Indian Antiquary Vol 62

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

Page 257

DECEMBER, 1933
GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS IN INDIAN ARCHÆOLOGY
235
GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS IN INDIAN ARCHÆOLOGY.
BY F. J. RICHARDS, M.A. A trip to India raises two problems : (I) how to get there, and (II) what to do when you arrive.
I. Of the routes to India I need say little ; but an understanding of them is vital to problems of Indian archæology. From Europe you can go by ship (a) by the Red Sea, (b) by the Persian Gulf or (c) you can walk, if you prefer, through Persia. You can start from the Mediterranean or from the Black Sea (Fig. 12).
From China access is more difficult, for the impossible plateau of Tibet intervenes. China has struck westward along the great silk routes which led to Rome, first under the Han dynasty round about the beginning of the Christian Era, again in the 7th century under the T'angs, on the eve of the Arab irruption, and lastly under the late, lamented Manchus. The Chinese never got into India, though they got very near it, but their culture is saturated with Indian influences.
The eastern frontier is as difficult ; true the Burmese and Shans have ravaged Assam, and the Arakanese E. Bengal; but the flow of Indian influence is eastward, penetrating IndoChina and the isles as far as Borneo. The meeting points of Chinese and Indian culture are in Turkestan and N. Annam.
II. Having arrived in India, what is the next step?
British interests in India began with trade. (Fig. 1). Our base was the sea. After several abortive efforts, the Company secured a foothold in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. Calcutta brought us in touch with outlying provinces of the Mughal Empire, Bombay with the Marathās, and Madras with the French.
(1) From Calcutta, we advanced up the Ganges valley to Patna. Our next moves were to Allahabad, where Ganges and Jamunā meet, and up the Doüb to Delhi. Oudh lapsed only in 1856.
(2) In Madras our struggle with the French brought us (i) the N. Circars, centring in the Masulipatam and the Kistna-Godavari delta, and (ii) the domination of the Carnatic. A forty year's struggle ensued with Mysore.
(3) In Bombay we were up agninst a tougher folk, the Marathās, and a tougher hinter. land. Our thrusts were towards Gujarat, Poona and Delhi. Nāgpur lapsed in 1853. !
(4) The Indus valley failed to attract us till after we had boggled our First Afghan War.
The Mughals' base was Kābul (Fig. 2). Their first advance was on Delhi, via Lahore, and down the Doāb to Allahabad. From Lahore they thrust to Multān and the sea, and northwards into Kashmir. From Delhi via Ajmer they got to Gujarat; from Agra through Ujjain to Khāndesh; and from Allahabad into Bengal and Orissa. Then came a pause. The Deccan proved more difficult. They advanced in two stages, first on Ahmadnagar and Berār, then on Bijapur and Golkonda and on to the Carnatic and Masulipatam.
The Marătbă base was Poona, in the heart of the Marāthā country (Fig. 3). Thence they struck south-east as far as Tanjore, where they founded a kingdom ; north into Gujarāt, and through Malwā to Delhi. From Delhi they moved down the Ganges valley and northwest to Lahore and on to Multān. In Nagpur they were in their own country. (Their break through to Orissa was an exceptional military freak.). The states they founded in Gujarat (Baroda ) and Central India (Indore and Gwalior) and the little state of Sandür en route for the south, still survive.
All these 'thrusta' have one factor in common, although they radiated from such different bases (Fig. 4). Their objectives in each case were the centres of population and trade, where wealth accumulates. Of these there are four, in order of size 1. The Gangetic Plain.
3. The Kistna-Godavari delta. 2. The South.
4. Gujarāt.