By Monidipa Dey,
Secrets of Sinauli: The current 2018 excavations at the Sinauli burial internet site, which is situated 67 km from Delhi in Baghpat- Uttar Pradesh, had led to a lot of excitement in each the archeological globe and amongst the history enthusiasts owing to the discovery of 3 chariots that had been more than 4,000 years old (2500 -1900 BCE). Why was the discovery of chariots so vital in the context of Indian history? First: it was the 1st time that India was seeing chariots that had been modern to the Mesopotamian and Sumerian culture. Second: it place a significant query mark on the theory that horses had been introduced to India from western and central Asia by the ‘invaders’ / immigrants.
Besides the discovery of the 3 chariots, the Sinauli burial internet site is very vital (not only in the Indian context but also in the SE Asian context) for handful of other discoveries. When the internet site was 1st excavated in 2005-2006, it had yielded 116 burials producing it the greatest burial internet site in whole Asia, but the excavation was discontinued for “reasons unknown”. In 2018 when the internet site was reopened, it yielded some rather exciting artifacts, such as copper engraved shields and antenna swords with copper wired wooden hilts. Findings weapons from burials that held skeletal remains of girls also raised the possibility that we had been seeing for the 1st time archaeological evidences of girls warriors from ancient India.
The current 55 minute documentary on Discovery plus titled “Secrets of Sinauli” by Neeraj Pandey examines these archeological findings closely in-situ, recorded when the excavation was going on. Compèred by Manoj Bajpayee who in his special and rather incomparable style tends to make it very simple for the common viewers, when several stalwarts from the ASI and other bodies (Dr. RS Bisht, Dr. BB Lal, Dr. DV Sharma, Dr. VN Prabhakar- IIT Gandhinagar, Dr. BR Mani –National Museum, Prof Vijay Sathe – Deccan college) clarify and place forward theories with evidences, countering the distinct western hegemonic narratives on pre, proto, and ancient Indian history. Backed by fantastic animations and graphics that assist viewers visualize how these ancient Sinauli people today would have looked, tends to make the expertise even more worthwhile.
The documentary is presented in a manner exactly where the viewer can simply divide it into several segments for uncomplicated remembering the two most vital segments getting a) discovery of the shields along with antenna swords with their hilt intact, and b) discovery of the chariots. It begins with fundamentals of excavations supported with appropriate graphics, which touches on the horizontal and vertical approaches of digging mostly since a modify in selection by Dr. Sanjay K. Manjul (ASI Institute of Archaeology director, heading the excavation) at the appropriate moment to switch from horizontal to vertical digging helped make the vital discoveries that changed the narratives on early Indian history. Dr. Manjul and his group take the viewers by way of the excavation live on internet site, exactly where he explains the findings of the several sacred chambers of the burial internet site in situ. The most vital point that stands out from his talks is the reality that it was the comprehensive use of copper as sheaths, wires, inlays, and so on on the wooden artifacts, which saved them from getting decomposing, as a result preserving them for us for more than 4000 years.
The Ganga-Yamuna doab archaeological web pages, exactly where the Sinauli burial internet site is situated, is characterised by ochre coloured pottery (OCP), copper hoards, anthropomorphic figures, harpoons, rings, and antenna swords. The significance of Sinauli stems from the reality that it presented just before us some artifacts in their intact kind that had been not identified just before in India, significantly to the bafflement of the archaeologists, when at the exact same time assisting generate the western hegemonic narratives of factors getting introduced to India from foreign lands. One such is the antenna sword, identified in all ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, and identified as a lethal weapon applied in warfare. Antenna swords have been routinely identified in India, but normally without having the hilt, which led to speculations that these swords had been mere symbolic in the Indian context. The Sinauli internet site puts to rest these speculations by yielding antenna swords with their hilts intact, as these had copper mesh ornamentation about them, which protected the wood from rotting. Another vital discovery was the presence of shields. Never just before had India witnessed the physical presence of a shield, even even though our literatures abound in their descriptions of it. These shields had gorgeous cross styles with flowers at frequent intervals. Interestingly, when shields identified with male skeletons had copper styles, the girls burials yielded shields with steatite inlay work. This brings us to a further vital discovery: the proof of the presence of girls warriors in ancient India. There had been identified 3 burials for girls (out of the 10 burials) that held weapons such as swords, shields, and bow and arrows. The weapons, which showed higher high-quality and sophisticated technologies as compared to the artefacts from Harappa and other web pages, make it really clear that they had been applied in warfare. One of the male skeletons even had an antenna sword placed in an upright position by his coffin side, depicting a sign of valour. So, as the archeologists in the documentary inform us, India is hunting at a 4000 year old burial internet site of an elite warrior clan (some of the burial internet site remains point at clear indicators of wealth and energy) that lived in ancient India.
The most vital discovery of the internet site is nevertheless the chariots (2100-1900 BCE) identified properly preserved and Dr. Manjul shows in the documentary how they had been identified in-situ. The wheels show gorgeous radiating patterns in copper in 3 layers, like the rays of the sun. The documentary puts forth evidences (such as, size of the wheel, space in the chariot, chassis, pole, and so on.) that show these had been sophisticated and sophisticated light-weight chariots, with a D shaped chassis constructed for warfare, to be pulled forth by horses: once again saved since of the comprehensive use of copper on them. Dr. BB Lal and Prof. Vijay Sathe mention DNA tested ancient horse bones identified in India (Surkotada internet site), as a result refuting the theory that horses had been introduced in India from outdoors.
This virtually hour lengthy documentary, brilliantly conceptualized with evidences and properly placed arguments, along with fantastic commentary by Manoj Bajpayee is a delight to watch and study from. While the principal discoveries have been summarized and presented right here in this post, the documentary is a must watch, as it presents every single small detail of the excavation work and the artefacts identified from this revolutionary internet site, that are properly backed with arguments by the archeological stalwarts. It is important and higher time also that we Indians take a relook at our ancient history, probe it additional, and move away from the western hegemonic distortions.
(The author is a properly-identified travel and heritage writer. Views expressed are private and do not reflect the official position or policy of TheSpuzz Online.)