In 1878-79, Alexander Cunningham, the British Major-General and first Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India, embarked on an ambitious exploration of then-undivided Punjab. His journey took him through a series of relatively unexplored sites, from the famous ruins of Taxila to lesser-known mounds along the Bagh-Bacha River in Jhelum. Among his stops were places like Manikyala, Chinapati or modern Harsha China near Amritsar, and Topra, each rich with ancient stories. Cunningham’s survey, which covered both iconic and obscure locations, revealed Punjab’s incredible diversity and its role as a historical crossroads between cultures, religions, and empires.
Punjab’s archaeological history stretches back thousands of years, from the prehistoric past to the remnants of the Harappan Civilization to the vibrant Sikh empire. The region’s wealth of ancient sites reflects its role as a meeting point for diverse cultures and civilisations. However, Punjab was later divided and so was its history. This shared and divided past between India and Pakistan posed a challenge for archaeologists. Riwat, a 45,000-year-old Palaeolithic Open-Air site, Harappa, and Taxila, an ancient centre of learning moved to Pakistan’s Punjab. On the eastern side, post-1947 endeavours unveiled sites like Ropar, Bara, Kotla Nihang Khan, Sanghol, and Chandigarh.
However, a handful of excavations and stale exploratory and unpublished data puts Punjab at a crossroads once again, as modern archaeology seeks to unlock the region’s hidden past while navigating the challenges of politics, urbanisation, and environmental threats. The work done so far is unable to create a conclusive and holistic chronology of the region, and there are apparent gaps due to lack of efforts.
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Hunting-gathering to urban living
Bounded by the Himalayas in the north and the sandy Thar desert in the south, Punjab is irrigated by five major rivers – Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab, and Jhelum — which makes it rich in alluvial soil apt for cultivation. Ideal location and rich topography made Punjab a significant region in the migratory and trade routes. As a result, it is rich in fossils and prehistoric artefacts. For instance, at Masol, near Chandigarh, nearly 1,500 fossils and over 200 stone tools were found. Most of the fossils were of extinct animals dating back to at least 2.58 million years ago. Similarly, Riwat is a rich prehistoric site that connects the subcontinent to the out-of-Africa migration.
Just like the prehistoric past, the region is also well-connected and well-placed within the realm of the first civilisation of South Asia. Harappa is located on the banks of Ravi in eastern Punjab. Interestingly, scholars postulate that the Harappan settlements played an important role in the mineral acquisition process. These Harappan sites — Harappa, Ropar, Bara, Kotla Nihang Khan — were mediators between the settlements in the north – Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir — and helped in the Harappan trade matrix. Lead-silver mines like Uchich, Tal, Panuch and Amba Kala were exploited and the ores were perhaps transported to Harappan workshops via settlements in Punjab. Same is the case with steatite as well as grey sandstone sites (Randall Law, 2011). Harappa was the biggest in the set of northern Harappan sites, but the trio – Ropar, Kotla Nihang Khan, and Bara — are equally significant.
The trio
The archaeological site of Ropar or Rupnagar, which is on the left bank of Sutlej, was excavated by YD Sharma of ASI from 1952-1955 (IAR 1954-54) and again in 2012 by ASI (V.N, Prabhakar et al 2015). The initial excavation by Sharma revealed a six-fold cultural sequence at the site — from Harappan to early historic to middle and medieval period. The excavation yielded Harappan artefacts such as bangles, beads, and figurines along with a plethora of Harappan pottery. He also excavated a Harappan cemetery at the site.
Equally remarkable was the evidence collected from the succeeding cultural period. Painted Grey Ware bowls, iron objects, terracotta beads in period II, and Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) pottery in period III along with copper bar-coins, punched marked coins, an ivory seal with Brahmi characters with the legend ‘Bhadapalakasa’. The succeeding Saka-Kushana and Gupta phases revealed trade contacts with the West both in currency as well in art. This was one of the richest and most elaborate cultural phases at the site.
Sharma dated the site to 2100 BCE to 1700 BCE. However, in his note, he did suggest an earlier possible date going back to 2400 BCE, which proved correct after the site was re-excavated. Despite the rich and significant list of antiquities, details about the socio-economic lives of the people remain unknown.
Along with the excavation at Ropar, Sharma also took up a few trenches at Kotla Nihang Khan located in close proximity in the south-east. The site was discovered by MS Vats in 1925 around the same time when John Marshall announced the discovery of the Harappan Civilization and took four trenches at the site. Reviewing the yields from this and previous excavations, Sharma affiliated this site to the Harappan Civilization.
Interestingly, the third site that Sharma also excavated in 1954-55 and again in 1976 brought out an interesting aspect about the late or last phase of the Harappan Civilization. Bara stood out in terms of its pottery assemblage and became a regional marker of this cultural phase often known as the Bara culture.
Upon reviewing the evidence from the three sites discussed above along with evidence from Sanghol, Chandigarh, and Sarangpur, Sharma suggested that in this region, the Harappan culture was divided into multiple phases starting from Pre-Harappan to Harappan at 2100 BCE to Early Baran at 2000 BCE to Late Baran and Late Baran plus PGW at 1200 BCE. But there are serious issues with this chronology and complex sequencing of these sites. No doubt that the Harappan presence is thick and prominent, but a lot of assertions were made on the basis of pottery. The series of scientific dates is missing. What is bothersome here is that the true nature of the sites is missing from these reports. What was the purpose of these settlements? How do they fit into the fresh investigations?
Not moving forward
In 2015, Neha Gupta from the Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, published a paper that explored the effects of geopolitical tensions and internal politics on archaeological practices in post-colonial India. She suggested that in independent India, archaeology was studied in the shadow of political instability and social unrest, which made it a tool to further politically charged narratives. These narratives, in her opinion, impacted when and where ASI excavates and how it interprets its data. She presented a case study of Sanghol and argued that its excavation in 1986 was an attempt to dilute the tension that followed the 1984 riots.
Now, although it is difficult to point out the exact reason for taking up the excavation in 1986, the fact no major excavations were conducted later on and little attention was paid to the archaeological sites of Punjab since Sanghol’s excavation proves the point to an extent. However, one can shy away from the realisation that the major chunk of archaeological work was, in fact, done in the 1950s, which again were the years following the division of Punjab. In retrospect, this begs the question: Was Punjab’s archaeological past of no consequence had there not been a major national event in the region?
As we speak, sites are being levelled, and all of the archaeological mounds in and around Chandigarh have become part of archives. This must end — we must go beyond vertical digs and focus on the regional history it has to offer.
Disha Ahluwalia is an archaeologist and junior research fellow at the Indian Council Of Historical Research. Views are personal. She tweets @ahluwaliadisha.
(Edited by Humra Laeeq)