34-633: The Painted Grey Ware culture ( PGW ) is an Iron Age Indo-Aryan culture of the western Gangetic plain and the Ghaggar-Hakra valley in the Indian subcontinent , conventionally dated c. 1200 to 600–500 BCE, or from 1300 to 500–300 BCE. It is a successor of the Cemetery H culture and Black and red ware culture (BRW) within this region, and contemporary with the continuation of the BRW culture in
68-498: A few stamp seals with geometric designs but no inscription, contrasting with both the prior Harappan seals and the subsequent Brahmi -inscribed seals of the Northern Black Polished Ware culture. The PGW pottery shows a remarkable degree of standardization. It is dominated by bowls of two shapes, a shallow tray and a deeper bowl, often with a sharp angle between the walls and base. The range of decoration
102-579: A period overlap between the later part of the Harappan phase (with a "noticeable slow decline in quality") and the earliest PGW levels; Sample OxA-21882 showed a calibrated radiocarbon dating from 2136 BCE to 1948 BCE , but seven other samples from the overlap phase that were submitted for dating failed to give a result. A team of the Archaeological Survey of India led by B.R. Mani and Vinay Kumar Gupta collected charcoal samples from Gosna,
136-645: A roughly 90-km traditional circle ( Parikrama ) around the holy city (1 kos equals about 3.00 km or 1.91 miles), and a complete parikrama refers to a pilgrimage to all these sites on foot. The International Gita Mahotsav , held every year in Kururukshetra on the Shukla Ekadashi —the 11th day of the waxing moon of the Margashirsha ( Agrahayan ) month of the Hindu calendar , celebrates
170-808: A site 6 km east of Mathura across the Yamuna river, where two of the radiocarbon dates from the PGW deposit came out to be 2160 BCE and 2170 BCE, but they mention that "there is a possibility that the cultural horizon which is now regarded as belonging to the P.G.W. period might turn out to be as belonging to a period with only plain grey ware." Later on, other two datings confirming early PGW horizon in Kampil excavations were published as 2310 +/- 120 BCE and 1360 +/- 90 BCE by archaeologist D.P. Tewari. Excavation at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka has unearthed PGW pottery from
204-523: Is a clear settlement hierarchy, with a few central towns that stand out amongst numerous small villages. Some sites, including Jakhera in Uttar Pradesh , demonstrate a “fairly evolved, proto-urban or semi-urban stage” of this culture, with evidence of social organization and trade, including ornaments of gold, copper, ivory, and semi-precious stones, storage bins for surplus grain, stone weights, paved streets, water channels and embankments. The plough
238-497: Is different from the pottery of the Iranian Plateau and Afghanistan (Bryant 2001). In some sites, PGW pottery and Late Harappan pottery are contemporaneous. The archaeologist Jim Shaffer (1984:84-85) has noted that "at present, the archaeological record indicates no cultural discontinuities separating Painted Grey Ware from the indigenous protohistoric culture." However, the continuity of pottery styles may be explained by
272-566: Is limited - vertical, oblique or criss-cross lines, rows of dots, spiral chains and concentric circles being common. At Bhagwanpura in the Kurukshetra district of Haryana , excavations have revealed an overlap between the late Harappan and Painted Grey Ware cultures, large houses that may have been elite residences, and fired bricks that may have been used in Vedic altars . Fresh surveys by archaeologist Vinay Kumar Gupta suggest Mathura
306-428: Is located at around 30° North and 77° East. Kurukshetra city is surrounded by Patiala , Ludhiana , Jalandhar , Amritsar to the northwest, Ambala , Chandigarh , Shimla to the north, Yamuna Nagar , Jagadhri , Dehradun to the northeast, Pehowa , Cheeka , Mansa to the west, Ladwa , Saharanpur , Roorkee to the east, Kaithal , Jind , Hisar to the southwest, Karnal , Panipat , Sonipat , New Delhi to
340-700: The Indus Valley civilisation . The later vedic literature provides a mass of information on the life and culture of the times. It is succeeded by Northern Black Polished Ware from c.700–500 BCE, associated with the rise of the great Mahajanapada states and of the Magadha Empire. The Painted Grey Ware culture ( PGW ) is conventionally dated c. 1500 to 500 BCE . Akinori Uesugi regards PGW as having three periods within North Indian Iron Age which are: When it makes its appearance in
374-780: The 'Basal early historic' period of Anuradhapura (600 BC-500 BCE) showing connections with North India. Iron Age in India In the prehistory of the Indian subcontinent , the Iron Age succeeded Bronze Age India and partly corresponds with the megalithic cultures of India. Other Iron Age archaeological cultures of India were the Painted Grey Ware culture (1300–300 BCE) and the Northern Black Polished Ware (700–200 BCE). This corresponds to
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#1732765798853408-649: The Ghaggar valley and the upper Ganga region. When it spreads into the western part of the Ganga valley. With interactions to the east. Two periods of PGW were identified recently at Ahichhatra by archaeologists the earliest from c. 1500 to 800 BCE, and the late from 800 to 400 BCE. The PGW culture cultivated rice, wheat, millet and barley, and domesticated cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses. Houses were built of wattle-and-daub , mud, or bricks, ranging in size from small huts to large houses with many rooms. There
442-627: The Kuru kingdom (as determined by philological study of the Vedic literature) corresponds with the archaeological Painted Grey Ware culture . Kurukshetra was conquered by the Mauryan empire in the late 4th century BCE and subsequently became a center of Buddhism and Hinduism. The history of Kurukshetra is little-known in between the collapse of the Mauryans and the rise of the Kushans who conquered
476-689: The ancestor of Kauravas and Pandavas in the Kuru kingdom , as depicted in epic Mahabharata . The Kurukshetra War of the Mahabharata is believed to have taken place here. Thaneswar , whose urban area is merged with Kurukshetra, is a pilgrimage site with many locations attributed to Mahabharata . In the Vedas, Kurukshetra is described not as a city but as a region (" kshetra " means "region" in Sanskrit). The boundaries of Kurukshetra correspond roughly to
510-921: The central and western parts of the state of Haryana and Punjab . According to the Taittiriya Aranyaka 5.1.1., the Kurukshetra region is south of Turghna (Srughna/Sugh in Sirhind , Punjab), north of Khandava (Delhi and Mewat region), east of Maru (desert), and west of Parin. According to the Vamana Purana , King Kuru chose land at the banks of the Sarasvati River for embedding spirituality with eight virtues: austerity ( Tapas ), truth ( Satya ), forgiveness (Kshama), kindness ( Daya ), purity (Shuddha), charity ( Daana ), devotion ( Yajna ), and conduct ( Brahmacharya ). Lord Vishnu
544-477: The city likely enjoyed some autonomy. The area was much more firmly controlled under the subsequent Lodi dynasty . Some damages to Kurukshetra and its structures occurred during this period. Kurukshetra became part of the Mughal Empire after Babur quashed a local rebellion in 1526. Under Akbar , Kurukshetra once again became a spiritual center not only for Hindus but also for Sikhs and Muslims. Between
578-481: The eastern Gangetic plain and Central India . Characterized by a style of fine, grey pottery painted with geometric patterns in black, the PGW culture is associated with village and town settlements, domesticated horses, ivory-working, and the advent of iron metallurgy. As of 2018, 1,576 PGW sites have been discovered. Although most PGW sites were small farming villages, "several dozen" PGW sites emerged as relatively large settlements that can be characterized as towns;
612-635: The fact that pottery was generally made by indigenous craftsmen even after the Indo-Aryan migration . According to Chakrabarti (1968) and other scholars, the origins of the subsistence patterns (e.g. rice use) and most other characteristics of the Painted Grey Ware culture are in eastern India or even Southeast Asia . In 2013, the University of Cambridge and Banaras Hindu University excavated at Alamgirpur near Delhi , where they found
646-520: The first recorded state-level society ( janapada ) in the Indian subcontinent . This kingdom documented their ritual hymns into collections called the Vedas , and developed new rituals which gained their position in Indian civilization as the Srauta rituals, which contributed to the "classical synthesis" or "Hindu synthesis" (roots of Hinduism). It was the dominant political and cultural center of
680-405: The largest of these were fortified by ditches or moats and embankments made of piled earth with wooden palisades, albeit smaller and simpler than the elaborate fortifications which emerged in large cities after 600 BCE. The PGW Culture probably corresponds to the middle and late Vedic period , i.e., the Kuru - Panchala kingdom, the first large state in the Indian subcontinent after the decline of
714-693: The late 17th and early 18th centuries, Kurukshetra was controlled by the forces of the Maratha Empire until the British took over Delhi in 1803. In 1805, the British took Kurukshetra after defeating the Maratha forces in the Second Anglo-Maratha War , who were controlling the city. Since 1947, Kurukshetra has become a popular spiritual center and has seen much infrastructure, development, and restoration of old structures. Kuruksetra
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#1732765798853748-500: The limits of the Municipal Corporation due to its religious significance. Kurukshetra Junction railway station is a junction station at the junction of Delhi–Kalka line and Kurukshetra–Jind branch line. It serves Kurukshetra and Thanesar city. Kurukshetra is an important Hindu pilgrimage destination, and there are several pilgrimage sites surrounding the city. The Hindi phrase 48 kos parikrama refers to
782-529: The middle Vedic Period during the reigns of Parikshit and Janamejaya , but declined in importance during the late Vedic period (c. 900 – c. 500 BCE) and had become "something of a backwater" by the Mahajanapada period in the 5th century BCE. Traditions and legends about the Kurus continued into the post-Vedic period, providing the basis for the Mahabharata epic. The time-frame and geographical extent of
816-702: The need for a fresh review. According to him, the evidence corroborates the early use of iron in other areas of the country, and attests that India was indeed an independent centre for the development of the working of iron. Recently discovered iron age sites in the south of India in Mayiladumparai may be the oldest iron-age sites in India, dated at 2172 BCE. Previously known early iron age sites in South India are Hallur , Karnataka and Adichanallur , Tamil Nadu at around 1000 BCE. Mahurjhari near Nagpur
850-574: The region. After the decline of Kushan power in the region, Kurukshetra became independent only to become conquered by the Gupta empire in the early 4th century CE. Under Gupta rule, Kurukshetra experienced a cultural and religious revival and became a center for Hinduism. After the fall of the Gupta, the Pushyabhuti dynasty ruled over Kurukshetra. Kurukshetra reached the zenith of its progress during
884-653: The reign of King Harsha (c. 590–647 CE) during which Chinese scholar Xuanzang visited Thanesar. Civil war broke out when Harsha (of the Pushyabhuti dynasty) died without a successor in 647. A Kashmiri army briefly conquered Kurukshetra in 733 but were unable to establish dominion in the area. In 736, the Tomara dynasty was founded and they took over the region. Around the early 9th century, Kurukshetra lost its independence to Bengal. Mahmud of Ghazni sacked Kurukshetra in 1014 and Muslim raiders sacked it in 1034. Kurukshetra
918-473: The south, and Shamli , Muzaffarnagar , Meerut to the southeast. The climate of the district varies as the temperature in summer reaches as high as 47 °C (117 °F), and as low 1 °C (34 °F) in winter, with rains in July and August. Religion in Kurukshetra city (2011) In 2017, the government declared Kurukshetra a holy city and the sale, possession, and consumption of meat are banned within
952-744: The transition of the Janapadas or principalities of the Vedic period to the sixteen Mahajanapadas or region-states of the early historic period, culminating in the emergence of the Maurya Empire towards the end of the period. The earliest evidence of iron smelting predates the emergence of the Iron Age proper by several centuries. R. Tewari (2003) radiocarbon dated iron artifacts in Uttar Pradesh , including furnaces, tuyeres, and slag between c. 1800 and 1000 BCE. The use of iron and iron working
986-548: Was a large bead manufacturing site. Kurukshetra Kurukshetra ( Hindi pronunciation: [kʊrʊkʃeːtɾə] , pronunciation ) is a city and administrative headquarters of Kurukshetra district in the Indian state of Haryana . It is also known as Dharmakshetra ("Realm of duty") and as the "Land of the Bhagavad Gita ". According to the Puranas , Kurukshetra is a region named after King Kuru ,
1020-630: Was impressed with the acts of King Kuru and blessed him with two boons—first, that this land forever will be known as a Holy Land after his name as Kurukshetra (the land of Kuru); second, that anyone dying on this land will go to heaven. The land of Kurukshetra was situated between two rivers—the Sarasvati and the Drishadvati . Kuru Kingdom , founded by King Puru —the ancestors of Kauravas and Pandavas Vedic Indo-Aryan tribal union in northern Iron Age (c. 1200 – c. 900 BCE), developed into
1054-608: Was incorporated into the Delhi Sultanate in 1206. Other than a short moment of independence from the result of a rebellion within the Sultanate in 1240, Kurukshetra was under the control of Delhi until 1388. Kurukshetra became independent once again after the steep decline of the Delhi Sultanate and the raids of Tamerlane near the region. The Sayyid dynasty incorporated Kurukshetra into their territory though
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1088-560: Was prevalent in the Central Ganga Plain and the Eastern Vindhyas from the early second millennium BCE. The beginning of the use of iron has been traditionally associated with the eastward migration of the later Vedic people , who are also considered as an agency which revolutionised material culture particularly in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar . Scholar Rakesh Tewari states that new finds and their dates suggest
1122-442: Was the largest PGW site around 375 hectares in area. Among the largest sites is also the recently excavated Ahichatra , with at least 40 hectares of area in PGW times along with evidence of early construction of the fortification which goes back to PGW levels. Towards the end of the period, many of the PGW settlements grew into the large towns and cities of the Northern Black Polished Ware period. The pottery style of this culture
1156-498: Was used for cultivation. There are also indications of growing complexity of society as population increased and the size and number of settlements multiplied. Arts and crafts of the PGW people are represented by ornaments (made from terracotta, stone, faience , and glass), human and animal figurines (made from terracotta ) as well as "incised terracotta discs with decorated edges and geometric motifs" which probably had "ritual meaning," perhaps representing symbols of deities . There are
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