Proto Historic India (An Old & Rare Book)

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About the Book Nearly six decades after the discovery of Harappa in 1922, where in India was recognized one of the earliest river valley civilizations, untiring archaeological field work has extended its limits from Sutka gendor in Beluchistan in the West to Alamgirpur in the Ganga donb in the East and from Tanda in the north to Bagahrav on the Kim in the south. Besides the spatial delimitation a cultural division of the Indus Harappan culture into early, mature, late and post has also been observed while this is the story of proto history in north India. Other cultures confirm paraneous or overlapping cultures have also been noticed in Rajasthan, Malwa, and the Deccan.

With all the field data on hand the time had come to study these multitudi nous cultures in an integrated manner in brief. This then is the protohistoric India by Prof. K. P. Nautiyal.

Prof. Nautiyal has dealt the characterIstics and other cognisant traits of the protohistoric and contemporary cultures in ten chapters. The neolithic pastoralism which was found almost all over the country forms the background. After discus sing the transitional phase from the neo lithic to urbanism Nautiyal deals with the Indus culture proper in detail. Excavations at Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Kot Diji, Kali bangan Lothal, etc. provide the basic data. Likewise the spread and transformation of Harappan elements in Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, etc. are discussed."

The Ahar Culture, the central Indian and Deccan Chalcolithic cultures and their possible liniages have not been for gotten. Likewise the problem of the Ochre colored pottery and its possible association with the Copper Hoards attracts our attention.

In two chapters, the megalithic people, their life, implements, tombs and material culture are highlighted.

The importance of iron as a 'noble metal which perhaps was responsible for the second urbanisation in India; its as sociation with painted Greyware, and the inding of the PGW in the Garhwal region adding new dimension to the PGW culure forms the subject matter of the last Chapter.

In short the book gives a bird's eye view of Indian culture from about the third millennium B.C. to about 1000 BC when iron came to be used. The book is well illustrated.

About the Author Professor K. P. Nautiyal did his docto rate from the Poona University under the able guidance of the doyen of Indian archaeology, Prof. H. D. Sankalia of the Deccan College and Post Graduate Research Institute, Pune. His thesis was The Archaeology of the Kumaon Region', a region less explored and about which not much literature is available even today. In that sense Dr. Nautiyal's study has been a pioneering work exhaustively documented.

Dr. Nautiyal who had been associated with the Palace Museum, Gwalior for several years as its head migrated to the Garhwal University to pursue his favourite subject teaching. He at present heads the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology of the Garhwal University, Srinagar, Garhwal.

Prof. Nautiyal, besides teaching is an active field worker and through his untiring and incessant explorations he has brought to light many early historical (NBP Ware) and PG Ware sites; the oc currence of the latter in the hilly regions of Garhwal adding a new dimension to the archaeology of the Garhwal region.

Prof. Nautiyal is a prolific writer and has published a number of research papers.

Introduction The book as its very name indicates-comprises an account of the formative period of Indian civilization, which underwent a remarkable change and tremendous amount of absorption paving a new path for different offshoots of cultural regeneration. Since the advent of this period is taken as forerunner of the rise and growth of urbanisation in the whole of the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent, it has been treated exclusively in the present work as an account of societies which were striving hard to emerge as an incipient settled mass changing them selves from a food gathering nomads to a food producing community. practising agriculture, animal husbandary and over and above manu facturing the pottery. This in a way was a total transition from the primitive palaeolithic conditions to a comparatively improved environ ment of the Neolithic period. This change was considered to be an eventful episode around c. 8th-7th millennium B.C., particularly in relation to incipient village communities at Jarmo in Iraq, Catal Hayuk in Turkey or Jericho in Palestine. Therefore, for understanding fully well the Protohistoric past of India and Pakistan, its genesis and growth, we have to look back to the Indian Neolithic period, where the first seed of civilization was in an embryonic stage. This is, therefore, the focal theme of this book.

Archaeological investigations with in the last three decades have strongly proved that the solid foundation of the urbanised Indus cities, with their planning and architectural excellence coupled with the growth of arts, crafts and metallurgy, did not suddenly sprout, but was an end-result of a great process of change that took place between the Neolithic and the emergence of the first cities. In a way this was a great period of movement of the advancing hordes of people not only in India, but towards all directions in the whole of the Asian landmass.

Field investigations in the area of Baluchistan and Afghanistan like kili Ghul Muhammad in the Zhargun mountains of Quetta valley, Mehrgarh on the Bolan river, Rana Ghundai, Sur Jangal, Gumla, Saraikhola, Jalilpur etc., provide very stimulating account of the changing pattern of life of the Neolithic people. Most of them were very important early Neolithic culture sites dating back between the time range of e. 5000 B.C. to e. 4000 B.C.

Beginning with the construction of pise, wattle-and-daub houses and with the evidence of domestication of animals, such as the goats, sheep and cattle, the settlers started fabricating the hand-made and mat-impressed pottery along with a wheel-made pottery. This was further developed into several sophisticated compartmented buildings as is the case with Mehrgarh. Along with this we also get an evidence of cultivation of wheat and several fruits indicating that an established agricultural practice had become an important aspect of life of the first Neolithic settlers in India.

Similarly from the northern part of the country, we have very interesting evidences of the first Neolithic settlers from Burzahom and Gufkral in the Kashmir Himalaya. Pit-dwelling became a characteristic habitation trait of the Neolithic settlers here in Period I. Once again a great similarity is discernible, particularly in this aspect, with the Neolithic culture of the Swat valley and further beyond in the plains of Northern China.

The Neolithic culture of Eastern India provide evidences of the Neolithic people living in round mud-and-bamboo huts, measuring roughly two metres with paved floor. Chirand and Pandurajar Dhibi are the two representative sites.

**Contents and Sample Pages**