Nani Rayan

Author(s): Pulin Vasa
Publisher: Kalikal Sarvagya Shri Hemchandracharya Navam Janmashatabdi Smruti Sanskar Shikshannidhi Ahmedabad
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/001481/1

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“Nani Rayan
THE MYSTERY UNVEILED
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH OF THE BURIED CIVILIZATION
ITS CULTURE AND TRADE WITH THE OUTER WORLD,
XIX
Dr. Pulin Vasa

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“Nani Rayan"
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THE MYSTERY UNVEILED
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH OF THE BURIED CIVILIZATION,
ITS CULTURE, AND TRADE WITH THE OUTER WORLD
Dr. Pulin Vasa
39
Shree Hemchandracharya
Published by: Kalikalsarvajna Shri Hemchandracharya Navam Janmashatabdi Smruti Sanskar Shikshan Nidhi, Ahmedabad
ACHARYA SRI KAILASSAGARSURI GYANMANDIR SHREE MAHAVIR JAIN ARADHANA KENDRA
Koba, Gandhinagar - 382 007. Ph.: (079) 23276252, 23276204-05
Fax : (079) 23276249

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136282
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मा केट
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आराजा
“Nani Rayan"- The Mystery Unveiled
Author: Dr. Pulin Vasa
© Dr. Pulin Vasa
Address:
Resi.:
18, Nandanvan Society, Mandvi-Kachchh 370465 Phone: +91- 2834 - 223287
Clinic: Opp. Municipal Vachanalay, Mandvi-Kachchh 370465
Phone: +91- 2834 - 223540 emial: drpulinvasa@yahoo.com
Published by:
Kalikalsarvajna Shri Hemchandracharya Navam Janmashatabdi Smruti Sanskar Shikshan Nidhi, Ahmedabad
Books Available at: 1: Acharya Shree Vijay Nemisuri Jain Swadhyaya Mandir
Nava Sharda Mandir Road, Nr. Anandji Kalyanji Pedhi, Ahmedabad-380007
2: 18, Nandanvan Society, Mandvi-Kachchh 370465
Phone: +91- 2834 - 223287
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Courtesy: - Shri Jain Grantha- Prakashana Samiti, Khambhat. - Dhri Bhadramkarodaya Shikshana Trust, Godhra.
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No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

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This book is fondly dedicated to Resp. Kalpanaben Desai, the
retired Director of The Prince of Welsh Museum, Mumbai.
She is my guardian and teacher. Her help, inspiration and
motivation cannot be described in words.

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Acknowledgment
My research and writing would not have materialized without the constant wholehearted support and help from so many individuals. I would like to thank all of them, some of whom I have named below, for their help and kindness. I especially would like to thank Munishri Shilchandraji for taking personal interest in my research and making the publication of this book possible. People of Nani Rayan. Mr. Shamara Karsan Dr Kalpanaben Desai: Director of Prince of Wales museum. Munishri Jambu Vijayji. Upadyaya Shri Bhuvanchandraji. Mrs. Jayshree Vasa and Dr Prashant Vasa Mr. Vihang Vasa Mr. Parth Vasa Mr. Yogesh Khatri Mr. Dhiraj Chavada Mr. Harnish Shah Ms Maltiben Barot Prof. Sonavane: Head of Department of Archeology, MS Univ. Dr. Shringarpure Ms. Sonalben Maniar Ms. Heeral and Hansaben Dr. Parmeshwarilal Gupta Dr. Amalkumar Zha Dr. Dilip Rajgor Dr. Ilaben Ved Mr. Avadhoot Hembade

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Publisher's Note
Associated with the holy name of Kalikata Sarvajna Shri Hemachandracharya, this trust was established on the occasion of their 9h Birth Centenary in 1990-91 A. D. by the inspiration of Acharya Shri Vijay Suryodayasuriji.
Under the guidance of their disciple, Acharya Shri Vijay Shilchandrasuriji, this Trust has published a wide range of creative and research works, has conferred the Reward named 'Shri Hemachandracharya Chandraka' to eminent scholars of Gujarat and India for their outstanding research works, and has organised several research seminars also.
At present, a new gem is been added in this series of publications, i.e. a volume of Archeological Studies ‘Nani Rayan - The Mystery Unveiled' by Dr. Pulin Vasa. Although Dr Vasa, by profession is a medical person and is interested in archeological studies and is much distinguished in this field.
He has done lot of research work in archeology in Kutch. His study and conclusions of the research of the site of 'Nani Rayan' are published in this Volume.
We offer our grateful thanks to Dr. Pulin Vasa for giving us this opportunity, and to Acharya Vijay Shilchandrasuriji for the guidance.
We are also thankful to Shri Manish Naik for printing this Volume elegantly. And we are always desirous to publish this kind of rich and excellent works.
Navam Janmashatabdi Smruti Sankkar Shikshannidhi
Ahmedabad

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Table of content
Introduction
The Geographic And Historic Perspective Of Kutch ...... A Birds Eye View of different sites, excavated in Kutch..
Overseas Shipping and Trade in Ancient India.....
Description of the Site ......
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The Antiquities Comparative study of the other sites Discussion
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Annexure 1 Annexure II ......
Epilogue
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About the author....

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Chapter 1
Introduction
Never was there a time when I was not nor you nor these lords of men, nor will there ever be a time hereafter when we shall cease to be. -Bhagavad-Gita
Civilizations have thus been born, thrived and given place to new ones. In this endless process of time, stands man intrigued by his past. Probably every generation, knowing as if, leaves some monuments, some broken pieces of pottery, some evidences for the generations to come and explore.
I am wandering in the recently harvested fields of Nani Rayan. A few young boys from the village accompany me, and together, we look for the evidences of a rich artistic heritage left over for us by our forefathers, before more than two thousand years. I stumble over a piece of Roman amphorae the inner side of which is blackened by the deposits of dried liquid. Picking up the amphora I am lost in to a reverie.
"A boat sails in to the port of Nani Rayan thru river Rukmavati on a quiet evening of the year 100 BC. She has brought with her wine in the Roman amphorae along with other merchandise.”
Is it the same piece of amphorae, which I am holding in my hands?
For last 25 years I have wandered in these fields, walked behind the farmer's plough. I have looked for evidences of a long drawn human civilization, and have found practically every thing men used except textile and food grains. The area of about two kms.is strewn with pot shreds, shell bangles, shell ornaments, coins, statues, hoard of stamped pottery with lovely iconographic features and many other interesting things. The locals, aware of my passion, inform me whenever they dig a pit for their house or a dig a well.
I distinctly remember my first visit to the village. It was the year of 1979. I was working as a physician in a near by village. I went there to see a very sick person. After completing my work as I was coming out of that hut a young boy gave an earthen bead to me and told “look, doctor, look at this bead. It was a golden bead once upon a time and has turned into earth due to the curse of Dada Dhoramnath." He, then, narrated the mythology.
"Once upon a time this Nani Rayan was a very rich town and a great saint Dada Dhoramnath was performing penance. His disciple was insulted and refused alms by the local people. Infuriated by this Dada gave a curse 'Dattan so pattan maya so mitti 'which means may the town be buried and may the wealth be converted to earth".
I examined the bead carefully. It was a baked earth bead. During my school days I had read that people in ancient times wore ornaments
of baked earth. 'Wow' I told my self. It seems to be some thing very interesting.' 'What else do you find? I asked the boy. He said "We find some Thikra (potsherds) some shell bangles, are you interested doctor? Come with me to my field. You will find so many things."
Since that day I have explored the fields of Nani Rayan and have conducted an in-depth study of the finds.
Introduction

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2
Nani Rayan, a small village with a population of 300 farmers and farm laborers, is on the bank of river Rukmavati. This river meets the Arabian Sea at the Port Mandvi just 4 kms away.
People of this sleepy village know that they are sitting on a buried township but are not aware of its tremendous archeological importance.
My research has shown that this place has been inhabited for more than two thousand years. It was a river port, having trade relations with Rome, other European countries and Middle East. Highly artistic and cultured people inhabited it. They observed Buddhist and Hindu religion.
The absence of a planned excavation is a major draw back of my research. Most of my finds are either surface finds or things seen while the earth was being dug for some or other reasons. However the recent trench for the Narmada pipeline gave me a wonderful cross section of the soil thru the entire length of Nani Rayan. Bulldozers dug this 2 ft. broad and 10 ft deep trench.
I studied this cross section for almost 16 hrs. The cross section showed beyond doubt that this place is sitting over a buried civilization. The trench showed that just 4 ft below the present ground level, there are walls of baked earth bricks, cemented with mud mortar. I saw potters kiln, many pots, potsherds and other backed earth utensils. This Indicate a well-developed potting industry. I found at iron smelting unit with ash and pieces of smelted iron ingots at the farthest end of this trench (where the trench passed thru an ancient cemetery) where I saw two skeletons at the depth of 9 ft.
I got all these finds photographed by a professional, over a digital camera. But most unfortunately, due to some technical complication the hard disk of his computer got fired and I lost most precious three hundred pictures. By that time the trench was buried and nothing could be done. This, perhaps, has been the most agonizing moment of my research.
The experience of walking in the fields, searching evidences bit by bit, working with laborers, farmers, kids and research scholars was full of very amusing, interesting and frustrating incidences. It will site just two examples.
Once we were working in a field on a Sunday afternoon. A group of children was walking with me. Suddenly I found a lovely potsherd. It was a piece of a stamped ware with an impression of a men standing in front of an elephant and some floral patterns around. A curious child took it from my hands to see what it was. In the mean while, we spotted another potsherd and for a moment forgot about the first. When I asked the boy 'Where is the potsherd'? He opened his mouth and showed me almost completely chewed up potsherd! I was shocked. His friend told me, laughing, Sir he eats mitti", (he has pica, a habit of eating earthen things.)
Many scholars visited me during this span of 20 years. Most were encouraging, but some exhibited a strange and deplorable attitude of plagiarism. They studied my work, took photographs of my specimens, and eventually put my work and pictures of my specimens in their own name without even a note of acknowledgement. This was indeed very frustrating.
The cooperation of the villagers, their help and love has been most extraordinary. Although they could not understand my passion for something they considered silly, they always supported me and gave logistic aid.
In the pages to follow I will try to unveil the mystery of Nani Rayan thru the historic background and the concrete evidences collected by me.

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Chapter 2
The Geographic And Historic Perspective Of Kutch
Kutch is the second largest district of India and the largest district of the state of Gujarat. The total land mass is 44,185.4 sq kms. of which 23,310 sq kms. are occupied by the Rann of Kutch. This Rann is not a dessert but an arid land, a depression in which the rivers drain and the large tides of the Arabian Sea enter from the kori creek. The Rann separates Kutch from Pakistan on the northern side and from Gujarat on the eastern side. The ocean forms the entire southern and western border. The kori creek is at the northwestern end.
The historic background of the topography of Kutch is very important, to the present Kutch as well as its past. It is believed that the Rann of Kutch was an ocean once upon a time. Ved kalin Saraswati River flowing thru the eastern part of Kutch met the sea at the northern part of Saurashtra.? Luni River coming from the east met the Arabian Sea, similarly the river Banas met the ocean (Bay of Kutch) in the west. The Indus and a few other rivers met the ocean on the northern part. As the time passed some of these small rivers either dried up or merged with Indus, which too drifted, further north, leaving only a small tributary Puran. In 1764 the Gulam Shah of Sindh constructed a dam on Puran to prevent its waters entering Kutch.
A massive earth quake in the year 1819 created a dual phenomenon of depressing the region west to kori creek and creating an elevation of land on the northern side which was 5.5 meters tall 80 kms long and 24 kms broad. This totally separated the Indus tributaries from Kutch and the waters of the Arabian Sea filled up the depression turning it in to a large arid saline marsh.
The land of Kutch belongs to Mesozoic and Jurassic period. 1800 meters of sand stone and limestone form the core of the land. This Jurassic period land is believed to be a part of the Gondvana the southern continent. Many varieties of fossils, both, of plants and animals of Jurassic and later period are found from these sand stones. (I have collected many fossils from Kutch; the most precious of them is a fossilized dinosaur egg with a fully developed embryo within. I even got it CT Scanned, and that scan reveals the complete embryonic dinosaur.)
The district has a meager rainfall, (average 6 to 8 inches) and is haunted by famine often. This too is an age-old problem. You can find water conservation attempts in Dholavira (harappan site), which dates back to 2000 years BC.
The vast coastline of Kutch extending from Koteshwar in the north to the Kandla at the southeastern end has made Kutch an important maritime center for more than two thousand years. Hectic maritime activities from ancient past till today have given this area a distinct edge.
When did men start his dwelling in Kutch? And from where did he come? We have very little concrete evidence on this subject. However Dr. Sankalia (the doyen of Indian archeology from Deccan College Poona) suggests that the first men came from the east African coast to Gujarat." He says there are reasons to believe that the period may be any thing from50, 000 to 100,000 Years.
Ejan page no 243 Ejan page no 244 Ejan page no 245 Ejan page no 245 Early man in India journal Asiatic of Bombay vol. 41 42 H.D.Sankalia.
The Geographic And Historic Perspective Of Kutch

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This, he says from the study of the tools. He has found such tools from the Bhukhi river of Nakhatrana taluka. He does acknowledge the fact that no skeletal remains have been found to substantiate this.
We know very little about the long span of thousands of years from the entry of man to Kutch till he started building his houses. No one has done an in-depth study of this subject. I have located some megalithic sites with typical stone circles and Menhir in Kutch and found Stone-age tools from these sites. However until these sites are explored and excavated, we cannot say anything about them with certainty.
Though the period prior to civilization was dark, the dawn of civilization was very bright. Evidences show that Kutch had flourishing cities and industrious villages during the period of Indus valley civilization i.e. 2000 years BC. The archeologists have excavated major city of Dholavira, one of the two largest settlements of that period. The recent preliminary work on the site of Kuran in the foothills of Karo dungar (the Black hills) has yielded sufficient material to indicate that this also can be a major Indus valley site. Numbers of other sites studied are Deshlpur Guntali near Nakhatrana, Pabumath near Suvai in Rapar taluka and Shikarpur near Shamkhiyali. Some evidences were also found from Netra village of Abadasa taluka. Unlike Dholavira these sites are believed to be small rural sites. Mrs. Namrata Pramanic of ASI who is working on the Kuran site believes that Kuran was an Indus valley township and there were smaller settlements in the vicinity. 8
Satellite surveys have indicated the possibilities of number of settlements on both the sides of the great Rann of Kutch i.e. on Indian as well as Pakistani side. The exploration and excavation of Kuran was under taken after the satellite data indicated the possibility of a settlement. This work is a part of exploring the Lupt(Disappeared) Sarasvati River.
Many archeologists have preferred to call this civilization as Saraswati civilization. However I prefer the term Indus valley civilization. I believe that Indus valley civilization is not a place denoting term but denotes an epoch in the clock of history. I consider it as a time denoting term. The reason to believe this is, although these settlements were geographically widely separated from each other, there were marked similarities in the cultural architectural and social behavior. This, perhaps, was the beginning of the concept of the indivisible Indian Nation. Our cultural unity, thus, is 5000 years old.
The proximity of Sindh and the ease of reaching Kutch from Sindh crossing the great Rann and some archeological evidences allow us to think that the Indus valley man came to Kutch from Sindh. And that too perhaps in the pre harrapan or very early harrapan period. The similarity between pottery of early settlements of Kot Di Ji and Deshalpur Guntali is a testimony of this.10 They might have even come thru the sea route as they had a well-developed maritime activity.11 Some crossed the little rann (the part of rann to the east of Kutch) and migrated to Saurashtra. 12
6
7 8 9 10 11 12
Itihas ni purva bhumica vol.1page no 78 H.D.Sankalia R.S.Bisht Puratatva no.20 1989/90page 71 As reported by the local news paper, Kutch Mitra Hasmukh Sankalia, Itihas ni purva bhumica Hasmukh Sankalia, Itihas ni purva bhumica Chitalvale, superintending archeologist Gujarat State, Gujarat Ma Sindhu Ghati Ni Sabhyata Chitalvale, superintending archeologist Gujarat State, Gujarat Ma Sindhu Ghati Ni Sabhyata

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Kutch in the ancient literature :
The first mention of the word Kutch is seen in the Gan chapter of Astadhyayi Vyakaran written by the great Panini. Along with this referance, one finds words like Anup, Sindhu, Varnu, Gandhar, Madhumat Kabob Kashmir Salve etc all of them are indicative of places. 13 A definite reference, is obtained from Matsya Puran and other purans where it is described as an adjoining area to Surastra as a part of Aparant.14 Scand Puran describes its economic prosperity. Named as Kutch Mandal it is believed to have 1422(or144) villages, 15 (Interestingly, Kutch, today has 1000 villages). Noted historian Shri Umashanker Joshi says that according to Bhavishya Puran, Sindh, Kutch and Bhuj were under a common dynastic rule. 16 However as this story is not supported by any other literature some authorities believe it to be more of a mythological reference.
The Shilalekh (rock edifice) of king Rudradama (150AD) found from Junagadh mentions Kutch.17 Other references : A According to Jain Anushruti King Bharat, during his campaign, had taken over Kutch.18 в Acharang sutra mentions presence of Abhirs as Jain followers and Jain monks in Kutch.19
Bruhad kalpa sutra indicates that Jain Monks were allowed to stay with their followers in Kutch.20 Yu En Sang, in his travel notes, has described Kutch to be a part of Sindh. In his conclusive remarks he has mentioned the two areas of O-Tin-Po-Chi-Lo. And Kit, the former being Aoudumbar, according to Cunningham this was Kutch. Other Authorities too confirm this
belief.21 E Periplus has curiously not mentioned Kutch despite of presence of shipping and trade. However
he does mention the Rann of Kutch as Irinon and the Gulf of Kutch as Baraka. He describes 7 islands in gulf of Baraka and says that the Irinon had two parts, a larger Irinon and a smaller
Irinon. (Large and Little Rann of Kutch).22 F Solanki period Literature (1029 to 1037 AD) describes Kutch mandal.23
13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Panini Upayukta 4-2-132 Matsya Puran 114-51,Brhamand puran 1-2-16-63 Markandey Puran 54-62, Vaman Puran 4-45-131 Vayu Puran 13-53 Skand Puran 1-2-39-145 PU.GU.page no.55, 56 Gu, Ai.Le. No 6 page 9 Jambudwip Pragnapti. page 128 Avashyak Churni Uttarbhag, page 291 Bruhad kalpa sutra2-384Ti Cunningham's Ancient Geography of India page 346 Periplus Gu.Ai.Le.No139 page 15
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Maurya and Gupta Period:
The golden era of our history begins with the rise of Chandragupta Maurya. (322 to 298 BC). It is evident from the Shilalekh of Rudradama that Gujarat was a part of India ruled by Chandragupta and remained under King Ashok from 273 to 237 BC.
The Shilalekh of Ashok, Shilalekh of Rudradama and the inscription on Girnar indicate that Maurya Dynasty extended to Surastra adjoining Kutch and remaining Gujarat.
It also shows that the Girinagar in the western foothills of Girnar was the administrative head quarter for this region. Having a sort of a governor. (Called Rashtriya or Rastrapal).24 Broad outlook of the rulers :
Following the fall of Maurya rule the Kutch was invaded by a series of outsiders.
Minendra a bahalik yavan (Greek) ruler in 185BC invaded and took over Sindh, Kutch and Surastra. Tarne believes that it was Apaldutta and not Minendra who invaded Kutch.
In the early first century the invasion of the Shak (Saka) swept over India. They were Scythian tribes.25 Their home land was in the plains between rivers Amur daria and Sir daria and were pushed out from their by the invading Chinese emperor.26 At the time of the Shak invasion the Greek power was on decline and there was no powerful Indian ruler to resist. They entered thru Kashmir thru Punjab and thru Sindh. The Shak in northern India known as northern Kshatrap had their capital in Taxashila and Mathura. Those who settled in Gujarat and part of Maharashtra were called Western Kshatrap. This western Kshatrps are important to the history of Gujarat as a whole and Kutch in particular. They had a stable rule for almost three centuries. Their hierarchy was dynastic, where the son or the grand son took over the reins: Bhumak (23 to32 AD) was the first Kshatrap ruler. His son Nahapan (32to78 AD) was second. He ruled for around 60 years over a large area extending from Ajmer in the north to Malva in the east to Saurashtra in the west and in the south, to south Gujarat, north Konkan, Ahemadnagar, Nashik and Puna27. I have found a coin of Nahapan from Nani Rayan.
Gautamiputra Shatkarni was followed by king Chastan, Jaydama, Rudradama 1st, etc (Pl refer the chart for complete list).
There is ample evidence of Khsatrap rule and rulers in Kutch. As we have already seen 12 Shilalekh (rock inscription) have been found from Kutch, 6 of them from Andhau Village on the northern border of Kutch. (Pl. refer to the Annexure II naming all the Shilalekh with the year and the place from of their find). The earliest one is from Dolatpar village and was of 6th year i.e. 84 AD, the beginning of Kshatrap rule in Kutch. The Shilalekh of Rudrasingh first (192AD) and the Bhartrudamas inscription from Movasa of year 299AD tells us of their influence till that period. 28
Dr Rashesh Jamindar (a noted historian) believes that from Chastan down to Rudrasingh, the kshatraps ruled Gujarat from Andhau in Kutch. Thus in a long drawn rule of these kings over Gujarat
24 25 26 27 28
Gujarat no Rajkiy Itihas. Vol. 2 Wonder that was India by Basham page 61, 62 Gujarat no Rajkiy Itihas vol. 2 Kshatrap kal nu Gujarat both by Dr.Rashesh Jamindar Gujarat no Rajkiy Itihas vol. 2 Kshatrap kal nu Gujarat both by Dr.Rashesh Jamindar Dr. Rashesh Jamindar

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Kutch was an important administrative headquarter and Andhau must have been the same for Kutch. He also emphasizes that all of the inscriptions were placed in public places and the language used was Prakrut with little influence of Sanskrit. Thus that must have been the language of people of that era. The names of the rulers Jaydama Rudradama Rudrasingh indicate Indianisation of Kshatraps. The word Abhir in the inscription shows that the Abhirs inhabited Kutch and held key position in the administration.29
The Kshatrap rule came to an end in the yr 398-99 AD There is a small gap of the about 17 years between the take over of power by Gupta rulers. (415-55 AD) in Gujarat and Kutch. Sarva Bhattarak coins recovered from Gujarat are of this intermediary period. This find along with the typography of the coins make the historians believe that the king Sarva Bhattarak filled the gap. Very little is known about this ruler, and his antecedents. The sign of Trishul on his coins indicate that he was Shaivik (follower of Lord Shiva, Hindu Deity). This kind of coin was seen during Maitrak period too, raising a possibility of Sarva bhattarak to be of Maitrak origin.30 As these coins are so far not been recovered from Kutch it is difficult to say whether he ruled over this part.
The rise of Gupta dynasty in Magadh brought back the unified rule by Indian rulers over a large part of Aryavrat (north and central India Gujarat, Surastra and Kutch and parts of southern India.31) Coins of different rulers are found from many parts of Gujarat and Kutch. I have found them from Nani Rayan. These coins have a basic structure with regional alterations. Their regime came to an end after the death of Skanda gupta (467-468 AD).32 Many distant regions declared their independence or were taken over by other rulers. In Gujarat The Maitrak army chief established his dynasty at Vallabhi.
There is very little definite information about the political and administrative structure. The information is based on the rock inscription of Ashok in Girnar, and from a monumental book, The Arthashastra of Kautilya. The Power structure was very well planned and had a multi tier system that descended from the head of the state to provincial head down to the village head. The Indo Greek rulers including Minendra carried on that system. In Kshatrap Period the head of the state was known as Kshatrap, His son was second in command and was given training in administration and warfare. They had advisers on policy maters and administrative maters known as Maha Sachiv and Karma Sachiv.33. The vastness of area under their rule required planned and multi tier system.
Having seen the power structure, let us have a look at the people of this epoch. The People :
Once again very little information is available on people. Most of the derivations are either from the Anushruti, scriptures, or from the portraits of the rulers exhibited on the coins.
Angavijja Prakirnak, a jain scripture, created in Khshatrap period and Vasudev Hindi written in 4th century AD give very useful information on the people, their dressing patterns and ornamentations.
29 30 31 32 33
Andhau no itihas Abhilekho Na adhare Dr. Rasesh Jamindar H.G.Shastri, Maitrak kalin Gujarat page552-553 Fleet, corp.ins. India vol 3 R.C.Raychudhari. Political history of ancient India page581 Ejan pankti17
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A lucid account on art of cooking is found from, Pouragam, a chapter in the Vasudev Hindi.
People knew how to stitch clothes but preferred to cover their body with one piece or twopiece of clothes viz. a loincloth and an upper wrap. Long curly mustaches, long hair and side-whiskers were common. A headgear covered the head. The cast system did evolve however inter-cast marriages were common. Elephants, horses and chariots were used for transportation and in battlefields. The Kshatriya formed the army core. Communication was by the means of messenger on horseback or footmen. There is a very interesting story of a footmen traveling 25 Yojan (75 miles or 120 kms.), in one day to deliver messages.34
Art of combat was very important and people were trained to use different weapons and were given combat training. The Vasudev Hindi mentions very clever teachers' giving combat training. Rudradamas rock inscription mentions, in the thirteenth stranza, Gaj (elephant) Turang (horse) Rath (chariot) and Asi Charm, Sword, shield and Niyudh, as animals and weapons for combat. Unarmed combat was known as Malla Vidya. Shushrut sanhita even mentions of armed force medical core.
It is believed that the agriculture was the chief vocation and the rulers paid proper attention to facilitate farming; the dam over Sudarshan Lake and the irrigation system there, is a testimony35 The agricultural land belonged to the farmer and the govt. possessed the rest of the land. Pot making was another major industry.
Vasudev Hindi tells a very interesting story of a technocrat who went to Yavan pradesh and learnt the art of making mechanized crafts and mechanized flying objects, he crafted a flying eagle and presented to the king. This indicates that craftsmen, too, had an important place in the social system.
Commerce was an important vocation. There were traders and even traders guilds were formed. The trading between states, and between India and Greece and Rome flourished.36 Krutikapan (Krutic-all the available things of universe and Apan=a shop) was an ancient prototype of a departmental store. Ujjain had nine Krutikapans. Sopara was an amphora and ships from different nations brought merchandise to this place. The other centers were Bharukutch, Dwarka, Mangrol, Prabhas, Gopnath, Hathab, Vallabhi, Ghogha, Nagara etc which are all coastal places. In Kutch, it was Nani Rayan. Periplus vividly mentions of this coastal trade centers especially Bharukutch. It also gives a list of the things imported and exported. 37 Please refer to the chart giving details.
There was a likelihood of a Slave trade as there is a mention in Maha Bharat, of slave women being presented to Udhistir while he performed Raj Suy Yagna.38
It was not possible to conduct so much of trade thru barter, so the ingots of metals like gold, silver and other metals were used which were later replaced by ingots marked by traders, ruler and later by punch marked coins, which had figurines of birds animals or weapons and coded figures the 34 Bho.J Sandesara Jain Aam ma uj.pael11 35 Jamindar, UparUkta page 469-70 36 Ejan page 465 37 Periplus 38 Majmudar (Ed) Chronology of guj.vol 1 page 47

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meaning of which is difficult to understand. From some vague letters some names of the kings are deciphered. These coins are dated from 1000yrs BC to the 1st century BC.39 In Kshatrap period the silver coins were known as kasaparn. (Kash=A particular Weight. Thus a coin of a particular wt.) These coins have immensely helped in chronology of events. They bear the names of the ruler and the year of minting on one side & the figure of the king on the other side.
Boudhayan Dharma sutra, written somewhere between fifth century BC to third century BC, prohibited traveling by sea (Samudra sanyan) for Brahmins. This shows that sea faring was a common practice. The long coastline also favors this. Two books in Paly language from Shri Lanka, Dipvansa written in 4th AD and Mahavansa written in the 6th century AD, talks of Vijay, the son of king Sinhabahu of Lat (South Gujarat), who named this island as Sinhaldweep. He was the founder of the Aryan sinhal Sanskruti. 40 Many Anushrutis mention shipping trades to Java from Gujarat via Ceylon.
Prakrut and Sanskrit were the chief languages used. Most of the rock inscriptions have been written in either of the two. During the excavation of Dev Ni Mori near Shamalaji in Gujarat a wooden box was recovered on which there were 5 lines in Sanskrit. They were poetically written stanzas and are believed to be the most ancient Sanskrit writing found from Gujarat. Beautifully written scriptures by different Jain munis show the brilliance of literary activity. Ujjain, Mathura and Vallabhi were the seat of literary activity.
The writings were done in three major scripts, Brahmi, Kharosti and Greeko Roman. The earliest Brahmi inscription is from Samrat Ashoks period. Kharosti and Greeko Roman script were in use in the third and second cent BC disappearing from writing in the later period. Brahmi not only remained in use but also evolved gradually (from Maurya period to Kshatrap period to Gupta period) and had provincial influence by which we mean that different regions had certain distinct characteristics.
As every epoch of mankind has some religious affiliations, the history period people too had definite religious beliefs. Viz. Brahman Dharma (Religion) or Shiv Pujak and Vishnu Pujak Sampraday (Sect), Buddhist Dharma and Jain Dharma. There are evidences of fair amount of religious tolerance and at many places all the three religions coexisted. In different phases of time and different places the state (Ruler) supported a particular religion.
Over and above these main streams of religions some people were sun worshipers. Snake worshipping and worshipping Yaskha was also in Vogue.
An important aspect of Brahman Dharma was Observance of Purva Dharma. In Purva Dharma the emphasis is on social services. The construction of public utility structures like public wells water storage tanks temples was an important aspect of this ideology.
We find ample evidences of this belief and many public utility structures were created during this period. (This ancient philosophy is alive and active even today)
The Tika churni of Jain Agam has a very interesting story of Ajivak', a Fire Worshiper who filled
39 40
Vasudev Upadyay Bhartiy sikke Adhyay 2 A.L.Basam; Prince Vijay and Aryanisation of Ceylon
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his house with jewels and set it on fire as an offering to the Fire god. Once While doing so the whole town was burnt due to gusty winds. 41 This story might be related to the Fire Worshiping merchant from Iran. The trade relations with Iran can explain the presence of Fire Worshiping people in this region.42
Maitrak Period:
Now we come to the next major epoch, which is known as Maitrak Period and Anu Maitrak (Post Maitrak) period. This period ranges from 470 AD to 788 AD for the former and 788 AD to 942 AD for the later.
The death of Skand Gupta weakened the grip of Gupta dynasty, and in many distant states the local leaders took the reins of power. In Saurashtra, the maitrak rule was established by Senapati (Army chief) Bhattarak. His kingdom extended to Saurashtra, Kutch, Northern and Central Gujarat. Later on it further extended to Malava. This dynasty ended in 788 AD.
This brought in a major political upheaval. Multiple small provincial rulers replaced the single central leadership. Of them the important ones were Rastrakuts, Gurjar, Pratihars Saindhavs and Chavadas.
Some descendants of these Chavada rulers ruled over part of Kutch, especially Western Kutch. Viram Chavada ruled over Pat Ghad (Lakhapat Taluka).43 He was a subordinate of the Sang king of Guntari (in the Nakhatrana Taluka). His distant relatives Mod and Manai killed him and took over Pat Ghad.
As per the mythology in 618 AD Kanak Chavada won over Bhadravati, present day Bhadreshwar. Vinjhan in Abadasa was his capital and thus a large area of Kutch from Vinjhan to Bhadreshwar was under his command. It is believed that his grandson Bhuvad attacked Bhadreshwar, he ruled during 971 to 990 AD. He was killed by the Solanki ruler, who took over Bhadravati from him." He died on the banks of river Ruparel hence that place was known as Bhuvad Village. 45
(Note: There is a discrepancy of almost two hundred years. If Bhuvad was the grand son of Kanak he i.e. Kanak could not exist in 6th century.)
Mythology also suggests Chavada kingdom in Dholay Sarsagar of Lakhapat taluka and Raypur (Nani Rayan), 46
The Kathi rulers had a brief spell of stay in Kutch in the 8th century AD. They came from Sindh and their capital was Pavar Ghadh in Central Kutch. Later their rule extended over Bhadravati and
41 42
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Ejan, page 66
Sizable information in the section above is derived from the second volume of Gujarat no Rajkiy ane Sanskrutik itihas and Kshatrapkalin Guj. By Rasesh Jamindar
J.J.Nay Gandhi Kutch no Bruhad itihas and R.Rathod Kutch nu Sanskruti Darshan
Ejan page no.87
Ejan page no.40, 90
Ejan page 42

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Kanthakot in Vagad. Lakha Fulani took over their land.47 All this are telltale stories told by Bhat Charans (people who sing folklores) and no archeological evidences are so far available. Power structure in Maitrak Period :
Lots of information is available from Dan Shashsns. Monarch was the supreme. The dynastic rule did exist but it was not necessary for the eldest son to take over from the father (ruler). In Maitrak period the reins of power passed from one son to the other and probably one after the other all the children got the rights. In some cases the elder son was dropped and the power was handed over to the younger son. 48
Social welfare was an important task. Here too, there was a multi-tiered system of administration. The chief administrator was Amatya or Maha Amatya. Down the line there were number of other officers to help him, this Amatya was chosen by the king and could be hailing from any community.49 There were well-classified departments like revenue, police, justice, military etc.
There were taxations and money thus collected was used for welfare of the people. 50 The total land belonged to the king and was in the category of taxable land.
The writings of Harsha chariot suggest that the chariot, a main battlefield vehicle, had disappeared in this period however horses and cavalry formed an important part of armed forces and even communication. The horses were even imported for this purpose. Elephants still formed a part of armed forces. Infantry was the core of armed forces. Archery fencing was taught. The People :
Farming was the chief vocation. Nomadic tribes like rabaries and goat herdsmen looked after the livestock. Potting was a major industry as can be detected from profusion of potsherds found from Maitrak sites. Trading too was very important vocation, and many major trading centers are mentioned in Jain scriptures, trade with, out side world was known. Vallabhi the seat of power, too, was a port. The Buddhist scripture Arya Manjushri Mulkalpa mention traders going abroad to Shura (probably Asseria).
I have found a Byzantine coin of late 6th century AD and an Arab Dinara of the same period from Nani Rayan suggesting the trade relation of this site with Constantinople (present day Istanbul) and Baghdad during Maitrak period.
There is a mention in Anushruti of a prince from Gujarat BhruVijay Savelchal (604 AD). He took 5 thousand people to Java and established his kingdom over there. Later he called another two thousand people. They included soldiers, craftsmen, doctors, writers, sculptors etc. It is believed that these artists and their descendants built the great temples of Borobudur.
Well-defined cast system existed. Even Hue En Sung has described four classes. Brahmins, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. 47 R Rathod, Upayukta page 86 48 Mai.Guj. part 2 page 504 49 Ejan page no.510/511 50 Ejan page no 508/509
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The ritual of Sati was common.51 Women did not ware a Weil; there are mentions of princely women coming to the courtyard and meeting people without Weils.52
Deval smruti is an important document written in around 9th century. Mentioning about cast systems. In an interesting chapter it mentions how the converted Muslims both men and women were reabsorbed in the Hindu mainstream, indicating the elasticity of social fiber.53 The notes of Al Biruni too support this phenomenon.
Vegetarianism was more popular. However even non-vegetarian food was consumed. Wheat and rice were staple food grains. Wine was not uncommon.54
People were fond of ornaments, women painted their lips. Backed earth beads and bead of semiprecious stones were in vogue.
A belt fastened loincloth extending to knees. Both men and women kept the uper-half of body uncovered or covered by wrap. People covered their heads by headgears.
Strangely, no coin of Maitrak ruler has been found. Some Vallabhi coins found were of silver or copper with a silver glaze indicating shortage of silver in that period. Some coins of Rastrakut king Krisnaraj Akal varsh, and some Indo-Sassanian coins popularly known as Gadhaiyas are found.
Sanskrit was the state language. Most of the copper engravings are written in Sanskrit. Prakrut was chiefly used in Jain literatures however even they used Sanskrit occasionally.
Marked literary activity and profuse writings were whole mark. In Gujarat Vallabhi was the center for literary activity. Brahmin, Jain and Buddhist scholars were busy in updating and writing their religious scriptures.
Brahmin, Jain and Buddhist were the main religions followed. In the later part of this period the Islam entered Gujarat.
The main differences between this epoch and the epoch discussed previously are : 1 Unified central rule in the first, while multiple, changing and smaller dynasties in the later. 2 Marked foreign influence, while foreign rulers in the first and diminished influence and
local rulers in the second. 3 The language was chiefly Prakrut in the first, while Sanskrit in the later period.
Barring such differences these epochs have more or less similar patterns in culture and religious belief, administrative structure and trade relations.55
Now we will have a brief look at the Solanki period from10th century onwards. Siddharaj Jay Singh (1094 to 1142 AD) and his descendant Kumar Pal (1142 to 1172AD) ruled over the greater part of Gujarat and even some portion beyond the state. The state received the present day name from Gurjar during this period. In the remaining period the state was under number of small dynasties and
51 52 53 54 55
Durgashanker Shastri, Upayukta Ejan page 32 M.R.Majmudar, Chronology of Guj.part 1 page 254 Ejan page no.143 Ejan page no. 143

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was divided in to small provinces. Kutch, too, was governed by Siddharaj. The Shilalekh found from Bhadreshwar written in 1129 AD is an indicator of this fact.56 The state flourished in all directions especially literary side and most renowned scholars like Hemchandracharya, Poet Sri Pal, Vagbhatt, Jay Mangal, YashChandr, and Vardhaman Suri did their legendary literary activity. They were not only honored but were also supported by the state.
After the decline of Siddharaj regime Kutch was under different rulers. We will take a stoke of some important ones: 1 Lakha Fulani. He was a Sama King. He lived at Kapil Kot the present day Kera. He
constructed an archeologically important and truly artistic Shiv temple. Mulraj Solanki
killed him somewhere in 979 AD. 2 Jam Punara. He was the nephew of Lakha Fulani. He lived at Padhar Gadh fort. This place
is about 29 kms west to Bhuj. He remained in power for a period of about 6 years. Sick of his tyranny the Sanghar community took help of foreigners believed to be Iranians stationed at Jakhau (an ancient port). They killed Punara. Later these horsemen were worshiped, as Jakh. The temple of Jakh is a pilgrim place even today.
A rockedif at Chokhanda Mahadev temple at Bhadreshwar written in 1139 AD gives indication of the regime of Siddharaj Jaysing. The rockedif of 1275 AD at Rav near Ravechi temple in Rapar taluka shows that Arjundev, from Anhil Patan, ruled over this place. 57
There is a gap of 129 years between the end of regime of Lakha Fulani and Punara and beginning of Jadeja dynasty. Perhaps Kutch was under Mulraj Solanki. The rockedif of 1037 AD of Bhimdev 1st indicates that Kutch was under the command of Mulraj Solanki.58
Three archeologically important temples were constructed in this period namely Kera Shiv temple, Punara Shiv temple and Kotay Shiv temple. Although mythological the Kera temple was constructed before Punara temple archeologically that is not true. According to Mr. Raval, the director (retd.) of State archeology dept. Gujarat state the Punara temple is at least a century older to Kera temple and Kotay was still a century older (Personal Communication).
All the three temples are in ruins and still they have gorgeous 9th century architecture,
The Jadejas ruled till independence following which Kutch merged in to India. This long period is not archeologically important and so we skip it with a mere mention that the rich maritime heritage of Kutch was very active in this period, the Kutchi ships traveled far and wide and ships from many countries came to Mandvi port. Mandvi port is on the river Rukmavati just 4 kms away from the ancient port Nani Rayan.
56
Sizable information in the section above is derived from the second volume of Gujarat no Rajkiy ane Sanskrutik Itihas Vol.3 A.K.Dwivedi Upayukta page18, 19 A.K.Dvivedi Upayukta page 17, 18
57 58
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Chapter 3
A Birds Eye View of different sites, excavated in Kutch.
was similar toteasuring Wouble layer of stof unb
Now we will take a bird's eye view of different sites studied so far. Deshalpar Guntali. It was the first site to be explored. Dr Sunder Rajen did this exploration in 1970/72. It is 100 meters by 150 meters settlement. The site was occupied by pre harrapan people and the pottery was similar to that found from the preharrapan site of Kot Di Ji in Sindh. Mature harrapan pottery, beads, Measuring Weights and seals were recovered. A partial fortification separated the site from the river. A double layer of stones sandwiching an unbaked brick wall did the fortification. It seems that the initial wall was of unbaked bricks, which was later strengthened by stonework on both the sides. Unbaked bricks were used to make the houses. The excavation was limited and thus road system could not be identified. However there was a presence of drainage system. Ornaments, semiprecious stone beads, copper blades and chert flakes were found.59 Pabumath. Mr. Chitalvale excavated this site in 1978/79. It is close to Suvai village in Rahpar taluka. The excavator found four layers of dwelling, indicating that it was inhabited at different periods of time. Pabumath was a mature harrapan settlement. A seal with harrapan script and a unicorn was recovered. Shell bangles, agate beads, copper and bronze bangles were amongst the ornaments found. Finely painted pottery had floral designs, peacock and Pipal leaf drawings on them. Black plant colors were used. The identical pattern with the settlements of Sindh indicates that these people had migrated southwards from Sindh.60 Netra. It is situated in Abadasa taluka. The site has not been studied or explored systematically. Two seals with script and some potsherds were found over the mound. Shikarpur. It is situated on the northeastern border of Kutch. Shikarpur mound is 19 kms away from Shamkhiyali. Mr. Verma excavated the 5-hector site in 1988/90. Mr. Raval, then the Director of dept. of archeology, and Professor Choudhari (M.S.Univ. Baroda), guided the exploration. I had visited the site when the excavation was in progress. Profusion of variety of pottery and beads was a characteristic feature. Steatite beads as small as Imms and as large as 1 cms were found. They also found drills to make hole in the beads. Shell bangles, backed earth bangles, around 20 terracotta toy carts, typical harrapan bulls, large no. of triangular cakes and fishing hooks were recovered. 61 Dholavira. The ancient site at Dholavira is one of the two largest known Indus settlements in India. The other being Rakhigarhi in Haryana. 62 Since this has been extensively studied site and excavated in the recent past we have much information and I have discussed this site in a great detail.
Mr. Shambhudan Ghadhvi of Dholavira village discovered a harrapan seal while supervising on a drought relief work in early 60s following which Mr. Jagatpati Joshi of ASI discovered this site
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Itihas ni Poorvbhumika, Hasmukh Sankalia Itihas ni Poorvbhumika, Hasmukh Sankalia personal communication with the excavating experts at the site R.S Bisht. Puratatva no.20

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in 1967-68. However Mr. R.S. Bisht and his team did a planned large-scale work almost after 2 decades.
Situated in the northwest corner of Khadir, the largest island, surrounded from all sides by Rann of Kutch, Dholavira is a small village. The site of the mounds is 1 km northwest to village. The mounds have two seasonal water torrents Mansar and Manhar.
There are three principal divisions of which two are protected by strong rectangular fortification faced with stone masonry. These three mounds are known as the Citadel, the upper town and the lower town. The excavation has also showed different layers of sediments indicating different periods of human dwelling and it is believed that the earliest sediments show evidence of a preharrapan settlement.63
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The Citadel has very characteristic fortification. There are signs that the fortification was damaged during the mature harrapan phase by a major earth quake and later reconstructed making it a 6 meters thick wall. 64
There are four Gates, note worthy being the east and the north gates. The east gate consists of a staircase, a sunken passage way, an elevated chamber and a high front terrace.The unique feature is the arrangement of neatly cut and highly polished lime stone blocks at the far ends and equally polished and beautifully moulded pillar base, of a shape of a damaru (bi-conical shape), placed on two polished stone blocks. Such work has not been seen in any other harrapan site.
There is a large water reservoir behind the north gate with a 24 meters long and 70 meters wide inlet channels to carry the rainwater. The other remains are, parts of domestic structure, workshops of lapidaries and shell workers, big drains smaller house drains. A circular house, discovered, differs from the usual rectangular houses.
The early mature harrapan deposits have yielded huge collection of potteries and other antiquities in form of seals, sealing, weights, a variety of beads bangles and other ornamental pieces of gold, copper, lead, semi precious stones, shell or clay. Other objects of clay include cakes, ball marbles, caste frames, Shell bangles, ladles, spoons, inlay pieces; rings and objects most characteristic of a harrapan site,65
Visit to Dholavira is a feast by itself, especially when the excavation work is in progress. I had, on two occasions, visited the site when Mr. Bisht and his team were excavating this marvelous site and had seen all these finds but of all the finds the most breathe taking were
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Footprints of 5000 yrs old harrapan man on the mud close to the well. The discoverers found footprints of a man wearing sabots like foot ware and walking besides a buffalo.
The deep well built with stone and showing that it was dug three to four times to make it deeper. There are water channels, which carry the water to four bathtubs. A big stone over the rim of the well is cut in the center by the friction of the ropes with which the harrapan women pulled up the pails of water.
R. S. Bisht, Puratatva no 20
R. S. Bisht, Puratatva no 20
R. S. Bisht, Puratatva vol. 20

A Birds Eye View of different sites, excavated in Kutch.

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The oldest discovered skeleton of a civilized lady in her grave is yet another fascinating site. She lies in a horizontal position. She is wearing shell bangles in her hands and has a copper mirror on her chest. So fond must she be of beautifying herself that her beauty kit was buried with her. The signboard was found from one of the gates. There are inscription in Indus script the on a wooden board. Each letter is about 37 cms tall, and 25 to 27 cms in width. It is made from pieces of some crystalline material. Several pieces are arranged together to make a single character. There are in all 10 characters. Sadly we cannot decipher these inscriptions
but the day Indus script is deciphered a new dimension will be added to Dholavira. Not excavated but still important history period sites:
Now we will have a look at the history period, i.e. 4th century BC to 4th century A.D.
The period in between the decline of harrapan civilization and this period is the dark zone of our history about which we have little archeological or literary evidences.
As such very little work has been done on the history period sites in Kutch as compared to much elaborate study of harrapan sites.
The exploration of Buddhist caves of Siot in Lakhapat taluka is the only govt. level excavation done by the dept of archeology Gujarat State. This too was a low key exploration in which trial trenches were made in the caves. Around 1500 cakes made of unbaked earth depicting different postures of Lord Buddha and hymes were found from these pits with this trivial effort..
Mr. Padamshi Chauhan of Khetabapa Vidyalay and his students have found numerous artifacts from the fields around the Buddhist caves of Siot. These caves are close to the north-western border of Kutch, overlooking the Great Rann.
Mr. Chauhan and his students rightly thought that there would have been human inhabitation around the caves. They looked for the evidences and found stamped potsherds Roman amphora, rolleted black pottery, red polished ware, dish on stand fragments, toys and ornaments Terracotta beads, Shell bangles, large humped bulls, and dyes to make and stamp them.
These artifacts are very similar and, in some cases, identical to my finds in Nani Rayan, and indicate a cultural uniformity between the sites. However some objects found in Siot are distinct from the finds in Nani Rayan. For example, waggling toys (similar to finds from Mohenjo Dero), perforated ware, stone chariots. On other hand, coins are surprisingly not found from Siot.
Reviewing the finds, this site, too, seems to have human inhabitation from Harrappan period to late history period and trade relations with Rome.
My work of Nani Rayan is the first major work in this direction. We will discuss this in greater details later in this book. A mention that Nani Rayan was an important river port in the history period, having a major potting and shell bangle, bead industry and extensive trade relations with Europe and middle east will suffice at this point.

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Chapter 4
Overseas Shipping and Trade in Ancient India
As the finds from Nani Rayan indicate trade and cultural influence of the western world in the pre to post history period it is important for us to explore Indo-Greek shipping and trade.
Seafaring is an ancient Indian tradition. Since the Indus valley period, Indian sailors sailed great distances and the sailors from other nations brought their ships to Indian ports. Examination of passages of Rigved confirms that Indians went to the open sea "boldly". The Budhhist texts of Simhalavadana mention Prince Vijaya and seven hundred followers sailing from mouth of Ganga and reaching Ceylon on the day of Nirvana of Lord Budhha. Large ships carrying hundreds of passengers were in use as early as in sixth and fifth century AD66
Panini (fifth century BC) mentions various types of trees used in construction of ships. During the period of 604 to 562 BC India exported timber suitable for ship building to Mesopatamia.67
Tilakmanjari of Dhanpal gives lots of information about the sailing expeditions of Samarketu. It even mentions of sails, masts, and heavy stone-anchors that were used. Jain saint Haribhadra Suriin his text "Samaraiccakaha" gives interesting account of sails being used68, Rigved also mention that sailors kept crows to find out the direction to the closest mass of land69. We have enough archeological evidences to prove this.
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The excavations at Ras al-Junayz; a coastal site on the east coast of Oman has yielded all kinds of manufactured goods from Indus civilization. This place shot to the world map of archeology by the find of a potsherd with incised Indus script. There were fragments of pottery jars, alabaster vases, copper and steatite seals and metal objects found from this site. The most remarkable was the find of a carved ivory comb with a motif of double circles a very typical Indus valley artifact. The mineralogical comparison of the potteries reveled it to be identical with those found from Lothal. Similarly a Persian. Gulf steatite seal was found from Lothal 70 The find of harrapan seals from Mesopotamian sites and cylinder like Mesopotamian seals from Indus sites is yet another testimony of trade relations during that period.71
Lothal is a classic example of harrapan port. The other known ports were Balakot in Sindh, Kuntasi in Gulf of Kutch.72
The terrestrial routes were in continuous use at least from the time of Alexander's presence in the Indian subcontinent in 326-325 BC. The first three Mauryan rulers maintained diplomatic relations with Western Asia. King Ashok, in his Edicts claims to have had cultural contacts with the Hellenistic kingdom on the western frontier of his empire and beyond even with Ptolemaic Egypt.
A lot of information is gained from Periplus about the shipping and trade in the later part of the
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S.R. Rao Shipping in Anciant India. (India's contribution to world thought and culture) S.R. Rao Shipping in Anciant India. (India's contribution to world thought and culture) Lallangi Gopal Indian shipping in early mediaeval period.. (India's contribution to world thought and culture)
VI, 62.2 Jatak III 267 and Dighanikya XI.85
Vishvas Gogte Ancient maritime trade in Indian Ocean...Man and Environment vol. 22 2001 Ratnagar 1981 Encounters, Westerly trades of the Harappan Civilisatio
Sunil Gupta The archeohistorical... Man and Environment vol 22 2001

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first century AD. Amphora fragments, mould made pottery and roulette ware are found from the Gujarat and Maharashtra coast and in the interior of upper western region. This makes it amply clear that the there must have been frequent trade between Mediterranean and peninsular India as early as the late second century BC.73 Excavations at the Roman Egyptian harbor of Berenike and Mayos Hormos, the modern Quseir, have brought to light rich material evidence of trade with Arabia and India. 74
An Indian graffiti, in the Tamil Brahmin script, of first or second century AD was found from Leucos Limen and there is mention of a person named Cattan, a common name in Tamil mercantile community.75
During the Hellenistic and Roman period there were many trade routes which linked the Mediterranean world with the Indian subcontinent, there was the central Asian silk route to china which interconnected with Bactrian routes to India; The Iranian routes through Susa and Persepolis. The coastal routes linking the Tigris and the Persian gulf with Sindh and Gujarat; and finally the sea route to western and south India via Rome and India. Ancient sea trade from Arabia or directly from Red Sea, linked up with Alexandria and other ancient ports on the Mediterranean.76
The most dynamic trade network was the one which connected the Mediterranean and India via the Red Sea during the first century AD, when Rome had come to dominate both the Mediterranean and the Red sea.77
The proximity of the sea coast, the facility provided by the seasonal winds for quicker movements of ships, the well developed and safer ports on the west coast, the existence of emporia and the cultural Varity of the rulers and the populace, collectively created a conducive climate for the appreciation and import of roman objects in western India. 78
What made these routes possible was the very special nature of the prevailing winds. The socalled monsoon winds, blow steadily from the northeast but during summer conveniently switch to just the opposite direction, the southwest. By judiciously choosing a proper departure date the skippers could ensure having a favorable winds for both the parts of the voyage.79 According to Periplus the proper time to leave Egypt for India was in July 80 lt enabled the ship to sail down the Red Sea with the northerly that prevail over the body of water during the summer, Sail thru the Gulf of Aden with the southwest monsoon. Sail with the same monsoon, as specifically counseled by Periplus, across the
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Vimala Begley. Ceramic Evidence for Pre-Periplus Trade on Indian Coasts. Rome and India ancient sea trade Sunil Gupta The archeo historical...Man and Environment vol 22 2001 Whitecomb and Jhonson supra n 22 .263-264 Vimala Begley.. Ceramic Evidence for Pre-Periplus Trade on Indian Coasts. Rome and India ancient sea trade Vimala Begley Introduction Rome and India ancient sea trade S.B.Deo Rome and India ancient sea trade, chapter 3 Lionel Casson chapter 1 Rome and India ancient sea trade 39:13.12-13
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Arabian Ocean or western Indian Ocean to India. The return was scheduled in the month of November, when the northeast monsoon provided favorable winds till the entrance of the Red Sea.81
The Arabs on the other hand used different schedule for getting to India. They delayed their departure until the end of August and did their sailing over the open waters in September when the southwest monsoon had lost its bite. This was dictated by the nature of the Arab ships; their hull was not strong enough and their rigs not fitted for the blustery blast of the southwest monsoon, but the ships of Rome and Egypt qualified on both this account. They were supremely strong and were built in a very special fashion.82
There was yet another reason for the proliferation of the sea rout with all its risks and disadvantages as compared to the land rout. The political and economic considerations favored these sea routs in the Ptolemaic and the Roman period. Parthia and later Sassania were large, powerful and often hostile states straddling the overland caravan route between the Roman world in the west and China and India in the east. Economic considerations also played a role in promoting maritime commerce. It was much cheaper to ship goods in bulk by sea then to transport them overland.
Ptolemy II Philadelphus (283/282-246BC) was the first Hellenistic ruler of Egypt to promote trade with south Arabia and sub Saharan Africa. He also seems to have encouraged trade with India. To encourage this trade he and his successors constructed ports on the red sea coast of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia as far south as Bab el Mandeb, the entrance to Indian Ocean.83
19
The port Eudamon Arabia, The modern day Eden, flourished in third century BC and functioned as the hub for primary transshipment of goods from the Mediterranean lands and India,84
The Zenith of this commerce through Egypt was from reign of Augustus to mid or late second century AD. Then it showed a decline due to political turmoil and economic chaos. However it shows revival from fourth to seventh century AD.
There was an equally active marine trade on the east coast of India with the far eastern countries.
The remnants of the Greco-Roman trade have been found from quite a few sites in India. They are in forms of pottery, coins, bronze figurines, glass etc. Few of these sites have been excavated and studied. They are Nevasa, Ter, Kondapur and Kolhapur in the western Deccan, Nagara, Bharuch, Amareli and few other places in Gujarat, and Arikmedu in south.
In my 20 years of research at Nani Rayan I have discovered mold made pottery, rouletted ware, roman amphorae, bronze metal prototype of the mold made pottery, human figurines, roman grinding stone and Byzantine coin establishing this site as an important place on the west coast involved in Indo Roman trade from pre-periplus era to much later period extending till almost seventh century
AD.
In the chapters that follow I described the site of Nani Rayan and my finds from that sites. This will open a new window to gaze into our glorious past.
81
82
83
84
Lionel Casson chapter 1 Rome and India ancient sea trade
Lionel Casson chapter 1 Rome and India ancient sea trade
Stevan E. Sidebotham. Rome and India ancient sea trade, chapter 2
Sunil Gupta The archeo historical...Man and Environment vol 22 2001

For Private
Overseas Shipping and Trade in Anciant India Stvarjaleelibrary.or
Ost Ony

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Chapter 5 Description of the Site
Nani Rayan is a small village in Mandvi taluka in District Kutch of Gujarat state in India. Around three hundred Farmers and farm laborers inhabit it. The entire landscape is flat plain land with small and large cultivated fields. Its latitude is 220 52' 12 N and longitude is 160 21' 32 E (at Dada Dhoramnath Temple)
It is on the bank of river Rukmavati that embraces the village on western and Northern side. This river travels further down to Mandvi where it ends into the Gulf of Kutch, Arabian Sea. The river remains dry for most of the year and is flooded during active and heavy rains in monsoon. A check dam near Mandvi prevents the seawater going upstream in the river during the high tides. Due to silting and some unknown factors the sea has receded but in old days
Selim during the high tide the seawaters reached Nani Rayan and even beyond.
It is a about 5 kms away from Mandvi by road, but if one were to walk through the dry river bank, it is only 3.5 kms.
The village is about 2 kms in length and 1.5 kms in breadth. Major part is cultivated. A small portion is covered by a small hamlet of houses forming the core of Village. About half of the people live here while the rest live in the houses constructed in their farms.
The land close to river is a sandy loam and highly fertile, but as one goes away from the river it becomes harder and less fertile.
In the center there is a tall fort like structure on which is the Temple of Dada Dhoramnath, The Legendary Saint with whom, the story of the destruction of ancient Nani Rayan is attached (Please see the introduction). Standing on the corridor of the temple one can watch the entire landscape and the river on two sides of the village. This is a very strategic position from where the entire course of river can be visualized. The hamlet of houses is separated from the main land on the western side by a river let or a feeding channel, locally known as kappar. Standing in this kappar you can see, in the cut section, the brick wall structure buried 5 feet beneath the ground level. It is the most easily seen remnant of the buried civilization.
In one of the houses a large storage jar, unearthed from their field, lies broken, once a perfect piece of the marvelous potting work, this backed earth jar was 4 feet tall and 6 feet broad, having 2.5-inch thick walls. It could accommodate 300 kg. of grain. It had a large opening near the bottom from where the grain can be taken out. During the earthquake of Jan 2001, the roof of that room collapsed breaking this wonderful 2000 yrs old specimen.
The area from where the antiquities are found is about 1kms by lkms and is towards the riverside. The entire area has cultivated fields. These fields are strewn with potsherds unearthed during ploughing and other agricultural activities.

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Of the two burial places, one is close to Dhoramnath Temple and other on the southwestern border of village. The first has both ancient and recent burials while the later does not show any recent burials.
During monsoon and immediate post monsoon period the field are filled with lush green crop. While in dry season after the harvest the land is exposed and if you are watchful you may spot some potsherds or khsatrap period coins. The best way, I have found, is to walk behind the plough when the field is being prepared or search in the fields when a tractor is digging trenches for sowing seeds. My friends inform me when any major dig is planned or executed or a large pit or a trench is to be dug. I remain present during these digs and find some small bits of evidence. Thus over a period of two decades, bit-by-bit, I have gathered a rich collection of evidences.
Four deep trenches were dug to lay the pipelines. The first trench was around the temple of Dada Dhoramnath. The second passed thru the entire length of the village. The third trench started from the river and ran parallel to the village. Forth one was a smaller trench passing thru some fields northwest to the village.
These trenches showed me a cross section of the earth below the ground-level. Though this was a partial and a narrow cross section, it revealed a lot of information. It proved that the present village and the fields sit over a civilization buried 2 to 6 feet bellow the level of the ground. There were buried walls, potter's cline, pots and many varieties of potteries heaped together, along with an iron smelting unit and graves with complete human skeletons.
I spent hours walking thru these trenches, collecting specimens, taking measurements and photographing the trench.
The first trench revealed a row of 4 ft tall, large pots severely damaged by the bulldozer. Many fragmented potsherds and a layer of ash were visible. At one place the trench passed thru a cemetery, slicing open a grave. It showed a complete skeleton of a woman. As the opening of the grave was narrow, the structure of the grave or objects inside it could not be studied.
The second and, the largest, trench was 10 ft deep and 3 ft broad passing the entire length of the Nani Rayan. Entering from North-Eastern direction and leaving the village in South-West corner. I recorded many walls of baked earth bricks cemented with mud mortar. At some places, there were heaps of bowls and dishes surrounded by ash indicating that this was where pottery had been baked.
Broken pieces of many different types of potteries damaged by the digging machines could be seen at very small intervals. I was able to collect a few intact specimens. At many places broken pots of about 4 feet in size, could be seen. At one place there was a thick layer of ash and charcoal, and many iron ingots embedded in the ash,
As the trench left the site of Nani Rayan, it again passed thru an abundant graveyard. Here, again, I located two human skeletons 9 feet below the ground. The machine had dug out half of one skeleton while the remaining was hanging out the cross-section of the earth.
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The third and fourth trenches were dug very recently, in the month of June 2007, after the writing of this book was completed. The finds of the third trench were breathtaking. I saw a 13ft broad brick structure just 300 ft away from the present riverbed. Perhaps this was the platform or a wharf of the River Port. About 100 yards from that point, there was another wall and one more after another 30 ft.
In between the platform and the first wall was a pot broken by the bulldozer. Thousands of beads of different varieties were seen scattered on the sand. I collected samples of earth from there and spent hours separating beads from the sand.
They were very typical Harappan beads. (They are discussed in detail in chapter 6). Apart from these beads I also found• Different sized seashell rings beautifully cut with a flower carved at the top of each ring. · Two copper crucibles, a large one and a small one, and a copper hook.
Only interesting find from the fourth trench was that of a large quantity of sulfur powder, with iron ingots.

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Chapter 6
The Antiquities
In this section we will have a look at the antiquities found from the site.
Broadly they can be divided in to
1
2
ORNAMENTS
Beads
Shell bangles
Ornament making die
a
b
C
POTTERY
a Red Ware
b
C
d
Rouletted Ware
Molded ware
g
Roman amphorae
h
Stamped Ware
i
Glazed Ware
j Painted Ware
k
e
Miscellaneous
3 COINS AND SEALS
COINS
a
b
C
d
e
f
Red and Black Ware
Red Polished Ware
a
b
C
d
Khsatrap Coins
Gupta Coins
Gujarat Coins
Coins of Arab Emirs of Sindh
Byzantine Coin
g
h
SEALS
Arab Dinara
Coins of Kutch Rajya
Others
4

5
6
7
Trade Seal
Goblet Seal with writing on three sides g Seal with 6 depressions figure of a bird e and engraving Numerical Seal
HUMAN FIGURINES
Mother Goddess
Human Heads
Ganesh and Shiv Ling
Laughing Buddha
Bronze Figurine
Others
a
b
C
d
e
f
TOYS
a
b
C
METAL OBJECTS
a
b
C
Iron Slag
Net Weights
Silver Ingot Others
DOMESTIC OBJECTS
a Roman Grinding Stone
b
Rotary Quern
Mullers
Pestle Stone
Dabber of Potter
Round Cakes
e
f
g
C
d
TC Bull
Bird Head
Others
e
f
Roman Prototype of Molded Ware
Elephant Figurine
Crucibles Sling Stones
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The Antiquities

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BEADS:
To decorate the body is a very old and almost a universal human tradition. We find many ways of doing this and ornamentation is one of the commonest ways. The use of beads has played a major role not only in ornamentation but also as a method of defining ones social and ritual status. Stone bead making is an oldest specialized craft with its roots extending back to the Paleolithic and Mesolithic stone flaking technologies, around 10,000to 8,000 BC.85
I have found number of beads from the site of Nani Rayan. They are made from different materials like sand stone, semi precious stones, shell and terracotta (Baked earth). They are of many different shapes and sizes. Sand Stone Beads :
It is an unusually large bead having a diameter of 65 mm and thickness of 45mm. There is a central hole of 11mm and one surface has been polished flat while the other is round. It must have been hung with a thick string and tied in the neck of the cattle. An uneven, flat bead, 24mm broad and 13mm thick, having a central hole of 6 mm. It is very crude and unfinished.
A saucer shaped 19mm X 7mm bead with a large 6 mm hole Semi Precious Stone beads:
1 Two circular crude agate beads are bilaterally flattened. One of
them is partially finished 2 A Rectangle, blue colored agate bead 8 by 5 mm. 3 An imperforated highly polished and very finely made agate
bead
4 Unfinished agate bead Terracotta Beads:
A large number and wide variety of TC beads are found. They are from 14mm to 45 mm in diameter and areca nut, flat, circular, bi-conical, ring like and drum (Damaru) like in shape. One bead is of the shape of a pulley, while one is saucer shaped with a large central perforation. Some of them are black in color, some are brown and some are red in color. The larger beads have a comparatively small central perforation (3mm) while the smaller one and flat ones have a large central perforation (7mm)
3
85
Prof.Sonavane, head of the dept.(archeology)MS Uni. Vadodara

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कोवा (गांधीनगर पि.३८२००९
a 2008
ats
Rees
Areca nut beads:
There are both, complete as well as truncated and flat areca nut beads. One of them has an incised line on the belly while some have rather squat shape. They are black, brown, yellow and red in color.
The same Varity of TC beads have been found at the excavations at Dev Ni Mori, Nagara, Somnath and Shamlaji. 86
It was interesting to see the children of this village playing with these ancient beads. They passed a thin firm twig thru the central hole and rotate it like a Gyro. In native dialect this toy is known as Ghiriyo, quite close to gyro both literarily and technically.
Was decoration the only purpose of the TC beads? Some of the beads are finely made with a smooth slip but many others are quite rough and unpolished. I believe they were used as Net Weights. Even today the fishermen attach the same shaped lead balls on the lower strings of their fishing nets. Some of the beads were used to spin wool or cotton. Identical beads have
been exhibited in the Natural History Museum at New York. They have been found from Aztec site in America. (Personal Observation during the visit of this Museum) Shell Beads:
They are tubular, round or drum shaped. All have a central perforation. Their size varies from 14 mm to 5mm. Beads from the pot:
As the beads found from the pot are quite different from the beads recovered earlier and as all of them were in a single vessel I have discussed them separately.
Semi precious stone which abound in a remarkable variety of color & structure were perhaps the most favorite material utilized by the Indian craftsman in the bead industry in the ancient days. It would be no exaggeration to hold that except Egypt no other country shows such an exuberant use of stone bead as India 87
These beads are distinctively Harrapan. Find of this pot full of beads from the trench, the location so close to the River and just 100 yards away from the 13ft long brick platform adds a new dimension and an amount of richness to the artifacts recovered from the site.
86 87
Excavation reports of these sites by Dr R.N. Mehta et. All. S.B. Deo, Deccan College, 2000, Indian Beads a Cultural & Technological Study
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There are different varieties or beads found in the pot :
Black micro-beads cut from cylindrical tubes. 2.5 mm in diameter Dark yellow beads ranging. 2 to 6 mms in diameter. Light-weight white beads. 6mm to 11 mm in diameter. Green, round and rectangular beads of Semi Precious Stone Etched carnelian beads of Semi Precious Stone Long Barrel Cylinder beads of Semi Precious Stone Globular, Spheroidal, and flat wafferlike beads of Semi Precious Stone Red Coral beads Large (52 x 30 x 12) mm cube-shaped dark blue colored Rectangular beads of Semi Precious Stone
The Pot also contained some cut pearls, plenty of red corals, some of them perforated, and about 25 sea shell rings. This could have been a jeweler's pot, ready to be sold or exported.
Long barrel cylinder beads are evidence of the Pre-Sargonic Indus Mesopotamian contact. Such beads have been reported from two sites out side Mesopotamia: Susa and Jalalabad88.
88
Dilip K Chakrabarti?Long Barrel cylinder Beads and the issue of Pre Sargonic contact between Harappan Civilisation and Mesopotamia. Chapter 24, Harappan civilization

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The black micro-beads are believed to be made from steatite paste. This paste is pressed thru a hole, which has a copper wire passing through the center of the hole. The perforated tube is cut at short intervals and micro-beads thus created are later baked at 900 to 1000 degree Centigrade89 Some of the uncut tubes of 5 to 10 mms size were also found from this pot. The only difference in the black beads found at Nani Rayan as compared to those mentioned in the literature is that the former
are not as hard as the latter. It is interesting to note that the importance of wearing ornaments with black beads, Mangalsutra, by married women today has its roots in the Indus Valley culture.
Periplus has mentioned red coral as an important trading component. Hence,the use of red coral in ornamentation seem to be have been carried on from
Harrapan period to the History period. Shell Bangles:
Bangle is the commonest Indian Ornament. Whether rich or poor, the Indian women have adored their hands with bangle for thousands of years. The skeleton of a harrapan woman, unearthed from the grave at Dholavira shows shell bangles over the wrists.
I have found a few Terra Cotta bangles and a good number of shell bangle pieces from the fields of Nani Rayan. It is very clear that the place had a major shell bangle industry. The proximity of the site from the sea and profusion of this kind of the seashells in the area must have been the contributing factors. I have found large shells of Turbenella pyrum Linn 15cm. long and 10cm. in girth from which bangle were cut. I have found many left over pieces of the shells from which bangles were cut. On the lower end of one such piece there are multiple cuts showing that the craftsman has tested the sharpness of his instrument.
Cutting a ring out of the shell and then decorating it with different designs must have been the common technique. It is also likely that the rich wore very finely designed bangle while the poor used the plain rings and both this varieties are found from the fields. Some of the bangles are very finely decorated; the carving is artistic and perfect.
DG
89
K.T.M. Hegde, R.V. Karanth,S.P.Sychanthavong?. On the comosition and technology of Harappan micro Beads. Chapter 21 Harappan Civilisation
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Of all the specimens the most beautiful one is an exquisitely carved peacock on a large, vertically cut piece of a shell. The peacock is surrounded by fine geometrical design. It must have been a piece of an armlet.
Over and above the bangles few other things, made from shell are recovered. Buttons. (10 to 20 mm in size) 3 buttons with four perforations 1 with two and 1 with a single perforation are found. A flat disc (30 mm) and a Cube (25 x 23 x 20 mm) looking like a weight are also found.
The profusion and wide variety of shell bangles found from Nani Rayan is a unique thing. Although shell bangles are found from many sites of Indus valley period down to late history period at no single place such a wide Varity of bangle designs and armlet with a peacock are seen. This speaks of highly well developed shell bangle industry and presence of quality craftsmen Terra Cotta Bangles :
Only two fragments of Terra Cotta bangle were found. Both are black in color and are 7 to 8 mm broad and 5 to 6 mm thick. One has design of interlocked lines while the other has sets of three oblique lines. Ornament making dye :
It is an 85 x 72 x 33mm backed earth brick like structure of red color .A finely and deeply carved impression of pendent is seen in the center. Emerging from one point 5 to 6 lines make a circle and then curve down giving it a beautiful shape. The craft man must be pouring molten metal in this dye to get an ornament. Pottery
Mold Made Ware &Stamped Ware is important pottery indicating the Roman influence. It was found and described by Wheeler in 1945 when he was excavating Arikemedu. Since then it has been found from many sites in India. The metal prototype and pottery were imported from Rome during 4th BC to early part of 1st AD. Later on Indian potters made them locally. They, using the stamp, created a mold. After fixing it, put it on the center of potters' wheel. Wet clay was then thrown inside the mold with the lip added free hand. The pot shrunk as it dried, facilitating its
removal from the mold. Later it was backed.90 Aside from amphora fragments they are major evidence for determining the chronology and the nature of the earliest phase of trade contacts.91
I have found quite a good number of stamped Potsherds from Nani Rayan. They have Floral. Geometrical designs, and Human and Animal figurines. Most of the shreds are red in color some are black and one is red and black.
90 91
MrM.N.Deshpande, From the paper he read at the seminar on Indian Pottery at Patana in 1968 Vimala Begley. Ceramic evidence for pre- periplus trade on Indian coasts Rome and India ancient sea trade

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Two intact moulded ware, both undecorated and third a Bottle with a bulbous body flat base and flaring long neck were also found. The last one is richly decorated with Lotus petals, floral and geometrical designs.
Specimen one is of a shape of a Lota with an outturned rim, flaring wide neck pronounced shoulder and a hemispherical body. It is 75 mm in height and has a wide 115mm neck. The wall is 8mm thick
Specimen two is a deep bowl hemispherical in shape with slightly flaring wide neck and out turned rim. Its ht is 72 mm and neck is 76 mm with wall thickness of 7mm.
The third specimen is a large fragment of a molded bottle, which is 200mms in height. It has lotus petals at the base, a row of large dots (7mm) above the lotus petals followed by leaf and flower pattern followed by two rows of smaller dots (5mm) followed, again, by leaf and flower pattern and a row of large dots. Its wall is 5 to 10 mm.
These three specimens are made from red colored clay and have a fine red slip on the exterior surface.
A strange shaped narrow necked small-mouthed pottery. It is a 110 mm tall and 100 mm broad at the middle portion vessel with a neck of just 30 mm. the wall is 8 mm thick. It has a light cream color. A part of the external surface, discolored, by some fluid stains, appears blackish.
Almost identical wares are found from the sites of Nevasa, Ter, Kondapur, and Kolhapur all in Maharashtra. The stamped potsherds:
I have grouped the potsherds that have human and or animal figurine in one set and having geometrical and floral patterns in another set. Curiously these figurine are not seen in the western Deccan mold made vessels, however they are seen in the pottery excavated from sites in Gujarat namely Nagara, Dev Ni Mori, Somnath and Shamalaji.
1 Depicts a horseman with a spear in his hand hunting an animal looking like an
antelope. There is a floral pattern above. Depicts an elephant with a man standing near its head. An elephant
A Lion like animal and a geometrical design 5 Aman, on elephant back, hunting a lion like animal.
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30
000
6 A Pair of swans
7
An antelope
8
A Peacock
9
10
11
A Warrior, in the sitting posture, with a spear and a shield.
A pair of standing lady and a man (Black pottery)
A Lady sitting in the lap of a Man with a hair do (Jata), can be a depiction of Shiv and Parvati. (Black Pottery)
A woman playing a Harp (sitting) and a standing woman playing a Mridang (an Indian drum like musical instrument) (Black Pottery)

All these potsherds are 7-8mms thick and are well backed having finely levigated clay and a slip. Set two shows geometrical and floral patterns.
Barring a single specimen which is black in color all the other specimens are red colored. They are 7 to 10 mm thick.
The geometrical patterns are squares, triangles, circles, while floral patterns show lotus petals in one specimen and leaves and different flower patterns in others. One potsherd shows a large flower with sunrays emitting from it giving an impression of the sun. This specimen is dark red and has a slip with shining mica particles on both the surfaces. It also has rows of roulette
engraving.
Negatives Stamps or Dyes:
As if to prove that the molded, decorated ware was made by them, locally, the potters have left behind. negatives or stamps with which they stamped the impressions. Two maim patterns are seen. Cylindrical shaped dyes and Flat or Concave dyes.
Cylindrical Dyes: I have 4 specimens of CD
A A complete, flat cylinder.(39 by 43 mm), with floral patterns. It has depressions on the top and bottom of the cylinder to hold and rotate it between middle finger and thumb
B A complete, bi-conical Cylinder (30 by 42mm), with a design showing small flowers. Here too there are depressions on top and bottom.
C and D Fragments of cylinders with large floral design.
Cylindrical Dye Metropolitan Museum, NY

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Flat and Concave Dyes:
They are much thicker then the potsherds (12 to 18 mm). They have deeply grooved designs. Most of them have floral and geometrical patterns. Rouletted Ware.(RW):
Studies pertaining to cultural interactions between south Asia and the Hellenistic and Roman world have drawn a considerable attention. One of the Major artifact types that represent such contact is RW. This pottery was first identified by wheeler in 1945 excavation at Arikmedu on the Coromandal Coast of South India. 92
The RW is yet another important evidence of Roman influence. It is usually wheel thrown slipped and has lustrous surfaces, which are either brown and black or red and gray in color. The rouletted ware is found on the southeastern coast and inland sites in Tamil Nadu.93 They have not been found during the excavation of Nagara, Dev Ni Mori, Somnath and Shamalaji sites all of which had strong evidences of roman influence. Thus the find of RW at the site of Nani Rayan is quite a surprising thing.
My RW specimens are 5mms thick. They have a lustrous black surface and over and above the rouletted design it has linear and circular incised design. The internal surface is black in all specimens except one, in which it is red. Black Ware:
Few sherds of dark black color are found.
A sherd, piece of a small pot having out turned lip, 5 mm at the lower part thickening towards the lip(10mm). It has two rows (20mm apart) of two incised lines.
A sherd, a piece of a bowl (10mm). Here too there are rows of incised lines.
Fragment of a lid 12mm.
The lower part (Base) of a dish on stand (13 mm thick) with a broken stem, with small flower petal design
An Incense burner. This beautiful specimen is very slick, 4 to 5 mm thick. with very fine fiber and a smooth black slip.
6 spouts or Sprinklers, Two of them are small spouts made from sandy clay while the rest are made from finely levigated clay are cylindrical with a black slip. (They are discussed in greater details in the section of Spouted vessels).
92
93
K Krishnan and R.A.E.Coningham. Micro structural analysis of samples of rouletted ware...from Anuradhapura, Shri Lanka. Soth Asian Archeology, 1995 Vimala Begley Ceramic Evidence of Pre-Periplus trade on the Indian Coasts. Rome and India ancient sea trade
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Roman Amphora:
This well levigated light cream-colored ware is the well known Roman import in India. They had a black incrustation on the inner part. This was examined chemically. It represents resinous substance formed as a result of sedimentation from the liquid that was stored in that pot. The analysis also showed that these resins are probably sedimentation of wine that was brought in large quantities in such amphorae. This pottery has been found from many sites in Gujarat.94
I have found sherds of roman amphorae from my site. Barring one sherd, the bottom of an amphora, which is red and has a fine red slip on the external surface, all other sherds are light cream-colored. The red sherd does not have black crust on the inner surface but all the cream colored amphorae have it.
The two concave sherds the part of the wall of the vessel are 14 and 16 mms thick respectively.
A handle 39mms by 24mms by 120 mms has the same fiber and color as that of the other cream colored fragments is also recovered.
The cream-colored bottom portion of amphora, a 76 mms beak like straight projection has 15 mms thick wall. It too has black sedimentation on the inner surface. Spouted Vessels:
The Spouted vessels have been reported from Tape Gawra, Susa, Giyan, Hissar Sialk and other Mesopotamian sites in earlier context then Indian Sites. They are dated in the Late Uruk age, which
according to Prof. Childe falls in 3200BC. But the Indian sites yielding Spouted Vessels do not go earlier then 2000BC. Thus there is a gap of almost 1000yrs. They were introduced during the upper Neolithic age in India. They were used for religious or ritualistic purpose. Making of Spouted vessel dose not end in Neolithic age. They have been found in the 6th Cent.BC context at Rajgir, from a rubbish pit belonging to Sunga kushan period at Chandreketughar and from potteries of 6th to gth
cent. AD at Rajghat.95 The spouts are recovered from excavations of Nagra, Dev Ni Mori, Somnath, Shamlaji.
I have found many spouts of different shapes sizes and colors from my site.
An almost half fragment of a spouted vessel 71 mm long and 41 mm tall with a small 10 mm long spout of red colored sandy clay.
A wide mouthed with 22mm internal diameter Red Polished Ware spout 66mm on lower side and 42mm on upper side
A fragment of a small mouthed (5 mm) long (50 mm) cylindrical spout of RPW.
4 black colored spouts 3 red spouts 3 sandy clay spouts.
94 95
Excavation report of Dr. R.N. Mehta et all RC Prasad Sing and references there in, spouted vessels in India.

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Dish-on-Stand:
The Dish-on-Stand is a characteristic, if not diagnostic, harrapan form. As S Piggott has observed, "The presence of sherds of this type of vessels on a site marks the presence of harrapan civilization as surely as 'Samian' pottery betokens Roman occupation in Europe".S
The occurrence of the dish-on-stand in the post harrapan chalcolithic culture of Rangpur, Ahar and Navadatoli conflict with the characterization the type as harrapan All these sites are very late in date and could be that these vessels result from direct contact with the displaced roving Harrapan potters or they may be due to stimulus diffusion or culture contact.97
The tradition of stand bases to the dish and bowls is a very ancient in India and Abroad.. This feature is seen in Egypt, Elam, Crete, Anau Early European sites etc. In Palestine, the stand appears in the 4th millennium BC. In Egypt it continues in the first dynastic period and in Greek pottery the dish with hi stem belongs to the 7th cent BC. What was the purpose of these vessels? Were they used for ritualistic purpose or were they used by shop keepers to display their goods or used in the houses for keeping flowers or were used as a fruit stand? Many scholars have suggested different purposes for the dish-on-stand and each have put forwards the arguments in the favor of their claims.98
The find of this pottery from Nani Rayan takes the site back to harrapan or at least Chalcolithic period. I have fond more then a dozen fragments of them from my site.
33
The fragment specimens of both dish-on-stand and bowl-on-stand are found. They are chiefly red in color. However one specimen is made of black colored clay. In one specimen the stem is distinct by very fine red slip so is a base of a bowl on stand. One bowl stand is of a kaolin color.
Red ware:
Red Ware is a very common vessel pattern of Maurya and Gupta period. There are many different kinds of vessels for routine domestic purposes. They include Lamps (Kodiya), Small and large bowls, Lids, pots of various sizes and shapes. They are found from various sites of that period.99
1
My site has revealed plenty of Red Ware. The pottery is having a fine fiber it dose not have a slip. Different verities of Lamps, Bowls, Lids, and Pots are found.
The Bowls:
96 B.P.Sinha. Chapter 12 Harrapan civilization. B.P.Sinha. Chapter 12 Harrapan civilization. Dish-on-standby Madan Mohan Sing.
97
98
99
Dr.R.N.Mehta. Page no, 320 Guj. no Rajkiy Itihas. Vol .II

Large bowls have a diameter of 165 mm and are 75 mm deep with out turned wall (8mm thick)
Small Bowls are 90 mm in diameter and 30 mm deep with wall thickness of 5mm.

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The Lids :
Large lids have a diameter of 158 mm and exactly fit over the large bowl. At the center there is a hemispherical knob. There are two verities of lids. Lamp or Kodiya :
92 x 76 x 30 mm with a wall of 5mm lamps are found.
A thick walled (16 mms) vessel fragment (the lover half 230 by 135 with a pear shape belly. Large Pot or a Storage Jar (Kothi) :
This is the largest jar I have in my collection. It is one of the seven jars buried under the earth. The farmer noticed it when his plough hit its rim, slightly damaging it. It was unearthed very carefully and the complete specimen of the finest potting works of our ancient potter was recovered. The red colored jar has a height of 85 cms and its circumference at the belly is 217 cms (diameter at the belly 70 cm) while at the neck the circumference is 62 cms. The wall thickness is 2.6 cms. At the bottom the potter has created a coconut like elevation, which will fit in the hole in floor. How clever the potter must be to create and
bake to perfection, such a large piece of pottery that stood the test of time. Small Pot or a storage jar (Kothi) :
An egg shaped and a red colored storage jar was noticed while the field was being cultivated. It was about 2 ft below the ground level. Its ht is 60 cm. circumference at the belly is 135 cm. and at neck it is 47 cm. Its walls are 1.5 cm. thick.
Barring a small damage at the rim both the above-mentioned specimens are complete and intact.
I have tried to highlight only few pots and potsherds from my collection of the Red Ware
But one thing is quite definite and that is the Red Ware is the commonest form of pottery found from Nani Rayan. Next in the list of profusion is the Stamped Ware. Bricks :
Two different types of bricks are found. Those found from the Kappar area are larger with the dimension of 40 x 30.7 x 7 cm.
Those found from the trench for laying the water line are smaller in size. Their dimension is 27 x 24 x 6.5 cm At both the places the bricks were nicely backed and were red in color. They were cemented with mud mortar.
As the bricks were arranged horizontally on their thickness, the wall was

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respectively, 40cm and 27cm thick. At kappar the wall is about 6 ft below the ground level while in trenches the walls were 4 ft below the ground level. This difference is possibly due to the fact that the Kappar region is at a higher level. Toys Or Animal figurine :
More then a dozen Animal figurines are found. A bull with a large hump, 65 x 55 x 27mm. A bull with small hump (fragment) 35 x 34 x 27 mm. An Elephant. 40 x 39 x 20 mm. An unidentified animal probably a lion...46 x 46 x 25 mm. A large (90mm.) conical fragment with two depressions indicating eyes, possibly a bird's head. Monkey, a fragment. 57 x 40 x 30mm. 27 x 24 x 15 mm. An unidentified animal...30 x 25 x 14 mm. An Antelope Head a fragment...50 x 30 x 20 mm. A Rat...53 x 30 x 20 mm. A small bird head...35 x 34 x 24 mm. An unidentified animal. A fragment... 42 x 42 x 16 mm.
4 fragments of body of some animal, possibly horse. Metal Objects: Metal Prototype of Molded Ware:
This small (42 mm in ht and 51 mm in diameter at the belly) bronze pot has exquisite design of lotus petals on both upper and lower segment separated by a row of round dots, these dots are sandwiched in two lines. There are two round almost circular handles at the rim. Such metal prototype is believed to have come to India in the third century BC from Rome.100 I have seen the identically designed marble exhibit of 4th century BC known as Marble Funeray Loatrophoros from Greece
at The Metropolitan Museum at New York. A bronze structure with an elephant :
It is a small (51mm long and 5mm thick) stick like object of bronze. It has a Statue of an African Elephant at the top. The shaft has 4 horizontal groves at a distance of 5 mms each. Underneath the last grove the shaft is 15 mm in length. Thus the shaft is divided in 4 parts three parts of 5mm and one of 15mm. The other side of the shaft has a semicircular rim towards the lower end. This strange object can either be a measure or can be a key of some lock.
100 Vimla Bagely Introduction Rome and India Anciant sea trade
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Human Figurine :
1 A man in bronze: The 51 mm tall figure of a man with a sword in the right hand. He has a turban like head gear large round eyes and large round ears. He seems to have mustaches and a beaded and a plain necklace like ornament in the neck with armlet in the right arm.
There is an arch above the man and a flower like thing at the top.
A bronze statue (80 x 35 x 15mm) of a man knelling in prostration, and has a snake hood over his
head. There is a crown like headgear. The long ears with earrings and a necklace in the neck are striking features.
The statue sits over a tube like structure (85mms long tube with a diameter of 30 mm), The tube, on its distal end, has a Demon head with horns.
The entire getup of the sculpture is quite aesthetic and beautiful. There is a serene look on the face of the prostrating ruler. Assorted Metal Objects : 1 A lead ingot. It is a strange horn shaped piece of lead it is very difficult to say the purpose of this
piece. 2 Bronze Rings. They are very crude to be an ornamental ring Bronze Earring (fragment)
Lead net weight. A 45 mms by 35 mms lead cylinder with a central hole of 10mm diameter. It weighs 480 grams. It must be used to keep the line or net in the water.
Iron Slag. Other human Figurines and Religious Motifs :
The site has reveled human figurines of Terracotta, Stone and Porcelain. The Terracotta Figurines :
The concept and art of making terracotta human figurine seem to have originated from Kuli and Zob civilization. Many terracotta figurines are found from Indus valley sites. This art has been carried forwards in the epoch that followed Clay work was the easiest way for the people to express their artistic sense. These figurines were used chiefly for ritualistic or religious purpose or for decorating the house or as a toy.101
The study of Indian terracotta figurine revel two basic patterns. 1. An elementary form and workmen ship 2 Pattern of growth and improvement in the craftsmen ship with the passage of time. Curiously one finds both these forms coexisting. That might be due to the reason that while some craftsmen adopted to change some carried forward the older pattern. 102 101 Dr.Priyabalaben Shah. Ancient Indian Culture and Architecture 102 Dr.Priyabalaben Shah. Ancient Indian Culture and Architecture

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2
I have found some very interesting terracotta figurines from the site of Nani Rayan. There are both elementary forms and highly evolved artistic sculptures. 1 A human figure (75 x 35 x 20 mm) with broken hands and legs. It has a strange flat shape with
only two small hole-indicating eyes. A Big bellied figure with a waistband the head and upper part of body and a part of the lower
limbs is missing Both these figurine belong to the elementary form. 1 A lovely female Head. (51 x 44 x 26 mm) It is red colored with fine red slip the
lady has a large forehead and has long Pendants in her ears. Dr Sonavane. (Head of the dept of field Archeology Ms University) has identified this as a Kushan Sculpture.
(A Personal Communication) 2 A female head. (31 x 22 x 26 mm). It is a red sculpture with curly hair, Slit like
eyes, and broad nose. It appears to be a Negro woman. The bottom of the sculpture is flattened. I have found five sculptures where the bottom is flat four of them are made of stone and this one just described is terracotta. Dr Sonavane believes that they can possibly be the pawns of chess.
A god figure (41 x 26 x 16 mm) A red colored statue with a large belly long ears and a conical headgear. 4 Fragment of a head (45 x 30 x 15 mm) It is a relief sculpture, red in color with a four
tired crown, large round eyes.
A red colored statue of a round faced Chinese man. It appears like the statue of smiling Buddha. It is 37 x 27 x 20 mm in size.
Torso of a man.(82 x 40 x 35 mm) This is a robust red colored sculpture
fragment. Although the head left hand and lower part of the body is missing it still looks grand. There are two rows of ornaments in the neck; the upper one looks like a chain
while the lower one appears like a necklace Stone Sculptures: Flat-bottomed Heads:
I have found three human heads in stone where the bottom of the sculpture is flat. All the three are having a different style and distinct workmen ship. A A Shivling like Shape (30 x 22 mm).A feminine face with earrings is carved on
one surface of the cylinder.
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B A head (25 x 20 mm) with curly hair, dot like eyes and a depression indicating the mouth.
A Feminine head (25 x 20 x 15 mm) dorsoventrally compressed with ear rings round eyes and slit like mouth. Flat Bottomed Figure of a standing man, It is very crude and a strange looking sculpture. Made
of black stone of the size of 40 x 21 x 12 mm. Lajja Gauri :
The genesis of worship of the mother goddess can be traced to the hoary past. In wide perspective of time and space, right from upper Paleolithic period she has been represented both by iconic and an iconic forms focusing on divergent trends of her manifestation. The one in which she is shown nude with emphasized pudenda and breasts is known as lajja gauri. In this form of the sculpture the posture is highly flexed, the torso bears well developed breasts and the legs stretched apart so as to display the pudenda prominently. It may or may not have a head. This peculiar form began to appear from second cent. BC to twelfth/thirtieth
cent AD.105
I have found three sculptures of Lajja gauri from my site. It is a relif sculpture in black stone of 80 x 75 mm sized square 10 mm plate. The mother goddess holds a lotus flower in her right hand, the left hand too holds some thing but it is not visible as the sculpture is damaged at the left upper and lower corner. A vague figure of some bird or animal is seen sitting close to the left knee. This Lajja Gauri is similar to others found from different sites in Gujarat. A Black Stone head of Lajja Gauri.(33 x 25 x12 mm) with a turban like head gear, large eyes. Red stone sculpture of Lajja Gauri. (41 x 46 x12 mm) Again with the similar turban like headgear and large eyes she holds an object in her left hand. The lower half of the sculpture is missing. This is a relif sculpture.(41 x 46 x 12 mm).
Green colored stone relif sculpture showing two persons. 5 Ganesh statue of sand stone(52 x 37 x 24 mm). It is a relif sculpture.
Porcelain Sculptures: Three porcelain human figures are found. All the three have marked western influence and dressing style.
103 Indian Archeology 1970-71 A Review 104 Dr. V.H. Sonavne, monogram on lajja gauri 105 Dr. V.H.Sonavane, monogram on lajja gauri

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COINS:
I have found number of coins from my site. The earliest being the first century Coin of Nahapan khshatrap. I am highly indebted to Dr Dilip Rajgor for his help in identifying the coins the following is the list of coins identified by him. Over and above these coins I have fond two most interesting coins, the first is a Byzantine coin of king Constantine and an Arab Dinara of Baghdad. (Both the coins were identified by Resp.Dr Parmeshwarilal Gupta.) The brief description of these coins follows. Table - 1
Image No.
Dynasty
Ruler
Period
Details
Western Kshatrapas
Nahapana
1st Century AD
Karshapana of silver with thunder-bolt type
Bhatrudaman
4th Century AD
Western Kshatrapas
Guptas
Skandagupta
AD 455-478
Fire Altar type, minted in Kutch
Guptas
Skandagupta
AD 455-478
Fire Altar type, minted in Kutch
Rudrasena III
Western Kshatrapas
Saka 270-300; AD 315-378
Dated Saka 28(x)
Early Medieval Not Known Gujarat
7th-8th centuries AD
Goddess on obverse and a seated Goddess on reverse; uninscribed
Guptas
Skandagupta
AD 455-478
Fire Altar type, minted in Kutch
Arab Governors ? of Sind
10th-11th Centuries Ad
Legend in Kufic; very common of Sind & Kutch
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Legend in Kufic
Sultans of Ghazni
Guptas
Skandagupta
AD 455-478
Fire Altar type, minted in Kutch
Guptas
Skandagupta
AD 455-478
Fire Altar type, minted in Kutch
Early Medieval Not Known Gujarat
7th-8th centuries AD
Crude types on both the sides
Early Medieval Not Known Gujarat
7th-8th centuries AD
Crude types on both the sides
Early Medieval Not Known Gujarat
7th-8th centuries AD
Crude types on both the sides
Guptas
Skandagupta
AD 455-478
Fire Altar type, minted in Kutch, very crude type of later date
Early Medieval Not Known Gujarat
7th-8th centuries AD
Crude types on both the sides
Guptas
Kumaragu-
AD 414-455
pta I
Garuda type, local issues of Saurashtra-Kutch; Later issue
Not Known
Early Medieval Gujarat
7th-8th centuries AD
Crude types on both the sides

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Not Known
Medieval Gujarat
10th-11th Centuries AD
Letters like "Sri" in early Devanagari script
Not Known
Medieval Gujarat
10th-11th Centuries AD
Letters like "Sri” in early Devanagari script
Not Known
Medieval Gujarat
10th-11th Centuries AD
Guptas
Skandagupta
AD 455-478
Fire Altar type, minted in Kutch, very crude type of later date
Guptas
Skandagupta
AD 455-478
Fire Altar type, minted in Kutch, very crude type of later date
Guptas
Skandagupta
AD 455-478
Fire Altar type, minted in Kutch, very crude type of later date
Late Byzantine Coin :
The eastern part of the Roman Empire was known as Byzantine. It existed more or less as a separate entity from the end of the fourth century AD, when the western part of the empire had already collapsed. Its early coins were coming to India through trade and they are occasionally found in South India, though not much is published about them.106 Later Byzantine coins are not reported so far from any part of India. Here for the first time a Solidus of Heraclius (AD 610-41) is being reported. Gold; Diam. 1.2 cm; wt. 3.0 gm. Oby : Heraclius in centre holding cross-standard in the right hand; his elder son Heraclius
Constantine holding cross-standard to the right; his younger son Heraclonus holding cross
standard on the left. Rev : Cross potent on the pedestral of three steps; officina letter on either side; below CONOB
(standard for the mint-name Constantinople); circular legend on three sides VICTORIA AVGEE.
106
To the best of my knowledge, only two articles have been published so far : R.A.G. Carson "Late Roman and Early Solidi from India", ND, 4, pt. 2, pp. 20-23: P.L. Gupta, "Early Byzantine Solidi from Karnataka", Ibid, 8, pp. 37-43
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The coins of Heraclius fall into three groups: (i) Heraclius as sole ruler (AD610-13); (ii) with his son Heraclius Constantine (AD 613-38); (iii) these two together with the younger son Heraclonus (AD 638 onwards). The present coin belongs to the third group.
During the period of Heraclius, Byzantine Empire saw the beginning of its decline. It had to face the rising power of Islam. Muwaiya, the Governor of Syria, after the murder of the fourth chief Khalifa Ali, took the power of Islam in his hands and established the dynasty of the Umaiyyad Khalifas at Damascus in AH 68 (AD 688). The Umaiyyads adopted and adapted the Byzantine and Sassanian administration. They continued the existing currencies of these dynasties for some time. They used the above Byzantine gold Solidus, which was then dominating the trade of Levant and Europe. Umaiyyad Dinâra :
The Umaiyyad Khalifa, Abdul Malik, in or about AH 77-79 (AD 697-99), laid the foundation of an independent tradition for the Islamic coins. The new currency consisted of gold dinâra, which was modeled
BE metrologically on the Byzantine Solidus with the weight of 4.3 grams. They had the verses from the Quran on both sides in the central areas and also on the margin of one side. The marginal legend on the other side had the date in the Arabic words, which had the beginning with the word Bismillah (in the name of Allah).
Gold; Diam. 1.15 cm; wt. 4.0 gm. Oby : In centre
Allah Ahad Allah as samad lam yalid wa lam yulad (Allah is one. Allah is the eternal. He did not beget and he was not begotten). This is a part of Sura 112 of the Qurân. In margin Bismillah zuriba haza al-dinâra fi sanat (sana) sa ba wa tisin.
(In the name of God (the coin is) struck in the AH 97 (AD 716).) Rev : In the central area
La Ilah illa Allah wahdahu La Sharika lahu (There is no God except Allah.) He is alone. (There is no partner to him.) This is only the first part of the Kalima. In the margin Mahammed Rasul Allah arsalahu bilhuda wa din el-haqq li-yuzhirahu Ala-Aldin Kallihi) (Muhammad is the messenger of God. He sent him with the guidance and a religion of truth in order that he might cause it to (be brought over the already existing religion). This is a part of the verse 33 of the Sura 9.)

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The coin does not bear the mint name but it was minted at capital town in the year AH 97 (AD 716) which is given in the obverse margin and indicates that it was issued during the time of Khalifa Sulaiman. Seals:
I have found four baked earth seals from Nani Rayan. 1 A numerical seal: It is a 43 x 25 x 8 mms sized, rectangular, biscuit
like piece of baked earth. It's surface has 10 vertical lines inscribed over it, presumably done before it was baked. This is known as numerical representation. When written numbers were not discovered people used to communicate numbers in this form. Mr. Denise Schmandt-Bessert, in his article, "Accounting with Tokens in the ancient near East, has mentioned "Small clay tokens of multiple
shapes are found in Near Eastern Sites of 8000-3000BC constitute the earliest evidence for accounting". These kind of seals are at display in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Numerical Seal displayed in The Metropolitan Museum
of Art in New York City
Red, circular cake or 37 x10 mms. There is a Trishul (Tridant of Shiv) on the upper left corner and two Brhami letters on its right. A reverse Swastik sign is on the lower right corner below the letters. Dr Parmeshwarilal Gupta, The director of The Indian institute of research in Numismatic studies, had studied this seal. He believed that both the symbols are auspicious symbols and may be the trade mark of the owner. The letters are the sounds "LA"and “BRA"or“ BRU". A faint horizontal line cutting the vertical line below BA can make this letter BKA. In any case they appear to be the initials of the two parts of the name.
A yellow goblet of Spherical shape (24 x20 mm). There are three small depressions on the three surfaces of the seal and in each depression there are Brahmi letters. They have not been deciphered, yet.
A semi convex circular structure(28-10 mm) There are six deep depressions on the convex surfce. Five of depressions make a sort of a circle enclosing the sixth in the center. In every depression there are faint symbols and Brahmi script. Only in one depression the symbol is clearly visible. It shows a large legged bustard like bird. An owl can be seen sitting on the tail of that bird. Some Brahmi letters are seen at the edges. These letters, too, are not deciphered nor is its significance known.
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DOMESTIC AND OTHER OBJECTS 1. Roman Grinding Stone:
36 x36x70cm with 5.7 cm thick wall. This specimen is the upper half of a typical Roman grinding stone. Similar grinding stone are found from Roman excavations. It is a bi-conical (Hour Glass shape) structure made from black granite stone. The bilateral
projections accommodate the batons, fixed with a screw, fitted in the holes in the projections. This bi-conical structure sits over an oval stone. To grind, the grain is poured from the upper cone and two men rotate the stone. (Please see the picture) 2. Rotary Quern: Two wheels upper and lower with 36cm diameter and 8cm and 6cm Thickness respectively. This Quern has two wheels. The upper half has a central hole (9cm) that accommodates the conical projection of the lower half. Similar querns were found from the excavations of other history period sites in Gujarat. This quern is made from black granite stone.
3. Mullers and Pestle stones: 28x17x8
I have found two Muller and a couple pestle stone. The one shown in the picture is smaller one. 4. Dabber of Potter. The potter uses this Terracotta structure. After the pot is created on the wheel, this dabber is kept on the inner side and the pot is taped softly from outside. This enlarges the pot, which is then backed. I have found different sized dabbers indicating that potters must be making different sized vessels. 5. Sling stones: The sling stones are of varying sizes having diameters of 2cm to 6.7cm. The larger ones must be requiring mechanical catapult.

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Chapter 7
Comparative study of the other sites
Number of sites, belonging to the history period, has been studied. A few of them are in Gujarat, some in Maharashtra and some in South India.
While working on this research I studied the work done at these sites, and tried to compare my finds with the artifacts found from there. In this chapter we will briefly go through finds from these sites and compare them with the antiquities found from Nani Rayan. The sites in Gujarat: 1 Devnimori (Excavation conducted from 1960 to 1963) 2 Somnath (Excavation conducted in 1956)
Shamalaji (Excavation conducted in 1962)
Nagara (Excavation conducted in 1963) 5 The fields around the Buddhist caves of Siot. The sites in Maharashtra:
Nasik
4
Paithan
Nevasa Ter Kondapur
Kolhapur The sites in Pondichery & Tamilnadu: Site of Arikamedu (On the Coromandel Coast near Pondichery) The Coastal Sites in Tamil Nadu.
Arikamedu, on the coromandel coast near Pondichery, is the Indian site at which the largest concentration of Mediterranean amphorae has so far been found The pioneering work by Sir Mortimer Wheeler and his Indian colleagues in 1945, The French Excavations in 1943 1944 and 1947 and recently Indian American excavations which commenced in 1989-1990 have found ample evidence that Arikmedu was just one of the several centers importing Mediterranean products along the south east coast of India, 108 The comparable finds are of roullated ware and Roman amphorae. Sites in Gujarat: Dev Ni Mori:
The excavations and explorations at Dev Ni Mori had shown that this valley was occupied from the prehistoric period and the occupation continued with occasional break ups to the present 109
108 Elizabeth L. Will. The Mediterranean shipping amphorae from Arikamedu 109 A Report on Excavation at Dev Ni Mori by Dr. R.N.Mehta and Dr.S.N.Chaudhari published by Dept of
archeology M.S Uni Vadodara
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It was a Buddhist settlement with Buddhist Stup and Vihar and many other relics of the Buddhist settlement. The artistic tendencies reveled here belong to the late khshatrap period and might be a collateral development in Western India where elements of Gandhar as well as Mathura art of Kushans were well known. 110
1
2
3
4
5
6
The iron smelting was undertaken at this site in the early century of the Christian era.
These are the antiquities, which are similar to those found at Nani Rayan.
Plain Red ware
Stamped Ware and Negatives
Red Polished ware
Black arretine type
Terracotta Beads and Balls
Semiprecious stone beads
Mouths and Spouts
Animal figurines
Stone objects
7
8
9
10 Rotary quern (Ghanti)
11
Coins (Kshatrap: Maitrak:Indo Sassanian)111
Many of these objects bear such gross resemblance to my finds that they seem to have originated from an identical period having cultural similarities.
Somnath:
The excavation at Somnath (Prabhas) suggests a continuous habitation from the Chalcolithic period down to the early historic period and even medieval period with some gaps.
The dish on stand of Chalcolithic period, red polished ware from the history period, the shell bangles with different designs and having varying degree of antiquity, terracotta beads, beads of agate, and shell beads, stone objects like mullers and large stone balls and coins from kshatrap and gupta period bear a close resemblance to the similar objects found from Nani Rayan.
Out of many types of pottery obtained from here at least the amphorae is a foreign import, which again is similar to those, found from Nani Rayan site. 112
110 A Report on Excavation at Dev Ni Mori by Dr. R.N.Mehta and Dr.S.N.Chaudhari published by Dept of archeology M.S Uni. Vadodara
111 A Report on Excavation at Dev Ni Mori by Dr. R.N.Mehta and Dr.S.N.Chaudhari published by Dept of archeology M.S Uni. Vadodara
112 excavation report of Somnath by DR. R.N.Mehta. And Dr.S.N.Choudhari. Published by M.S.University.

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Shamalaji:
From all the available evidence it seems that Shamlaji was occupied in the iron using and smelting stage around the beginning of the Christian era.
The river Mehavo helped the traditional traders who moved along the banks and reached the interior from the ports of Arabian Sea.
This habitation was fortified in the first cent.A.D. Kshatrap ruler Bhumak or Nahapan might have been responsible in getting this fort constructed.
Here too, many objects were recovered akin to those found at Nani Rayan.
The most striking is the similarity of designs on the embossed finger tipped and red ware at Shamalaji and the molded stamped ware found at Nani Rayan. The figures of elephant, swans, deer, flowers and dots closely resemble their counterparts. Incense burner, spouts bowls and other verities of red ware, too have been found from both this sites.
Similarly the terracotta beads, human and animal figures circular disc, sand stone objects like pastel stone with round section, a sand stone ball shell bangles found at both this sites are identical.113 Nagara:
The excavation at Nagara, reveal the earliest habitation by iron using people between 5th and 6th Cent. B.C. During the early centuries of the Christian era, this village began to expand due to growing commercial interest. This is evident by the find of objects from the Roman world as well as from central Asia. The find of numerous shell and ivory objects of excellent quality add to this thinking. 114
Ofa large variety of pottery found at Nagara the Plain Red Ware, Red Polished Ware, Amphorae and decorated ware have commonness with the similar pottery found at Nani Rayan. The same goes true with the other objects such as beads. Wheels, animal and human figurines, the lower part of a broken statue showing the legs of a deity, shell bangles, stone objects like mullers, marbles and pastel stones. The Seals with Brhami inscription have been found from both the sites. Siot:
This site has been discussed in detail in Chapter three “A Birds Eye View of Different Sites in Kutch. Sites in Maharashtra:
Aside from amphora fragments, the major evidence for determining the chronology and nature of the earliest phase of trade contact is certain Indian ceramic types: specifically, the Mold made ware found in the interior of the upper western, or Gujarat Maharashtra coast.115
113 114 115
excavation at Shamalaji by Dr. R.N.Mehta and Shri A.J.Patel published by M.S.University Vadodara. Excavation report at Nagara Dr R.N.Mehta Vimla Begley, Ceramic Evidences of pre-periplus trade on Indian coast.
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At the sites of Nevasa, Ter, Kondapur, and Kolhapur in the western Deccan, a fine red mould made ware with relif decoration has been recovered from archeological excavations and has been collected from the surface by the local residents. 116
The best documented site is Nevasa, where only small fragments, described as Megarian ware discovered in the excavation of H.D.Sankalia in 1954-55. While at other three sites complete or almost complete, vessels have been found reveling the shapes of the pottery, their sizes technique manufacture, and the scheme of decoration. 117
The most common basic shape is Lota or Cup both decorated as well as without decoration, second shape is a bowl deep or shallow, the third is a deep cup with two pronounced bulges, and the fourth is a bottle with a bulbous body flat base and flaring long neck.
The motifs are floral and geometric, never figurative. The border motifs have beads, ovals, beads and reels, cable, chevron, rossets etc. The long petals, lotus corolla patterns, series of horizontal floral or geometrical bands are the common forms used for decoration. 118
If we compare the decorated ware found in profusion at Nani Rayan there are striking similarities, in shapes and decorations. The Lota (Cup) shaped vessels at Nani Rayan are of decorated and plain type. They are almost same in size as well as shape. They are made using a single mold. Many have floral and geometric designs and lotus corolla pattern. An almost complete bottle shaped vessel with a bulbous body flat base and flaring long neck has been found from Nani Rayan with the same pattern as that found from kondapur. However the specimens at Kondapur appear much crude as compared to those found from Nani Rayan.
116 Vimla Begley, Ceramic Evidences of pre-periplus trade on Indian coast. 117 Vimla Begley, Ceramic Evidences of pre-periplus trade on Indian coast. 118 Vimla Begley, Ceramic Evidences of pre-periplus trade on Indian coast.

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Chapter 8
Discussion
The inquisitiveness is a basic character of the entire animal kingdom and of all the animals human has the most inquisitive character, he has exploited it to the extreme levels. That is one of the major contributing factors for the phenomenal growth and development of our species. Archeological explorations and studies are the result of this basic human nature. The same spirit of inquiry initiated and sustained my research at Nani Rayan.
How old is archeology? As old as man kind! Man has tried to explore his past in different ways. The first state sponsored archeological exploration in Gujarat, took place in the period of Maharaja Kumarpal. A rare statue of Lord Mahavir, created during his lifetime, was unearthed. The entire excavation is narrated by Muni Hemchandracharya. The science of archeology, too, has grown with the times.
The finds at the site of Nani Rayan have been surface finds or accidental finds while the earth was being dug for some reason, i.e. planned excavation has not been conducted.
However, this does not undermine the importance of this site.
Yes one can not chronologically determine the age of civilization but then the profusion of artifacts and their similarity with the finds at the confirmed sites do convey, although roughly, the periods of human dwelling.
The study of the trench dug for laying the pipeline shows number of walls, potters cline, iron smelting foundry, buried 4 ft below the ground level. This indicates the presence of a buried civilization, an iceberg, whose tip is what we see as the surface finds.
All these collectively tell an interesting story and answers many questions like: 1 Since when was this site occupied? 2 Who were the people? 3 What did they do? 4 What was their religious and cultural background? 5 Whether they had any trade contacts with the outer world and the other parts of India? 6 What was imported and exported? 7 Does this site fit in to the chain of the events of the history and what is its importance?
8 What buried this site 4 feet below the present ground level? 1. Since when was this site occupied ?
The earliest antiquities are Dish on stand and Etched carneliun, Long Barrel cylinder, and steatite beads.
The above mentioned beads found from the pot are typical harappan antiquity. They have been found from almost all major harappan sites. They are important evidence of trade and cultural exchange of Harappan people with Mesopotamia. Although a typical Indus seal is not found one can safely date this site back to Indus Valley period.
119 Parva X of Tri Shrusti Shalaka writen by Muni Hemchandracharya
Discussion

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100
The site shows signs of inhabitation again from fourth Century BC. The rouletted ware and the Roman prototype in bronze are indicative of this. The profusion of red ware, roman amphorae, moulded ware, red polished ware, Roman grinding stone and grinding stone with the pivot created from the lower half and the head sculpture of a lady of Kushan period prove the inhabitation during early history period and trickling down to Khsatrap and Gupta period.
The earliest coin evidence is the coin of Nahapan Kshatrap. Although experts differ on the exact date of this coin, it is believed to be of 32 to 78 AD. We have seen in chapter II, a large number of Khsatrap stone engravings (12 out of 20) are found from Kutch. It is believed that Kshatraps entered thru and had their administrative head quarter in Kutch. So the find of the coin of Nahapan from Nani Rayan is important evidence. Gupta coins (later part of the fourth cent AD) too are important from the point that civilization thrived during Gupta period and this site was either under Gupta rule or had trade links with the areas under this dynasty. The Byzantine coin of late 6th cent and the Arab Dinara of the same period show not only the inhabitation but also the trade relation of this site with Europe and Baghdad. These Gold Coins show how dearly the traders must have paid for the goods they purchased. The connection with Sindh is indicated by the find of two coins of Arab Amirs of Sindh, of late seventh cent. AD
2. Who were these people ?
We really do not know. On two occasions Human skeletons were found, but their carbon dating or anthropological study was not done.
However from circumstantial evidences we may say that they were Indo-Greek or Shak. A potsherd showing two women, one playing a harp (A western musical instrument) and the second a mridang (An Indian Drum) indicates the confluence of cultures. A Gladiator fighting with a lion shown on a potsherd is also suggestive of the western influence. This site has both the evidence of cultural confluence and signs of Buddhist religion indicating probability of Indo-Greek people. The Greek came to India with Alexander; some of them stayed back and formed Indo-Greek settlements. They observed Buddhist religion. While from the hairstyle, shape of the ears and eyes of one of the human heads and the find of a Kushan head indicate the possibility of these people being Shak.
But who ever they were, they were highly cultured and artistic people. The extraordinary designs and figures created on pottery, exquisitely crafted shell bangles, terracotta and semiprecious stone beads of various sizes, shapes and smoothness prove this. They loved their children as we find so many toys.
We find a few shell bangles, which are very crude and undecorated, and as against many highly worked upon sophisticated bangles showing different socio economic classes 3. What did they do?
The main vocation seems to be potting. The abundance and perfection of the pottery, the heaps of bowls and plates seen at many places in the trench, 4 feet below the ground level, and a raw of 7 large pots seen through a trench indicate this site to be involved in active potting industry. They must
120 Rasesh Jamindar, Kshatrap Samay Nu Gujarat.

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गरतारे
कैलास
20
51
51
Air
22
कोवा (गांधीनगर) पि.३८२००९
136282
have been very clever in their art. The strength of the vessels, their texture and the perfection of firing is remarkable. The large storage jar destroyed during earthquake is the classic example of the highly developed skill of the potting. To make and bake to perfection such a huge pot was something really extraordinary. Another large pot was accidentally detected and dug out intact. This large vessel has a coconut like elevation at the bottom, which will fit in to the hole in the ground and prevent it from toppling. This indicates the high level of scientific sense of making a user-friendly vessel.
Their highly evolved artistic caliber can be judged by inspecting the molded or stamped ware depicting human and animal motifs, designs of flower petals and geometrical patterns never seen at any other site. The motion and beauty of the horsemen hunting a deer or a peacock or a warrior with a spear shield is simply breath taking. The stamped ware has also been found from different sites in Gujarat, but not a single site has yielded such a wide variety of figures and patterns.
Bead making also must be an important industry. The wide variety and large quantum of beads point to this vocation. It is interesting to find of raw red coral and red coral beads. Red coral was imported and converted to beads by the local artisans.
The shell bangle manufacture must have been the second major industry. The Arabian Sea is just 5 kms away and it must be very easy to find shells. Large number of shell bangles and the left over pieces of the shells (left over after the bangles were cut) are found thru the length of the site. Many of these bangles are very finely worked upon. The design of a peacock cleaning the tail with his beak, created on a shell, is yet another testimony of highest sense of art. Semiprecious stone beads indicate possibility of people involved in semi precious bead industry.
The proximity of the river and highly fertile land must have aided farming and agricultural activities. Fishing must have been another vocation. We find terracotta and lead net weights. 4. What was their Religious and Cultural back ground ?
There ample evidences of people observing Hindu Religion.
I have found a Shiva ling, Mother goddess statues, a statue of Ganesh from this site. Some of the mother goddess figures are very crude and appear to be very ancient. Mother Goddess worshiping is an old tradition not only in India but in other parts of the world too. As the Lajjagauri is dated to a period between second cent BC to twelfth/thirtieth cent AD,121 mother goddess worshiping was practiced here since long..
There are evidences of Buddhist religion also. A semicircle in stone, with typical design, seen on Stupa is direct evidence. The artifacts found from the vicinity of Buddhist caves at Siot are closely akin to those found at Nani Rayan. Thus indirectly we may say that "there could have been a Buddhist influence at this site too". Mr. Harnish Shah, an Occult Scientist believes that the seal having a figure of a large bustard like bird and an owl over its tail is a pointer to Tantric cult. 122
121 V.H.Sonavane, Monogram on Lajja Gauri. 122 Personal communication
Discussion

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The temple of Dada Dhoramnath, although much recent as compared to other finds at the site, is a temple of Nath Sampraday, a Shiva worshiping cult.
This people were highly cultured. They loved music. A pot shred shows musical instruments. Pot shreds, expressing their amorous taste show a human couple in copulating position in one, and a woman sitting in the lap of a man in another. They were quite close to Nature too. Many of the potsherds show floral patterns. The patterns also depict birds (Swans and Peacock) and Animals like Horse, Elephant, Deer, Lion etc.
The large number of shell bangles, ornamental beads, and a dye to make ornament, express their urge to decorate their bodies. The Roman amphorae indicate that they must be consuming wine.
We know nothing, at the present juncture, about their clothes. So far not a single piece of cloth is found. Similarly no evidence of their literary skill has been found except the engravings on the seal.
The script used must be Brhami. Three seals and a tombstone have Brhami engravings.
They constructed their houses with baked earth bricks. These bricks were cemented with Mud Mortar. The size of this bricks show two different patterns. (40 x 30.7 x 7 cm and 27 x 24 x 6.5 cm)
The metals used were bronze, copper and silver.
Some villagers had found some gold ornaments, but perhaps out of fear they refused to show them. 5. Whether they had any trade contacts with the outer world and the
other parts of India ?
For sure this site had contacts with the outer world, especially with Europe and Middle East. The earliest artifact, rouletted ware and metal roman prototype date back to 4th to 3rd Century BC. Both indicate the trading relations with Rome. Plain and stamped moulded ware, Roman amphorae, Roman grinding stone also point to the Roman contacts. We not only see the trading evidences with the western world, we even see its influence on the cultural behavior of these people. The trade is seen to extend to 6th cent. AD and even further. The Byzantine coin from Constantinople the present day Istanbul in Turkey and the Arab Dinara of the same period from Baghdad take the trade links all the way to Turkey and Iraq. Today it may be very simple to reach these places but in those days it might have taken days or even months of hard rigorous journey both by sea and/or land route. The relation with Sindh is indicated by the find of Coins of Arab Emirs of Sindh (7th Century AD).
How was this communication maintained? I feel sea as well as land routes must have been utilized. From Sindh one could travel to Kutch by crossing the Rann of Kutch on camel back. Caravans must have passed from the Arab world thru Iran thru Pakistan to Kutch.
The sea route was also very popular. Arab ships came to the Harrapan ports of Gujarat from third Millennium BC and continued doing so till the late history period. The Roman ships started coming here from early first cent AD. We have seen in detail about this in chapter IV
Nani Rayan must have been a river port and vessels entered the river from the sea at present day Mandvi where the river meets the sea. The find of a 13 ft brick platform so close to the river makes me

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believe that this was perhaps a wharf or a jetty, a likely indicator of the port of Nani Rayan.
To visualize the entry of a boat you have to climb the steps of the temple of Dada Dhoramnath. This temple, quite unusual, is created on a 23 feet tall fort like structure. From the rampart of this fort you can see the entire course of river Rukmavati, Coming from northern direction, bending almost at right angle before it proceeds to meet the ocean at Mandvi. While doing this, the river touches two sides of the site. During high tide the water of the ocean flows upstream in the river which is dry for the entire year but for the time when it is raining heavily. The boats, loaded with merchandise, could come all the way down to Nani Rayan.
The temple has under gone reconstruction and or renovation many times in the past on the same platform. It is my personal belief that the platform must be very old and might have been used to watch the boats coming in or give them a direction, or as a lighthouse. Many a times I have felt like digging and exploring a small part of the base of the fort to see whether its base has the ancient brick structure or its remnants. But the absences of know how and official permission has prevented me from doing so. It is likely that the mother ship might be anchoring farther up in the ocean and the smaller boats could be transferring the goods from her to the village and vise versa. As the silt has reduced the depth of the sea even today large cargo vessels anchor 5 kms away from Mandvi port and cargo is transported thru Barges (flat bottomed cargo boats).
As far as their contacts with other parts of Kutch, Gujarat or other part of India, we have only few definite answers. We do find some Gujarat coins indicating trade relations. The marked similarities in Shape and style of potteries, toys, beads, shell bangles, coins and other antiquities found at different contemporary sites, both in Gujarat and India, prove cultural contacts. Whether people actually interacted with each other or this was born out of uniformity of human thinking is difficult to say. But in any case, it indicates cultural oneness of this vast country. 6. What was Imported and Exported?
We just saw that this site had trade contacts with Middle East and Rome. The quantum of export to west and the drain of specie from Rome to east was huge. Pliny condemned it saying "The subject is one well worthy of our notice, seeing in no one year dose India drain us of less than 550,000,000 sesterces (22,000,000 $) giving back her own wares, which are sold among us at fully 100 times their first cost." In a similar tone the emperor, in 22 AD, wrote to the senate of Rome "If reform in is in truth intended, where must it begin? And how am I to restore the simplicity of ancient times? How are we to deal with articles of feminine vanity, which drains the empire of its wealth and sends in exchange for baubles, the money of common wealth to foreign nations"?123
The list of the things exported and imported is long and is given at the end of this chapter as annexure. We have enough reasons to believe that pottery, semi precious stone beads, shell ornaments, clarified butter (ghee), textile especially cotton clothes, Timber, copper, iron, honey from the reed called sacchari (sugar), grain, must have been common export items from Nani Rayan.
The cattle breeding is an ancient vocation carried down the centuries till today, so milk and milk products must be abundantly available. The rich fields must have produced grains for export. The large number of shell bangles, indicate shell bangle industry and it goes true for extra fine pottery manufactured in abundance for export. Cotton clothes are the oldest export item, right from Indus
123 Periplus, page no 219
Discussion

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valley period. The Ancient Babylonians called cotton clothe as Sindhu as it arrived from the region of Sindhu River. 124 The abundantly growing cotton and traditional knowledge of making textile has survived even today.
While wine, olive oil, red coral, ivory, pottery, grinding stone must have been some of the imported goods. We find Amphorae for wine as well as olive oil. 7. Does this site fit in the chain of the events?
Indeed it fits. This site is an important bead in to the chain of events. It was a place where civilization has thrived from harrapan period. We find scanty evidence of Harrapan period but that is due to lack of planned excavation. The harrapan finds are likely to be in deeper layers not touched by and brought to the surface by the regular cultivation activity. We have abundant evidence of the active and bustling civilization, having trade relations with the Western World, Arab land and Sindh from early history period down tollth.cent AD. Somehow Periplus has not mentioned this site. That was perhaps due to the fact that the site was a river port where the large vessels could not come. The goods were transported to main ship by smaller boats, run by local sailors. And thus this window to the west was hidden from the historians for two thousand years.
The tradition of shipping established before two thousand years continued till the day. The merchants operate from Mandvi port and the sailors take their country crafts to ports of Middle East and Africa. The port of Mandvi is 5 kms from the site of Nani Rayan. The shift of the sea, silting of the bay and riverbed must be responsible for this change.
The Kshatraps ruled over Kutch and so did Gupta kings. We find coins of both from the site. The Brami script in vogue is also seen in the seals. In all respects, this site looks similar and in some way better then all the contemporary sites found from Gujarat and Other parts of India. The Cultural richness, love for nature and music, the fascination for the colors of life, so typical in our country are visible in almost anything that you find at this site. The ethnic and religious diversity is also clearly visible. 8. What buried the civilization?
We see rows of brick walls and many other things like potters kiln and hips of pottery 4 ft below the level of the ground. This indicates that the site must have received lots of silt from the river close by during the floods and must have been buried either at a stroke or in a piece meal manner. The newer inhabitants constructed their houses on this new land and cultivated the rich soil deposited by the river.
If only, surface finds can tell so much, a planned excavation of the site will certainly bring out many more buried facets of our history and trade links with the west. The buried walls, the buried culture await some explorer to come and unravel the mystery of Nani Rayan in its totality. Until that time the mother earth would protect it as it has done for thousands of years and men with their bulldozers will keep on destroying it, piecemeal as they have been doing for last couple of decades.
124 Sayes, in his Hibbert Lectures, page 136-138

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Annexure I
The imports and exports to and from India (source: Periplus) Indo-Scythia: BARBARICUM (at mouth of Indus River) (Imports): Thin clothing (in large quantity, some spurious); Figured linens; Topaz; Coral; Storax;
Frankincense; Vessels of glass; Silver and gold plate; Wine (a little). (Exports): Costus; Bdellium; Lycium; Nard; Turquoise; Lapis lazuli; Seric skins; Cotton cloth;
Silk yarn; Indigo. India (the kingdom of Nambanus) BARYAGAZA (Imports): Wine (Italian preferred, also Laodicean and Arabian); Copper; Tin; Lead; Corel; Topaz;
Thin clothing and inferior sorts of all kinds; Bright-colored girdles a cubit wide; Storax; Sweet clover; Flint glass; Realgar; Antimony; Gold and silver coin (yielding a profit on the exchange); Ointments (not costly, a little); Presents for the King (costly vessels of silver, singing boys, beautiful maidens for the harem, fine wines, thin clothing of the finest
weaves, the choicest ointments). (Exports): Spikenard (coming through Scythia, also through Poclais, from Caspapyra, Paropanisus
and Cabolitis); Costus; Bdellium; Ivory; Agate and carnelian (onyx and murrhinie); Lycium; Cotton cloth of all kinds (muslins and ordinary); Silk cloth; Mallow-cloth; Yarn; Long
pepper; Other things coming from the various ports. India (Chera and Pandya kingdoms) MUZIRIS, NELCYNDA AND BACARE: (to which large ships come for pepper and malabathrum). (Imports): Coin (in great quantity); Topaz; Thin clothing, not much; Figured linens; Antimony;
Corel; Crude glass; Copper; Tin; Lead; Wine (not much, but as much as at Barygaza);
Realgar; Orpiment; Wheat (for the sailors, the country not producing it). (Exports): Pepper (produced in Cottonara); Fine pearls in great quantity; Ivory; Silk cloth; Spikenard
from the Ganges; Malabathrum from the interior; Transparent stones of all kings;
Diamonds; Sapphires; Tortoise-shell (from Chryse and from near-by islands). India (Chola kingdom) ARGARU (inland) (Exports): Pearls; Muslins (named from the place).

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Annexure II
3
5
6
7
8
1 Chashtan
2 11
3 Andhau-Kutch
Kutch Museum, Bhuj
Chashtan-Rudradama
52
Andhau-Kutch
Kutch Museum, Bhuj
2
63
9
10
Chashtan-Rudradama
52
Andhau-Kutch
Kutch Museum, Bhuj
3
64
10
11
Chashtan-Rudradama
52
Andhau-Kutch
Kutch Museum, Bhuj
4
-5
11
12
Chashtan-Rudradama
52
Andhau-Kutch
Kutch Museum, Bhuj
5
66
12
13
Rudradama
62 or 72 Khavda-Kutch
Kutch Museum, Bhuj
Rudrasinh 1st
100(+)
Vandh-Kutch
Kutch Museum, Bhuj
-
-
-
-
Rudrasinh 1st
10(3)?
Mevasa-Kutch
Kutch Museum, Bhuj
12
-
12
21
Rudrasinh
114(5)
Andhau-Kutch
Kutch Museum, Bhuj
-
-
-
-
Note- Columns represent - 1=Name of the king, 2=Shank Samvant, 3=Place of finding, 4= Current
Place, 5=Index of Acharya, 6-Index of Govt., 7=Index of Styashrav, 8=Ref. Index No.

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Epilogue
Of all the subjects, in arts and sciences, none has had more controversies and differences of opinion than archeology The main purpose of my writing and publishing this work is to draw the attention of archeologists, historians and people at large to a rich, hidden, and for most parts ignored, treasure of our glorious past.
I have taken references from the most standard text books, research papers and articles written by the authorities in this subject. I have no intention of disproving any established theory or raising a new controversy and thus the reader has a right to disagree with what is proposed in this book.

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About the Author
Dr. Pulin Vasa
Dr. Pulin Nanalal Vasa is physician by profession working at Mandvi-Kutch (Gujarat-India) for last 31 years. He was born at Mumbai in 1952. He received his graduation in Medicine from Lokmanya Tilak Municipal College and Hospital in 1976. Dr. Vasa pursues archeology as a hobby. Apart from his research of the rich archaeological site at Nani Rayan, he has worked extensively on locating and studying an ancient graveyard and megalithic stone circles. He has also collected many fossils and has found a fossilized dinosaur egg with a complete embryo. He used CT-Scan on that specimen to reveal the embryo. His work has been published in different magazines and news papers. He has also published a book, “Kutch Samaya Ni Sarwani” (Kutch through Passage of Time) on his archeological research. Another field of his interest is public education about life-style management and disease prevention. He has published a book, "Rogo Ne Samajiye ane Swasth Rahiye” (Understanding the diseases and being healthy), which deals with common disorders and their prevention through life-style management and positive attitude. All through his career as a doctor, Dr. Vasa, has worked on spreading awareness about health and hygiene through talks and lectures in schools and small villages in Kutch. He has also worked actively with local NGOs in inoculating children against diseases like Polio, Dr. Vasa is an avid naturalist, writer and poet.
ACHARYA SRI KAILASSAGARSURI GYANMANDIR SHREE MAHAVIR JAIN ARADHANA KENDRA
Koba, Gandhinagar - 382 007. Ph.: (079) 23276252, 23276204-05 For PrivaFax-te (979)_23276249,

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"You do not need to be an archaeologist to enjoy this truly interesting and lucid book" Dr. S. B. Malli Physician "Well-illustrated, informative and analytical. The book is a time machine." Professor Mavji Savala