Tewar is a village in the
Jabalpur district
Jabalpur district is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The city of Jabalpur is the administrative headquarters of the district.
The area of the district is 5,198 km² with population of 2,463,289 (2011 census). As of 20 ...
of
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
, India. It is the site of Tripuri, an ancient city-state, and the capital of the
later Kalachuris during the 8th–13th centuries.
Etymology
Tewar was originally known as "Tripuri" (literally, "three cities"), a
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
-language name that occurs in ancient literature and inscriptions, sometimes with the variation "Tripura". "Tirpuri", the
Prakrit
The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...
form of the name, can be found on copper coins dated to the 2nd century BCE or earlier. The 11th-century Iranian scholar
Al-Biruni
Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (973 – after 1050) commonly known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian in scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously the "founder of Indology", "Father of Co ...
mentions the town as "Tiori". The modern name of the town may be derived from "Tiura", a corruption of "Tripura".
According to the
Puranic
Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...
legends, the name of the town derives from the three forts built by the three demons, collectively known as
Tripurasura
Tripurasura (Sanskrit: त्रिपुरासुर) a trio of asura brothers named Tarakaksha, Vidyunmāli and Kamalaksha, who were the sons of the asura Tarakasura. These three began to perform severe tapasya. They were then granted boo ...
.
History
The town of Tripuri may have been settled since the late
Chalcolithic
The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', "copper" and ''líthos'', "stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin '' aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regular ...
period. During 1951–52, a
Sagar University team led by M G Dixit conducted excavations at Tewar, and found remnants of the
black and red ware culture
Black and red ware (BRW) is a South Asian earthenware, associated with the neolithic phase, Harappa, Bronze Age India, Iron Age India, the megalithic and the early historical period. Although it is sometimes called an archaeological culture, the ...
, along with
microlith
A microlith is a small stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimetre or so in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from around 35,000 to 3,000 years ago, across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Th ...
s. During 1966–67, further excavations were conducted by a team comprising members from Sagar,
Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...
and
Vadodara
Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capita ...
universities. The excavation was financed by the Madhya Pradesh government, and led by
H. D. Sankalia. The Pune and Baroda teams later withdrew, but the Sagar University continued the excavations until 1971, under the leadership of K. D. Bajpai. These excavations revealed sherds of Chalcolithic pottery, but could not firmly confirm the evidence of a Chalcolithic settlement at the site.
Several coins with the legend "Tripuri" have been discovered from Tewar. John Allan, the editor of ''Catalogue of Indian Coins in the British Museum'', assigned these coins to late 3rd century BCE or early 2nd century BCE; other scholars have dated these coins to the later half of the 3rd century BCE. These coins appear to have been issued by the
city-state
A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
of Tripuri. The people of Tripuri were known as Traipuras, and the town served as the capital of the ancient
Chedi Kingdom.
The excavations at Tewar have also yielded lead coins of the rulers Bhavadatta, Ajadatta, and Abhayadatta; these coins are dated to the late 2nd century BCE or early 1st century BCE. Between the 2nd century BCE and 1st century CE, the region appears to have been ruled by the Datta and the
Mitra dynasties: a Mitra dynasty coin has also been discovered here. Coins of several
Satavahana
The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the la ...
kings have been discovered at the site, indicating that they ruled the region subsequently. From the post-Satavahana period, the excavations have revealed baked clay sealings and coins of the Bodhi dynasty, whose rule is dated to the 2nd and the 3rd centuries. The coins and seals were issued by the kings Shiva Bodhi, Vasu Bodhi, and Chandra Bodhi.
Tripuri became the capital of the
Kalachuri-ruled Dahala-mandala kingdom in the 8th century. It remained an important town until the dynasty's end in the 13th century. In the 13th century, the area came under the control of the
Gond.
Demographics
According to the
2011 Census of India
The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...
, the Tewar village has 724 households, with a population of 3,468.
References
Bibliography
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Villages in Jabalpur district