By going through these Maharashtra State Board Class 11 History Notes Chapter 3 Chalcolithic Villages in India students can recall all the concepts quickly.
Maharashtra State Board Class 11 History Notes Chapter 3 Chalcolithic Villages in India
Chalcolithic Period in India:
The people of Late Harappan cultures who had settled on the ruins of Mature Harappan cities had to migrate elsewhere. The urban Harappans and the Late Harappans dispersed. Wherever these people reached, new rural cultures came into being.
The discipline of architecture, town planning of the Mature Harappan period was absent in the Late Harappan settlements, established on the ruins of the Harappan cities. The designs found on the burial pots in ‘Cemetery H’ at Harappa were different. In brief, the characteristics of the Late Harappan culture were different.
Rajasthan
‘Ahar’ or ‘Banas’ Culture: The chalcolithic cultures in India generally belong to the post-Harappan period. However, the ‘Ahar’ or ‘Banas’ culture in the Mewad region of Rajasthan was contemporary to the Harappan civilisation. Balathal and Gilund near Udaipur are the important sites of Ahar culture. ‘Ahar’ culture at Balathal is dated to 4000 B.C.E and was first discovered at Ahar near Udaipur, so it was named as ‘Ahar’ culture.
Ganeshwar-Jodhpura Culture: Many sites of the culture known as ‘Ganeshwar-Jodhpura’ culture have been found in the vicinity of the copper mines at Khetri. The settlements there are earlier than the Harappan civilisation. During the excavations at Ganeshwar copper artefacts like arrowheads, spearheads, harpoons, bangles, chisels and also pottery was found. The people of Ganeshwar-Jodhpur culture supplied copper objects to the Harappans.
The Ganga Valley
Ochre Coloured Pottery and Copper Hoards: Initially, the Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) was mostly found in river beds. Now, a number of sites of the OCP culture are found in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and the Western region of Uttar Pradesh. House floors of these people were made by ramming. On the house floors were found traces of hearths, terracotta male figurines and bull figurines. Remains of cattle bones, rice and barley were also found.
Bihar, Bengal, Odisha: Copper hoards have been found in Bihar, Bengal, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. However, OCP is not found in these regions. Chalcolithic sites have been discovered in these regions. In Bengal and Odisha also, some chalcolithic sites have yielded pottery that shows Harappan influence as far their shapes are concerned. They include bowls and troughs of various sizes.
Madhya Pradesh
Kayatha Culture: Kayatha is a site situated on the bank of the river known as Chhoti Kali Sindh, at a distance of 25 kilometres from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. Kayatha culture was contemporary to the Harappan civilisation. The people of Kayatha culture subsisted on agriculture and animal husbandry.
Malwa Culture: The name ‘Malwa’ obviously tells us that this culture originated and spread first in the Malwa region. It existed in Madhya Pradesh during 1800- 1200 B.C.E. ‘Navadatoli’ situated on the river Narmada, on the opposite bank of Maheshwar, is an important site of Malwa culture. The other important sites are Eran (District Sagar) and Nagda (District Ujjain). They were surrounded by protective walls.
Gujarat: The chalcolithic settlements in Gujarat coincide with the following phases of the Harappan culture:
Early Harappan phase (3950-2600 B.C.E.) (2) Mature (urban) phase (2600-1900 B.C.E.) (3) Post- Harappan phase (1900-900 B.C.E.) There are ample sources of semi-precious stones in Gujarat. Making beads of these stones was a big industry during Harappan times.
The Neolithic settlements in Gujarat played a major role in procuring these stones. People residing in the neolithic settlements of Gujarat were mainly pastoral, that is people whose primary occupation was animal husbandry. Probably, some of these pastoral people were semi-nomadic.
There are regional variations in the characteristics of chalcolithic cultures of Gujarat. The chalcolithic pottery of Kutch Saurashtra and Northern Gujarat are distinct from each other. The chalcolithic villages in Kutch-Saurashtra were abandoned by 1900 B.C.E.
In the post-Harappan period, there were two chalcolithic cultures in Gujarat. The culture in south Gujarat was known as ‘Prabhas’ culture and the one in northeastern Gujarat was known as ‘Rangpur’ culture. The pottery of these chalcolithic cultures was akin to Late Harappan pottery with regards to the colour, shapes and designs. These cultures existed till 1800-1200 B.C.E.
Chalcolithic Maharashtra:
The chalcolithic culture before the arrival of the Late Harappans at Daimabad is known as ‘Savalda’ culture.
Savalda Culture: Savalda is in Dhule district. It is situated on the banks of the river Tapi Savalda culture is dated to 2000-1800 B.C.E. This culture seems to have arisen by the cultural contact between the Mesolithic people in northern Maharashtra and the Harappan people in Saurashtra. People of Savalda culture at Daimabad used wheel-made pottery. The designs on their earthen pots included arrowheads, harpoons and figures of various animals.
Malwa and Jorwe Cultures: The First Farmers of Maharashtra. The people of Malwa culture reached Maharashtra around 1600 B.C.E. Permanent villages of farmers were first established in Maharashtra by the Malwa people. They were the first farmers of Maharashtra. After arriving in Maharashtra, they came into contact with the neolithic people in Karnataka. It resulted into a few changes in the pot making technology of Malwa people as far as shapes of the pots and designs are concerned.
Megalithic Period in India: At about 700 B.C.E. Inamgaon was completely abandoned by the Jorwe people. Thereafter it was never occupied till the historic period. This situation prevailed in most of the Maharashtra. However, a nomadic people of this period erected stone circles by using huge slabs of rock. The – space within these circles was used to bury dead people. Because of the huge stone slabs used in their erection, these circles are known as megaliths. The period of these megaliths is known as the ‘Megalithic Age’.
Glossary:
→ Chalcolithic Relating to or denoting a period when tools and weapons were made of copper.
→ Harpoons – A long thin weapon with a sharp pointed end and a rope tied to it that is used to catch large sea animals.
→ Contemporary – Belonging to the same time as somebody/something else.
→ Farmstead A farm and its buildings.
→ Pegging – Controlling.
→ Fanning – To cause a current of air to blow upon.