Bhagwanpura, also known as Baghpur, is a village in Kurukshetra district, Haryana, India. It is an archaeological site that lies on the bank of Hakra Ghaggar channel. Situated 24 km northeast of

Kurukshetra Kurukshetra (, ) is a city and administrative headquarter of Kurukshetra district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is also known as Dharmakshetra ("Realm of duty ") and as the "Land of the Bhagavad Gita". Legends According to the Pura ...

, the site is notable for showing an overlap between the

late Harappan The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900&n ...

and Painted Grey Ware cultures. Painted Grey Ware is generally associated with the

Vedic people This is a list of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes that are mentioned in the literature of Indic religions. From the second or first millennium BCE, Indo-Aryan migrations, ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes turned into most of the popula ...

, so this area can be said as the junction of two great civilizations of India. An archaeological museum at Sheikh Chilli's Tomb complex in

established by the Archaeological Survey of India consists of archaeological finds like a humped bull-shaped carnelian pendant, terracotta beads and semi-precious stones from sites in Bhagwanpura.

Overview

Bhagwanpura shows one period of habitation, with two sub-periods: *Sub-period IA: late Harappan culture (''c.'' 1700–1300 BCE) *Sub-period IB: overlap between late Harappan and PGW culture (''c.'' 1400–1000 BCE) During sub-period IA, the late Harappan people lived in houses of burnt brick and built mud platforms to protect against flooding. During sub-period IB, the late Harappan pottery continued, but a new form of pottery (the PGW) was introduced. Initially, the PGW people lived in thatched wattle-and-daub huts, but later they began to build mud-walled houses. One large house had thirteen rooms and a courtyard, and may have belonged to a chief. Towards the end of sub-period IB, the PGW people began to use burnt bricks, but no complete structures have been found. During both phases, cattle, sheep, and pig were domesticated, but horse bones have only been found in sub-period IB. Six oval structures from this sub-period may have had some ritualistic use. Some scholars believe that the burnt bricks (square, rectangular, and wedge-shaped) from sub-period IB were not in fact used for building houses, but for the construction of

Vedic fire altar ''Vedi'' () is the sacrificial altar in the Vedic religion. Such altars were an elevated outdoor enclosure, generally strewed with Kusha grass, and having receptacles for the sacrificial fire; it was of various shapes, but usually narrow in the ...

s.J.M. Kenoyer (2006), "Cultures and Societies of the Indus Tradition. In Historical Roots" in ''the Making of ‘the Aryan’'', R. Thapar (ed.), pp. 21–49. New Delhi, National Book Trust.

References

Indus Valley civilisation sites Archaeological sites in Haryana Sarasvati River Indo-Aryan archaeological sites {{Asia-archaeology-stub

Overview

See also

References