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 ...