Purana Quila (2838'; 7712'), Delhi

The 'Old Fort' on the Yamuna in New Delhi, off Delhi-Mathura-Agra road, built by
Humayun and with standing monuments built by Sher Shah, situated on a mound on
which stood the village Inderpat till the beginning of this century, identified
with Indraprastha, the headquarters of the Pandavas of Mahabharata fame. It was
explored by Cunningham and later on by others. An inscription of Bhoja of the Pr
atihara dynasty (c. 836-85) was found here in 1913-4. In a trial excavation of 1
954-5 conducted by B.B. Lal of the ASI sherds of the PGW and NBPW and remains of
the Sunga Kushan periods were found. Between 1969-70 and 1972-3 the ASI conduct
ed large-scale excavations here revealing remains of eight. Periods, -though nei
ther the PGW nor anything associated with it was found: Period I, Mauryan (4th -
3rd century B.C.); Period II, Sunga (2nd -1st century B.C.; Period III, Saka-Kus
han (1st -3rd century AD.); Period IV, Gupta (4th -6th century); Period V, post-
Gupta (7th -9th century); Period VI, Rajput (10th - 12th century); Period VII, S
ultanate (13th -15th century); and Period VIII, Mughal (16th -19th century).
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The Hindu
The discovery of Indraprastha
Madhur Tankha
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The ASI's excavation that is underway at Purana Quila. Photo: Sandeep Saxena
The Hindu The ASI's excavation that is underway at Purana Quila. Photo: Sand
eep Saxena
An artefact that was found during the ASI's excavation. Photo: Sandeep Saxen
a
The Hindu An artefact that was found during the ASI's excavation. Photo: San
deep Saxena
A 12th Century Vishnu idol found during the excavation. Photo: Sandeep Saxen
a
The Hindu A 12th Century Vishnu idol found during the excavation. Photo: San
deep Saxena
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Delhi
archaeology
cultural anthropology
ruins and monuments
arts, culture and entertainment
monument and heritage site
If the ASI is successful in finding painted grey wares from the Mahabharata peri
od, it will prove the existence of the city of Pandavas
The Archaeological Survey of India is on an expedition to discover painted grey
wares of the Mahabharat period, which will conclusively prove the existence of I
ndraprastha.
The ongoing excavation at the Purana Quila site might lead to discovery of concr
ete evidence that will help in studying the culture and art patronised by the Pa
ndavas. It is also expected to give a fillip to tourism.
In the first excavation in 1954, mounted under the supervision of renowned archa
eologist B.B. Lal, who retired as ASI Director General, painted grey wares were
discovered.
However, the wares were not found in stratified deposit. If they were found in st
ratified deposit, we could support that there were traces of the Mahabharat peri
od, said Vasant Swarnkar, superintending archaeologist of ASI's Delhi Circle. Under
his supervision, around 60 labourers have been working six days a week at the p
roject site.
To make things easier for Dr. Swarnkar, nearly 20 post-graduate diploma students
of archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology have been assisting him. They
have been guiding the labour force where exactly to dig, how to unearth crucial
discoveries without damaging them and how to carefully hand them over to the aut
horities to preserve the artefacts for posterity.
Emphasising the site's significance, Dr. Swarnkar said: This site has had continuo
us cultural deposit from the Mauryan to the Mughal period. The discoveries over
the past month have reiterated the fact that there has always been habitation he
re during the Gupta and Kushan period.
On Monday, a couple of enterprising students from the Institute of Archaeology d
iscovered a terracotta miniature bull.
This bull is of the Gupta period, which was a glorious period as it saw patronisa
tion of art, said Dr. Swarnkar as he cleaned the mud-filled artefact with a brush
.
Pottery of the Gupta and Kushan period, semi-precious stones, ear-stud made of t
erracotta, bowls, miniature pots and sprinklers were also discovered.
According to Neelima Vasudevan, one of the students working at the site, the exc
avation is part of her field training and it gives her satisfaction if after a h
ard day's work some artefacts are discovered.
Hage Sonia, another student, was delicately arranging bones on a plate. These bon
es certainly are not of animals but indicate left over meals. I have also discov
ered iron pieces. This exercise is teaching us the art of supervising digging an
d identifying the discoveries, she said.
====================
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/mahabharat-sites-continue-to-have-the-
same-names-even-today-b-b-lal/article5776270.ece?ref=relatedNews
Updated: March 12, 2014 11:53 IST
Mahabharat sites continue to have the same names even today: B. B. Lal
Madhur Tankha
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B. B. Lal
The Hindu B. B. Lal
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India
Delhi
archaeology
cultural anthropology
arts, culture and entertainment
monument and heritage site
The former ASI Director General launched the first excavation at the Purana Quil
a site in 1954-55 in which he found structures ascribable to the Gupta, Kushana
and Sunga periods.
As the Delhi Chapter of the Archaeological Survey of India seeks to establish th
e existence of Indraprastha and show evidence of the Mahabharat period at the on
going excavation at the Purana Quila site, its team members have a lot to learn
from eminent archaeologist Prof. B. B. Lal.
The former ASI Director General launched the first excavation at the Purana Quil
a site in 1954-55 in which he found structures ascribable to the Gupta, Kushana
and Sunga periods.
The trial excavation was alongside the passage leading down to water gate in the
eastern fortification wall of Purana Quila. The trial trench revealed that below
the northern black polished ware levels lay the remains of the painted grey war
e culture. Between the south of the Purana Quila and Humayun's Tomb, there is an o
pen area from where a number of painted grey ware were discovered. It was here t
hat the oldest settlement began.
Prof. Lal said the polished grey ware is the earliest common pottery connecting
all the Mahabharat sites such as Hastinapur, Mathura, Kurukshetra and Kampilya.
The evidence clearly establishes that the Purana Quila and its southern neighbour
hood represent Indraprastha of the Mahabharat times. In fact, right up to 1947,
a village named Indrapat existed inside the Purana Quila. This name was derived
from ancient Indraprastha.
Prof. Lal was invited by the ASI to inaugurate the excavation at Purana Quila wh
ich began a month ago. But the nonagenarian politely declined as he rarely steps
out of his second floor flat in South Delhi.
But I wished best of luck to the team and am hopeful that the ASI will be success
ful in discovering polished grey ware.
In 1951-52, Prof. Lal carried out excavations at Hastinapura, situated in Meerut
district.
Interestingly, the excavation at Hastinapura revealed that around 800 B.C. a hea
vy flood in the Ganga destroyed a considerable portion of polished grey ware set
tlement.
Pointing out that the combined evidence of archaeology and literature establishe
s the historicity of Mahabharat, Prof. Lal said to the faithful everything menti
oned in the epic is true to its letters.
However, sceptics insist that Mahabharat is nothing more than a figment of someon
e's imagination. All the sites associated with the mythological epic continue to h
ave the same nomenclature even till this day.