Excavations At Dhalwan - 1999-2000 & 2001-2002 (Part-I: Early Harappan and Harappan, Part-II: Kushan and Gupta Periods)

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Foreword I am glad to present before the scholars the report of the Excavations at Dhalewan, District Mansa (Punjab) carried out in two field seasons i.e. 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 under the direction of Ms. Madhu Bala, Superintending Archaeologist, Excavation Branch-II, and New Delhi. The excavation revealed the then early Harappa settlement (Period IA) which gradually evolved into a Harappa settlement with planned houses along the lane and fortification, emerged as a fortified complex in transition Period IB and finally achieved peak stage in Mature Harappa Period (lack) by 'de novo' the inner planning with big houses, streets and grand fortification. Further, after a considerable gap of time Kushan occupied the site and it continued up to Gupta Period.

I hope that the publication of the said report would be certainly beneficial to the scholars, researchers and students particularly on Harappa studies.

In our Endeavour to bring out this detailed and well illustrated excavation report in a presentable form, I record my deep appreciation of my colleagues Dr. Urmila Sant, Joint Director General, ASI Dr. K. Lourdusamy, Director (Pub.) for their co-operation. My special thanks are due towards Dr. Manuel Joseph and Shri Abinash Mohanty, Dy. S.A. (Pub.); Shri Vishnu Kant, Dy. S.A. (Retired), Delhi Circle and Shri Hoshiar Singh, Production Officer, ASI (Retired) for their persistent and un stinted efforts. I would like to thank Miss Viba Press Pvt. Ltd. for publishing this report.

Preface The archaeological importance of the ancient mound at Dhalewan came into existence in 1980 during my first exploration visit to this area under the leadership of Shri Jagat Pati Joshi, former Director General of Archaeological Survey of India. At that time, the mound was not found much disturbed and was covering an area of 1500 x 1500 m approximately.

In all, 25 sites having Harappa remains were explored in Mansa taluk along the Ghaggar and its tributaries, covering an area of about 1250 Sq. Km. The whole area shows a very important zone of Harappa Culture. The mounds at Dhalewan, Gurnikalan, Baglan De Theh, Lakhmirwala and Hasanpur are the bigger sites, in this area and situated closely at a distance of 3 to 5 km. Dhalewan is located on the western side of the present Sirhind Canal, which possibly made on the old depression of Sirhind, a tributary of Ghaggar.

The Ghaggar and its tributaries consisted of the important 'Economic Pocket', which mobilized the internal trade and communication with their resources of northern region of the lower Himalayas and further transported to Bahawalpur area via Kalibangan (Rajasthan) and to other Harappa sites in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. Along the same Ghaggar, M.R.Mughal reported 250 Early and Mature Harappa sites in an area of 1000 Sq. Km. in Bahawalpur Region.

On considering the view of the archaeological importance of Dhalewan, the field work at the site has been carried out in two field seasons in 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 by the team of Excavation Branch-II under my direction. The site revealed the remains of Harappa settlement on virgin soil as first occupants and after a considerable gap of time, the site was re-occupied by Kushans and continued up to the Gupta Period. The re-occupation by Kushans on Harappa mounds is noticeable as a common feature in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. This feature most likely existed on those mounds, which particularly fall on ancient trade routes.

The excavation at Dhalewan produced ample evidence of structures, antiquities, pottery, etc. of Harappa assemblage. The lower deposits were divided into three sub- periods i.e. Early Harappa Period (Period IA), Transition Period (Period IB) and Mature Harappa Period (Period IC). All excavated material of Harappa assemblage has tried to be fully analyzed and side-by-side a comparative data presented thereon with a full concentrative approach of study. A good attempt has also been made to throw some light on the development from Early Harappa to Mature Harappa from one stage to another stage locally while reporting the material of Harappa assemblages carefully. Similarly, the early historical material belongs to Kushan (Period II) and Gupta (Period III) revealed from upper deposits (re-occupational deposits) has also studied and reported without ignoring their importance. The report is divided into two parts, Part I deals with the Early Harappa and Harappa material in first 14 Chapters along with the reports on scientific studies of Harappa pottery and copper samples in Chapter 15 and animal bones in Chapter 16. The first four chapters of the report are' commonly dealing with the material of Harappa assemblages, Kushan and Gupta Periods. The Part II of the report deals the material of Kushan and Gupta Periods, which covers next 8 chapters from Chapters 17 to 24.

I hope the readers will fully enjoy and gain a broad idea about the archaeology of the site with this illustrative report, which is supported with more than 200 excellent photographs and 180 line drawings.

I would like to express my special gratitude to Shri Jagat Pati Joshi, former Director General of Archaeological Survey of India for inspiring me to select this site for excavation.

I must express my gratitude to the Director Generals of Archaeological Survey of India, Shri Ajay Shankar Srivastava, IAS, for giving me an opportunity to execute excavation at the site and to Smt. Anshu Vaish, IAS, Shri K.N. Srivastava, IAS and Shri Gautam Sengupta, for providing me all facilities particularly after my retirement from the Survey w.e.f. 31.03.2009 to till date to complete the report for publication.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages