Context: Under the Ministry of Tourism’s ‘Adopt a Heritage scheme’, the Dalmia Group’s Sabhyata Foundation has adopted the Purana Qila for maintenance and operations and to promote sustainable tourism at the site. For Purana Qila, the foundation has a vision monument, i.e., ‘Indraprastha and the Mahabharata’.
More about the news:
The Purana Qila was built by the Mughal Emperor Humayun. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is set to begin the seventh round of excavations at the site to find evidence about the link of the fort to the ancient site of Indraprastha and the Mahabharata.
Findings in 2014:
- In 1954, archaeologist B B Lal, first dug up the site.
- In 2014, Grey pottery, rolled up inside a piece of soft white cotton cloth was found.
- Painted Grey Ware (PGW) pottery suggests links of the site to the ancient city Indraprastha.
- Painted Grey Ware:
- PGW is a fine, smooth, grey coloured pottery that’s produced by firing techniques.
- They contain mostly geometric patterns in black or deep chocolate brown and usually occur in shapes such as open-mouthed bowls and dishes.
- Mostly found in the Indo-Gangetic divide, the Sutlej Basin and the Upper Ganga plains, PGW is dated between approximately 1100 BCE and 500/400 BCE.
- 1100 BCE and 500/400 BCE: This is the timeframe that matches some of the wide estimates of when the Mahabharata was composed.
- Also, as ASI’s findings, in each of the other Mahabharata-related sites excavated by Lal, such as Hastinapur, Tilpat and Kurukshetra, PGW formed the lowest cultural deposit. So its presence at Purana Qila suggests its Mahabharata link.
- It was well established by B B Lal that PGW is associated with the Mahabharata period.
- The Purana Qila excavation proves that there has been continuous habitation in Delhi from 1200 BCE till today.
- However, other archaeologists, have different views and suggest that it is hard to connect PGW with Mahabharata there is lack of evidence proving whether the events in the Mahabharata actually happened and the occurrence of PGW in itself does not necessarily mean that a site is connected with the Mahabharata story.
- As per Historian Upinder Singh the presence of PGW in sites related to the story in the Mahabharata simply suggests that these sites were inhabited from about 1000 BCE onwards and that people who lived there shared a similar material culture.
About Indraprastha
- Indraprastha is mentioned in ancient Indian literature as a city of the Kuru Kingdom.
- During the Mauryan period, Indraprastha was known as Indapatta in Buddhist Pali literature, as the capital of the Kuru Mahajanapada.
- Modern historians cite its location in the region of present-day New Delhi, particularly the Old Fort (Purana Qila).
- About Kuru kingdom:
- The Kuru kingdom appeared in the Middle Vedic period (1200 BCE), encompassing parts of the modern-day states of Haryana, Delhi, and some parts of western Uttar Pradesh.
- It declined in importance during the late Vedic period (900-500 BCE).
- It corresponds with the archaeological Painted Grey Ware culture.