the largest Buddhist monument in the world, shaped as a mandala.

Mataram (Java): Shaiva Prambanan temple complex (9th century) with shrines to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and Ramayana reliefs.

Majapahit (Java, 13th–16th centuries): last great Hindu-Buddhist empire; Hindu culture continues in Bali today.

4. Language, literature and art

Scripts: Southern Indian (Pallava-Grantha) scripts gave rise to Khmer, Thai, Lao, Old Javanese, Balinese and Mon-Burmese scripts.

Epics: Reamker (Cambodia), Ramakien (Thailand), Hikayat Seri Rama (Malay) and the Old Javanese Kakawin Ramayana; wayang shadow puppets enact the epics.

Words: Many Sanskrit loanwords survive (e.g. 'bahasa' from bhasha, 'raja', 'guru'); Indonesia's national airline is named Garuda.

5. Modern relevance

Heritage diplomacy: The ASI has restored Angkor Wat (1986–93) and worked at Ta Prohm (Cambodia), My Son (Vietnam) and Vat Phou (Laos); the revived Nalanda University and the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (2000) build on these ties.

Act East Policy: Shared Buddhist and Ramayana heritage is used as soft power in relations with ASEAN.

Practice

UPSC-style: Which monument was built by the Shailendra dynasty? (a) Angkor Wat (b) Borobudur (c) Prambanan (d) My Son — Answer: (b).