A note on Chariot Burials found at Sinauli district Baghpat U.P.
The Chariot Burials : Recently chariots were found by S. K. Manjul, Director of Institute of Archaeology A.S.I (Archaeological Survey of India), Arvin Manjul, Superintending Archaeologist, A.S.I and their team, during excavations at the site of Sinauli, Baghpat U.P. in 2018 (Fig. No. 01). This site was earlier excavated by D. V. Sharma and his team in the years 2003-04 & 2005-06, revealing a necropolis.
The present excavations have yielded chariots buried with dead bodies, which gives totally new dimension to the associated culture and the old debate about use of horse in India. We will examine these points in the following pages:
Fig. No. 03: Legged Coffin with carvings on the lid (Courtesy: Archaeological Survey of India)
The excavations at Sinauli has revealed four legged, lid covered coffins containing the bodies (Fig. No. 03). The lids of the coffins are profusely carved and covered with thin plate of copper (patra). Once such coffin is visible in the above figure on the upper left side. The coffin is laid roughly along west-east axis.
Towards the feet of the body, two chariots were also buried. Its wheels are solid and studded with triangular pieces of copper (Fig: 04). The light frame of the carriage has a curved chassis made of rounded wood.
In addition to the chassis being fixed to the covering of axel, there was a similar ‘U’ shaped wooden support for the carriage as shown in the figure above. A long shaft was fixed to the chassis. Joint has been covered with thin copper plate which is visible from the side in the figure (Fig. No. 04 & 05). The long shaft must have been attached to a transverse yoke. The upper end of the front side of the carriage helped the driver in remaining stable while the chariot was being driven. It appears that this chariot carried two persons.
Chariots in Sunga Sculptures : In a panel from Bharhut depicting Muga Pakkha Jataka dated 2nd century B.C., one can see a chariot driven by four horses on the lower left side and a grave digger on the lower right side (Fig. No. 11). According to this Jataka story, Buddha was once born in the house of a King (on the upper right side of the panel) after much persuasion by Indra. He was named Temiya. When he grew up, he was not interested in becoming a king so the king ordered him to be killed and buried. The charioteer Sunanda took him to the cemetery and started digging the grave (on the lower left side of the panel). On this Temiya explained to him that, he didn’t want to become a king therefore he didn’t take interest in the affairs of the kingdom. On hearing this, the charioteer became his disciple. He took Temiya to the king and queen. They also became his disciples and later on, he started preaching to the people and had many disciples (on the upper left side of the panel). The details of construction are visible on the chariot shown in the following panel. One similar chariot with spoked wheel can be seen in a panel from Sanchi (Fig. No. 12). It is dated to 1st-2nd century B.C.
The Pottery found in Burials : The pottery recovered from Sinauli belongs to OCP culture. No Harappan pottery or any other pottery except OCP was found from the graveyard of Sinauli. The grave in question belongs to the OCP people who were late contemporaries of Harappans. The chariot is light and was made for carrying two persons. The pottery which was recovered from this place is similar to the OCP potteries which were found from Barabanki, Faizabad, Sultanpur axis in the east to Bara, Kalibangan axis in the west. The similarity between the potteries from east to west has been discussed in details by the author in the article ‘Archaeological Gazetteer of Aligarh & Hathras Districts with special reference to OCP & Other Proto-Historic Cultures of Indo-Gangetic Plains’.
The repertoire of common shapes from Faizabad to Bara is given in the following figure (Fig. No. 13-A). The typical Harappan pottery shapes like vessels with bulging bodies and stem bases, cylindrical jars, jars with S-profile, all with beaded & beaked lips, dish on stands with ledged rims, basins & Indus Goblet, tumblers and cups are not to be found among purely OCP sites which are found independently from mature Harappan sites even in western U.P.
Although at some sites, we find the predominantly OCP shapes mixed with mature Harappan pottery shapes. The area beyond the Ganga-Yamuna doab doesn’t yield these (mature Harappan) shapes at all4 (Fig. no. 13-B).
The paintings, the incised designs, applique designs and rustication on the potteries surprisingly remain the same from east to west and from Shivalikas to Yamuna. In the east, OCP culture rubs shoulders with corded-ware tradition and in the west, it rubs shoulders with Harappans. It appears that in the hay days of Harappans, the OCP area was encroached upon by Harappan people that-is-why in Punjab, Haryana & Ganga-Yamuna doab, one finds Harappan antiquities mixed with OCP antiquities. The date for OCP sites come mostly from Punjab, Haryana, North Rajasthan and western U.P. They fall between 4th millennium B.C. to the early 2nd millennium B.C. Seeing the antiquity of sites in eastern U.P. which have yielded the dates for Neolithic going back to 9th millennium B.C. and looking at the antiquities found there, it is obvious that the pottery tradition in the eastern India is totally different from Harappans and OCP areas. One doesn’t see the encroachment of the corded-ware tradition of east coming to the west. Similarly the pre Harappan potteries like those from Qili-gul-mohammed/Mehrgarh, Haqra and Kotdiji are not to be found in western areas of the OCP zone. Only the mature Harappans encroach upon the western part of this culture. From this, it is very obvious that OCP had a local beginning and will go back to 9th-10th millennium B.C., had it not been so this whole area would have yielded the Neolithic/ early Chalcolithic potteries from east (corded-ware tradition) or from west (Qili-gul-mohammed/Mehrgarh) mentioned above.
Copper Hoard Weapons associated with OCP : The highest number of copper hoard weapons were found from OCP area (Fig. No. 14), therefore, it is very obvious that these north Indians were manufacturers and users of these weapons.
The antennae sword found in these burials (Sinauli) and other copper artefacts found from OCP sites in an archaeological context like Saipai, district Etawah U.P. and without archaeological context have proved that these weapons belonged to OCP people. The inspiration for these Harpoons came from Mesolithic harpoons shown in one of the rock paintings of Chitrakoot9 (Fig. No. 15).
Fig. No. 16: Harpoon from Ahichhatra
Fig. No. 17: Harpoon from Bijnor kept at Lucknow museum
These harpoons were later on replicated by the people belonging to Chalcolithic phase of OCP like the harpoons shown in figure10, 11 (Fig. No. 16 & 17).
Fig. No. 18: Rock painting from Kabri Patthar district Chitrakoot U.P.
Fig. No. 19: Rock painting from Geruhai district Chitrakoot U.P.
Some of the rock paintings of Chitrakoot area show people wielding harpoons and copper Celts used by people belonging to OCP culture. The figure nos. 18-20 show some foot soldiers and horse riders wielding harpoons. This clearly indicates that these horse riders and foot soldiers can be associated with the people of OCP culture. The horse riders wielding harpoons indicate that OCP people were using horse for their war machineries.
Fig. No. 24: Shouldered axe from Hastinapur district Meerut U.P.
This must have happened during the last phase of OCP because the horses were used in war machinery only after 2000 B.C. in Middle East. In some of the rock paintings, the copper hoard axes have also been drawn (Fig. No. 21-24).
The Source of Horses for OCP culture: The people have wrongly assumed that the horse in India came from Central Asia. The western part of South Asia might have received the horses from Central Asia. In fact pre-historic sites of Afghanistan give the evidences of horse in Neolithic period. North India is far away from Afghanistan and Central Asia. The source which is very near North India is Tibet. Tibet has indigenous breeds of Pony. Riwoche pony is the ancient breed of horse belonging to Tibet. The shortest path from Tibet to India was crossing the Himalayas through the gorges of Trans-Himalayan Rivers and different passes. This route is roughly 150 kilometers long. The Himalayan tribe were a link between the Tibet and Gangetic plains. There was a long standing trade between the two areas. The discovery of ingots shaped like anthropomorphic figures at Bankot Uttrakhand India12 and district Mustang Nepal13 proves that there was a regular trade between northern India and Himalayan/ Trans-Himalayan region for copper, copper artefacts and other goods. The Bhotiyas of Kumaon-Garhwal carried on trade between Tibet and Himalayan areas/ plains before 1947. The modern day Tamatas of Kumaon and Tamrakars of Nepal are copper smiths of Himalayan region and are ethnic survivors of ancient copper smiths. Coming to literature, it is evident that the chariot makers were known as Sutas during Mahabharata time. Their profession was very important because we see Karna, the son of Adhiratha (who was the charioteer of Dhritarashtra of Hastinapur) rose to become the minor king under Duryodhana. Later on, the Sutas took up the job of narrating Itihas, Puranas and Narasansas to the people. This is very obvious from the fact that Sutaji is the narrator of Mahabharata and Puranas.
Conclusion:
The chariots found at Sinauli belong to OCP culture. It belongs to late phase of OCP (around 2000 B.C.). The OCP people were using the copper hoard battle axes, harpoons and antennae swords. It appears that they were importing copper and finished copper objects from all over India. Some of the rock paintings of Chitrakoot reveal that Vindhyan area, south of river Yamuna was invaded by copper hoard people. At that time, OCP people were using horses also for their war machinery. From these rock paintings, it is very clear that the OCP people were using these during the late phase of OCP. The find at Sinauli reinforces this conclusion because the chariots buried there are horse driven light chariots used in wars, sports and game. These chariots continued to be used by the local people as evident by Sanchi and Bharhut panels.
