New Perspectives in Harappan Archaeology

New Perspectives in Harappan Archaeology
By Frank Grey

The last sixty years of archaeology in Kutch and Saurashrtra saw a huge collection of data in the sphere of Harappan Civilization. Till mid 1970s it was a phase of discovering sites and delineating their distribution. It transpired that the Harappan cultural spread had under its footprint not only Saurashtra which was initially in the focus of archaeologists like H D Sankalia, S R Rao and P P Pandya but also included Kutch and Gujarat, particularly Northern Gujarat abutting the Ranns.

Archaeological Importance of Kutch

The excavations at Rangpur, Rojdi and Prabhas had given important data regarding the environmental backdrop that had shaped the personality of Harrapan culture in Saurashtra, now called “Sorath Harappan” distinct from “Sindhi Harappan” in its essential make-up. The geographical cul-de-sac that was identified with Kutch culturally proved to be a treasure trove of archaeological settlements ranging from pre-historic (Lower and Middle palaeolithic) to Proto-historic ( Pre-Harappan, Mature Harappan and Late Harappan ie Jhuker) down to Historic culture -Kshtrapa, Solanki and Late Medieval.

Thus in Kutch, a historical scroll unfolds from the dawn of civilization to the present times which has seen Kutch emerge as an industrial powerhouse. So far as the Harappan culture is concerned, more than 60 settlements already dote the map with the possibility of finding more sites. Before the excavations were conducted on Kutchi sites, it was used to be referred to the twin cities of Mohen-jo-dero and Harappa as the pillars of the Indus Valley Civilization. But since the excavations carried out at the settlements of Surkotada, Dholavira and presently at Juni Kuran, it has become clear that Kutch played a vital role in the development of the Harappan civilization.

Hypothesis

The geographical isolation of Kutch has to be explained in cultural terms.

Did the entire dry sandy and briny stretch between Sindh and Kutch actually slice two land masses apart as they do today? Or was the Arabian Sea part of the Ranns and formed an accessible waterway between the two? What was the role played by internal and external trade that led to the flourishing of big urban center like Dholavira? What was the nature of exchange network that the city dominated? What kind of relationship it had with other Harappan centers like Mohen-jo-dero, Harappa and Gunreriwala? Some archaeologists have advanced the hypothesis that from Punjab, Sind down to Kutch and Saurashtra, the Harappan culture had led to the emergence of an urban center at the interval of every 1,000 km.

Dr Rafique Mughal is an advocate of the thesis and this needs to be examined in depth since it can have bearing on the political aspect of the Harappan culture. The excavations at Dholavira are likely to yield newer evidence having a bearing on the origin, development and decline of the Harappan civilization. There are two likely lines of investigation regarding the eclipse of the Harappan cities.

Reasons of Eclipse of Harrapan Settlements

One, the economic aspect which makes it incumbent to examine the economic base of each Harappan city. A careful excavation may shed light upon activity areas and point to the nature of production and human relationships involved. Further the trade and industry could have involved resource gathering or resource collection from the hinterland that may have led to exchange interaction with other people at the mesolithic level of technological development. This would entail site-catchment analysis which is an archaeological technique that is too often ignored. It is possible that while analysing environmental variables of Dholavira, two opposite considerations vie for attention. The arid environment with xerophytic vegetation, and the possibility of existence of an arm of Arabian Sea that now form the Ranns. This would lead to the hypothesis that Dholavira was a port and it was involved in an elaborate trading activity in resources that formed an exchange network wherein local populace had a stake.

And two, it was an entrepot for maritime trade with West Asia particularly Oman and Bahrain. With the decline of West Asiatic trade centers on account of political turmoil during 1800 BC the international trade beginning from 2300 BC might have led to the collapse of Dholavira's economy entailing a slow shrinking in demand and supply of goods and disappearance of the exchange network which led to the fall of other nodal towns and villages on the exchange network by way of domino effect.

This is a hypothesis that needs to be correlated with the evidence that emerges from Dholavira excavations. The environmental background and other ecological aspects may be articulated by examining the evidence available. If the city was near the sea, a great part of the populace might be fish-eaters. The fish bones along with bird bones (migratory) can be helpful in reconstructing a marine environment. So the floral and faunal assemblage may help in rebuilding the environmental backdrop.

Using the Archaeological Finds To UnderstandThe Harappan Culture

There are three areas of habitation in Dholavira: Citadel, Middle Town and Lower Town. Clearly the social division is emphasized in town planning. The ruling class, the traders and producers of goods and the labour class are separately pigeon-holed. This may lead to the rebuilding of the class structure. This, in turn, may bring out the nature of governance and political class. But this hypothesis, too, would need a corelation with available evidence.

So the excavators have collected the evidence but have not examined them in their different contexts which may help in reconstructing the entire gamut of the Harappan culture. The possibilities are endless. Simple digging of the mounds as an archaeological exercise would not help the cause of Harappan history. A holistic approach with readiness to involve other disciplines in articulating the evidence is the only way one can solve the riddle of human existence of thousands of years back.

Second, different excavators working on different mounds of the same culture have different approaches. This leads to too many pipers playing the tunes and the mice run mad circles. What is needed is co-ordinated comparing the data and that would necessitate open-ended discussions. This is now possible by the launch of the websites and internet connectivity.