- In Gorakhpur district on the bank of Kuwana river.
- Chalcolithic and Neolithic
Period 1, Pre-Narhan culture (1300 BCE) :
- Crude handmade redware. Remains of wattle-and-daub houses, a storage pit, ovens. Bones of domesticated cattle, sheep goat pigs.
- Artifacts- terracotta, beads of agate, faience, steatite micro beads, bone points, pottery discs
- Plant remains: rice, barley, wheat, jwar, bajra, sesame, pea, mustard, moong, grape, anwala etc. Two crop a year.
Period 2, Narhan Culture (1300-800 BCE):
- Intense structural activity. Bones of domesticated cattle, goat, sheep, horse, dog. Bone of wild animals like boar, hog deer, chital, barasimha. Except for molluscs, the aquatic fauna of period I continued.
- Pottery: White painted BRW similar to Narhan.
- Artifacts: Bone points, pottery discs, terracotta beads, copper arrowhead, copper beads.
- Plant remains: rice, barley, wheat, millet, pea, moong, anwala, wild plants etc.
(2) Inamgaon
Inamgaon is located in Pune district in Maharashtra. It is a post-Harappan Chalcolithic site. It is situated on the right bank of the Ghod River- a tributary of the Bhima.
Multiple cultural phases including Jorwe Culture and Malwa Culture are found here.
In the earlier chalcolithic settlement, mostly large mud and circular houses are excavated. Inside the houses there were oval-shaped pits to cook food. Similar chulhas were also found outside the houses. The remains of storage pits were also found. One of the biggest houses had as many as five rooms. This may have been the house of the ruling chief. There was a granary also.
In later Chalcolithic period, a fortification wall was built around the settled area.
Most of the pots were red, some times with black designs on them.
Microwear study of stone tools shows that these tools had been used for cutting plants, meat etc. Although the people of Inamgaon knew how to make artifacts out of copper, copper was scarce and therefore precious. They may have got the copper from Rajasthan. A few tools and ornaments made out of this metal have been found at the site. They include ornaments such as beads, bangles, and anklets and tools and weapons such as drills, fish hooks and arrowheads.
In last phase of the chalcolithic period, people started making jewellery out of gold. Beads were made of terracotta, semi-precious stones ivory, sea shells.The gold and ivory must have been come from Karnataka. People were involved in trade with people in other parts of the country.
Discovery of plant seeds and animal bones in the excavations, gives good idea about the food ate and how they obtained it. They grew different crops such as wheat, barley, lentils, peas, gram and beans. Some of the bones belonged to wild animals and others belonged to domesticated cattle, sheep, goats, dogs, horses and pigs.
Some of terracotta figurines had been baked. Some must have been toys, while others may have had a religious significance. The most frequent animal figure is the bull, and the people probably worshipped this animal. They also seem to have worshipped a female goddess.
(3) Indari
- In Mirzapur district.
- Neolithic site like Koldihwa, Pachoh, Mahagara
(4) Indore
Indore is situated in Madhya Pradesh. It was a part of the Kampel pargana during the Mughal Empire under Malwa Subah.
Indore lay on the trading route between the Deccan and Delhi. It came under Maratha Empire in 1724 after Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao assumed the full control of Malwa.
In 1733, the Peshwa appointed his commander Malhar Rao Holkar as the Subedar of the province. He laid the foundation of Holkar Dynasty. He was succeeded by his daughter in law Ahilyabai Holkar (1767-1795). She donated money to build temples throughout India. In 1818, Holkars were defeated by British in 3rd Anglo-Maratha War and it became subordinate to British.
(5) Indraprashta (Present New Delhi)
Indraprastha is modern Delhi situated on the bank of river Yamuna. According to Mahabharata epic, it was the capital of the kingdom led by the Pandavas.
Painted Grey Ware of have been discovered here.
Purana Qila in present day Delhi is most probably the site of Indraprastha as ancient settlements have been found there.
Pottery of Gupta and Kushanas period, semi-precious stones, ear-stud made of terracotta, bowls, miniature pots and sprinkles were discovered which proves continuous habitation during Kushana and Gupta period.
(6) Isipattan (In Sarnath)
Sarnath is located near Varanasi near the confluence of the Ganges and the Gomati rivers.
The deer park in Sarnath is where Gautama Buddha first taught the Dharma (Dhammachakkappavattana Sutta, which was his first teaching after attaining enlightenment, in which he taught the four noble truths and the teachings associated with it.), and where the Buddhist Sangha came into existence.
Sarnath is one of four most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites, the other three being Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya, and Lumbini.
Sarnath was also the birthplace the eleventh Tirthankara of Jainism, and a temple dedicated to him, is an important pilgrimage site for Jains.
In the 7th century by the time Xuan Zang visited from China, he found 30 monasteries and 3000 monks living at Sarnath, studying the Hinayana.He mentions stupa built by Ashoka.
Buddhism flourished in Sarnath in part because of kings and wealthy merchants based in Varanasi. By the third century, Sarnath had become an important center for the arts, which reached its zenith during the Gupta period (4th to 6th centuries CE).
Sarnath is quite rich in Buddhist antiquities. An important monument is the Dhamek Stupa. It was built in 6th century A.D. to replace an earlier structure commissioned by the Mauryan king Ashoka in to commemorate the Buddha’s activities in this location. An Ashoka pillar with an edict engraved on it stands near the site. The stupa is a solid cylinder of bricks and stone. The stone facing is chiseled and displays delicate floral carvings. The wall is covered with exquisitely carved figures of humans and birds, as well as inscriptions in the Brahmi script.
Sarnath has also yielded a number of beautiful sculptures. Apart from lion capital of Ashokan pillar, a colossal image of a Bodhisattava, a number of images of Buddha and Buddhist deities are discovered. Also images of Brahminist gods as Shiva and Brahma were found at the site.
The Ashokan Pillar
The pillar was originally surmounted by the “Lion Capital of Asoka”. A graphic representation of it was adopted as the official Emblem of India in 1950. This Ashokan pillar’s capital is more elaborate than the other similar surviving capitals of the pillars of Ashoka.
The capital is carved out of a single block of polished sandstone, and was always a separate piece from the column itself. It features four Asiatic Lions standing back to back. They are mounted on an abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull, and a lion, separated by intervening spoked chariot-wheels. The wheel on the capital, below the lions, is the model for the one in the flag of India.
 |
| Dhamek Stupa |
 |
| Chaukhandi Stupa |
(7) Itanagar
It is presently the capital of Arunachal Pradesh.
Historical fort called Ita-fort (“the fort of bricks”) which dates back to the 15th century (after which the city is named). It was built by a king Ramchandra of Jitari Dynasty.
Other monuments are the natural Ganga Lake and the new Buddhist temple known as Buddha Vihar.
(8) Ikkeri
It is situated near Sagar in Shimoga district in Karnataka. It was the capital of the Keladi Nayaka chiefs in 16th and 17th century.
The prime attraction of Ikkeri is the Aghoreshwara Temple which was constructed by the Keladi Nayakas, who were once the feudatories to the Vijayanagara Empire. The temple is dedicated to Siva and built in Dravida Style. There are intricate carvings on the stone walls of the temple which include sculpted elephant, erotica, figurines, old Karnataka manuscript etc.
This temple was ransacked by Tipu Sultan during the invasion on Nayakas of Ikkeri.
