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Geographically, Arunachal Pradesh (earlier known as NEFA) is the largest state in northeast India. In term of ethnicity, culture and language, it has distinctive features differentiating themselves from the so called mainland India. It can be considered as ‘a hot pot of cultural biodiversity’. The reports of archaeological related works had been made in the state since pre-Independence era of India. But, these were the accidental findings through surface collection. The first systematic excavation was reported to be conducted at Parsi-Parlo (1982-83). Since then, the excavation work was unheard in the state though there are reports of few archaeological related works on the basis of survey or surface collection. By seeing the geographical location of the state, all these archaeological evidences – historic and prehistoric remains can be the prime focus to study the past history of the region. However, the present paper will focus on the prehistoric contexts of the state and reports which are made over the years. This also attempts to initiate the apparent linkage of Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asian region through prehistoric findings from the state. It is worthy to mention that the initiative to study on this topic will give the insight importance of the region since prehistoric time, not only of the present day. This will enable to grasp the significance of archaeological study in the region and the values it gives in neighboring regions including northeast India (India as a whole) with Southeast Asian and East Asian region.

Keywords: Arunachal Pradesh, Archaeology, prehistory, northeast India, Southeast Asia

Piku, T., & Meitei, A.M. 2022. Archaeological Works of Arunachal Pradesh, India. South Asian History, Culture and Archaeology, 2: 2, pp. 219-227.

The cultivation of cotton and production of cotton textiles have been a well-entrenched culture and it has supported the economy of the Indian subcontinent since historic times. The subcontinent attained excellence in textile production relying on high-quality and decentralized cotton production, elegant workmanship, efficient and locally-evolved tools, and intergenerational knowledge of dyeing, stitching, and printing. The glory began to fade with the introduction of exotic species and the saga of decline continued thereafter. Here, I revisited the historic cotton cultivation that fed the production of diverse cotton textiles catering to local and global consumers. It revealed a broad range of local varieties grown almost throughout the country in a range of agro-ecosystems. The different quality of cotton supplied the raw material to manufacture very simple, coarse to elegant and extravagant textiles of myriad kinds. A review of historic texts also showed that farmers have exercised various practices like multi-cropping, crop rotations, and cultivating extensively or intensively contingent on available capital and resources, over the centuries. These demonstrate their ability to adopt measures to mitigate risk and underscore the primacy of farmers in decision-making. The cultivation of cotton began to change responding to various socio-economic factors and intensification of production, especially in the twentieth century, was one of the drivers underlying such change. In summarising, I show the apparent contrast between some critical dimensions of the past and present cultivation practice and shed light on a part of the agricultural history of cotton and its change.

Keywords: Indian Cotton, Cotton Textile, Gossypium Arboreum, Risk Abatement, Multi-Cropping, Crop Rotation, Decision-Making, Traditional Agro-Ecological Knowledge

Ray, A. 2022. Revisiting the Culture of Cotton in the Past: Historical Cultivation Practices, Farmers Decision Making, Intensification of Production. South Asian History, Culture and Archaeology, 2: 2, pp. 229-242.

From historical and cultural point of view,Toumadhi Square, in the middle of the city, is one of the important squares in Bhaktapur. Bhairavnath, the protector and powerful deity of Bhaktapur city resides here. Later when Bhairav began to take the form of aggressive, to calm him down, a magnificent and huge Nyataponla (five-Storeyed) temple of Siddhilaxmi, the powerful goddess of Tantra Shakti, was built on the right side of Bhairavnath temple in early 1700s. Built in original Nepali style, this temple is beautiful, unique and incomparable in terms of architecture. This can be considered as the effect of Tantra in art, because King Bhupatindra Malla who built this temple was considered an art connoisseur, great scholar and Tantric worshiper and at that time Bhaktapur was a Tantric state. Nyantaponla has its own special significance & identity in the historical & cultural heritage of the whole world. Every day a large number of domestic & foreign tourists come to see this temple built by Nepal’s own original skill, style, materials. In fact this temple is a beautiful and magnificent example of Pagoda style. The Pagoda style of architecture is Nepal’s own style, which is known from the ancient temples & palaces built here. Later, it is estimated that this style of architecture spread from Nepal to Tibet, China and possibly all over East Asia. In present article, the heart of Bhaktapur, Toumadhi square and Nyataponla (five-Storeyed) temple located there have been analytically studied.

Keywords: Talamande, Bhairavnatha, Tilmadhabnarayan, Bisket, Bhupatindra Malla, Siddhilaxmi

Kayastha, B. 2022. Toumadhi Chowk and Nyataponla (Five-Storeyed) Temple of Bhaktapur, Nepal. South Asian History, Culture and Archaeology, 2: 2, pp. 243-249.

 Maithili has a status of associate language, but in fact it has become the most important language of India and gets the national status in eighth schedule. The most commonly spoken language in Mithila region of Bihar state as well as in Nepal and probably the most read and written language in Mithila. Man has rightly been called “a talking animal”. Man is gifted with the quality of speech, which differentiates him from other living beings, language consists of words, idioms and syntax. Scholars in Mithila used Sanskrit for their literary work and Maithili was the language of the common folk (Abahatta). The beginning of Maithili language and literature can be traced back to the ‘Charyapadas’, a form of Buddhist mystical verses, composed during the period of 700-1300 AD. Mithila (IAST: Mithilā), also known as Tirhut and Tirabhukti, is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothills of the Himalayas in the north. It comprises certain parts of Bihar and Jharkhand of India and adjoining districts of the eastern Terai of Nepal, is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian subcontinent, Tirhuta or Mithilakshar was formerly the primary script for written Maithili, less commonly, it was also written in the local variant of Kaithi, but today it is written in the Devanagari script. The native language in Mithila is Maithili, and its speakers are referred to as Maithils. The name Mithila is commonly used to refer to the Videha Kingdom, as well as to the modern-day territories that fall within the ancient boundaries of Videha. In the 18th century, when Mithila was still ruled in part by the Raj Darbhanga, the British Raj annexed the region without recognizing it as a princely state. In 2003, Maithili was included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution as a recognised Indian language, which allows it to be used in education, government, and other official contexts in India. Maithili received the second official language status in the Indian state of Jharkhand.

Keywords: Mithila, Maithili, Mithilakshar, Maithili language, Maithili literature, culture of Mithila, geography of Mithila, people of Mithila

Thakur, D.K. 2022. A Historical Perspective of ‘Mithila’ & ‘Maithili’s: Language, Culture, Geography, Economic, Education and Social Approach. South Asian History, Culture and Archaeology, 2: 2, pp. 251-258.

Amongst ancient Indian coins those issued by Mathura rulers during third-second century BCE are known from the days of Alexander Cunningham but it was John Allan who catalogued them properly in 1936. He, however, listed among them four coins of Gomitra which were found from Bulandshahr by Cunningham which are typologically different. Later discoveries have revealed that they belong to king Gomitra of Varana, Barana of the Muslim chroniclers, about a hundred km from Mathura, which was independent of Mathura. Another Gomitra who actually belonged to Mathura has also issued copper coins of square and round shapes and palaeographically regarded as the earliest ruler of Mathura to have issued coins. Very few coins of this ruler have come to light after Allan and the present paper lists new pieces from some private collections which betray variant and novel features and are important not only historically but also culturally and iconographically.

Keywords: Mathura, Bulandshar, Gomitra, Lakshmi, Cunningham, Allan, P.L. Gupta

Handa, D. 2022. Coins of Mathura Ruler Gomitra. South Asian History, Culture and Archaeology, 2: 2, pp. 259-264.

Many prominent historians have studied Mughal Bengal's history in depth, focusing on either the larger politico-military history or the administrative functions of ruling houses. The shift in writing socio-cultural history in a few aspects can be credited to R.C. Majumdar, Atul Chandra Roy, Tapan Raychaudhuri, and Anjali Chatterjee. However, despite their genius scholarship, these authors remained deficient in producing a total history of Mughal Bengal under the shadow of scientific historical methodology, as there was an incessant competition among them to create separate historiographies. That’s why it has opened several research gaps to rewrite the history of Mughal Bengal. This paper is an analysis of conflict against the established historical paradigm known as "syncretism." The study is based on late-seventeenth-century counter-narratives of Mughal ruling groups, which have been completely avoided in the previous works. We will conduct a detailed analysis based on the primary Persian narratives of the time, as translated by Francis Gladwin from Salimullah's original Persian work, Tarikh-iBangala.

Keywords: Bengal, Medieval, Counter-Narrative, Mughal, Aurangzeb, Azim-us-Shan

Imon Ul Hossain 2022. Aspects of Tolerance and Violence under the Late Mughal Ruling Groups of Bengal in the Eyes of Contemporary Counter-Narrative. South Asian History, Culture and Archaeology, 2: 2, pp. 265-270.

The Dynamic linkages of great Buddhist civilization with the architecture and art of stupa of Gandhara is the principal subject of the present research. The proposed study will be an effort to explore the Buddhist civilization and its link with stupas in Gandhara. Buddhism a great religious faith has marked one of the most important periods in the history of civilization and social development in the sub-continent. Stupa is known in other religious tradition too but its growth into most typical expression in Buddhist religion. In Gandhara this is very surprising element that from each part of this region. Chandragupta’s grandson Asoka Maurya (272–237 BCE) was converted to Buddhism and became a great supporter of Buddhism and during his reign. Buddhism spread in Gandhara through missionary activities leading to Majjhantika (Sharma; 1989) who works ultimately made it a holy land of Buddhism and Gandhara became the cradle of Buddhist civilization. All sources agreed that Asoka opened eight original stupas in which the Buddha relics were enshrined and he seized them and kept them amongst 84000 stupas which he constructed all over his empire. The stupa consist of many parts; base, drum, dome, capital, umbrella and harmika. There is consistency in occurrence of double dome. The dome and drum constructed but at present umbrella disappeared possibly it made up of wooden material. In Gandhara all stupas made, raised on stones. This work is the study of Buddhist civilization of Gandhara through the rulers of Gandhara. Many Buddhist sites exhibit varied groupings consisting sculptures and artifacts coins and inscriptions. This data shows a good number of Buddhist period sites in Gandhara, the sites were found in Swat, Dir, Bajaur, Peshawar, Mardan and Taxila. This study offers and analytical over view of a relatively new phoneme of the Buddhist civilization and its link with stupa architecture and art in the context of Gandhara. This research would provide the new way of understanding of the Buddhist stupa and its link with Buddhist civilization. The main purpose of this work is to direct study of the Buddhist stupas and assess its religious, cultural and historical importance.

Keywords: Civilization, Gandhara, Stupa Art, Architecture, Asoka Kushan, Mahayana

Aslam, N., & Bukhari, M.F. 2022. Dynamic Linkages of Buddhist Civilization with the Architecture and Art of Stupa: (A Detailed Survey of Gandhara). South Asian History, Culture and Archaeology, 2: 2, pp. 271-282.

The sky configuration of the sun (moon) and the stars at the start of a yuga described in Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa is computationally modelled to identify the stars of nakṣatraŚraviṣṭhā. This identification is independent of the coordinates of the yogatārā of this nakṣatra given in the post-Vedic texts. The astronomical conditions specified in Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa are satisfied from 1750 BCE to 1000 BCE by a group of four (and more) stars of the Delphinus constellation.

Keywards: Śraviṣṭhā, Vedic nakṣatra, Vedāṅga Jyotiṣa

Gondhalekar, P. 2022. Stars of Vedic nakṣatra Śraviṣṭhā: An Independent Identification. South Asian History, Culture and Archaeology, 2: 2, pp. 283-294.

Spread of Brahmanism and consolidating its hold were the main purposes of almost all the Puranas composed in Bengal. Not just the Puranas, but other Smriti texts carrying forward the legacy of the Puranas also zealously went on with this task , particularly in the face of emerging newer challenges. Hence they sought to reorganize the religion and society of Bengal in a new way. The various myths ingeniously crafted provide a snippet to the social organization of Bengal during this time. This paper shall seek to investigate the Brahmanal view of what was perceived as chaos and how ‘order’ was established through the various Brahmanical agencies like Puranas and myriad Smriti texts. However before foray is made into understanding how this process was initiated, it is imperative to understand the popular perception on Brahmanas and Brahmanism.

Keywords: Brahmanism, Purana, Smritis, Kulajis, jati

Kar, R. 2022. Fitting Into 'Order': The Brahmanical World View, the Pura After. South Asian History, Culture and Archaeology, 2: 2, pp. 295-302.

Mayurbhanj is a land locked district situated in the Northern boundary of the state with district headquarters at Baripada. The district is bounded in the North-East by Midnapur district of West Bengal, Singhbhum district of Jharkhand in the North-west, Baleshwar district in the South-East and by Kendujhar in the South-West. Geographically the district is covered with forest and hills. The topography of the district is more or similar to the “North Central Plateau agro-climatic region. It occupies a unique position being endowed with lush green vegetation, different fauna and rich cultural heritage. Prehistoric archaeological survivals are very much reported from the northern and eastern massif of the Similipal Biosphere. From the prehistoric point of view, the adjacent areas of Karanjia and Jashipur have yielded good evidence of microliths and ground stone artefacts during the last three decades. However, no attention has been given to the Baidhyanath area so far. It is also important to state that while work in the adjacent areas have laid stress on Khairi-Bhandan and Deo rivers, the present work emphasized on locating sites around small rivers, streams and gullies, since there is more likelihood of getting primary sites near small rivers and rivulets rather than beside big rivers. However, intensive archaeological investigation in the study area in and around Baidhyanath has resulted in the discovery of seven prehistoric sites and collected a good number of lithic assemblages of different Stone Age cultures. Here the paper delineates the nature of such sites and the typological classification of the lithic assemblages retrieved from the field survey. In addition to this it also discusses the occupational strategies of the prehistoric denizens from the Pleistocene to the Holocene epochs in the study area.

Keywords: Prehistoric, archaeological Investigation, lithic assemblages, sites, Mayurbhanj

Naik, S.K., Sahoo, D., & Nayak, S. 2022. A Preliminary Report on the Exploration Around Baidyanath, Mayurbhanj, Odisha. South Asian History, Culture and Archaeology, 2: 2, pp. 303-313.

This study aims to examine the sacred centre of Paknapat located in the mountain near Kainpur village of Jamda Block in the district of Mayurbhanj, Odisha. The sacred centre has been presented in this paper in the framework of the theory of sacred complex of L.P. Vidyarthi. The God Paknapat has been worshipped by the Bhumij tribe since 400 years. The place is well known for fulfilment of individual as well as family desires through the worship known as “Mansik”. The Paknapat is also considered as the regional deity under which 52 villages worship for village level agricultural activities. The place makes no discrimination in terms of entry and worship. Both men and women not only from tribal community, but also non-tribal communities irrespective of different religions are allowed. Over the period of time, certain changes in terms of sacred performances are observed. Though the elements of little traditions are still dominating, but certain elements of great tradition especially of the Hinduism are visible at present in the sacred performances.

Keywords: Sacred Complex, Paknapat, Jamda Pir, Mayurbhanj, Sacred Centre

Murmu, S.C., & Marandi, P. 2022. A Study on Sacred Centre of Paknapat in the Mayurbhanj District of Odisha. South Asian History, Culture and Archaeology, 2: 2, pp. 315-324.

Kashmir, paradise on earth is unique with its cultural and heritage identity. The temple architecture is one of the most important part of Kashmir’s architectural distinctiveness. The present scenario of heritage temples is in a re-constructive developmental phase. Martand Sun Temple at Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir is a heritage monument built in eighth century AD. The temple is in ruins because of failure in its restoration. The aim of this paper is to identify the problems and provide suggestive measures for restoration. To achieve that, some objectives are: importance of restoring the monumental site, the agencies involved in restoration and their failures, current scenario, historic importance of the site and how a heritage site can lead the way of economic development of the area after restoration.

Keywords: temple architecture in Kashmir, Martand Sun Temple, restoration, heritage identity, monument, ASI.

Gondhalekar, P. 2022. Stars of Vedic nakṣatra Śraviṣṭhā: An Independent Identification. South Asian History, Culture and Archaeology, 2: 2, pp. 325-334.