BRAHMAGIRI
Brahmagiri
(ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಗಿರಿ)
(brahmagiri) is an important site for more than one reason. It is situated in Chitradurga district of Central Karnataka near by
Siddapaura another mile stone in the history of archaeology of this
region. A couple of minor rock edicts of Ashoka dating
back 250 B.C. were found here as early as 1891. This discovery was made by B.L.Rice and helped hugely in fixing the southern borders
of the Mauryan empire. These
edicts palyed a stellar role in determining the antiquity
of Kannda because ‘isila’
a word deciphered in one of them is deemed to be the earliest dated Kannada word
found in an inscription. The word meaning
‘fort’ was also the name given to those regions. Isila
was the head quarters of the Mahamatras of
Suvarnagiri.
Brahmagiri has acquired greater
importancae as an excavtion site revealing
pre historic habitations. The history of excavations in this place begins with the
pioneering work of M.H.Krishna in 1940. (IAR
Mysore Arch. Dept. for 1940, p. 63)
This was continued by R.E.Mortimer Wheeler in 1947 on
behalf of the Archaeological Survey of India. Their work was given a further impetus
in 1956 by M. Sheshadri and Amlananda
Ghosh in 1965 and 1978.
M.H.Krishna excaveted different parts of this region
and found sixteen trenches containing various structures and material. He identified five different cultural
stratas called Microlithic,
Neolithic, Iron age, Mauryan
and Chalukya-Hoysala strata. He designated the first
one ie the Microlithic as
the ‘Roppa Culture’ because it was found in the vicinity
of that village. Mortimer Wheeler who discovered Rouletted
ware among Krishn’s collection divided the structures
in to three periods: Period 1: Neolithic or Neolithic-Chalcolithic,
Period 2: Megalithic Culture, Period 3: Early historical culture.
M.Sheshadri re explored the site in 1956 and found tools made of jasper,
agate, cornealean, opal and chert.
These were assigned to the phase 1 of R.E.M. Wheeler. Quite a few black painted
red ware, shreds of some fabric and two copper objects were found in 1965 and 1978
by Amalananda Ghosh. Let
us go in to a brief description of each of these periods.
The first period, (neo lithic
period) (early 1st millennium to the beginning of the 2nd century B.C.) is characterized
by instruments made of stone rather than metal. Polished stone axes made of dolerite
were found here. The other lithic tools include parallel-sided
blades and microliths such as crescents, beaked gravers,
blades with crested ridge. Pottery vessels with coarse drawings or carvings were
also found. These bowls were globular or shallow and they wer
often spouted. The burial practices of this period were different for adults and
children. The infants had their bodies folded and then they were buried in urns.
On the contrary adukts were laid down in an extended
fashion and they were buried in pits.
Metal came in to prominent use during the second period.
(2nd century B.C to the middle of the 1st century A.D.)
They were used both for agriculture and weaponry. Sickles, spears, arrow heads and
swords are some of these instrumnets. The pottery was
of a different kind. It is of mainly three varieties: highly polished black-and-red
ware, all-black ware and bright as well as coarse dull-red ware.
The burial practice during this period was again different. They were done in stone cists
or excavated pits which were surrounded by boulders arranged in the shape of a circle
or concentric circles. The cists also contained funeral pots and objects like iron
implements and beads.
The third period viz
early historic period (the middle
of the. 1st century to the 3rd century A.D.)
is obviously much more advanced and contains pottery which was made on fast wheels.
They contain dishes, pots, cups and vases painted in white with geometrical shapes.
Many ornamnets such as bangles made of shell, clay, brass and gold were also found.
It is assumed that
the Ashokan edicts were addressed to the people living during the first period.
References. 1.
Ghosh,
Amalananda [1990] (1990). An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology. BRILL.
ISBN 9004092625.
2. Kennedy, Kenneth A. R. [2000] (2000). God-Apes and Fossil Men: Paleoanthropology
of South Asia.
University of Michigan Press.
ISBN 0472110136.
3. Kipfer, Barbara Ann [2000] (2000).
Encyclopedic
Dictionary of Archaeology. Springer.
ISBN 0306461587.
4. purAtattva shOdhane Dr S.Srikanta Shastry, 1960, Prasaranga, University of Mysore, Mysore. (Kannada)
5.
Excavation Sites
in Karnataka - Archaeological Survey of India
6. Indian
Archaeology in Retrospect, Volume I: Prehistory ...