Amazing facts about - Ancient India
https://ramamohanraocheruku.blogspot.com/2023/06/amazing-facts-about-ancient-india-this.html
This blog determines dates of
ancient events, including those relating to eras of Lord Rama & Shri
Krishna, based on astronomical dating of planetary configurations narrated in
Vedas and Epics, by making use of planetarium software. These dates are
corroborated by ecological studies, satellite imagery, archaeological,
geological & oceanographic evidences.
"A purely scientific way of
rewriting ancient history ignoring all linguistic guess work and religious
beliefs!"
Shri Krishna's Dwarka submerged in
1443 BC
For thousands of years, we Indians
have believed in the divinity of Shri Krishna. For us he was a Karmayogi par
excellence who gave us action oriented philosophy of life in the form of
Bhagavad Gita. But questions have constantly haunted us as to whether Shri
Krishna was a historical character or is a mythical character and whether war
of Mahabharata was actually fought or was it great poet Vyasa’s imagination.
Till recent past we did not have
the wherewithal to search for and establish the truth. But modern scientific
tools and techniques like computers with planetarium softwares, advancements in
archaeological and marine archaeological techniques, earth-sensing satellite
photography and thermoluminescence dating methods, all have made it possible to
establish the authenticity and dating of many events narrated in ancient texts
like Mahabharata. Recent archaeo-astronomical studies, results of
marine-archaeological explorations and overwhelming archaeological evidence
have established the historicity and dating of many events narrated in the epic
Mahabharata. These have led to the conclusion that Mahabharata War was actually
fought in 1478 BC and Shri Krishna’s Dwarka City got submerged under the sea in
1443 BC.
Astronomical Evidence - In the
Mahabharata references to sequential solar and lunar eclipses as also
references to some celestial observations have been made. Dr. R.N.Iyengar, the
great scientist of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore examined relevant
references and searched for the compatible dates by making use of planetarium
software (PVIS and EZC). He concluded that most of these references were
internally consistent and that the eclipses and celestial observations of
Mahabharata belong to the period 1493 BC - 1443 BC of Indian History. (refer
Indian Journal of History of Science/38.2/2003/77-115).
In the Mahabharata there are
references to three sequential solar eclipses and to some other planetary
positions. Reference to the first solar eclipse comes in the Sabha Parva
(79.29), graphically described by Vidur when Pandavas start their journey to
the forest on being banished for 12 years of life in exile and one year of life
incognito after they had lost everything in the game of dice. After 13 years of
exile and incognito life, Pandavas came back to Hastinapur and they demanded
their kingdom back but Duryodhana refused. Several efforts to prevent war
failed and war became imminent. There is a reference to the second solar
eclipse in the Bhisma Parva (3.29), following a lunar eclipse occurring within
the same fortnight a few days before the actual war of Mahabharata. These
eclipses occurred after 14-15 years of the first solar eclipse The epic also
refers to some unfavourable planetary positions between the second solar
eclipse and the beginning of the war on Kartika Purnima (Bhisma Parva 3.14 to
3.19). On Kartika Krishna Ashtami, Saturn was near Rohini and Mars was between
Jayestha and Anuradha. Twenty two days later, on Kartika Purnima, Saturn was
near Rohini, Mars was near Jayestha, a rough planet (probably uranus) was
between Citra and Swati. Another white planet (possibly Jupiter) had moved from
Purva-bhadra to Uttar-bhadra. Reference to the third solar eclipse comes in the
Mausala Parva (2.19 to 2.20) occurring in the 36th year of the Mahabharata War.
This was visible from the city of Dwarka which is stated to have been
subsequently submerged under the sea. For these observations to be internally
consistent, there should had been three solar eclipses within a period of 50
years. The first one and the second one after a gap of 14-15 years should have
been visible from Kurukshetra whereas the third solar eclipse should have been
visible from Dwarka after 35 years of the second one.
From references to these eclipses
and celestial observations Dr. Iyengar prepared the list of compatible dates
and concluded that these eclipses alongwith the stated planetary positions were
observable during the period 1493 BC - 1443 BC because the planetarium software
shows that:
(i) On 19.3.1493 BC there was solar
eclipse visible from Kurukshetra.
(ii) After about 15 years, on 1st
June, 1478 BC, there was a solar eclipse visible from Kurukshetra which was
preceded by a lunar eclipse during the same fortnight on 16th May 1478 BC.
(iii) About 3 months later, there
was Kartika Krishna Ashtami on 20.9.1478 BC when Saturn was near Rohini (in
Bhar-Kritika) and Mars was between Jayestha and Anuradha.
(iv) Three weeks later, on
12.10.1478 BC, there was Kartika Purnima when the war actually started. On that
day, Saturn was still near Rohini (as it actually moved from Bhar Kritt to
Rohini between 1.6.1478 BC to 10.11.1478 BC). Mars was near Jayestha. Uranus,
which probably is referred to as rough planet, was between Citra and Swati.
Jupiter had moved from Purva-bhadra to Uttar-bhadra on 12.10.1478 BC.
(v) In the 36th year after
Mahabharata war in October 1478 BC, a solar eclipse could be seen from Dwarka
on 7.1.1443 BC.
Thus as per archaeo-astronomical
calculations, Mahabharata War was fought in 1478 BC and Dwarka City got
submerged in 1443 BC. These conclusions arrived at are corroborated by marine
archeologists, archeologists as well as by the historians who have analysed the
genealogy charts of rulers given in Puranas.
Marine Archaeological explorations
around Dwarka - The on-shore and off-shore explorations carried out in and
around Dwarka during last 50 years have revealed that Dwarka was a prosperous
city in ancient times which was destroyed and reconstructed several times. The
work of great excavators like Shri Z.D.Ansari and Shri M.S.Mate and chance
discovery of temples of 9th century AD and 1st century AD buried near the
present Dwarkadhish Temple prompted setting of a Marine Archaeology Centre
jointly by National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) and Archaeological Survey
of India (ASI). A project for marine archaeological explorations in Dwarka was
initiated under the dynamic leadership of great marine archaeologist Dr.
S.R.Rao who has the distinction of being awarded “The World Ship Trust Award”
for outstanding research done in this field.
Dr. S.R.Rao’s team consisted of
expert under-water explorers, trained diver-photographers and experienced
archaeologists. The technique of geophysical survey was combined with the use of
echo-sounders, mud-penetrators, sub-bottom profilers and under-water metal
detectors. This team carried out twelve marine archaeological expeditions
between the year 1983 to 1992 AD and articles/antiquities recovered were sent
to Physical Research Laboratory for dating. By using thermoluminescence, carbon
dating and other modern scientific techniques, artifacts were found to be
belonging to the period 15th century BC to 18th century BC. In his great work
“The Lost City of Dwarka”, Dr. S.R.Rao has given graphic and scientific details
of these discoveries and artifacts. He has concluded that:
(i) The land for building the city
of Dwarka had been reclaimed from the sea between 16th to 15th century BC and a
fortified city was built on boulder packing with outer gateway to the sea and
inner gateway to Gomti river. This corroborates the references in the Epic
Mahabharata as per which Dwarka city was built by Shri Krishna after reclaiming
the land from the sea and it was built only a few years before the Game of Dice
in 1493 BC.
(ii) The thermoluminescence dating
of lustrous Redware Pottery items found during explorations revealed that these
were 3520 years old i.e. around 16th-15th century BC.
(iii) The most famous rectangular
seal with engraved motifs of bull, unicorn and goat found in trench UW6 in the
sea bed was dated as belonging to 16th century BC. The seal corroborates the
references made in the ancient manuscripts that every citizen of Dwarka was
required to carry a mudra(seal) as a mark of identification.
3 animal headed mudra, votive jar
and copper bell
(iv) A copper bell and a copper
lota, brass-items including U-shaped objects with holes at both ends and a
bronze bell, all were dated as belonging to 15th century BC. Stone anchors with
double holes and triangular prismatic stone anchors recovered from under the
sea were similar to the ones found in Lothal excavations belonging to 23rd
century BC.
(v) A votive jar with seven
characters inscribed was found. Reading based on Semitic-Indus-Phonetic value
revealed that script is old Indo-Aryan and similar to the other Indus seal
inscriptions. The date assigned to this votive jar and inscriptions is 15th-14th
century BC.
(vi) Three iron nails and a stake,
four potsherds and one small bottle of iron were dated 16th-15th century BC
indicating limited use of iron.
Thus, conclusions arrived at after
carrying out these under-water archaeological explorations support and validate
the dates arrived at through astronomical calculations. These also prove that
the reconstructed city of Dwarka was a prosperous port town and that it was in
existence for about 60-70 years in the 15th century BC before being submerged under
the sea in the year 1443 BC.
artist's view based on marine
archaeological reports and sumerged wall
Other Archaeological excavations -
Most of the cities referred to in Mahabharata e.g.Mathura, Hastinapur,
Indraprastha, Kurukshetra and Dwarka were situated in the territories which are
at present known as Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, UP, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Extensive excavations carried out in these areas have shown that Indus
Civilization flourished in these areas between 3400-1500 BC. The excavations carried
out in Lothal in Gujarat have proved the existence of very advanced
civilization between 2300 BC to 1600 BC. The town was divided into the dock,
the arcopolis and the industrial, commercial, residential sectors. Artifacts
recovered include gold jewellery and copper utensils. Archaeological surveys at
Kalibhangan in Rajasthan have identified the existence of a planned fortified
city between 2500-1700 BC. Artifacts excavated include baked bricks, semi
precious stones, copper and bronze articles. Photographs taken by American
earth-sensing satellite known as Landsat have confirmed that the river
Saraswati described in the Rigveda as flowing from the “mountain to the sea”
was indeed a great river before 2000 BC. Archaeological explorations on the
ancient beds of the Saraswati e.g. at Kunal near Kurukshetra and at Banawali in
Punjab have confirmed the existence of highly advanced civilisation during
3400-1500 BC. Artifacts excavated include silver jewellery and articles made of
copper and bronze. Taken as a whole archaeological excavations establish the
continuous evolution of Sindhu-Saraswati civilisation between 3400-1500 BC
culminating in the Mahabharata period. The inhabitants of all the excavated
places had similar ethnic features, spoke similar languages, followed similar
religious rites which were vedic in nature, knew about horse and rice, had
advanced knowledge of mathematics, made extensive use of copper and had
discovered the use of iron. These discoveries match with the details in the
Epic as also with the belief of the historians that the use of iron was
discovered in India in 16th century BC. The War of Mahabharata acted as a
watershed, putting an end to the ‘copper age’ and ushering in the ‘iron age’ in
15th century BC. Archaeological excavations thus support the conclusion that
Mahabharata War was fought in 1478 BC.
Attempts have also been made to
determine the year of Mahabharata War from the details available in scriptures
and ancient texts which include Puranas. When events are unrecorded for quite
some time and they are passed on to the succeeding generations through Shruti
and Smriti traditions, the inaccuracies and myths get mixed with reality on
account of differences in the perceptions of different individuals. However, it
is for the objective rational individual mind to find out and differentiate
facts from fictions. Important informations, including the genealogy charts of
rulers after Yudhishtira, are available in Srimad Bhagvatam, Matsya Puran and
Vayu Purana. On the basis of such evidence, famous historian Lord Cunningham
assigned the year 1424 BC to the War of Mahabharata. Another historian Shri
S.B.Roy in his work ‘Date of Mahabharata Battle’ also arrived at the same
conclusion by combining the literary and the astronomical route.
All these are very important pieces
of evidence which prove that epic Mahabharata is not merely a myth but is
history and its central character Shri Krishna was a man with extra-ordinary
abilities, around whom legends were built over the years. The common man
started having faith in the divinity of this Supreme Hero, who for them is God
incarnate.
After knowing all this, there can
be no doubt in the mind of any rational person that what has been taught to us
in our school history books is not all correct. As per our history books,
Aryans came to India from Central Asia in their war Chariots in 15th century
BC. They defeated and destroyed the natives who were “aboriginal savages” .
According to this theory both the Vedas and the Sanskrit language were brought into
India by these Aryan invaders. The most influential proponents of this theory
were Max Muller and William Jones who were linguists and they arrived at this
conclusion on being struck by the affinities between Sanskrit and European
languages.This theory is not supported by any archaeological, physical or
scientific evidence. When subsequently archaeological excavations at more than
1100 sites scattered all over major parts of India proved beyond doubt the
existence of flourishing Indus civilization during 3400 BC to 1500 BC then the
proponents of Aryan invasion theory reacted by suggesting that the invading
Aryans had defeated the ‘Dravidian inhabitants’ of the Indus valley, least
realising that such theoretical assumption would change the character of invading
Aryans from bringers of civilisation to destroyers of great civilisation and
culture developed by the native Indians.
The four sets of evidences referred
to earlier point more to the probability that nobody had come to India from
Central Asia or from any other place. In fact, Indo-Aryan, kings and warriors
had come to Kurukshetra in their war Chariots from all over India to
participate in the Mahabharata War and that a whole lot of people got killed in
that war. The killers as well as the killed, the victors as well as the
vanquished, the charioteers as well as the foot soldiers, all were Indians who
had already experienced thousands of years of prosperous and advanced
civilisation. Archaeology also records a continuous indigenous evolution of
vedic civilisation going back to 5000 BC at sites like Mehrgarh and Koldi. It
is sad that, so far we have not known even a fraction about our ancient
civilization and cultural achievements. Detailed factual data in our ancient
texts and sanskrit manuscripts is beckoning us to carry out further researches.
By making use of most modern scientific instruments and techniques we must
discover the true facts about our most ancient past. If we do that, we may be
able to gather supportive evidences to reassert that ours was the oldest
civilisation in the world that flourished in India and that our ancestors i.e.
vedic Aryans had travelled from India to various parts of Asia and Europe to
spread our knowledge, civilisation and culture. When this is recorded we would
be able to hold our heads higher and will be able to take on the future with
greater confidence.
By
Saroj Bala
Director, I-SERVE Delhi
