Indian Antiquary Vol 58

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 62

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[ MARCH, 1929
was found, besides pieces of coarser fabric pointing to continued or renewed occupation, perhaps during early historical times.
Definite evidence of such prolonged occupation at different periods, from prehistoric down to historical times, was obtained in the course of the excavations carried out at the great mound near Dabar-kôt. It rises like an isolated hill in the middle of the open Thal plain to a height of no less than 113 feet, and measures nearly a mile in circumference at its foot. The great mass of painted pottery found on the slopes and excavated at lower levels displays unmistakable characteristio of the 'chalcolithio' type, and finds of cinerary urns, worked stones and small bronze objects date from the same period. The discovery in the same layers of a well constructed drain built with burnt bricks indicates the comparatively advanced stage of civilization reached. Successive strata full of charred remains point to great conflagrations which had at intervals overtaken the prehistoric settlement. Long after its complete abandonment convenient positions on the mound had again been taken up for dwellings during pre-Muhammadan times, and the objects brought to light here help inter alia to illustrate the great change which ceramic craft had undergone in the long interval.
Simultaneously with the trial excavations at the great Dabar-kot mound it became possible completely to clear the remains of a ruined Buddhist stúpa or relic tower discovered on a rocky hillock some four miles away at the entrance of the Thal plain. Its relic deposit with small gold-set jewels, pearls, beads, etc., was found undisturbed. The surviving GraecoBuddhist carvings of the base and numerous pieces of pottery jars inscribed in Indian script and language proved that this sanctuary, the first Buddhist ruin discovered in Balûchistân, belongs to the Kushân period. The inscriptions since deciphered by Professor Sten Konow have revealed the name of the monastery attached to the stúpa and that of its pious founder, Shahi Yola Mira, a Kushan or Indo-Scythian chief.
At Sûr Jangal in the same valley a very interesting small settlement of prehistoric times was discovered near the dry river bed descending from Sanjawi. The cuttings made through the low mound there yielded not only abundance of fine ceramic ware of the chalcolithic' type but also a large number of stone implements sach as flint blades and arrowheads. From the great quantity of flint cores, chips, etc., found there it may be concluded that the manufacture of these stone implements was being carried on for generations in this locality, the riverbed close by supplying the raw materials.
After visiting several small sites of later historical times in the hills about the Zhôb river's headwaters, I subsequently carried out a survey of numerous ruined mounds in the Pishin basin. They attest the economic importance which this large and potentially fertile tract must have claimed at all times and which also accounts for its mention in the earlieste Zoroastrian scriptures among the chief territories of ancient Iran. The painted pottery and other relice collected at those mounds indicate that most of them, though built up at first by debris deposits of prehistoric settlements, continued to be occupied during historical times. At a few sites, however, such as Krânai above the Surkhâb river, abandonment had evidently been complete since the chalcolithic period. At the Sarakala mound, crowned by the walls of a ruined fort, it was of special interest to note the plentiful occurrence of ceramic ware decorated with ribbings, such as my explorations in Sistân had shown to be particularly associated with remains of the Sasanian period. Thus here, too, there was evidence of that close cultural connexion with Irån which geographical factors have imposed upon those westernmost border lands of India since the earliest times.
My tour came to its close by the middle of April with the examination of a series of mounds towards Quetta, found similar in character to those of Pishîn. The distances which in the course of the tour had been covered by road, aggregated to a total of close on 1,400 miles. A detailed report on the results of the explorations, fully illustrated by numerous plates, has been prepared and will, I hope, be published separately before long as one of the Memoirs of the Indian Archæological Department.