Excavation At Nagara (An Old & Rare Book)

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The Department of Archaeology and Ancient History of the M. S. University of Baroda carries on a systematic study of the material culture of India by exploring and excavating ancient sites. It publishes its findings in the M. S. University Archaeology series to provide basic data for further work. This 10th number in this series embodies the results of the activities in Nagara, near Cambay. It is interesting to know that near Cambay human habitation could be traced to the 1st millenium B. C. Nagara was an important entrepot for the Roman goods which moved in to the hinterland of India. Routes connected this town with those of Shamalaji and Devnimori area and supplied them with the foreign materials. This excavation has put the archaeology of Kaira District on proper footing and I am sure that the scholars will find this publication an useful one providing new and interesting basic data.

The present report embodies the activities of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History in the years 1963-65. The mounds of Nagara were explored in previous years but the decision to excavate them was taken in 1963 A.D. For obtaining the necessary permission to excavate as well as to plan for the campsite Shri C. D. Bhagat of Cambay willingly helped us. Shri Shankar bhai Desaibhai Patel of Nagara was an excellent friend and associate who solved many problems of the camp by his cooperation. The Panchayat of Nagara took keen interest in our activities throughout our stay at Nagara. The Nagara Yuvak Samgha also did commendable work to make our stay comfortable. I am most grateful to all these associates whose interest in history and archaeology is praise worthy. My special thanks are due to Shri Madhavalal Shah, who inaugurated the excavation in the first season. Dr. Bhanuprasad Pandya, the then Deputy Minister of Education encouraged our activities by paying a visit to the site as well as opening the exhibition of Nagara antiquities at Baroda. I owe a deep sense of gratitude to him. In field work at Nagara, a team work of our department, my colleagues took active interest. In this regards I would specially like to mention Sarvashri R. J. Khatri, R. C. Sutaria, Navin Khatri and C. U. Bhagat for their enthusiasm. The latter is responsible for preparing the tables of antiquities. Dr. S. N. Chowdhary was responsible for most of the field operations in the 2nd season. His enthusiasm for field-work is a strong support for our activity. Dr. K. T. M. Hegde and Dr. D. R. Shah, besides being active on the field, very willingly undertook the laboratory studies for all the objects that required such a study. Shri A. A. Desai and Shri K. H. Patel studied the stones and bone objects respectively, while Dr. B. R. Subrahmanyam studied the objects of iron. The press copy was typed by Shri B. A. Shah. Shri A. Ghosh, the Director, Archaeological Survey of India, helped us by a grant of Rs. 4,000/- for excavations, for which I am much obliged. Dr. B. J. Sandesara and U. P. Shah took special interest in our project and published the results of our work in the journals of the Oriental Institute, Baroda. The author owes a deep sense of gratitude to Dr. C. S. Patel our Vice Chancellor for his constant encouragement and support. Professor P. J. Madan, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor also encouraged us in our task. I would like to thank the staff of the M. S. University Press for their cooperation and Dr. B. Suryavanshi for reading the proofs of this work, and the University Grants Commission for the financial assistance for printing it.

**Contents and Sample Pages**