Reports are coming from Sanauli at Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat, wherein the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has stumbled upon “royal burials” with remains of chariots dating 2000 BCE-1800 BCE. The other noteworthy finds were copper antenna swords, daggers, channel-like objects, shield, comb, mirror, torch, hundreds of small cylindrical paste beads, steatite beads and triangle and rectangular inlays, semi precious and gold beads, etc.
Three month-long excavation project has led to such important findings that is set to give new dimension to Bharat’s glorious history and date of the Mahabharata period. It will further lead to define the origins of chariots and horses in the Harappan age.
It is to be noted that previously such chariots were found to be a part of Mesopotamia, Georgia, Greek civilisations but these latest findings in Sanauli has shown that Bharat’s ancient civilisation was also at par with them.
ASI has excavated burial pits at Rakhigarhi, Kalibangan, and at Lothal, but according to them this is the first time that chariots have been discovered alongside the burial pits. SK Manjul, director of Institute of Archaeology under the ASI, and co-director Arvin Manjul, who led a team in excavating the site said, “It is confirmed that they were a warrior class. The swords have copper-covered hilts and a medial ridge making it strong enough for warfare. We have also found shields, a torch and daggers.” He added at least three burial pits have highly decorative coffin covers bearing floral designs and anthropological figures like horned and peepal leafed crown.
On being asked whether bull or horse was used in chariots, Manjul said, “This is debatable, it could be a bull or a horse, but having said that the preliminary understanding points to the horse. The chariot is a lookalike of the ones found in its contemporary cultures like Mesopotamia. It is a solid wheel with no spokes. In one of the pits, crown or helmet worn by the rider of the chariot has been recovered.“
“This throws light on the lifestyle and cultures of the people who lived in the pre-Iron Age — there are mirrors with copper, the elaborate burials, all this show the society was technologically advanced, aesthetic and had the sense of art and craft. They were warrior clans, and had a sophisticated lifestyle,” he said.
However, it is difficult to ascertain the exact exact race of the latest buried remains, the experts feel that the chariots and coffins did not belong to the Harappan civilisation.
Hence, it will be interesting to know more facts about these latest findings that might lead to affirm Bharat’s glorious presence in world history.
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