How the Harappans Honoured Death at Dholavira?

252 | R.S. BISHT 8 How HaÃappans Honoured Death at DholÀvÁrÀ R.S. Bisht Introduction COMPLEXITY of HaÃappan society is best reflected by standardization, sophistication and utilitarianism in all spheres of activity, including planning of settlements and diverse crafts. To that may be added now the funerary monuments that HaÃappans raised in honour of the dead. Particularly, the DholÀvÁrÀ excavations1 (1990–2005) have strongly highlighted the presence of multi-ethnicity in the HaÃappan society that is well-nigh accepted by scholars. Among several singular contributions that these excavations have made towards understanding the HaÃappan civilization in a much broader perspective, many new features, hitherto unknown, have been added. One of them is a sprawling necropolis housing a variety of funerary monuments which make DholÀvÁrÀ standing apart from HaÃappÀ,2 Lothal,3 KÀlÁbaôgan,4 RopaÃ,5 Canhu-DaÃo,6 RÀkhÁgaÃhÁ,7 FarmÀnÀ,8 TarkhÀnwÀlÀ ÷erÀ,9 SurkoÇaçÀ10, a few others and, of course, Moheôjo-DaÃo with evidence of different kinds and contexts.11 TarkhÀnwÀlÀ is the solitary site which has revealed an evidence of cremation. The evidence from most of 1 Bisht 1991: 71-82; 1997: 107-120; 1999: 14-37; 2000: 11-23; 2001: 26-28; 2005 :11-25. 2 Wheeler 1946: 85-90; Dales et al. 1991: 206-12. 3 Rao 1979: 137-69. 4 Sharma 1999: 17-98. 5 IAR, 1954-55: 9; Sharma 1956: 123. 6 Mackay 1976: 252-63. 7 Nath 1998: 41-43. 8 Shinde et al. 2008: 64-78. 9 Gupta 1972: 70. 10 Joshi 1990: 364-71. 11 Marshall 1931: 79-87; Mackay 1937-38: 49, 94-95, 116-18, 648; Dales 1968b: 61. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 253 the above sites has been discussed rather comprehensively by the excavators and others.12 SurkoÇaçÀ and DholÀvÁrÀ are, however, notable for two reasons. Both lie in a rocky desert of Kachchh and have yielded mainly the memorials. Sites like CemeteryH at HaÃappÀ,13 Raõçal DaçwÀ,14 Chandigarh15 DÀimÀbÀd,16 SanaulÁ17 and Beçwa-218 are posterior to the classical HaÃappan period. It may be worthwhile to note that the HaÃappan territory consists of two different geologic and physiographic regions. One is the riparian plain, drained by the Indus and its tributaries and the SarasvatÁ and to that may be added the Gujarat plains diversely configured by the rivers Bhogavo and Bhadar, western alluvial region of the mainland and the coastal areas in SaurÀÈÇra and Kachchh. The second region is the rocky terrain of SaurÀÈÇra, Kachchh, the MakrÀn, SindhÁ KohistÀn and the adjoining flanks of Baluchistan. The former is devoid of stones for construction and as such, only earth was available for making brick, sun-dried or fired. Such building materials are strongly vulnerable to natural forces which, in turn, may have considerably reduced or obliterated, in the prevailing tropical conditions, much of the overground features of funerary monuments which were usually made in an open landscape. Many of them would be lying buried under the loads of alluvium and sand. So far as the latter region is concerned, it abounds in rock which was freely used for architecture. Luckily, the ancient ruins in these areas are, by and large, far better preserved owing to such natural and human factors as low rainfall, absence of raging rivers, lesser population pressure and limited cultivation besides prolific use of stone in construction. We presume that many of the types of sepulchres which are noticed in Kachchh may have been built in the riparian plains as well but got denuded considerably. Barring SurkoÇaçÀ and DholÀvÁrÀ, a host of other Indus sites in the arid and rocky parts of the cultural empire of the HaÃappans have yet to receive due attention, particularly, in respect of the funerary monuments and mortuary practices. There are a few other sites in Kachchh, which apparently contain funerary structures with a promise of shedding welcome light on the subject. Kachchh indeed opens up a new line of enquiry in regard 12 Gupta 1972; Possehl 2002: 157-76; Hemphill et al. 1991: 137-82. 13 Vats 1940: 221-45. 14 IAR 1958-59: 19. 15 IAR 1970-71: 7-8. 16 Sali 1986: 175. 17 Sharma et al. 2006: 166-79. 18 Kumar 2006: 196-204. 254 | R.S. BISHT to the nature, practices and belief systems of a regional society within a territory which had the size and character of an empire (not necessarily a political one) under the HaÃappan hegemony. Now that DholÀvÁrÀ has yielded a wide range of funerary monuments adding, not only a new dimension to the personality of the HaÃappan civilization, but also, perhaps, point towards a long legacy that continued into later times in India, albeit with many a missing link as yet in the archaeological record in the subcontinent. The Site and Its Cultural Scenario DholÀvÁrÀ (23o53'10'' N; 70o13' E) lying in the island of KhaçÁr in the Great Raõõ, in TÀluka BachÀu, District Kachchh, Gujarat, has yielded many examples of funerary architecture, with plausible linkages to certain of the seven cultural stages which the site has revealed. The larger part of the site is situated between two monsoon torrents, namely the Manhar in the south and the Mansar in the north, which originate in the low chain of the hills running along the northern edge of the island and run on an undulating sloping terrain before flowing into the Runn. The ancient ruins, including the cemetery, lie halfway down the slope and are spread over an area of about 100 ha, the half of which was appropriated by the articulately fortified settlement alone (fig. 8.1). The city was configured like a large parallelogram outlined by the fortification walls, with the longer axis being from east to west (fig. 8.1). fig. 8.1: DholÀvÁrÀ: A site plan showing the HaÃappan city and cemetery. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 255 Thirteen field seasons of excavations have shown that the Indus culture at the site witnessed its rise and fall over 1,500 years of time span between c. 3000 BCE and c. 1500 BCE. The successive settlements superimposing each other have caused an enormous deposit of about 15 m which has been shown seven well defined cultural stages, numbered in Roman numerals from I through VII. Of these, Stages IV and V represent the mature phase of the Indus Civilization, while the earlier stages, viz. I, II and III, show the progressively developing proto-urban phase in an uninterrupted stratigraphical record. Stage V was, however, followed by a desertion which ended by the arrival of the late HaÃappans of Stage VI. It was, in turn, followed by another hiatus only to be broken by the coming of the totally de-urbanized later HaÃappans, denoted by Stage VII. A good number of funerary monuments have been investigated to the west of the fortified settlement while a few have been dealt with in the east as well, but none so far in the north. The Cemetery It is necessary to state at the outset that the funerary monuments are scattered far and wide to the east, north and west of the city but the HaÃappan cemetery that has been fairly investigated lies in the west, in a sloping landscape of a motley terrain of rock and soil. It is spread over an area that admeasures more than 50 ha. It is strewn with a variety of funerary structures. A large area running along the Manhar is particularly crowded with such grave structures. Another significant topographical feature in the area is a nearly circular depression, now used for cultivation. Satellite imagery had suggested that the depression could be a buried water body and the same has now been vindicated by a limited archaeological probing that it was artificially created by the HaÃappans in order to store water remaining surplus after filling a cascading chain of reservoirs, provided all around within the city walls. This water body seems to be of exceeding importance in that a series of five or six, large and high, hemispherical tumuli stand out noticeably on its bank while the regular cemetery spreads out farther to its north, west and south, more particularly along the bank of the nearby Manhar. Many of them still survive intact while a good number have suffered varying degrees of damage by the nature and man down the millennia. Man is a bigger culprit who has wrought destruction for the purposes of reclaiming the land for cultivation, laying threshing floors or campsites, or for making cart tracks. Recently, a large-scale damage has been caused while making a dam across the Manhar. Luckily, only the earth lying around the surface was removed, and the stones, used in building sepulchres, were 256 | R.S. BISHT largely left behind, although the superstructures of some of the monuments seem to have suffered from the vandalism. Further, it was most heartening that the most impressive tumulus was spared as it was used for anchoring the said earthen dam. It will be seen later on that it was an ostentatious funerary monument, hitherto unknown in the HaÃappan context. Archaeological investigation was best concentrated in the western cemetery which is, on the present showing, exclusively HaÃappan. It is often referred to as the main or regular cemetery also. It may be stated that, despite vandalism, many structures, of course, of less pretensions are still far many. About three dozen of them have been investigated. All those are remarkable for providing a flood of information with regard to the diversity of shapes, sizes, architectural styles and construction techniques. Save for two examples of inhumation and a few fractional burials, all the sepulchral structures are bereft of any skeletons or bodily remains, while most of them contained offerings varying in quality and quantity. The offerings consisted mainly of pottery. In some cases, one or two beads and a little amount of gold were also formed part of the goods. Tumulus-1 is exceptional in yielding one full necklace of steatite, a gold bangle and a few other luxury items, along with a considerable assemblage of pottery. At best, all these are memorial monuments, or say cenotaphs, raised in memory of the dead, thus suggesting a different mode of the disposal of the dead that the HaÃappans in Kachchh, particularly at DholÀvÁrÀ, had adopted, whereas the usual norm with the HaÃappans is said to be the interment of the body, laid supine in north– south direction, with the head being placed on the north, in a grave cut rectangular or oval that was obviously oriented north–south. At DholÀvÁrÀ, the direction of the majority of the cenotaphs remains almost the same, albeit with a few exceptions. The absence of skeletons in nearly all graves, barring few exceptions, at DholÀvÁrÀ and also SurkoÇaçÀ is, of course, of a great seminal significance. The above is all about the western cemetery which belongs to the HaÃappans. It may be reiterated that the majority of the memorials, which have been unearthed in the cemetery, were found to belong to the three cultural Stages, viz. III, IV and V, while those of Stages I, II, VI and VII have remained elusive therein, probably save for one tumulus which is a conspicuously large, high and circular monument of mortuary nature. It lies at the south-eastern end of the said buried water body, not far from the south-western corner of the city wall. Two pieces of evidence in and around it suggest that it was someway connected to the people of Stage VI: the first is a long and wide pathway from the eroded top of the city wall to the tumulus that was constructed by the late HaÃappans and, second, the potsherds of theirs are found scattered on the top HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 257 of the latter. So far as Stage VII is concerned, at least one grave was exposed on top of the deposit of the castle. Many grave structures of two or three types have been noticed over the ruins of different parts of the Indus settlement, particularly in the lower town area as well as in the near and distant neighbourhood of the site. Absence of tombs in regard to the first two stages (I and II) may not be considered as negation of the practice, but only as a shortcoming in the present state of research. In the light of above, it will become a little easier to understand the sepulchral monuments at DholÀvÁrÀ in their suggested chronological framework. The eastern cemetery is, by and large, historical in time although there are clearly a few late HaÃappan ones as well. On the strength of dense scatter of pottery, the historical ones seem to pertain to be the KÈatrapa period (first–fifth century CE). Sepulchres in the Neighbourhood It should be relevant to record here that the kind of evidence that has been noticed at three other Indus sites, lying some kilometres away from DholÀvÁrÀ, is worth mentioning. One of the sites, locally called KaraõÁ, lies by the side of the JhaõçiÀsar NÀlÀ, well within the revenue jurisdiction of DholÀvÁrÀ. It is an open landscape amidst fields and some undulating rocky terrain. The site is located on the right bank of the nÀlÀ and houses a number of round cairns, built on a raised rectangular platform. To the north-east of it, there are found two rows of rooms seemingly arranged in an Lshaped layout. At the face of it, those rooms appear to have been used by the persons looking after the mortuary functions as well as for the family members of the dead who gathered there to perform the last rites or even subsequent ones, if any. The pottery scatter littered there also suggests that some attendants were stationed there permanently for security of the monuments which possibly belonged to important persons. One thing that is notable about the funerary monuments is that they are made of fine-grained, bright yellow limestone pieces of medium size without using mortar. Only an excavation may reveal the true personality of the site which holds a promise of yielding a new kind of evidence. The other site, namely RatnÀsarwÀlÁ, lies at a higher place, beside another monsoon channel, falling in the village of Gadhada. It consists of three separately located components, viz. a small fortified settlement on the right bank of the torrent, a working/ industrial area on the other side across the channel and a cemetery farther away, upstream. The cemetery, among several sepulchral monuments, contains two high platforms, each provided with four to five rectangular sepulchres. On one platform, the individual grave structures follow north–south orientation while on the other the east–west. 258 | R.S. BISHT The third site, namely KhÀnçer as locally called, may have contained a cemetery of Stage III as judged from the pottery collected from there. It lies to the north of village JanÀn and has been largely damaged for making a cultivable field recently. When visited it was found littered with pottery and bones while all stones of grave structures had been removed and stacked on the sides. The very name KhÀnçer which literally means ruins is also significant. Although the surface features have since been erased in toto yet an excavation may brought to light some interesting features, still buried in the ground. Types of Funerary Architecture A limited survey and more limited excavation in the western cemetery have brought to light six major types, the type I having three variants: I. Rectangular memorial 1. Built memorial 2. Cist or cist-in-cairn 3. Rock cut II. Cairn: Round, oval, long oval, or egg-shaped III. Composite graves in a circle, a semicircle, or a rectangle IV. Fractional burial V. Inhumation VI. Hemispherical monument or tumulus I. RECTANGULAR MEMORIALS I.1. Built Memorial In the cemetery, visibly the most numerous are the rectangular structures. The majority of them are oriented along north–south direction while a few examples have east– west or north-east–north-west alignment in terms of longer side. Those excavated are built over similarly oriented pits cut into the ground. All of them were symbolical graves, furnished with one or two or a collection of pots. Many of them contained one or more beads of semi-precious stones, occasionally with a bead or pieces of gold. After the grave goods have been deposited, the pits are filled in with earth, sometime mixed with rubble, and finally topped with a squat rectangular structure above the ground. Each such structure is found to be in accord with the orientation of the underlying pit. The offerings in the north–south oriented pit are placed or huddled HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 259 normally in the north, either by its eastern or western side. In case of the pit being oriented east-west or north-east to south-west the grave goods are placed on the east or the north-east, respectively. The placing of offerings most possibly indicated the normal positioning of the head of the dead, had it been a proper inhumation which might had been the earlier practice in the society before the latter switched over to a new and different mode of the disposal of the dead and yet a structure was raised in memory. Old habits die hard! Another noteworthy observation in regard to the rectangular type of sepulchres at DholÀvÁrÀ is that the sizes range from normal to small ones. Significantly, the area that lies to the west adjoining the Tumulus-1 or to the north along the bank of the Manhar is practically littered with such structures while, at places, those are intermingled with the other types as well. The built memorial, oriented in east–west direction, measured 3.35 and 1.1 m in respect to their length and width. The example was however not taken for excavation. I.2. Cist or Cist-in-Cairn The cists differ from the rectangular memorials rather in quality treatment for being lined and usually capped with large limestone slabs. Two cists, lying almost parallel to, and at a close distance from, each other, and both being oriented north–south, are opened up for investigation. Both are located in that part of the necropolis where rectangular structures were preponderant and which lie to the west of the domineering Tumulus-1 and the Manhar runs close by, to the south of the area. Some special importance seems to have been attached to such cists as indicated by the use of fine quality limestone of pleasing yellow colour, sometimes with purple bands, for the uprights and the capstones. The western cist (fig. 8.2) was in a fair state of preservation with its underground features being intact. It measures from 2.9 to 3.08 m north–south, from 1.6 to 1.96 m east–west and 1.12 m deep. Variation in length and width, to some extent, owes to the slight displacement of the uprights, not standing now in perfect vertical position due to the thrust coming from the sides and to the flow of earth with water percolation from the top. Most curiously, it contains a simulation of a coffin, made of fine-grained grey clay that is shaped into a highly stylized human form that is laid along the longer axis. It was found to be smeared all over with a thin coat of red ochre. It measures 1.84 m long, 0.68 m broad at shoulders and about 12 cm in thickness, and lies at the depth of 0.73 m from the top of the upright. It is not placed on the floor of the grave, but is propped up on full pots and stone pieces which naturally rest on the level bottom of 260 | R.S. BISHT the cist. The eastern sideline of the coffin runs nearly straight, but for slight narrowing in the lower part, the western part can be easily perceived of three parts — head, trunk and lower limb. While the head is imitated by curving the north-western part, the trunk by a straight line, the lower limb is shown by a marked concavity. The head fig. 8.2: DholÀvÁrÀ: A cist containing a simulation of coffin of clay, along with pottery offerings. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 261 portion measures 22 cm. The southern line of the coffin-like terminates into two protruding stumps with a concavity in between, obviously for giving an idea of legs. Thus, the overall configuration imparts to it semblance of an anthropomorphic form. The conformation seems to convey as if the face of the dead was supposedly turned towards the west. As expected, the replica of the coffin which is only 12 cm thick contained no skeleton as was confirmed when a piece of clay of it was cut out from its chest area. The clay it was made of contained few bits of charcoal which seem to have got into the earth, accidentally, certainly not intentionally, hence not suggesting presence of any ashes in it. Apart from those used as props under the coffin-like feature, there are additional full pots, placed on the floor of the cist by the eastern side. In addition there are two more complete pottery forms. A little above, to the right of the coffin, is placed a water vessel, while on the opposite side, nearer the head, is kept a dish-on-stand. Further, it is interesting to note that the western corner of the single slab that stands upright along the northern side is found intentionally broken to make a large curved opening, most probably, in order to serve as a porthole for facilitating to deposit subsequent offerings to the dead who was believed to be lying there in eternal peace. The above-mentioned vessel and dish-on-stand which are found inside seem to be part of original offering, if not inserted subsequently through the porthole. The cist was finally filled in with earth and covered with slabs a part of which has been found slipped into the grave while the others are missing save for some pieces found lying outside. Furthermore, there is another interesting subsidiary feature attached to the cist. A small rectangular area, enclosed by low rubble walls, is attached to it from the north where the porthole is. The walled area is enough to seat a person. It appears that it was meant for a priest or a family member to insert fresh offering into the cist after it had already been covered. Some features, faintly traceable outside on the surface, indicate that the cist was, perhaps, surrounded by a circular wall. At present, it is difficult to postulate whether there was small tumulus over the memorial. The other cist (fig. 8.3) which measures 3.18 m long, 1.65 m broad and 1.6 m deep lies 4.5 m away towards the east. It follows the same basic form and construction style that pertain to the preceding one. It was found to have been wilfully disturbed, probably in hope of striking a cache. Its capstones were found broken and slipped into the chamber which got subsequently filled in with the water-borne earth. However, in the lower levels, there were found several pottery plates and some potsherds of red ware, lying certainly not in their original arrangement though, surely once formed part of the grave goods. The surface around the cists seems to have been scraped off in recent time while making the said earthen bund. The vertically placed limestone slabs 262 | R.S. BISHT for lining both the cists and supporting the capstones were, therefore, found peering above the prevailing surface. Yet, it appeared as if the cists were once surrounded by a circle of stones the outlines of which were feebly visible, although not figured out well as the area around is otherwise crowded with other graves, which sometimes run into, and thus partly damage, each other. It is not unlikely that the circular area was built over with a pile of earth or stones which have since been erased. fig. 8.3: DholÀvÁrÀ: A robbed cist, with a fragment of capstone lying inside; it yielded the pottery offerings in a disturbed array. These are just two out of a few such examples which are visible on the surface of the cemetery. There are some memorials, likewise lined with smaller slabs or stones, but are of very smaller size. These are either furnished with pots of smaller size or none at all. Such structures either meant for the children or the builders did not indulge in expending more time and labour. There exist a few cists, surrounded by cairns, in the necropolis. One such that is found lying in the ruins of the city lies to the west of the multi-purpose ground. Since HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 263 it is not yet opened, no precise cultural context can be assigned to it. In any case, it should be for certain posterior to Stage V, on the ruins of which it was built. I.3. Rock Cut Rock cut chambers, shallow or deep, may in fact represent an expansive variant of the rectangular type of cenotaphs. Four such examples have been investigated so far. Two of them pertain to the hemispherical monuments and will be discussed later on in the relevant context. One of the rock cut chambers lies somewhat halfway between two hemispherical monuments. It seems to have been completely evacuated and robbed sometime in the past and then got filled up by nature in course of time and a huge bush of cactus grew over it. From its overgrowth some large pieces of yellow sandstone were peeping out. At first sight it held out to reveal a well which would have been an interesting feature in the cemetery. But, on clearance, it turned out to be a robbed grave measuring 4.55 m north–south, 2.3 m east–west and 2.3 m deep (ratio 2:1:1). On digging, it yielded nothing but water-born deposit. Around the chamber there are large and heavy limestone blocks lying helter-skelter and a haphazard pile of yellow earth. While these stones appeared to be parts of covering slabs, the earth is what normally used for making good quality mud-bricks although the source of the latter is not traceable in the neighbourhood, hence may have been brought from elsewhere. Very likely that the rock cut chamber was duly furnished with grave goods, covered and then surmounted by a mud-brick superstructure of hemispherical form. The other cenotaph came to light at an unlikely location in an unsuspecting circumstance. It was found during probing the cultivated field for ascertaining or otherwise the existence of a buried water body as a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey suggested the presence of ground sediments and yet indicated an anomaly, particularly at a point that lay at a distance of 90 m south of Tumulus-2. It was deemed to be an ideal location to gauge the sediments in the oval area of cultivated fields, believed to be a buried water body, as well as check the said anomaly. On probing, both turned out to be very useful. The sediments of 1.8 m thickness are found to be water-borne mixed with the Indus shards occasionally occurring down to the bedrock, thus confirming the creation of an artificial lake by the HaÃappans. The said anomaly turned out to be a rock cut cenotaph underlying 1.8 m thick sediments of which the basal layer of 15 cm thickness was formed of light reddish sand of aeolian nature. The underlying cenotaph, measuring 2.85 m north–south, 1.42 m east–west and 0.9 m in terms of length, width and depth, is cut into the bedrock. Inside it there have been 264 | R.S. BISHT found three sets of offerings made on as many successive occasions, each represented by a set of pots, accompanied with some items of brick-a-brac, placed successively on a separately made earthen bed from the bedrock upwards (fig. 8.4). The three sets of offerings are found placed respectively at the depth of 20 cm, 60 cm and 90 cm. The lowermost one included, besides pottery, three gold and three semi-precious stone beads. It is difficult to decide whether each set was meant for one individual or different members of a family or a clan. It is significant to note that the pottery was arranged in an order, not huddled haphazardly, as normally found in most of the graves. fig. 8.4: DholÀvÁrÀ: A half excavated egg-shaped cairn, oriented east-west, with pottery offerings at the eastern side; stones of the cairn were found much disturbed, displaced and partly missing. The second issue pertains to the time of making this cenotaph. The pottery is unmistakably HaÃappan in form and fabric. As a rule, the pottery made for funerary purposes is usually poorer in quality in respect of fabric, painting and surface decoration. Application of slip is not unusual but paintings are quite rare to occur. A deeper study that is underway may decide the precise cultural stage to which the goods belonged. But the very use of the bedrock of a deemed lake for cutting a grave is quite intriguing. The lake had certainly gone dry when the grave was cut. We, HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 265 however, understand that the lake may have gone dry when the HaÃappan water harvesting system had collapsed irretrievably sometime during Stage V. The wind had spread over the lake floor a blanket of sand, when the cenotaph came into being. This postulate is, perhaps, more plausible as soon after the dry depression of the lake started being filled up by sediments year after year, century after century, until it was filled to the brim. The other situation which is less likely is that the cenotaph was caused to be made when the lake was passing through one of the dry spells during one of the earlier stages. However, the cenotaph is interesting for its location, for being cut into the rock under the lacustrine sediments, and also for showing an orderly array of the offerings. II. CAIRN A few cairns, both of smaller and comparatively larger in size, have been opened up. Each one was raised over a round, oval, long oval or egg-shaped pit (figs. 8.4 and 8.5). We have already seen that there are sufficient indications that some of the cairns were raised over a cist as well. The number and variety of pottery as the grave furniture, or its complete absence, depended on the size of a cairn. Noticeably, some very small cairns are found being built over very shallow and small pits which were dug rather carelessly and have a saggar base. Usually, such small structures are devoid of any goods. Many of these small ones are just 60 cm across and 30 cm deep, hence just symbolic memorials. Some large circular cairns are upwards of 3 m across. More or less, similar is the case with the oval or large oval cairns, of course with longer lengths. It is difficult to surmise whether a particular phenomenon is suggestive of socioeconomic status, age, or gender of the person in whose honour that was built. It may, however, be pointed out that there is no specific zonation for this type of structures as they are, by and large, intermingled with all other types of cenotaphs that are noticeable in the densely used area of the main cemetery. In some cases, the underground pit was filled with earth, and a few were packed with the stones before raising a cairn on the ground. The elaborate examples are normally furnished with a large collection of pottery, usually placed in the eastern or the northern part of the pit. Such a placement is, perhaps, symbolical, as if to indicate as to where the head of the deceased should have been had it being an inhumation. Away from the regular cemetery, an open terrain, further north, is also dotted with grave structures of lesser dimensions. Some of them were investigated, but usually found empty. Citing examples, three oval cairns provide maximum length, maximum width and depth respectively measuring 2.76 x 1.58 x 0.4 m (fig. 8.5), 3 x 1.5 x 1.57 m (ratio is 2:1:1) 266 | R.S. BISHT and 2.5 x 1 m while the round one is 1.6 m in diameter and upwards of 0.3 m in height. There is another round cairn that registers diameter ranging from 1.75 to 2 m shows a rectangular chamber in the centre and can very well be put under type 1.2. fig. 8.5: DholÀvÁrÀ: Another egg-shaped (oval) grave, oriented north-south; it yielded a solitary example of a classical HaÃappan inhumation, as shown in fig. 8.6; It is flanked by two undisturbed cairns of the same form and orientation. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 267 III. COMPOSITE GRAVES INA CIRCLE, A SEMICIRCLE, OR A RECTANGLE There are examples of large circles, three-fourths of a circle, or a half circle containing inside a single or multiple grave-like structures. However, none of them has been excavated so far. Most likely, the details of construction and contents of such individual graves may, however, not be much different from such rectangular, circular or oval structures which have been excavated so far. IV. FRACTIONAL BURIAL An example of a fractional burial containing a human tooth and some small bone fragments in a shallow pit, marked by a stone upright at either end, has been found on the eroded slope of the southern margin of the middle town. It was oriented roughly along north–south. It is necessary to mention here that this part of the town was intentionally cleared of structures under a planning modification that was brought about subsequent to the devastative earthquake which occurred at the end of Stage IIIA. That vacated part was, however, reappropriated for constructing dwelling houses only during Stages VI and VII. The time of this fractional burial, although found seemingly in a room of Stage IIIA, remains indeterminate due to scanty evidence at hand not leading to any convincing conclusion whether the location was accidental or intentional. It is, however, certain that it lay on the top of the deposit of Stage IIIA and that no pit line was at all traceable in the overlying debris of much later stage. There was found no complete pots or objects, although small potsherds of Stage III were present along with the interred human remnants; both of them may or may not have been related to each other in terms of ritual. That, such a funerary practice was in vogue, albeit sparingly, during some phases of the Indus culture, is certain and hence this piece of evidence becoming interesting. A skull is found stuck in a drain that descends from the castle into the bailey. It could be an accidental case of detachment from a later grave, built higher up, possibly during Stage VII, when inhumation was practised as will be mentioned later. Some grave-like structures are noticeable just on the top of the defensive wall towering above close by. Similar features abound on top of the eastern wall-cumstand of both the stadia in the city. At present, nothing much can be drawn out of it pending a proper investigation. One thing is, however, certain that all those should pertain to Stage VI or VII, most plausibly the latter. Another fractional burial in the cemetery is exposed to the south of the bund and only covered by a thin surface layer which sealed the human bones amidst a lot of 268 | R.S. BISHT broken sherds. The bones included a flat piece, probably of cranium, a radius, three phalanges and some bricks which could not be figured out well. The whole scenario was quite disorderly, again certainly due to the large-scale damage wrought in recent years. Even this was not clear whether it was a proper inhumation or just a fractional one. V. INHUMATION Only a solitary example of complete inhumation is found so far in the regular cemetery. While sprucing the area in the cemetery a copper mirror was found on the surface. Later, when visible grave structures were being demarcated, the surface was scraped and an oval pit line, measuring for a maximum length of 1.95 m north–south and maximum width 1.18 m across east–west, was observed along with some bone pieces precisely at the find spot of the mirror (fig. 8.5). Further investigation brought to light a skeleton, laid in north–south orientation, with the head being placed on the north and the face turned towards the west (fig. 8.6). Part of its skull is found missing. The head reclines against a pottery jar, kept in position, although a part of it is now missing, as is the case with of the skull of the dead, obviously due to its being now covered with a thin surface layer. The skeleton contains damaged cranium, shoulder bones, ribcage, mandible with denture, ulna and radius bones of the arms along with phalanges, pelvic girdle, lower limbs with meta-tarsus while facial bones along with maxilla and teeth are missing. Some features like fingers of left hand and left leg are not clear. Besides, there are found two pieces of a shell bangle which might be once worn on the right wrist by the deceased. It was a female as judged by its anatomy and smoothness of the bones, in addition to its association with the mirror and the bangle. The filling material,whatever is remaining is yellowish earth. The superstructure, if any, has since been completely erased recently by the villagers for collecting earth for raising the aforesaid bund nearby. Later Inhumation in the City Ruins Furthermore, the other graves with skeletons, normally without grave goods, or just with a pot as in one case, have been exposed, not in the cemetery but in the ruins of the lower town, although many grave-structures, have been noted in almost all parts of settlement, even on the defences, and in the south-eastern part lying on the other side of the Manhar, without showing any evidence of particular localization. All of them are certainly posterior to Stage V. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 269 fig. 8.6: DholÀvÁrÀ: The solitary inhumation in an oval fit of the classical HaÃappan period, cf. fig. 8.5. An interesting example of internment, topped with a cairn, was opened at a high place near the north gate of the castle. It was a pile of stones, making a somewhat circular cairn. When opened, it entombed a skeleton in a shallow pit, cut beside a structure of Stage V. The dead is buried roughly in an east–west orientation. It is in a crouched position, with the head being placed towards the east and facing the south. While right part of the skull is missing, all other limbs are intact, albeit somewhat 270 | R.S. BISHT dislodged. A chert blade found deeply lodged into a cervical vertebra indicates towards a possible cause of death of the victim in a fatal assault. A pottery bowl is placed in front of the face. Circumstance as well as the bowl indicates towards its pertaining to Stage VII (fig. 8.7). fig. 8.7: DholÀvÁrÀ: A later HaÃappan inhumation, Stage VII, laid in foetal position, with a bowl placed in front of the face; it was under a cairn raised over the ruins of a large building. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 271 Some of the later burials, with or without the skeletons, have come up to view during excavation in the lower town which, as is well understood now, had been abandoned in Stage V and never occupied again for habitation. The skeletons interred in the graves suggest that the deceased had a robust body and ripe age at the time of death. There were no grave goods which could shed light on their time and cultural affiliations. All these sepulchral monuments are conspicuously visible on the surface. VI. HEMISPHERICAL MONUMENTS Six hemispherical tumuli are the most conspicuous features of curiosity and promise in the zone of western necropolis. Those surround the aforesaid depression representing a buried water body and were believed to be of special significance in terms of their shape, size and location. Two of them, designated as Tumulus-1 and Tumulus-2, have been subjected to archaeological investigation which confirmed their being funerary monuments of exceeding importance and unique character (plate of pre-excavation both the tumuli). Equally significant is the fact that these tumuli ring an ancient (HaÃappan) reservoir and lie in the necropolis itself. The investigation has also revealed that both the monuments share some common features and yet are two variants of one architectural form of pretensions hitherto unknown in the context of the Indian Bronze Age. Both consist of a deep and wide rock cut chamber, surrounded on the ground by a massive circular mud-brick structure made in two tiers, and finally filled in and topped with random earth, or sand containing stone pieces. The building activity has involved five stages: (1) cutting of a large and deep rock cut chamber; (2) placement of offerings in the chamber; (3) construction of a broad circular mud-brick platform over the ground around the chamber; (4) raising of a peripheral ring-wall of mud-brick upon the said (basal) platform; (5) filling of the open shaft above the chamber and within the encircling brickwork and raising it into a pile-up of earth, so as to impart a domical form. So far as ritual offerings are concerned, those could be found so far only in Tumulus1 in which the floor of the chamber has been struck, though a small part of it yet remains to be cleared. It could not however be possible in case of Tumulus-2 due to the dislodgement of immensely large and heavy pieces of covering slabs. However, there has been found evidence of plastering on the exterior of Tumulus-1. Not unlikely that Tumulus-2 was also treated likewise. In both cases, it is also observed that the rocky surface, rising somewhat higher than the surrounding area with a slope towards south and east, was chosen for building the funerary monuments. Another activity common to both was reopening of the central 272 | R.S. BISHT area, at least once in case of Tumulus-2 and, perhaps, three times in that of the other one. The points of difference which could be observed so far are two: (1) only Tumulus1 was furnished with radial brickwalls, emanating from the peripheral rim of brickwork, in order to run on the basal platform towards the central area, whereas the other one is devoid of any such walls, and (2) the central chamber of Tumulus-2 was covered with a huge capstone while the other did not yield such a feature. The smaller tumulus, i.e. Tumulus-2, is discussed first, though investigated later, because of its comparative simplicity of design that may help comprehend the other one more easily. Tumulus-2 stands on the northern bank of the buried water body. It has suffered a little from both natural and human vandalism. For more than two millennia, it has been exposed to the elements. In recent years, a local farmer has quite dressed it up from three sides, i.e. east, south and west, for raising a temporary wattle shed for his seasonal stay there to tend crops. Nevertheless, it was in a satisfactory state of preservation at the time of undertaking archaeological digging. Topographically, the tumulus (fig. 8.8) rises to a height of 3.35 m above the surrounding ground level while its diameter measures between 25 and 28 m. These measurements of the monument should not be taken for real ones as much of the eroded material has spread out spherically over millennia. Subsequent excavation of the tumulus has shown that the diameter of the original construction should be about 22 m or slightly upwards, whereas the height rises to 2.9 m though some reduction in the latter due to denudation is possible. It may, however, be added that no segment in its periphery could be firmly ascertained from the limited dig that was made in a small cut in the southern sector where much of the eroded material, derived from the brickwork as well as the capping rock dust, has settled. However, the internal details with regard to the design and construction have been determined well. Mud-brick of varying sizes, such as 9 x 18 x 36, 10 x 20 x 40 and 11 x 22 x 44 cm, all falling in the HaÃappan standard of ratio, have been used in construction. From below upwards, there are apparently three major components: a rock-cut chamber covered with a large stone slab; a two-tiered mud-brick construction encircling the chamber; and a sand filling topped by rock material (fig. 8.9). The rock cut chamber measures 4.6 m along north-south and about 3.04 m east–west (ratio 3:2), while its depth is ascertained only to about 1.8 m, beyond which further digging was prevented by the enormously large and heavy pieces of the fallen capstone, broken and slipped into the chamber until the last season (2005) of the fieldwork came to a close. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 273 fig. 8.8: DholÀvÁrÀ: A cross section and plan of hemispherical Tumulus-2, Stage III. As stated above, the chamber is cut into a sloping rocky surface and the encircling brickwork is made of two tiers, sitting on each other. The circular lower ring of the brickwork, round the rectangular chamber, is broader and thicker and thus naturally registers variable distance from the latter. The upper brickwork is receded by 1.2 to 1.55 m from the lower one thus rendering the whole construction a terraced formation. 274 | R.S. BISHT fig. 8.9: DholÀvÁrÀ: A part of circular platform, encircling rock cut chamber in the centre, with fragments of broken capstone lying dislodged; one-fourth of earthen filling still unremoved from the central shaft. The vertical sides of both the brickwork register an outward batter. As a result, the internal diameter of each, like a funnel, becomes progressively broader upwards resulting in providing a telescopic form. Resting on the sloping terrain, the lower one forms the basal platform which is made of eighteen to nineteen brick courses registering a height of 1.72 to 1.8 m, of course, with the said batter. As a result, the central shaft, encircled by the brickwork, is narrow at the base and wide at the top, hence diametrically measuring 5.3 and 5.6 m, respectively. Similar is the position in respect of the upper brickwork, too. The enclosed shaft in this case increases likewise from 6.22 to 6.52 m from below upwards, and as such the internal diameter of the shaft increases from 9.15 m at its base to 9.4 m at the top. The top of the brickwork has been largely eroded but is present in the eastern part where its full height of 0.88 m, through nine courses, making a flat top, is preserved. The earthen filling rests there right upon that top. To sum up, the lower brickwork serves as the basal platform which sports a HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 275 broad ring-wall running round the periphery. In the absence of a cross-section and/or finding the outer face of the monument, it is stated that the respective width of both the brickwork is not available at present, although it is conjecturable in view of the estimated diameter of the monument. The chamber was originally intended to be covered with a single huge slab which was now found to have been broken into upward of a dozen pieces. Apparently, the pieces seem to be fitting into each other quite well, thereby suggesting its monolithic character. If that be so, it naturally surprises one as to how it was separated from the parent rock, transported and finally placed over the chamber of large dimensions. A question that arises is about the time and the cause of its breakage. It is very likely that the chamber which was surely meant for a mortuary ritual or for depositing of the ritual offerings which might have been made in a ceremony that was, perhaps, performed somewhere else, outside the monument. It is strongly possible that the chamber was left only with the said ritual wherewithal and then covered with the monolithic slab, thus having a huge space lying empty inside it. Once it was capped the area around was enclosed by both the massive brickwork which have been discussed just above. Finally, the central void, i.e. the circular shaft, enclosed within the brickwork, was filled in with loose sand mixed with stone pieces and then topped it with hard earth. It appears that the capstone under the heavy dead weight of the filling gave way and broke into pieces and collapsed and thus allowing the sand of the filling to drift in. Naturally, the earth above also subsided thus necessitating more piling up of earth which rather very hard rock dust is mixed with rock pieces, all whitish in colour. It seems that the rock powder and pieces, obtained during excavating the chamber, were kept aside to be intentionally laid at the top of the pile-up to minimize the effects of erosion. After certain depth, it became imperative to remove some of the pieces of the capstone in order to go deeper into the chamber. Most of the pieces were so large and heavy that only one of them could be removed, that too with the help of two tractors working simultaneously for pulling it out. Yet the objective of fully investigating the chamber could be achieved because of the other pieces of the covering slab. We do not know what were the offerings originally placed in the chamber. It is, however, very significant to note that, at a later occasion in the past, a shaft was cut from the top through the filling, perhaps, in order to deposit fresh offerings inside the chamber. But the shaft could be sunk only to a depth of 4.7 m beyond which those diggers, too, failed to go deeper for the same obstruction which was confronted by us. Interestingly, they placed a fresh offering, now represented by two full pots at the depth we stopped. 276 | R.S. BISHT Tumulus-1 is larger in size and stands on the north-western bank of the buried lake, at a distance of about 75 m from Tumulus-2. In its extant form, it is conspicuously hemispherical in shape. The spread of the tumulus before excavation measured 33 m in diameter and 2.9 m in height from the surrounding ground level, the latter with a tendency to slope towards east and south, as in case with the other one (figs. 8.10, and 8.11). It was subjected to probing in several spells due to its being riddled with several later additions and interventions that were made continually one after another over centuries, during the latter half of the third millennium BCE in particular. These later features, which were made into and upon the monument, rather haphazardly than orderly, had not only caused much damage to the surface of the monument but also brought about changes in its morphology, and rendered the excavation challenging and difficult. Surface clearance had shown that the monument was a baffling mass of brickwork and stone masonry giving little clue to its real character, excepting its location in the necropolis and on the bank of a depression, besides its hemispherical form, all indicating towards its being an imposing funerary structure. While its north-western fig. 8.10: DholÀvÁrÀ: A view of central part of Tumulus-1 as taken from south west. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 277 fig. 8.11: DholÀvÁrÀ: Plan of hemispherical Tumulus-1. half is largely better preserved and the brickwork all over was fairly perceptible, the counterpart housed a number of later graves and other structures made of stone. Those graves too in many cases were found cutting into each other. The north-western part shows many successive brick courses ringing round on the slope for a considerable height. The clearance has shown and suggested that the outer part of the tumulus, roughly to a height of 2 m, is an orderly arranged brickwork, while the remaining 1 m high part pertains to as many as eight radial walls of single brick courses, which radiate from the upper ring of brick mass and move towards the central area. One more radial 278 | R.S. BISHT wall in the south-eastern part is visible although not marked for its bricks. Besides two or three similar walls, made of single line of stones, and at least two fragments of similarly made ring-wall are also visible. At least in one case a radial brickwall was restored with stone. Of all, three radial brickwalls are better preserved while the others have been disturbed by later interventions to a varying degree of damage. The central part forming an oval with its longer axis being north–south was seen as a large pit making fairly flat top. In addition to all these there were a number of stone-built features many of which were clearly the graves, different in shapes and sizes, topped with stones. All this was the phenomenon on the surface after clearance and before making deeper probing in selected area. Given to the unusual shape and complicated nature of the tumulus, a 20-m long and 2-m wide trench running south-west–north-east was laid almost two-thirds across the area, that obviously departed from the general grid plan. To begin with, the work was started from the west, where the exterior face of the brick masonry bearing a 10mm thick plaster of pinkish-white clay, extant to a height of 30 cm was ascertained. The work when continued upwards, over the slope, ascertained a well-coursed brickwork having a width of 7.5 m and curving circularly in accord to the visible periphery of the hemispherical tumulus. And, further up started the zone of the radial walls, two of which were due to fall in the trench under operation. A segment between the said two radial walls of mud-brick was chosen for excavation. The probe has revealed many interesting features: that those walls emanate from the inner face of a massive brickwork that is variably extant to a height of 1 m, which in fact is the height of the peripheral ring-wall standing on a brick platform; that the radial walls have been built in two successive phases, with a long time gap in between; that the same walls run towards the centre on a brick-made floor that is top of the circular platform; and that the large oval pit in the centre has truncated the other ends of these radial walls; and also that the central pit goes down right into the rock cut chamber. The two radial walls in this trench stem 3.6 m apart from the peripheral wall. The interface has an earthen filling mixed with stone and some pottery. Curiously, the first layer is predominantly made of rubble of different sizes and overlies a neatly constructed brick floor, which subsequently turned out to be the top of the said circular platform having several brick courses. Towards the central area even rubbles are used to a certain length for laying the first course of the walls, clearly for raising their respective height. In this trench, the radial walls demonstrate two phases of construction. In the central area, both the walls seem to have truncated by the aforesaid central pit. This probe provided ample clues for dealing with the monument with confidence. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 279 The subsequent operation has revealed that, like that of the Tumulus-2, the whole construction is quite simple and highly symbolic and similar, except for the radial walls and the flat top. It has four components: rock-cut chamber and the offerings, successive phases of filling; a broad and massive ring of brickwork round the chamber forming a basal platform; an enormous peripheral rim of brickwork on the said platform; radial walls on the platform and filling between the walls. These, however, exclude the later intervention, like opening of the central area through the chamber, and raising of a curved wall, a few partly preserved radial walls, segments of ringwall, and several graves in certain part on the pre-existing monument, all made of stone in this ultimate phase. Initially, the built-up height of the monument was lesser in the first phase and got increased in the second. To what extent the third phase caused further raising is not certain due to erosion of the surface, although it might not have brought about any substantial change in form and height. But human vandalism seems to have caused some damage by way of removing some stones from the later structures in order to make a small platform atop the monument — a practice still followed by the herders to keep a watch over their flocks. The presence of a large number of graves of varying sizes and shapes, and equally varying in orientation, seems to be built on the monument. Some of these stone-made graves were, perhaps, coeval with the introduction of masonry radial walls of the ultimate phase. Some of the graves are surely posterior to the latter. The rock-cut chamber, occupying the central position in the monument, measures 1.9 m wide east–west and as much deeper, while its length can be traced only to 3.6 m north–south at the time of the closure of the last field session (2005) when, due to time constraint, it was not be possible to remove the overburden of the remaining 5 m of the filling. Not unlikely that the length of the chamber may be 20 cm longer thus making it around 3.8 m. If that be so, the ratio would be 1:1:2 in terms of depth, width and length as this ratio has been found in many of the rectangular graves at the site. Most significantly, the chamber contained a rich cache of the offerings of pottery and jewellery (fig. 8.12), and a part of it is still lying buried under the said heavy overburden. On present showing, pottery includes eight tall pedestalled vases, small pots, a few medium-sized jars and one dish-on-stand. While the majority of them are plain, unslipped, undecorated and made of coarse-grained earth, a vessel with a short neck and externally projecting rim bears crimson slip and is decorated with two black bands round the neck. In this case, as in case of the pottery from other graves, the general impression that one gets is that it is specially made for mortuary ritual, and hardly met with in the domestic corpus at the settlement. The jewellery consists of a solid 280 | R.S. BISHT gold bangle having incurved ends, a gold bead, agate beads and a complete necklace of large disc beads of steatite, stringed in a copper wire with its both ends being turned into hooks for interlocking. The offerings are found being placed on a prepared earthen bed made on the floor of the chamber, but there is no orderly arrangement in their placement. Those are rather huddled, mostly towards north by west in the chamber. fig. 8.12 DholÀvÁrÀ: Pottery offerings and a necklace of steatite, all haphazardly placed in rock cut chamber of Tumulus-1. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 281 The central area, which looks like an oval pit, as visible on the surface, measures roughly 5 m north–south and 3.8 m east–west. The pit, which narrows downwards, contains above 5 m of filling which is consisted mainly of five strata descending right into the rock cut chamber and pertaining to three stages of filling made successively. Interestingly, there is found two sets of random rubble and sand-mixed compact earth, occasionally containing pieces of mud-brick as well as chunks of brick masonry. The layer at the top is made up of compact earth freely mixed with white clay. Intriguingly, the layer at the bottom, which mostly goes into the chamber, predominantly contains random rubble which were thrown in recklessly right upon the offerings deposited on the floor of the chamber thus causing much damage to the pottery particularly that was manufactured carelessly. The mud-brick chunks surely pertained to the masonry of the platform and the radial walls. The periphery of the basal brick platform, running round the chamber, has been determined in the western part of the 2 m trench which has also shown that part of the inner face of the platform that suffered slicing off by the central pit. The exterior face of the platform bears a pleasing coat of plaster of pinkish white clay as already mentioned above. The platform is now extant with a thickness of 13.7 m and registers a height of 1.9 m through seventeen brick courses rising from the bedrock. The bottom course rests on a prepared bed of white clay, or else, this white clay base may be in fact the topmost layer of the weathered bedrock itself, which is, moreover, made of colourful bands of petrified clay that is exposed almost everywhere around the monument. As has been said time and again, it is with the help of this valuable piece of evidence, duly fortified with other tell-tale features, e.g. the spread of brickwork exposed on most of other parts on the extrados, etc., it is concluded that the monument has a diameter of almost 30 m. While arriving at this conclusion, other pointers, although infirm, like the irregular line of the central pit which is coincidental to the inner curve of the rim wall has also helped to delineate the periphery and the centre of the monument. The basal platform has have two functional, not constructional, parts: the outer part supports a 7.5 m thick peripheral ring-wall, i.e. the rim; the inner part serves as the base for the radial walls, which emanate from the former to run across to converge, somehow, in the centre which, however, remains elusive. Investigation has already confirmed the existence of eight mud-brick radial walls while the ninth was traceable on surface, and the tenth is conjecturable in north-western sector. In all, thus there may be ten radial walls. Nevertheless, it is wondered whether the builders intended nine radials only. Strangely enough, these walls are not symmetrically placed at an equal 282 | R.S. BISHT distance at the points of their issuing from the inner face of the rim wall, nor converge on a single common central point. Presumably, there may be more than one point where different sets of walls meet each other. Besides, every two radial walls provide a different angle at the point of joining nearer the centre. If every two walls are allowed to join together at their respective points of convergence, the differential angles from the northern wall in a clockwise fashion seem to read in seriatim 40°, 34°, 40°, 27°, 43°, 38°, 35°, 37°, 30°, 36°, respectively. This presumes the existence of presently nontraceable tenth wall, however. If there is not a single point of rendezvous, it is not unlikely, these walls were somehow oriented in connection with the rectangular rock chamber under an ideological principle that governed the architecture of the whole monument. Nevertheless, and vividly, these walls run like spokes in a wheel, of which the peripheral wall makes the rim, i.e. the felly, and the symbolical construction is raised on a circular platform making the traditional vedÁ. The radial brickwalls have, as said earlier, three phases of raising, the first two with mud-brick and the last one of stone. The radial walls reveal very significant feature in that each of the two walls have been fully exposed in terms of height and extant length, both vertically and horizontally. Both continuously emanate from the rim towards the centre. In other words, as each wall runs towards the centre its courses, go on increasing in number and thus attaining height. The lower one has four courses, registering a height of 0.5 m at the point of its origin at the rim, and increases to eight courses through the height of 1.06 m at the extant eastern end where it is truncated by the pit. Similarly, the upper wall has three courses, registering a height of 0.27 m at the western end and increase to five courses gaining a height of 0.5 m as of now preserved at the eastern end. As a result, the height of the monument gradually increases towards the centre, thus effecting to impart to the monument a perceptibly domical form. While the bricks of the first phase are made of compact yellowish clay and laid in a fine workmanship, as seen in the basal platform as well as the rim wall, those of the second phase are of loose greyish clay and coursed comparatively in inferior style. So far as the third raising made by using stone is concerned, it is very poorly preserved, only in segments, on account of their remaining exposed on the surface as well as poor workmanship and later pilferage. Many of them are missing as these are made of small stones placed quite carelessly. Nothing more of that phase may be added except that the majority of the graves which were built up subsequently over the monument have also disturbed these stone-made radials as well as the thin ring-walls, which are now present in fragments only. Filling of the interface of the walls was, perhaps, the last act. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 283 How the central part that is disturbed by the pit was treated with is difficult to surmise. Today it is flattish. But, there arises a serious doubt whether the monument was ever topped with a pile of earth as seen in the Tumulus-2. The way the radial walls have shown an upward rise on all sides, it is very likely that those were constructed right up to the top. And, in what manner the top was finished is also not easy to visualize. An interesting feature that is preserved in the north-western part of the extrados, where the inner circle, i.e. the zone of the radial walls and the filling, is seen veneered with mud-bricks. It is most plausible that the whole monument was originally treated likewise and then plastered all over, finally. In its present state of preservation, the entire monument presents indeed a hemispherical form. It is difficult now to decide whether the builders intended to make it as such from the ground itself, or, the brickwork of the basal platform, or this together with the felly, was raised as a cylindrical drum up to the former in the first case, or up to the latter in the second, and then the radial walls were constructed with a slight rise towards the centre and the interface was filled up in order to make a low domical top, or else the central part was kept flattened. And, finally the whole was covered with bricks and plastered. Encasing of the dome with bricks seems to be in evidence in the north-western part, whereas the remaining area has been considerably tempered with. If the small part of the plastered exterior, although too low for an absolute inference, seems to be a valuable piece of evidence to suggest that the hemisphericality of the monument was intended from the beginning. If so the hemispherical exterior may have been obtained by way of externally offsetting each of succeeding brick courses while building up. Howsoever meagre is the evidence of plastering, it is, chrono-culturally speaking, highly important. On excavating at the settlement, it has been observed that the use of coloured clays, white, off-white, pink, for plastering all structures, whether a fortification wall, embankments, house walls, house floors or terraces and stands of the great grounds, was almost universal during Stages II and III, and partly as well in Stage I. But this practice was completely forsaken from Stage IV onwards “as if there was a social taboo or royal decree against it”. It is, therefore, obvious that the use of coloured plaster broadly serves as a cultural chronogram at DholÀvÁrÀ. If the history of the monument is to be recounted, it was built in Stage III, partly raised in Stage IV, provided with radial stonewalls and finally used to support a variety of graves during Stage V. This deconstruction is duly supported by two pieces of evidence. While excavating at the site it has been observed that the people of earlier three stages were carefully choosy about the kind of earth they used for making mud-bricks. It was always a very 284 | R.S. BISHT good quality bright yellow earth. Besides, they also preferred white, pink and red earth for the same purpose as well. The same care was taken for selecting right kind of earth for preparing mortar. Brick-laying is always exquisitely fine and then comes the use of colourful clays as well for plastering and flooring. Second, the potsherds, collected from the brickwork of the basal platform, the first phase of radial arms and the filling in the interface, pertain to Stage III, while those from the subsequent structural phases relate to Stages IV and V, respectively. It is apparent that the very idea of building a hemispherical or domical monument over a circular platform supporting an intricate and highly symbolical layout in honour of the dead preceded the onset of the HaÃappan classicism sometime between c. 2600–2500 BCE or even earlier. Impressive form, architectural intricacy and underlying symbolism suggest that these monuments were built in honour of an exceedingly important persons, most probably from ruling family, and as such it was held in high esteem as suggested by phases of successive raisings. Further, towards the final phase it had acquired such sanctity that it was made the last home for several persons probably belonging to the same family. It makes one recall of the second Mughal emperor Humayun’s tomb in Delhi where upwards of 150 members of the royal family, including the two princes of the last Mughal, Bahadurshah Zafar, have been interred in the basement chambers of the monument and its surrounding terraces, during the 300 years of the succeeding fifteen rulers. The HaÃappans got it in legacy which they cherished for sure and bequeathed to the posterity. We propose that both the monuments are made in the form of a wheel in which fire-altars as well as funerary altars were made as duly corroborated by both archaeology and literature. Furthermore we also propose to compare Tumulus-1 with sÀra-ratha-cakra-citi and Tumulus-2 with sapradhi-ratha-cakra-citi, both of which are dealt with in the Œulba-sÂtras which contained the rules for ritual geometric constructions of the Vedic altars. The Urban Afterglow: Continuity and Change The past perfect, the present continuous and more! That was the scenario in terms of funerary monuments and mortuary practices in the territory once occupied by the classical HaÃappans, of course, with some geographical gaps here and there mainly because of lack of probing. In the Kachi piedmont, which has, as already mentioned, had a classical HaÃappan centre, but no cemetery as yet, has exhibited re-emergence of older funerary practices during the post-urban period. In the rest of the Indo-Gangetic and Gujarat alluvial plains there is witnessed both continuity and change. In the arid HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 285 Kachchh and SaurÀÈÇra, the evidence is rather tentative and scanty, necessitating more investigation in and around a settlement that is already under study. Among the classical HaÃappan sites, HaÃappÀ and Lothal are the conspicuous ones to offer as well the sepulchres of the post-urban times, while DholÀvÁrÀ is the possible third candidate in the series although definitive evidence for the late HaÃappan period (Stage VI) still remains to be determined firmly as the material is still under close study. However, this last-mentioned site has yielded inhumations and cenotaphs which are circumstantially affiliated to the later HaÃappan period (Stage VII) as have already been discussed briefly while dealing with the evidence from the site. The other sites that may be added to the list are Chandigarh, DÀimÀbÀd, Sanauli, Bedwa, PÂÇhi Semen, MehrgaÃh VIII, Sibri, Dauda Damb, Quetta and Randal Dadva, which are among worthy of notice. Many of these sites have already been referenced earlier (fns. 51-56) in the paper in connection with post-HaÃappan, post-urban funerary sites. In the Kachi plain, there thrived, as stated above, a long-lived urban centre of the HaÃappans at Nausharo, but no burials at all have either been noticed in the entire region of the piedmont whereas there had been a long continuous funerary tradition from c. 7000 to 2600 BCE (periods I through VII C), to be followed by an absence of it during the succeeding 500 years which pertained to the classical HaÃappans. While this desideratum remains, the post-urban scenario, as gathered from the sites of Mehrgarh VIII period and contemporary Sibri and Dauda Damb (c. 2000–1800 BCE),19 is quite fulfilling. This phase was marked by the reappearance of the older sepulchralism in the form of the time-honoured practice of inhumation in flexed position, aligned E–W, with the head to the east. In addition, there are found bricklined cenotaphs, oriented as usual E–W, containing the identical offerings20 and also child burials in jars (ibid.: 325). The grave-goods are normally abundant and diverse. Those consist of pottery, jewellery, stone bowls, metal objects, etc. and some with the accompaniment of abundant material and pottery, having wider links with the Bronze Age of Bactria and the southern Turkmenistan in addition to Mehi, Khurab and Quetta, and further beyond, into Iran, and duly mixed with sporadic objects of the Indus civilization.21 He also drops hint with its possible link-up with the movements of invasion of the Indo-Iranians and Indo-Aryans into the Indus plains around c. 2000 BCE).22 Thus, there was a variety in mortuary practices. While the grave-goods did not 19 Jarrige 1995: 88-95; Jarrige et al. 1995: 218, figs. 4.22-23; 251-53, figs. 5.17; 286-88. 20 Jarrige et al. 1995: 287, 6.20-21; 324, 7.23-24. 21 Jarrige 1995: 88-93. 22 Ibid.: 93. 286 | R.S. BISHT contain any HaÃappan material, the contemporary settlement did yield some material in the form of pottery sherds, including those of perforated jars, in addition to a cylindrical seal with HaÃappan character on its one end, thus showing the link-up. The Cemetery H at HaÃappÀ of the post-HaÃappan times, both culturally23 and stratigraphically24 represent two different kinds of burial practices in two separate strata, designated as Stratum I and Stratum II, and thus pertaining to two temporal groups, albeit one following the other quite closely and both yielding almost identical ceramics. The burial-ground lies to the south of the settlement, at the foot of the Mounds D and E. The Stratum II is earlier in terms of stratigraphy and different in terms of mortuary practice. It is marked by its earth-burials which are said to make two distinct spatial sections, one of which was apportioned to complete extended inhumations and the other “invariably to fractional” burials. The Stratum I which was later had only urn-burials containing skeletal fractions of adults or complete child bodies. The complete inhumations of the Cemetery H people of Stratum II were supinely extended burials, accompanied with offerings of pottery, in an accordant earthen grave. Unlike that of the HaÃappans, the dead was normally aligned E–W, with the head to the east and being placed on the left cheek, thus facing south. Sometimes, the orientation was NE–SW, a few times SW–NE and, in a rare case; it was W–E, with the head to the west. There are a few examples of the body being placed either on the right or the left side, with the legs being bent at the knees, obviously, it was flexed, but not in a foetal position, as the upper body was fairly straight.25 In a fractional burial, only a few bodily parts of heavy nature, usually along with a skull, were buried along with pottery offerings, sometimes together with animal bones. The pottery was obviously meant for containing food and drinks for the departed in afterlife. While in certain cases corpses seemed to have been dismembered, the placement of bones followed the same general orientation as that of a complete inhumation. But, in the latter Stratum I, there was made a drastic departure in that the fractions of a body were placed in large or medium-sized jar, usually with a lid or cover. It is believed by the excavator that the body was exposed to the birds and beasts of prey and the bones and skull that could be collected were given to pot burial. But in respect 23 Vats 1940: 203-45. 24 Wheeler 1947: 85. 25 Vats 1940: pl. XLIII. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 287 of the children, full body was placed in urns in foetal position. The urns are found often decorated with beautiful paintings in black over a deep red-slipped surface. The depiction of scenes of mythological character and symbols of esoteric nature is of special significance. Agreeing with Hillebrandt’s view that the mortuary custom followed the prescriptions as laid down in the BrÀhmaõas, Vats elaborated the theme by citing references from the Vedic and epic literature, thereby suggesting an Aryan connection26 seemingly foretelling what Wheeler would tell with conviction later on when he accused India for the destruction of the fortified settlements of the HaÃappans, of course, without invoking a reference to the Cemetery H people while delivering his verdict27 although that might be in his mind. In sum, it is notable that these Cemetery H people at HaÃappÀ were not only culturally but also ideologically differed from the HaÃappans. Kennedy has also noted, that the different orientation of the dead in Cemetery H of Stratum II, and the urn burials of both children and adults in the latter Stratum I “may indicate some degree of cultural discontinuity of the cemetery H community from their predecessors at HaÃappÀ”.28 But, on the basis of detailed anthropometric studies, he and his colleagues have observed closest of affinities between the R 37 people with those of Cemetery H stratum II as well as TimargaÃha. Further, he does not find much merit in stressing the difference in degrees of biological affinities between individuals from earth burials (Stratum II) and urn burials (Stratum I) hence “no evidence of marked biological discontinuity between mature and late, or post-HaÃappan, occupants of the ancient city”.29 All said and done we believe that it is not a simple paradigm shift but a volteface from the HaÃappan practices in terms of positioning and orienting the dead body and subsequently switching over to urn burials by the peoples of the Cemetery H. The evidence from the HaÃappan cemetery at Lothal is interesting in that five out of sixteen graves are assigned to the decadent phase, i.e. phase V of the late HaÃappan time.30 More interestingly, the first three graves of the record, designated as the grave numbers 1, 4 and 5, have shown the body aligned N–S as usual, whereas the remaining two, i.e. grave 10 and 15 contained the bodies laid W–E, with the head to the west, the latter being a novel feature at the site as those belonging to the mature phase conform 26 Vats 1940: 208-10. 27 Wheeler 1947: 81-82. 28 Kennedy 2003: 295. 29 Ibid.: 304. 30 Rao 1979: 138-39. 288 | R.S. BISHT to the norm of cutting graves and interring the dead in the N–S position. This held good even in case of the joint burials. Far southward, at DÀimÀbÀd31 in the central Deccan the solitary grave contained an extended body, oriented N–S, with head to the north that is attributed to the Late HaÃappan period. In the northern sector, Chandigarh, a Union Territory,32 Bedwa and Semen PÂÇhÁ, both in Haryana33 and Sanauli, upper GaôgÀ–YamunÀ Doab, Uttar Pradesh34 are other sites yielding funerary graves of the post-urban times. At all these sites the interment is of supinely extended bodies, laid in the N–S orientation, with the head towards the north. The accompanying pottery is of the post-classical genre that was first recognized at Bara (Panjab) (hence was widely known as representing the Bara culture although it is now fashionable to place it under the blanket term of “late HaÃappan”). Amidst them, Sanauli occupies a special place for offering plethora of information possibly on account of its being excavated on a considerable scale. Among the recently excavated sites, it has turned out to be the most important in terms of a variety of funerary practices as well as richness of grave-goods. The site has shown up three levels of stratigraphy, lower, middle and upper, which together have revealed 116 graves, divisible into three categories, viz. (1) 52 extended, (2) 35 secondary, and (3) 29 “symbolic” burials, or cenotaphs, nearly distributed through all the three strata. Author, please check. The extended burials were, “as a rule” oriented from NW–SW, with the head towards the N-W. Special mention should be a joint burial of two male adults, albeit only one skull was found while all the bodily remains belonged to two individuals. The offerings consisted of pottery and some jewellery. In most graves, a dish-on-stand, as observed elsewhere too, was duly present. In one case the dish part held the head of a goat. However, the find of a “triple burial”, bodies kept side-by-side along N–S, with the heads to the north, along with two urns covered with lids is quite unique. Besides, there were also found six child-burials. One grave contained the burial of a skull with a curiously shaped gold object placed on the top of the forehead. It was accompanied with pottery and a thin copper strip containing six star-shaped objects. However, the other secondary or fractional burials yet remain to be discussed by the excavators. 31 Sali 1986: 175. 32 53 IAR 1970-71: 7-8. 33 56 Kumar 2006: 196-204; Sinde et. al. 2008: 86-91. 34 55 Sharma et al. 2006: 166-79. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 289 Among cenotaphs three are phenomenal. One of them contained a double-edged antenna dagger (mentioned as “sword”) with a medial ridge, placed upright on the floor, with the point toward the sky, the second object was its copper sheath, placed across in the grave, both together with an assortment of thirty-six pottery forms (ibid.: fig. 4). The second cenotaph, oriented NW–SW, was furnished with a thin copper sheet supporting twenty-six tiny copper pieces which were very thoughtfully arranged in the form of a human torso35 all those to the accompaniment of dishes-on-stand. A fired brick wall that ran conformably to one arm of the grave was probably a part of an enclosure possibly reserved for graves/cenotaphs of a special class of people. The other arms of the enclosure seem still remaining unexposed. The third cenotaph revealed another human torso-like feature outlined by rows of steatite inlay pieces. There was found traces of continuation of a curved feature as if to suggest that that meant for the head. The human effigy was oriented E–W. There were no pottery offerings however. Author, please check. The ceramics associated with the funerary monuments were definitely of the Bara lineage, which could be partly contemporary to the HaÃappan and partly posterior to it, but, on the present showing, the necropolis cannot be termed “HaÃappan” as such as there is absolutely nothing showing classical elements. The find of two antenna dagger with mid-rib, one from the excavation and the other from the destruction of the site wrought by a local farmer, points towards the Copper Hoard tradition, maybe of initial phase. The fall of the HaÃappan civilization was as fast as its rise was. Economic superstructure collapsed, the urban centres were abandoned and the aridity was rising fast. It seems people started to move out to greener areas. There was lot of commotion. The late HaÃappan assemblage at DholÀvÁrÀ has suddenly started receiving ceramic elements of different local cultures which came into being in the aftermath of the HaÃappan decay: there are elements from the Jhukar culture from Sindh, of the Bara culture from Punjab and some from Gujarat, thus showing that there was a feverish movement of peoples. Naturally, in such a situation a lot of carrying and sharing of ideas and traditions should have taken place. This is perhaps reflected in the diversity in funerary tradition, although orthodoxy did as well remain strongly in vogue. In the following paragraphs, an effort is made as to where and when such monuments were raised and as to what the ancient Indian literature speaks about. 35 55 Sharma et al. 2006: 170-71, pl. 9, fig. 6. 290 | R.S. BISHT Wheel-type Monuments in Archaeology and Literature IN ARCHAEOLOGY OUTSIDE INDIA It has already been mentioned that the hemispherical monuments of DholÀvÁrÀ have no parallels in any proto-historic (HaÃappan included) cultures in India. Most significantly, their analogies in proto-historic context have been found almost 1,300 km away (as the crow flies) in the island of Bahrain in the Gulf, which has been considered the largest graveyard in the world of yore. HaÃappan connection with Bahrain is well established owing to the presence of seals, weights and some pottery forms.36 Now the same can as well be seen in the funerary monuments in terms of morphology and, to some extent, in architectural details, of course, with some points of difference which are more related to the belief system and ritual. The island has yielded a variety of sepulchres which have been categorized in four main types by Srivastava,37 while Laursen38 classifies them chronologically into early, transitional and late types with due consideration to changes in morphology. We are, particularly, concerned about the latter’s “conical” and “radial wall types” of tumuli/tombs which have been broadly dated between c. 2200–2000 BCE by most of the archaeologists, despite the tenuous footing of the Bahrain (Dilmun) chronology of archaeological records. In the following paragraphs, it may be seen that the conical monuments show much semblance to Tumulus-2 of DholÀvÁrÀ, those called “Radial Wall Type” bear that to Tumulus-1. The conical tumulus at Bahrain has a grave chamber, made of stone overground and covered by much wider pile-up of earth mixed with stone pieces, which in turn is enclosed by a ring-wall, sometimes more than one, built at different levels. In terms of diameter and height, those range from 5.45 to 11.6 m and 0.65 m to 2.32, respectively.39 The radial type tumulus also rises from the ground around a stone-made grave chamber and differs from the former on account of being furnished with radial walls emanating from the ring-wall which circumscribes the whole monument and has a flattened top. Number of radials varies from 1 to 1340 while the diameter of this type ranges from 9.4 to 13.43 m and height from 1 to 1.9 m.41 36 Srivastava 1991: 26-27; Laursen 2010: 131-32, 134. 37 Srivastava 1991: 14-15. 38 Laursen 2010: 117-22. 39 Srivastava 1991: 45-182. 40 Laursen 2010: 120. 41 Srivastava 1991: 45-182. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 291 Both the types of Bahrain tumuli are monumental in nature, the second one, of course, being more pronounced in dimensions. Unlike the DholÀvÁrÀ ones, all carry skeletons, along with pottery and animal bones, usually placed in position. The most significant is the find of a round seal bearing a legend in HaÃappan script, a peacock and a humpless bull with lowered head and typically classical Indus grooved boss at the back, which was found in the grave no. 1757,42 which was incidentally furnished with radial walls and a flattened top. Srivastava has given a general time bracket of 2200–2000 BCE to the graves dug by him while Laursen is more specific in dating them between 2050–2000 BCE. Importantly, the solitary round seal in steatite from Stage V of DholÀvÁrÀ has, not only the same humpless bull as motif, besides a four-letter inscription in which the last two letters (in positive impression) of the Bahrain one are almost same as the middle ones on the DholÀvÁrÀ specimen. These are two standing human figures and a staff. In this regard, the solitary find of the Gulf type seal from Lothal is also interesting. All these fit well in the above-mentioned time-bracket. Contrary to DholÀvÁrÀ examples, the Bahrain monuments usually contain a human skeleton in a flexed position, facing to the north, laid in east–west orientation, and there is no use of mud-bricks. Neither is there the basal platform nor an enormously broad ring (rim)-wall. In the Bahrain tombs, the ring-walls are far much thinner and are made of stones, which are comparable to the similarly made stonewalls of the ultimate phase, if not to the brick ones, of DholÀvÁrÀ and yet the symbolical connotation is equally strong. It is very tempting that the inner part, showing the radial walls and the chamber in the centre of Tumulus-1 at DholÀvÁrÀ, intriguingly appears to be very close to what the Bahrain examples reveal43 as tabulated below: Mound No. Pages 1844 87-88 1757 Plate No. Reference 13 IXa Krishna 1991 99-100 18 IVa, Xb Patil 1991 1406; 1424 119-22 30-31 XXIb, XXIIIb Patil 1991; Sinha 1991 1812 129-32 19 XIIIb, XIVa, b Sali 1991 1423 145-46 22 1798; 1804; 151-58 32-35 (After Srivastava 1991: 14) 42 Srivastava 1991: 18. 43 Srivastava 1991: 99, 14. Figure No. Saar 1991 XXIVa; XXVIIIb; Patil 1991; Krishna 1425; 1753 XXVIIb; XVII a, b 1991; Kaul 1991; Ramachandran 1991 292 | R.S. BISHT Mound 1812 in Bahrain is particularly attached with five or six subsidiary graves outside and one within the ring-wall. In this regard, fig. 6 of Laursen44 is the most eloquent in having as many as thirteen walls radiating from the central chamber to the ring-wall (fig. 8.13). There are also six subsidiary graves attached to the ring-wall from outside, most probably at subsequent occasions. It is not unlikely that a few of the radial walls were added by those subsequent grave builders. For conical type of tombs, good examples are Mounds. 1417, 1746 and 1793.45 fig. 8.13 Bahrain: Plan of radial type tumulus, along with subsidiary graves attached to ring-well from outside. 44 Laursen 2010: 120. 45 Respective plate nos. VIIIb, XVIa, and XXa, vide Srivastava 1991. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 293 The chronological framework given to the Bahrain tombs very well corresponds to DholÀvÁrÀ V, Lothal V, Nausharo IV, HaÃappÀ IIIC and so on. This was the time when Mesopotamia was in political turmoil and the HaÃappan economy was under severe stress when the brisk trade between the two snapped. It is generally believed that this was the period when Dilmun (Bahrain) emerged as a strong intermediary. We would like to hazard a postulate that the HaÃappan merchants made Bahrain and Fialaka their strong trading foothold and carried over there their mortuary practices and architecture. In the whole scheme of design of the radial wall-type of tombs of Bahrain, scholars see an underlying symbolism of sun or star.46 Hereunder, we will discuss how strong has been the ideological symbolism that underlay funerary monuments in India. AT HOME The stÂpa architecture, so largely popularized by Buddhists in India one-and-a-half millennia later and further onwards, manifests strong religious symbolism in its morphology and layout. The stÂpas at Saôghol (Panjab), Alluru, NÀgÀrjunakoõça (Andhra Pradesh) have in particular revealed the basal layout, designed like a spoked wheel, which surely symbolizes the wheel of dhamma (faith) that Buddha set in motion at SÀrnÀth. Since the proclamation was of paramount importance the wheel became the most scared symbol in Buddhism, hence its replication in the layout of a stÂpa has a special ideological connotation. A stÂpa is quintessentially a funerary monument which in the Buddhist faith has become an embodiment of Buddha himself as well as highly venerable personages. So far as the antiquity of the tradition is concerned, Buddha himself has referred to the existence of the stÂpas of yore and enjoined on his followers to pay homage to them. Some of the hemispherical tumuli of Nandangarh (Bihar) have long been considered as pre-Buddha in time. IN THE LITERATURE Some of the sepulchral forms, which the HaÃappans created, more diversely at DholÀvÁrÀ, and also the mortuary practices that they may have followed, find their corroboration, direct or indirect, in †gveda (†V)47 in general and the later Vedic literature48 in particular. While †V, as has been widely accepted, belongs to the copper– bronze age, the bulk of the later Vedic literature was, admittedly, collected, enlarged 46 Laursen 2010: 120. 47 †gveda 10.14-19. 48 YV 19.36-37, 49-70; AV 18; VS XXXV; ŒB 2.4.2, 2.6.1, 13.8.1-4. 294 | R.S. BISHT and arranged during the early Iron Age, yet it is remarkable for retaining old traditions of early times. It will be in the fitness of things to briefly touch upon them, without dwelling on in greater details. There is no gainsaying that high and hemispherical monuments of DholÀvÁrÀ are highly evocative both in form and layout: the form may symbolize the womb of Mother Earth and the layout the eternity of time as represented by the wheel of the solar car. Going further back, the MaitrÀyaõÁ SaÚhitÀ,49 TaittirÁya SaÚhitÀ50 and Œatapatha BrÀhmaõa,51 inter alia, speaks of ratha-cakra-citi that is an altar formed like a chariotwheel, so do the later Œulba-sÂtras of BaudhÀyana,52 °pastamba,53 KÀtyÀyana54 and MÀnava.55 BaudhÀyana56 tells about its two variants, i.e. sapradhi-ratha-cakra-citi, and sÀra-ratha-cakra-citi, respectively, suggesting “an altar (designed like a) chariot wheel with (segments of) a felly or rim (only)” and the other with “spokes” (as well). Acharya, a great authority on Indian architecture, has discussed and also reconstructed the spoked-wheel type of altar on the basis of ancient treatises.57 His drawing shows five courses of bricks of the altar (fig. 8.12). He also adds that its height can be increased in the multiples of five, say ten, fifteen courses, and so on, as detailed by °pastamba58 as per the status of the sacrificer earned by the number of times one has performed such yajðas. It is notable that the above-mentioned reconstruction implies a cylindrical form. It may assume a domical top only if earth is piled up over it. The very concept of wheel, with or without spokes, seems to be highly symbolical. It should not be out of place to find out the ideological origins of it at DholÀvÁrÀ. SYMBOLISM BEHIND THE WHEEL The concept and symbol of wheel (cakra) was not new, albeit it found a new connotation in the Buddhist thought, art and architecture. This symbolism may be traced back to †V. It is subsequently as well repeated in the later Vedic texts, MahÀbhÀrata, the PurÀõas 49 MaitrÀyaõÁ SaÚhitÀ 3.4.7. 50 TaittirÁya SaÚhitÀ 5.4.11. 51 Œatapatha BrÀhmaõa 6.7.2.8. 52 BaudhÀyana 5.16, and VII.18. 53 °pastamba 13.1-7. 54 KÀtyÀyana 4.1. 55 MÀnava 7.1-7. 56 BaudhÀyana 5.2-3, read with VII.18. 57 Acharya, 1979: 63, 393 Pl. xxa, iii. 58 °pastamba Œulba-Praœna 10.18.28. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 295 and so on. In †V, which is the earliest of the Vedas and also the most ancient literary composition in India, it is, inter alia, a solar symbol and as such also represents a year, i.e. saÚvatsara or œarad, and its various components like felly, spokes, hub, axle and axle-hole, all signifying different time-units. A saÚvatsara symbolizes, often referred to as the wheel of time (saÚvatsara-kÀla-cakra), fitted to the chariot of sun-god in a hymn †V 59 which is most copious in allegorical imagery flicking through cinematographically. In this respect, twelve segments (pradhis) of a felly stand for as many months, three naves for three main seasons of four months each, 360 pins (œaôkus) for as many days,60 or twelve spokes (dvÀdaœÀra-cakra) as well for as many months altogether having 720 children in pairs standing for as many pairs of days and nights.61 One verse62 speaks of seven circles and six spokes (sapta-cakra Èadara), the former being seven (concentric) circles in the felly and the latter for six seasons of two months each. Seven are the rays, figuratively called seven reins or seven steeds.63 The never-decaying solar wheel with a rim is also said to be attached with ten,64 perhaps indicating directions. If a wheel has three spokes (tryara-cakra), each stands for three seasons of four months each. All these metaphorical imageries of a time-wheel invariably pertain to the chariot of the sun-god.65 A few verses of the hymn under reference are particularly highly significant as those somehow are related to death as well as afterlife and immortality of the living essence (jÁva) of the deceased who is firmly settled in the midst of its abodes (i.e. perhaps cemetery) and moves immortal by its own energies (i.e. drawn from the offerings made by its mortal descendants).66 Equally significant is another verse67 (partly referred to above also), which talks about the deity as a parent (pit¦) who is “five-footed and twelve-formed”, “when in the further hemisphere of the sky”, “shining in his seven-wheeled (car), each (wheel) having six spokes”, obviously describing the sun-god.68 The sun, which is the most bright luminary, universal timekeeper, life-giving energy, tireless traveller, never-decaying light, hence an exquisite 59 †V I.164.48, cf. AnukramaõikÀ. 60 †V, ibid. 61 †V I.164.11. 62 †V I.164.12. 63 †V I.105.9, I.164.2-3. 64 †V I.164.14. 65 †V I.164, IV.17.14, V.31.11, VII.63.2, etc. 66 †V I.164.30. 67 †V I.164.12. 68 Wilson 1977: 107. 296 | R.S. BISHT symbol of life, motion, renewal and immortality, and its wheel symbolizing the sun itself, its eternal gyration and energy, thus representing a year, time and eternity, was, therefore, an appropriate form for the fire-altar (agni-cit/citi) as well as a funerary altar (œmaœÀna-cit/citi). In support, it should be worthwhile to refer to the prescription that a œmaœÀna-citi for a special class of ancestors is to be made in the form of an agni-cit.69 The same spirit seems to be prevailing in MaitrÀyaõÁ SaÚhitÀ which juxtaposes both together while prescribing for placing a piece of gold70 on the ground before either of the altars is to be built. We believe that all types of altars used for sacrifices may have been replicated for funerary altars per se monuments depending on the social and ritualrelated status of the deceased. Without implying any contemporaneity and identification between the later Vedic Aryans and the HaÃappans, we hold that both the DholÀvÁrÀ Tumuli-1 and 2 are, perhaps, the just right examples of the two types, viz. an altar simulating a chariotwheel with spokes and the one with segments of the felly only, as cited above. Furthermore, it may be recalled that we have suggested two alternatives regarding the probable nature of the rise of both the sepulchral monuments which have been investigated at DholÀvÁrÀ. It may not be improbable that originally the platform as well as the wheel surmounting it had a vertically cylindrical elevation and the earth piled over it finally rendered it a domical top, almost in the manner in which most of the Buddhist stÂpas were made, and centuries of erosion have given a hemispherical form as if rising from the ground itself. Or else, the practice of providing a platform along with or without wheel upon it with a vertical elevation was a later innovation. It will be relevant to note that a large hemispherical monument is an elaborated form of a circular cairn which rises from the ground itself and examples of which are seen from the HaÃappan DholÀvÁrÀ to the Megalithic. It may be one among several other innovations and contributions which the HaÃappan bequeathed to the posterity, and at the hands of the Buddhists it received exquisite elaboration and embellishment as manifest in the SÀðcÁ stÂpa. In the light of this may be viewed both the monuments of DholÀvÁrÀ regarding which we have already discussed above at relevant places. Miscellaneous Modes in Literature Funerary practice and perpetuation in memoriam in any society form always a very solemn tradition, which is not easily changed and given up. In case there is a plurality of such modes prevailing concurrently in a society it indicates towards co-mingling of 69 ŒB 13.8.1.1.17. 70 MaitrÀyaõÁ SaÚhitÀ 3.2.6. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 297 different social strands to make a larger society and this is precisely what we see in the HaÃappan world, as best evident at DholÀvÁrÀ in this context. It should not be out of place to find out whether the ancient literature can throw relevently more light on the subject so as to help interpret what we are finding in HaÃappan context now. It, therefore, seems relevant to take recourse again to †gveda and the subsequent texts of the genre. In †gveda, there is a special class of priests called YÀmÀyana, obviously derived from Yama, the god of death, who was incidentally the elder son of Vivasvat, the sungod, and, the first mortal (to go south) to die71 (the southern quarter hence belonging to him). The hymns from 14-19 in the Xth Maõçala are entirely funerary in nature. While the first among them is ascribed to Yama himself, the rest of the hymns are credited to the YÀmÀyana priests. Most of the verses of the group have been picked up from †V and placed in Yajurveda,72 Atharveda,73 etc. as well, although those are arranged somewhat differently, even by changing words or parts of a verse and even by adding a few new ones, particularly in the latter. Many of them have also been freely employed in the latter SaÚhitÀs and BrÀhmaõas in connection with mortuary rites. Broadly speaking, †V, AV74 points towards two basic modes of disposal of the dead: the first, those who were consigned to the fire (agnidagdha), and the second, those not consigned to the fire (anagnidagdha). The former is also called agniÍvÀtta in the text, 75 and, later, in contrast the term anagniÍvÀtta is coined subsequently. 76 Obviously, both the modes, cremation and non-cremation, were in vogue in the society, although those, especially the latter, require proper further defining and in this regard, too, the text provides some useful information as it speaks of the manes who are said to be seated in the cases (perhaps, coffins)77 of, or upon a spread of, barhis grass, sacrificial kuœa grass,78 or seated in (pottery) jars,79 or lying (in their graves) on their right side by drawing up (their) legs,80 certainly in crouched position like a foetus in 71 †V X.14.1-2. 72 YV 19.36-70. 73 AV 18.1-4. 74 †V X.15.14 and others; AV 18.2.35. 75 †V X.15.11; AV 18.3.44. 76 YV 19.60. 77 †V X.15.5. 78 †V X.15.3-4, etc. 79 †V X.15.9-10. 80 †V X.15.6. 298 | R.S. BISHT the womb of mother. Examples, particularly the last two, can be seen all through the Chalcolithic periods in Baluchistan, some even from the Neolithic times with a little variance. One hymn, which has been referred to and discussed umpteen times by scholars, expressly speaks about interment of a dead person (in a grave).81 It is interesting to show that the dead person was placed in the grave along with his wife and a bow and an arrow in his (deceased’s) hands. Both the objects were taken back and his brother pulls out the wife, too. The same hymn speaks of piling of earth82 and erecting a pillar83 on the top or by the side of tumulus and finally putting around (a ring of stones) as a boundary between the living and the dead.84 Elsewhere, someone implores Varuõa not letting him to go into the house of earth, obviously the grave. Atharvaveda85 is more specific in averring four methods of disposal of the dead — nikhÀta, paropta, dagdha and uddhita. NikhÀta certainly points to burying the body or relics in a grave dug in the ground. The term paropta is considered as “cast away” by SÀyaõa.86 But, etymologically, it is formed of parÀ+ √vap (past form), meaning something uprooted from one place and transplanted at another, hence pointing to exhuming of a buried body (after a considerable period of time when the perishable parts are completely de-composed) and giving it to secondary burial at elsewhere. It perhaps points per se to fractional burial as well. Dagdha is unambiguously cremation. Uddhita, however, poses a problem. It appears to suggest exposure of the dead body to the elements by way of keeping it on a higher place or on some such thing like a tree for carnivorous animals, birds and insects to feed on. This issue is discussed further by Gupta.87 To explain the presence of pottery, in many cases in a large number, it is well-nigh accepted that those were meant for offering viands to the dead. In this regard, reference is to be made to the offerings of cake, milk, curd, ghee, meat, juices, honey, other eatables, some mixed with sesame seeds and so on kept in covered pots (kumbhas), besides mentioning some specific pottery forms, all in connection with pit¦medha.88 81 †V X.18.7-9. 82 †V X.18.10-12. 83 †V X.18.13. 84 †V X.18.4. 85 AV 18.2.34. 86 Gupta 1972: 161. 87 Gupta 1972: 160-67. 88 AV 18.4.16-30. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 299 Œatapatha BrÀhmaõa informs that the godly people (meaning the °ryas) make quadrilateral burial places, while “the asura people, the easterners and others”89 make them round90, and further adds that a sepulchre should be of man’s size, and not too large, and yet prescribes the dimension of the mound differently for each class of people such as “for a kÈatriya as high as a man with up-stretched arms, for a brÀhmaõa reaching up to the mouth, for a woman up to the hips, a vaiœya up to the thighs, for a œÂdra up to the knee”.91 All these appear to be burial monuments, as it speaks of arranging the dead man limb by limb92 or pouring him out into (the grave a jarful of bones).93 Interestingly, it rules that the earth is be cut out to the extent one intends to raise the tumulus and yet insists that it should be of man’s size94, as told earlier, too. While speaking about funerary altar, °pastamba says that it could be either quadrilateral or circular without making any mention of °ryas or non-°ryas.95 Before closing this account it is necessary to state that the description concerning altars is about the construction over the ground, whereas a grave is under the ground. And also that much of the literature was written several centuries later yet, many types of the altars appear to replicate the underground features over the ground with the passage of time. All that stated above is only to show that there was a plurality of modes of disposal of dead as well as sepulchral monuments in the ancient literature and there was also an elaborate system of funerary rituals which were repeated year after year to please the deceased ancestors for the sake of well-being of the living. A good deal of information that is contained in the ancient texts is not discussed here as that is outside the purview of this paper. It is, however, a need of the hour that archaeologists ought not to shy away from invoking the literature which holds promise of providing flesh and blood to the dry skeleton of archaeology. Such details help one deal with careful exposure of funerary architecture, collection of data, proper understanding of the mind and method of the builders. Need not to say that Indians have been very conservative and methodical in performances of rituals. On the other hand, when the different forms of the funerary architecture of the HaÃappans at DholÀvÁrÀ are assessed it may easily 89 Eggeling 2002: 423-24. 90 ŒB 13.8.1.5. 91 ŒB 13.8.3.11. 92 ŒB 13.8.3.5, cf VS XXXV.8-9. 93 ŒB 13.8.3.1. 94 ŒB 13.8.1.20. 95 ŒB 14.10-11. 300 | R.S. BISHT be seen that the Megalithic tombs and the Buddhist and the Jaina stÂpas had their roots steeped, at least, in the third millennium BCE and are very much present as such at home. Also that the HaÃappans of DholÀvÁrÀ had, by and large, switched over almost largely to a different mode of disposal, most certainly cremation. It is, therefore, natural that the monuments they raised were memorials, most frequently furnished with offerings, although the examples of inhumation, fractional burial and burial of ashes are met with sporadically. This is how the HaÃappans honoured death and left a rich tradition behind. Discussion The DholÀvÁrÀ excavation has thus offered not only some unique mortuary monuments but also much scope for debate in terms of diversity in their ethnic composition, religious belief systems and structural forms, and also to find as to what legacy the HaÃappans must have left for the later times. In so far as ethnicity is concerned it has generally been accepted now that the HaÃappan society was not a monolithic structure as was believed by the earlier scholars like Wheeler and Piggott. It seems that they were overawed by the abiding uniformity of the civilization and saw in it a “dead monotony”. It is indeed an overstatement. Under its overriding uniformity there were many regional manifestations at the substratum level. These are best reflected in the ceramic corpus, terracotta art, quantitative as well as qualitative differences in a number of sundry things, and also in their belief systems. It is but natural that there were many regional cultures flourishing in different parts, all of which subsequently came under the umbrella of HaÃappanism (if I am permitted to coin this term especially for the classical form of the civilization, and likewise HaÃappania for the territory which came under it). As soon as the unifying forces weakened and broke down the regional elements which had been persisted along came up to the fore. Plausibly, Kachchh made a distinct socioreligious group as reflected in many items of its cultural milieu, and in a big way in its sepulchral architecture, although, it is admitted, some features are common to those in the other HaÃappan cemeteries and such features seem to be governed by a separate set of common canonical prescriptions which the HaÃappans honoured. Among other things DholÀvÁrÀ stands apart in their funerary monuments and practices indeed. One of the glaring features at DholÀvÁrÀ is that the practice of inhumation and fractional burial is rather exceptional. The large majority of the grave-like structures, including the monuments, are memorials which usually do contain the grave goods, but no bodily remains. These goods, in most cases, are clustered, usually not conforming HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 301 to any arrangement, but for in a single sepulchre in which, as already stated, there are found three sets of offerings, made on as many occasions, and in each set there is found an orderly arrangement of the goods. There is no evidence to show that there was any ritual rites performed inside the grave while placing the offerings. The very nature of the placement of the grave goods suggests that those were the utensils and wherewithal of the ritual ceremony that was performed outside the grave. Such a ceremony may be likened to the traditional Indian œrÀddha, i.e. pit¦-yajða or pit¦medhayajða, which is held during the first eleven days as well as on the first anniversary to someone’s death, but not in the house, nor at the site of cremation or burial, but on the bank of a flowing water or a lake in which the ritual left over, including the viands, are finally submerged and usable articles of value are given to the ministrant priest. It appears that the offerings that are usually found in the graves at DholÀvÁrÀ are the residue of such a ritual ceremony which was held elsewhere, away from the site of cremation or burial, and then given an honourable interment in the memorial monument. Since the relation to a water body with such a ceremony is essential, the location of the DholÀvÁrÀ cemetery on the banks of the channels is significant. More significant is the fact that the HaÃappan created thereabouts an artificial lake which was otherwise useful for storing the rain water. A wide range of forms of funerary monuments, particularly the cist, cairn, cist in cairn, a circle or part of it containing single or multiple graves, built-up grave structures of different forms and orientation, deserve a fresh in-depth study in the light of what the ancient literature contains, as has been seen in the foregoing paragraphs in the context of the hemispherical monuments. Furthermore, the variety of tombs which DholÀvÁrÀ has provided strongly reminds one of the many types of funerary architecture of Megalithic culture of the Iron Age, datable from the first millennium BCE to early centuries of CE. There has been a continuing debate as to where the roots of the Indian Megalithic tradition lie. In most cases, the scholars look outside India, e.g. Arabia. We feel that we are not off- the mark if we hold that the fresh evidence most probably show that the roots may not be searched elsewhere, outside India, but be looked at here, at home, per se DholÀvÁrÀ, where their antiquity goes back in time to the third millennium BCE at least. However, there has been a long tradition of making sepulchres going further back to the Neolithic times of the eighth–seventh millennium BCE, albeit with continual changes and variance. Now only missing links are to be found fore and aft the times that intervened between the Megalithic and HaÃappan periods. 302 | R.S. BISHT We do not know as to what was the normal way of the disposal of the dead by the HaÃappans of DholÀvÁrÀ in the light of marked absence of skeletons or ashes in the funerary monuments. The one skeleton and some fractional burials in the necropolis are rather exceptions. The norm should have been different, may be cremation, exposure of the body to the elements, or immersion in the water. In such a situation one is naturally tempted to assume that the HaÃappans, particularly in Kachchh, had entertained a different religious ideology in some of the spheres of social mores. Practice of inhumation as a general norm of disposal is still prevalent in the Hindu society in certain regions in the present-day India. Besides, in case of a saÚnyÀsin, a leper and an infant there is inhumation always, even though the entire society cremates the dead. Acknowledgement I am highly thankful to the Archaeological Survey of India for granting me permission and providing all necessary requisites for excavating at DholÀvÁrÀ, and also for providing facility to continue in-depth study after my superannuation from active service. In this context I am beholden to all Directors General, particularly late Jagat Pati Joshi, M.C. Joshi, Ajay Shankar, K.N. Srivastva and Gautam Sengupta. Grateful thanks are also due to R.S. Fonia, Shubhra Pramanik, K.C. Naurial and D.R. Gehlot for providing support and assistance in a myriad of ways. In the field, an allround assistance that Y.S. Rawat provided ungrudgingly has been most valuable and cherished. I am also obliged to Ravinder Kumar for excellent photography, Sanjay Deshpande and a number of students of the Institute of Archaeology for excavation, Baldev Singh, Subhash Chand Pawar, Arun Siddh and Jayanti for drawing, Rajesh Kumar, Appu Sharan, Shalini Tripathi and Shiv Kumar for typing, reference checking and rendering miscellaneous help. Rajesh Kumar synchronized and composed the drawing of Tumuli-1 and 2 as well. References PRIMARY TEXTS Atharveda SaÚhitÀ, Sanskrit text, 1994, Delhi: Nag Prakashak. °pastamba Œulba-praœna, Sanskrit text, 1979, in The Œulba Sutras: Text on the Vedic Geometry, ed. S.S.P. Sarasvati and Usha Jyotismati, Allahabad: Dr Ratn Kumari Svadhyaya Sansthana. BaudhÀyana Œulba-sÂtra, Sanskrit text, 1979, in The Œulba SÂtras: Text on the Vedic Geometry, ed. S.S.P. Sarasvati and Usha Jyotismati, Allahabad: Dr Ratn Kumari Svadhyaya Sansthana. KÀtyÀyana Œulba-sÂtra, Sanskrit text, 1979, in The Œulba SÂtras: Text on the Vedic Geometry, ed. S.S.P. Sarasvati and Usha Jyotismati, Allahabad: Dr Ratn Kumari Svadhyaya Sansthana. †gveda SaÚhitÀ, Sanskrit text with English translation, vols. 1-6, repr. 1977-78, tr. H.H. Wilson, Delhi: Nag Publishers. †gveda SaÚhitÀ, Sanskrit text, 1996, Delhi: Nag Prakashak. Yajurveda SaÚhitÀ (VÀjasaneyÁ-MÀdhyandina), Sanskrit text, 1997, Delhi: Nag Prakashak. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 303 MÀnava Œulba-sÂtra, Sanskrit text, 1979, in The Œulba SÂtras: Text on the Vedic Geometry, ed. S.S.P. Sarasvati and Usha Jyotismati, Allahabad: Dr. Ratn Kumari Svadhyaya Sansthana. MaitrÀyaõÁ SaÚhitÀ, Sanskrit text, ed. Shripad Damodar Satvalekar, Pardi (Balsad), Gujarat: Svadhyaya Mandal. TaittirÁya SaÚhitÀ, Sanskrit text, 1957, ed. Shripad Damodar Satvalekar, Pardi (Balsad), Gujarat: Svadhyaya Mandal. 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Sarasvati, S.S.P. and Usha Jyotismati, 1979, The Œulba Sutras: Text on the Vedic Geometry, Allahabad: Dr Ratn Kumari Svadhyaya Sansthana. Saar, S.S., 1991, Contribution in Madinat Hamad: Burial Mounds 1984-85, Bahrain: Bahrain National Museum, Ministry of Information. Sharma, D.V., K.C. Nautiyal and V.N. Prabhakar, 2006, “Excavations at Sanauli 2005-2006: A Harappan Necropolis in the Upper Ganga-Yamuna Doab”, PurÀtattva, 36: 166-79. Sali, S.A., 1986, Daimabad: 1976-79, Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India, New Delhi. ———, 1991, Contribution in Madinat Hamad: Burial Mounds 1984-85, Bahrain: Bahrain National Museum, Ministry of Information. Sharma, Y.D., 1956, “Past Pattern in Living as Unfolded by the Excavations at Rupar”, Lalit Kala, 2: 121-29. Shinde, V.S., T. Osada, A. Uesugi and M.M. Kumar, 2008, “A Report on Excavations at Farmana 2007-08”, in T. Osada and A. Uesugi (eds.), Occasional Paper 6: Linguistics, Archaeology and the Human Past, pp. 64-78, Kyoto: Indus Project. Sinha, A.K., 1991, Contribution in Madinat Hamad: Burial Mounds 1984-85, Bahrain: Bahrain National Museum, Ministry of Information. Srivastava, K.M., 1991, Madinat Hamad: Burial Mounds 1984-85, Bahrain: Bahrain National Museum, Ministry of Information. HOW HAãAPPANS HONOURED DEATH AT DHOL°V±RA | 305 Vats, M.S., 1940, Excavations at Harappa, 2 vols., Delhi: Government of India. Wheeler, R.E.M., 1947, “HaÃappÀ 1946: The Defences and Cemetery R-37”, Ancient Indian, 3: 58130.