Most of the discoveries relating to ancient India made  remain unknown.

It is an accepted fact that civilizations flourished on the banks of Rivers, be it in India, or Sumeria, Minoa or Africa.

In India wee seem to be hearing only bout the civilizations that flourished long the banks of Ganges, Sind and Saraswathy.

Not much is known or even attempted about the other four River basins of India.

Seven Rivers are mentioned in Hindu Texts.

Ganges,

Yamuna,

Godavari,

Sarasvathi,

Narmada,

Sindu, and

Cauvery.

Of these seven, exhaustive research is being done around Ganges,Sarasvathi and Sind.

On Yamuna the research seems to have been restricted to sites relation to Mahabharata and Krishna.

On the Narmada area only Dwaraka seems to have been concentrated upon.

My research shows we have equally ancient finds around the other river basins..

Time that we concentrate on these area as well.

In addition to this, we have references to other ancient rivers like Vigai, near Madurai, Tamil Nadu,Tamraparani, near deep down south Tirunelveli nd there are are references to to other rivers like Pahruli.

The last one belonged to Tamil Sangam Age which flowed and joined the sea near Madagascar.

I had written on the fact that Vaiwaswatha Manu, ancestor of Lord Rama meditated  near Madagascar!

No to the site of Harappa named 4 MSR.

Two thousand sites unearthed relating to Harappa reveal that the Hindu culture extended for Two Million Square Millions, which included the present Pakistan and Iran.

Archaeological  Report.

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“The purpose of the present excavation at 4MSR is to learn about the Early Harappan deposits, 4MSR’s relationship with other contemporary sites and to fill the gap between the Late Harappan phase and the painted grey ware [PGW] culture. We should know about the early farming phase [that existed in the pre-Harappan period]. It is also important to know the continuity of the sequence from the Late Harappan phase to the PGW culture. That is why we have taken up explorations and excavations in this entire area.”

At its height, the Harappan civilisation flourished over 2.5 million sq. km in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. About 2,000 sites have been found, from Sutkagendor in the Makran coast of Balochistan to Alamgirhpur in the east in Uttar Pradesh and from Manda in Jammu to Daimabad in Maharashtra.

The Harappan civilisation is divided into three phases: Early (3000 BCE-2600 BCE), Mature (2600 BCE -1900 BCE) and Late (1900 BCE-1500 BCE). The PGW culture came later and is datable to circa 1200 BCE and belongs to the early historical period.

After Partition, big Harappan sites such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and Ganweriwala fell on the Pakistani side. Between 1972 and 1974, M.R. Mughal, former Director General of Archaeology and Museums, Pakistan, explored Bahawalpur in the Cholistan region of Punjab, situated on the border with Rajasthan. Mughal found a lot of pottery on the surface there and named it Hakra ware after the Hakra river which flows there and which is called Ghaggar in India. Originating in the Himalayas, the Ghaggar flows through Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat before joining the Arabian Sea near the Rann of Kutch.

If the cornucopia of artefacts thrown up from the current excavation is any indication, 4MSR has all the characteristics of having been an Early Harappan and Mature Harappan site like Kalibangan situated 120 km away. There are no indications that a Late Harappan phase existed. “A special feature of 4MSR is the discovery of a perforated jar, a perforated bowl with a hole at the bottom and a perforated pot, confirming its status as a Mature Harappan site,” asserted Pandey. What fascinated him was the discovery of pots with handles. “In a nutshell, our excavations have yielded pre-Harappan Hakra ware, Early Harappan pottery and Mature Harappan ceramics,” he said.

What stands out in the excavation is the bonanza of Early Harappan pottery with beautifully painted figures of peacocks, a lion, birds, pipal leaves and fish-net designs. Another discovery, a beautiful pot with a pencil mouth, could have been used to keep precious liquids or perfume.

Other important artefacts obtained from the site are beads made of carnelian, lapis lazuli, steatite, agate and terracotta; copper, shell and terracotta bangles; copper rings and fish hooks; terracotta spindles and whorls; weights made out chert stone; terracotta sling balls, toy-cart frames, figurines of humped bulls, and arrowheads. Two horns of nilgai were found in a trench. Of particular interest is a potsherd with the impression of a fabric. Besides the seal, a sealing (impression of a seal) was found. The centrepiece of the discoveries is a fragment of a gold ornament for the ear. It is rare to find gold ornaments in Harappan sites although tubular gold beads have been found in Khirsara and Lothal, both Harappan sites in Gujarat.

One trench yielded a skeleton, perhaps that of a female, about 40 years old. The ASI team is in the process of identifying the presence of grave goods in the trench to determine the period to which it belongs.

What has come as a bonus is the discovery of a fire altar, with a yasti (a shaft) in the middle. “The yasti is an indication that rituals were performed at the altar,” said Manjul. The yasti here is an octagonal, burnt brick. Although bones were found in the upper level of the deposits in this trench, it could not be ascertained whether they were sacrificial bones. The ASI team traced mud and ash layers at the lower level in the trench and also found a bead inside the fire altar. Pandey said fire altars had been found in Kalibangan and Rakhigarhi, and the yastis were octagonal or cylindrical bricks. There were “signatures” indicating that worship of some kind had taken place at the fire altar here.

Rakhigarhi Rediscovered.

According to Manjul, an important reason why so many Harappan settlements came up in the then Saraswati valley was its fertile alluvial plains. Besides, raw materials such as chert, clay and copper were available in the nearby areas.

It was puzzling, Manjul said, that while a lot of pottery belonging to the Mature Harappan period was found at Kalibangan, Baror, Binjor and 4MSR, no pottery belonging to the Late Harappan phase had been found in these and other nearby sites. “The Harappans deserted 4MSR, Binjor and Baror after the Mature Harappan phase. Why?” he asked. Another puzzle was that only the Late Harappan culture existed in the Suratgarh region in Rajasthan. “There is no continuity of the Harappan phases in the Ghaggar river valley. Did a migration take place towards Suratgarh after the Mature Harappan period? We have to find out the reasons why it happened,” Manjul said. (Baror, Binjor and 4MSR are contiguous sites. While Baror is about 20 km from Binjor and 4MSR, Kalibangan is 120 km from 4MSR. Kalibangan is 25 km from Suratgarh).,

Reference and citation.

http://www.frontline.in/arts-and-culture/heritage/harappan-surprise/article7053030.ece

Image credit.

http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.in/2013/07/bhirrana-8th-millennium-bce-on-river.html