ANCIENT INDIA

PRE-HISTORY PHASE OF INDIA

The English word ‘history’ comes from the Greek historia, meaning “inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation”. It corresponds to the study of the past and throws light on various past events of significance which shaped and evolved human experiences. History is further divided into pre-history, proto-history, and history. Events occurring before the invention of writing are considered the domain of pre-history, which is generally represented by the three stone ages. Defining proto-history is rather difficult as it has different connotations. Generally, it refers to a period between prehistory and history, during which a culture or civilisation has not yet developed writing but are mentioned in the written records of a contemporary literate civilisation. For example, the script of the Harappan civilisation remains undeciphered; however, since its existence is noted in Mesopotamian writings, it is considered a part of proto-history. Similarly, the Vedic civilisation from c. 1500–600 BCE had an oral literary tradition, though they did not take to literary writing — they can thus be considered a part of proto-history as well. Archaeologists consider Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures to be a part of protohistory. The study of the past after the invention of writing and the study of literate societies based on the written and archaeological sources constitutes history.

The history and identity of human settlements in India go back to prehistoric times. The credit for doing an early extensive study of Indian pre-history go to Robert Bruce Foote, who discovered what was probably the first palaeolithic tool discovered in India — the Pallavaram handaxe. Later, he discovered a large number of pre-historic sites in South India. The contribution of Sir Mortimer Wheeler is equally significant, as his efforts greatly contributed towards our knowledge of the pre-historical cultures of India and their sequence. On the basis of geological age, the type and technology of stone tools, and subsistence base, the Indian Stone Age is classified primarily into three types: Indian Stone Age*:

Old stone Age, Palaeolithic Age (5,00,000−10,000 BCE)
Late Stone Age, Mesolithic Age (10,000−6000 BCE)
New Stone Age, Neolithic Age (6,000−1000 BCE)

Timeline

All dates are approximate and conjectural, obtained through research in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, genetics, geology, or linguistics. They are all subject to revision due to new discoveries or improved calculations. BP stands for "Before Present (1950)." BCE stands for Before Common Era".

A general time range is specified as there is a great deal of variation in the dates for different sites.

Palaeolithic Age (Hunters and FoodGatherers)

The Palaeolithic Age is the earliest period of the Stone Age, which developed in the Pleistocene period or the Ice Age. It was spread in practically all parts of India except the alluvial plains of the Indus and Ganga. The Palaeolithic man of India are said to have belonged to the Negrito race and lived in caves and rock shelters. They were food gathering people who lived on hunting and gathering wild fruits and vegetables. They had no knowledge of agriculture, house building, pottery, or any metal. It was only in later stages that they attained the knowledge of fire. Man, during this period, used tools of unpolished, undressed rough stones — mainly hand axes, cleavers, choppers, blades, burin, and scrapers. Since the stone tools were made of a hard rock called ‘quartzite’, Palaeolithic men are therefore also called ‘Quartzite men’ in India.

The Palaeolithic Age is divided into three phases according to the nature of stone tools used. They are:

Early or lower Palaeolithic

Use of hand axes, choppers, and cleavers, mainly for chopping, digging, and skinning.
Found in Soan and Sohan river valley (now in Pakistan), Kashmir, Thar Desert (Didwana, Rajasthan), Hiran Valley (Gujarat), rockshelters of Bhimbetka (MP), and Belan Valley Mirzapur (UP)
5,00,000 BCE−50,000 BCE
Covers the greater part of the Ice Age.

Middle Palaeolithic

Use of stone tools made of flakes, mainly scrapers, borers, points, and bladelike tools.
Found in Soan, Narmada and Tungabhadra river valleys, Potwar plateau (between Indus and Jhelum), Sanghao Cave (near peshawar, Pakistan).
50,000 BCE −40,000 BCE
Established only in 1960 by H.D. Sankalia and was named Nevasan industry after the site of Nevasa (Maharastra).

Late or Upper Palaeolithic

Parallel-sided blades, burins, and some instances of bone tools.
Found in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Central MP, Southern UP and Chhotanagpur Plateau. Bone tools found only at cave sites of Kurnool and Muchchatla Chintamani Gavi in Andhra Pradesh
40,000 BCE−10,000 BCE
Homo sapiens first appeared at the end of this phase. Coincided with the last phase of the Ice Age, when the climate became comparatively warm and less humid.

Mesolithic Age (Hunters and Herders)

The Mesolithic Age represents the intermediate stage in Stone Age Culture. Both Mesolithic and Neolithic Cultures belong to the Holocene era (which succeeded the Pleistocene era around 10,000 years ago). The Mesolithic man lived on hunting, fishing, food gathering, and in later stages, also domesticated animals. One of the key aspects of the Mesolithic Age was the reduction in size of well-established tool types. The characteristic tools of this age were microliths (miniature stone tools usually made of crypto-crystalline silica, chalcedony, or chert, both of geometrical and non-geometrical shapes). They were not only used as tools in themselves but also to make composite tools, spearheads, arrowheads, and sickles after hafting them on wooden or bone handles. Some of the other aspects of the Mesolithic Age are:

Pottery is absent at most Mesolithic sites, but it is present at Langhnaj in Gujarat and in the Kaimur region of Mirzapur (UP).
The last phase of this age saw the beginning of plant cultivation.
The Mesolithic era initiated rock art in pre-history. In 1867, the first rock paintings in India were discovered at Sohagighat (Kaimur Hills, UP). Now, over 150 Mesolithic rock art sites have been discovered across India, with rich concentration in Central India such as the Bhimbetka Caves, Kharwar, Jaora, and Kathotia (M.P.), Sundargarh and Sambalpur (Orissa), Ezhuthu Guha (Kerala). Animals dominate the scenes at most Mesolithic rock art sites. However, no snakes are depicted in Mesolithic Paintings.

Burials and rock paintings give us ideas about the development of religious practices and also reflect the division of labour on the basis of gender.

Important Mesolithic sites are:

Bagor, Rajasthan on River Kothari is one of the largest and best documented Mesolithic sites in India.
Chhotanagpur Region, Central India. Both Adamgarh, M.P. and Bagor provide the earliest evidence for the domestication of animals
South of River Krishna, Tinnevelly in Tamil Nadu
Birbhanpur in West Bengal
Sarai Nahar Rai, near Allahabad, Pratapgarh area
Mahadaha, U.P., where bone artifacts are found, including arrowheads and bone ornaments

Neolithic Age (Food-Producing Stage)

In northern India, the Neolithic age emerged around c.8000−6000 BCE.

At some places in south and eastern India, it is as late as 1000 BCE. Its significance in pre-history can be gauged by the fact that V. Gordon Childe termed the Neolithic phase as Neolithic Revolution. It introduced a lot of innovations such as:

Advent of food production: The Neolithic man cultivated land and grew fruits & corn like ragi and horse gram (kulathi). He domesticated cattle, sheep, and goats.
Innovations in technology: The Neolithic man innovated in the production of stone tools, producing implements such as polished, pecked, and ground stone tools. They depended on polished stones other than quartzite for making tools. The use of celts was especially important for ground and polished handaxes. Based on the types of axes used, three important areas of Neolithic Settlements can be identified:

North-Western: Rectangular axes with curved cutting edge.
North-Eastern: Polished stone axes with rectangular butt, has occasional shouldered hoes
. Southern: Axes with oval sides and pointed butt.

Invention of pottery: The Neolithic era communities first made pottery by hand and then with the help of the potter’s wheel. Their pottery included black burnished ware, grey ware, and mat-impressed ware. It can therefore be said that pottery on a large-scale appeared in this phase
Emergence of self-sufficient village communities: In the later phases of the Neolithic era, people led a more settled life. They lived in circular and rectangular houses made of mud and reed. They also knew how to make boats and could spin cotton and wool and weave cloth.
Division of labour based on sex and age: As society was progressing,the need for additional labour was recognised and thus labour was procured from other non kin groups too.

Some of the important excavated Neolithic Sites along with their unique aspects are as follows:

Burzahom (unique rectangular chopper, domestic dogs buried with their masters in graves) and Gufkraal in Jammu and Kashmir (famous for pit dwelling, stone tools, and graveyards located within households)
Maski, Brahmagiri, Piklihal (proof of cattle herding), Budihal (community food preparation and feasting), and Tekkalakota in Karnataka
Paiyampalli in Tamil Nadu and Utnur in Andhra Pradesh
Garo Hills in Meghalaya, Chirand in Bihar (considerable use of bone implements, especially those made of antlers)
Saraikhola, near Taxila on Potwar plateau, Amri, Kotdiji and Mehrgarh (the earliest Neolithic site known as the Breadbasket of Baluchistan, a province of Pakistan)
Koldihwa, in Belan valley (unique in terms of the presence of a three-fold Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Iron Age settlements), Koldihwa and Mahagara, south of Allahabad (many strata of circular huts along with crude hand-made pottery; earliest evidence of rice cultivation in the world)
Chopani – Mando, Belan valley (earliest evidence of use of pottery)
Belan Valley, on the northern spurs of the Vindhyas, and the middle part of the Narmada valley (evidence of all the three phases of Paleolithic settlement, followed by Mesolithic and Neolithic settlements)

Chalcolithic Age / Copper-Stone Age (c. 3000−500 BCE)

The Chalcolithic age marked the emergence of the use of metal along with stone tools. The first metal to be used was copper, though they also occasionally used bronze. Technologically, the Chalcolithic stage largely applies to the settlements of pre-Harappans, but in various parts of country, it appears after the end of the bronze Harappa culture. Some Chalcolithic cultures are contemporary of Harappan culture and some of pre-Harappan cultures, though it is possible to say that most Chalcolithic cultures are post-Harappan. Some prominent sites of preHarappan Chalcolithic culture are Ganeshwar, near the Khetri Mines of Rajasthan, Kalibangan in Rajasthan, Banawali in Haryana, Kot Diji in Sindh (Pakistan).

Chalcolithic people domesticated cows, sheep, goats, pigs and buffaloes, and hunted deer. They ate beef but did not like pork and were also not acquainted with horses. It is rather interesting to note that the domesticated animals were slaughtered for food and not milked for dairy products (this practice still continues among the (Gond people of Bastar). The people of the Chalcolithic phase produced wheat and rice as their staple, bajra, several pulses such as lentil, black gram, green gram, and grass pea, while those living in eastern regions lived on fish and rice. They practiced more slash-burn or jhum cultivation. However, neither the plough nor the hoe has been found at any site of this period. They used different types of pottery, of which black and red pottery was the most popular. This was made using the potter’s wheel and was painted with white line design. Equally interesting is the fact that female potters did not use the potter’s wheel, only men did.

Other distinguishing features of people in the Chalcolithic age are as follows:

They were not acquainted with burnt brick, and generally lived in thatched houses made of mud bricks. There economy was a village-based economy.
Chalcolithic-era people did not know the use of writing.
Their villages were small, with huts close to each other. Chalcolithic age people cooked their food.
Small clay images of earth goddesses have been found from Chalcolithic sites.
It is thus possible to say that they venerated the Mother Goddess. Chalcolithic people were fond of ornaments and decoration.
The women wore ornaments of shell and bone and carried finely worked combs in their hair.
The bull was probably the symbol of their religious cult (based on stylised bull terracottas of Malwa and Rajasthan).
The Chalcolithic people were expert coppersmiths. They knew the art of copper-smelting and were good stone workers as well. They manufactured beads of semi-precious stones such as carnelian, steatite, and quartz crystal.
They knew spinning and weaving.
Chalcolithic settlements have been found in south-eastern Rajasthan, western M.P. western Maharashtra, as well as other parts of southern and eastern India. There are definite regional differences in terms of cereals produced and consumed, pottery made, and so on. For instance, eastern India produced rice, whereas western India cultivated barley and wheat. In Maharashtra, the dead were buried in the north-south direction, whereas in southern India they were buried in the east-west direction. In eastern India, fractional burial was practiced.
Infant mortality was very high among Chalcolithic people, as evident from the burial of a large number of children in western Maharashtra.
One can note the beginnings of social inequalities in Chalcolithic societies, as chiefs who lived in rectangular houses dominated others who lived in round huts.

Some of the important excavated Chalcolithic Sites along with their unique aspects are as follows:

Ahar (smelting and metallurgy, stone houses) and Gilund (occasional use of burnt bricks) in Banas Valley, Rajasthan
Nevasa, Jorwe (non-Harappan culture), Navdatoli (cultivated almost all foodgrains), Daimabad (largest Jorwe culture site in the Godavari valley, famous for the recovery of bronze goods), Songaon, Inamgaon (large mud houses with ovens and circular pit houses) and Nasik, Maharashtra
Chirand, Senuar, Sonpur in Bihar, Mahishdal in West Bengal
Kayatha (mud-plastered floors, pre-Harappan elements in pottery), Malwa (richest Chalcolithic ceramics, spindle whorls, non-Harappan culture), Eran, M.P. (non- Harappan culture)

ALSO SEE

Pre-Historic Phase of Ancient India | Palaeolithic, Mesolithic , Neolithic, Chalcolithic Period of India

ANCIENT INDIA

PRE-HISTORY PHASE OF INDIA

Timeline