Age.
Write about the beginning of the Iron Age in India.
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# iron man#
baki naahi pata sorry
Iron Age in India brings one to the threshold of ancient history. This is, therefore, a period for which some of the historical accounts of ancient history may be extended. It is no wonder that as consequence of this large number of Vedic, Upanishadic and Brahmanic literary evidences have-from time to time-being recalled to understand the cultural process then existing in India.
These might have eventually led to the establishment of large cities on the basis of a sizeable surplus and a super structure drawing upon this for its political power. Iron enters at different parts of India within different social contexts and hence the manifest resultant develops entirely different Iron Age features in different areas. We might briefly examine these differentiating phenomena.
Gangetic Region:
The colonization of Ganga basin by Iron users can be taken as one of the best evidences of second urbanization of India. Urban centers which mushroomed around Indus, Ghaggar and its tributaries during 2600 B.C. to 1500 B.C. were generally deserted after this. One would have normally expected a flush of population movement into the Ganga- Jamuna valley and indeed there is evidence of a rise in the number of the Siswal group of sites in Haryana and East Punjab.
Significantly an urban development in the entire Gangetic basin does not emerge until late iron users settle their city states mostly in the western flanks (west of Allahabad) of the Ganga-Jamuna region. Thus, one has to admit that the Gangetic region was not at all an area of attraction for most of the metal users in prehistory. In comparison Saurashtra, northern Maharashtra or even Rajasthan seem to have been much more preferred
Understanding of the colonization of this region needs a consideration of the changes that can be witnessed further west. In Baluchistan the earliest development of settled economy-and also perhaps the earliest evidence of copper (at least 2000 years earlier than Harappa) has been note at Mehergarh.
City structures in this region are not identifiable till about 500 B.C. Thus, like Pirak in south west, Gangharas receive this metal without any change in their pre-existing culture. Furthermore these pre-existing cultures are completely individual in character and bear hardly any resemblance with the widely distributed Harappan features.
Iron Age finally establishes beyond doubt that South and North India are basically distinct in their cultural history.
PGW:
Around 800 B.C. an entirely new ceramic type associated with iron spread out all over Haryana, Rajasthan and western U.P. along Yamuna and Ganga. Among these Noh, Jodhpura and Sardargarh in Rajasthan and Khalana, Bateswara, Ahichchatara, Hastinapur, Allahpur, Atranjikhera, Jakhere and Mathura in U.P. are some of the well-known and excavated sites.
As one moves eastward in middle Ganga valley from Kausambi (Allahabad) onwards, iron gets merely grafted within the previously existing Chalcolithic Black-and-Red ware. Chronologically the point of emergence of iron in these sites is not very different from the western region.
Generally speaking iron at Kausambi, Chirand, Mahisadal and Pandu Rajar Dhibi occurs around 800 B.C. But almost all these sites show the microlithic component continuing without much change. Sharply carinated vessels become quite common although most of them do not carry any decoration.
The Southern Zone:
Consideration of the southern zone would require paying some attention to south Rajasthan, Malwa and northern Maharashtra as a prior consideration. This is the area which developed a fairly consolidated regional character during 1500-1300 B.C.
The Banasian leading to Kayatha and the latter to Malwa and finally to Maharashtrain Jorwe almost demonstrated the movement from wheat to millet adaptation. Of these sites very few show an attraction to iron except a few items obtained probably by trade. Thus, Iron Age in this area does not develop any special personality of its own like what has been observed in Western U.P.
Since these graves have elaborate stone arrangements around them these have traditionally been nicknamed as Megalithic culture. A point of great inconsistency in adopting this term needs to be specially kept in mind. This is, while ‘Megalithic culture of South India’ means iron age; the same term is the established designation used for a particular variety of sea faring Neolithic culture in Europe.
Further, the “Megaliths of India” may not refer to any prehistoric culture but the memorial stones erected by the tribals in Chhotanagpur and Patkai ranges in the historic period as well. Thus Iron Age in South India would appear to be a safer terminology to adopt.
These are:
Period I – Pre Iron
Period II – Early Iron
Period III – N B P W
Period IV – B.C. 2000 to 300 A.D