ASI (Archaeological Survey of India)found remains from Mahabharata era in Sanauli and Baghpat

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ASI finds 'royal' remains from Mahabharat era, relics could belong to 2000-1800 BC

History is being rewritten at the Institute of Archaeology, Red Fort, in Delhi! A slew of landmark findings, including three coffins and skeletal remains, chariots, swords, etc, found at the Archaeological Survey of Indias (ASI) Sanauli, Baghpat (UP) excavation site in June, are linked to Mahabharata, and have been brought to Lal Qila.

Here, at the institute, experts are closely examining the relics that purportedly belong to a royal warrior class four millennia back, from the Pre-Iron or Bronze Age in 2000-1800 BC.

While archaeologists are still not definitively linking it to any particular race or civilization, Sanaulis proximity to Hastinapur-- the capital of Kauravas-- and Mahabharatas estimated dating to about 2nd millennium BC, has got many guessing! Mail Today caught up with ASIs illustrious archaeologist couple -- Arvin and Sanjay Manjul --who led the exploration team, at Red Fort.

The duo informed us that various tests and studies are now being carried here to understand who were buried in Sanauli, how they lived and how did they die.

These path-breaking discoveries could give a new dimension to our ancient past, claimed Sanjay Manjul, Director of the Institute of Archaeology. A chariot has been unearthed for the first time at any excavation site not just in India, but the entire subcontinent. Such raths were previously found only in Greece and Mesopotamia, he said.

Swords with hilts from this period have also been found for the first time, besides four-legged charpoy-like coffins with copper-leaf designs on them. Eight burial pits have been discovered at the site, including a dog and twin-human burial. Pottery with funeral items or food for afterlife, combs and mirrors, gold beads, etc. were found carefully preserved next to them.

Even the burial pits at Harappan-sites like Rakhigarhi, Lothal and Kalibangan never yielded such elaborate entombments. Sanauli is sure to tell us more about habitations on the Ganga-Yamuna doab, which is not studied so well, and bridge the knowledge gap on the time period between Harappan civilisation and Lord Buddhas birth, Sanjay asserted.

It was for the first time anywhere that we used in-situ CT scan, X-ray and infra-red photography to analyse the burial pits in Sanauli. Now in Red Fort, we are sending out the collected bones and teeth for DNA tests. That will tell us if they belonged to the Indian, Mongoloid or Aryan race; what were their respective age, and if they died in war, that may be revealed by cut marks on bones, his wife Arvin Manjul, Superintending Archeologist with ASI explained.

The weapons and tools are being sent for metallurgical tests to determine the percentage of copper and bronze in them and the mines they may have originated from.

Soil samples are being analysed for material like cloth shreds in them, and pottery residues to know if they were rice, wheat grains, curd or somras, that could tell us about what they cultivated, she added.

Paleobotanists are being involved to study the animal bones recovered. With nearby Mahabharat-era sites like Chandayan and Mandi in the recent past yielding ancient crowns and kilos of gold, this search will only get more interesting, the couple said.

Indians used chariots 4,000 years ago, ASI unearths evidence in UP

he "first ever" physical evidence of chariots dating 2000 BC - 1800 BC have been found by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) during a trial excavation in Sanauli village near Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh.

Decorated with copper motifs, the findings of the Copper-Bronze age have opened up further research opportunities into the area's civilisation and culture.

The three-month long excavation, which started in March this year, has unearthed eight burial sites and several artifacts including three coffins, antenna swords, daggers, combs, and ornaments, among others.

The three chariots found in the burial pits could remind one of the familiar images of horse-drawn carriages from mythological television shows.

The relics suggest the existence of a two-wheeled open vehicle that may have been driven by one person.

"The wheels rotated on a fixed axle linked by a draft pole to the yoke of a pair of animals. The axle was attached with a superstructure consisting of a platform protected by side-screens and a high dashboard," S K Manjul, director of Delhi-based Institute of Archaeology, said.

The wheels and the pole have been found decorated with copper triangles, symbolic of the rays of the sun.

Manjul termed the digging drive a "path-breaking" one, also because of the copper plated anthropomorphic figures -- having horns and peepal-leafed crowns -- found on the coffins, that indicated a possiblity of "royal burials".

"For the first time in the entire sub-continent we have found this kind of a coffin. The cover is highly decorated with eight anthropomorphic figures. The sides of the coffins are also decorated with floral motifs," Manjul said.

While coffins have been discovered during past excavations in Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and Dholavira (Gujarat), but never with copper decorations, he added.

The findings also shed light on the noteworthy progress the Indian civilisation had made at the time, making it at par with the 2000 BC Mesopotamia.

"We are now certain that when in 2000 BC, the Mesopotamians were using chariots, swords, and helmets in wars, we also had similar things."

The swords, daggers, shields and a helmet confirmed the existence of a warrior population, and the discovery of earthen and copper pots, semi-precious and steatite beads, combs, and a copper mirror from the burial pits point towards a "sophisticated" craftsmanship and lifestyle.

"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," the archaeologist said.

The current site lies 120 meters from an earlier one in the village, excavated in 2005, where 116 burials were found along with antenna swords and pottery.

While it was difficult to ascertain the exact race of the latest buried remains, Manjul asserted that the chariots and coffins did not belong to the Harappan civilisation.

"The findings of the 2005 excavation -- pottery, beads and other cultural material -- were similar to those of the Harappan civilisation."

Manjul said the similarities could have been an outcome of the migration of the Harappans to the Yamuna and the upper planes during the late mature Harappan era.

However, the recent findings were "completely different" from the ancient civilisation.

sks

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