Tracing the antiquity of a system of law and order across the Indian sub-continent

(beginning with rock-art of Madhya Pradesh)

By- Dr. Lopamudra Maitra Bajpai

This can be done mainly in three ways-

To understand ancient Man’s (Hominins) travels and settlements within India-

1) Study of stone tools-

Stone tools speak about the hunting and settlements of Ancient Man. The Acheulian type stone tools
are important as the Acheulian is a phase of the Lower Paleolithic typified by assemblages of large
cutting tools primarily composed of bifaces. So far, evidence from Africa suggests that it emerged
around 1.6 million years ago (Ma). Determining when hominin populations routinely crafting these
Acheulian stone tools inhabited India is critical for understanding the dispersal of this distinctive
technology across Eurasia. Limited evidence has suggested that Acheulian hominins appeared in
India substantially later than in Africa or southwest Asia (Shanti Pappu, Francois Demory- 2011)

2) Fossil Remains-

These are very limited as far back as the Palaeolithic times are concerned- which makes dating very
difficult. Also- this makes it difficulty to understand when or, if at all, man migrated form Africa to the
Indian sub-continent.

3) Rock art-

The oldest rockart in the world is in India- in Madhya Pradesh. These are in Bhimbetka and more
recently discovered- Daraki-Chattan (hillock) near Bhanpura in Mandsaur district . Both places are in
Madhya Pradesh.

Study of Stone tools-

Has yielded evidences of people living in groups of 12-15, but no evidence so far to say that they also
had a chief to monitor rules or to monitor organised group activities.

• It is unclear when some modern humans first left Africa, evidence shows that these modern
humans did not leave Africa until between 60,000 and 90,000 years ago. Most likely, a
change in climate helped to push them out.(14-Jul-2022- National Geographic).

• However, it is also assumed (that modern humans or Homo Sapiens migrated to India from
Africa in around- 1.25 lakh years ago and carried the stone tools with them.

• Though the earliest evidence for stone tool technology dates to 3.3 million years in Africa,
there is no fossil evidence for it as far as India is concerned.

• I would also like to propose that as against what is also considered a common habit of
humans- to walk for migration- it is climatic changes which have helped people to travel and
migrate in ancient times.

• It is to be noted- during the hunting-gathering stages of man’s life- they followed a certain
pattern of travel- within which they would collect, forage and hunt.
 • Even this hunting and foraging needed meticulous planning- which needed to abide by rules
and laws within a very small tribe of people. OTHERWISE, SUCH METICULOUS PLANING IS
IMPOSSIBLE TO BE EXECUTED. THIS IS EVIDENT FROM MANY PRESNET TRIBES.

• How do we speak about this? by studying closely the modern communities of various parts
of India- e.g. the Pardhis of Maharashtra and parts of Central India- who are still wandering
nomads and even travels through cosmopolitan cities like Pune

• All wandering nomadic tribes still follow a pattern of travel- until and unless there is a change
in climate- which makes them deviate and look for fresher areas for travel.

EARLIEST EVIDENCE OF MAN IN INDIA- HOWEVER- THIS IS HOMO ERECTUS

• EARLIEST EVIDENCE OF ACHEULIAN TOOLS AND ANCIENT MAN- Attirampakkam (Tamilnadu)-

1.5-1.7 million years old.

• Dr. Kumar Akhilesh, co-director of Attirampakkam Excavation Project and Director (Research),
Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, Chennai, told The Hindu that the conventional
position held is that humans in India existed around 500,000 to 600,000 years ago and not
earlier.

• Attirampakkam is contemporary to other similar sites in Africa and Israel. (data from Sharma
Centre for Heritage Education, Chennai)

▪ At this time- ancient man was known as- Homo erectus- and is stated to have dispersed
across Asia. (data from Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, Chennai)

However- there are also other opinions prevailing at present about the antiquity of ancient Man in
India according to most recent reports-

• Presence of Homo sapiens in India is now considered as old as 1.22 lakh years in India
(quoted by Devara Anilkumar- Assistant Professor- at MS University’s Dept of Archaeology
and Ancient History– AUG, 10, 2022- The Times of India).

• This is according to very recent reports through a study of stone tools from the site in Andhra
Pradesh’s Hanumanthunipadu in Ongole district (2018)- from the study of points, scrapers,
notches, flakes, etc.- This also states that the stone tools were locally made and even much
before the advent of humans from Africa.

▪ Testing and estimation carried out through- Luminescence Laboratory at the Atomic
Molecular and Optical Physics Division of Physical research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad.
 ▪ However, not much is known about the human cultural life, etc of this time due to absence
of fossil remains.

Evidence from earliest rock art of India

- Marks the areas with paintings.

- One can see the concentration in central India

- Of course, there remains so many others to explore.

Dating of the rock art of India

In general, Indian rock art has been divided into three main periods each with (or without) a number
of phases- leaving apart the possibility of Palaeolithic art, which until recently was discarded by a
number of scholars and is still being discussed- traditional chronology explained the following 3
stages-

• The Mesolithic art of the hunter-gatherers, with naturalistic animals (10,000 yrs old- i.e. c.
8000- 5000 BCE)- and it is estimated that the earliest art evidence is from the Mesolithic
period

• The Chalcolithic art of the agriculturalists, with the appearance of cattle and chariot
(Microliths)

• The Historical, with an emphasis on fighting (Neumayer 1992).

{Pandey (1992: 25) brought in the weathering of the art, as, according to him, Mesolithic paintings
were invariably patinated, whereas those of the Chalcolithic sometimes were while it was never the
case with Historic art.}

This is a most recent discovery- pushing back evidence of ancient Man in India to between 2-5 lakh
years
Daraki-Chattan reveals the past of an extensive rock art in this cave. The collection of stone artifact
assemblage from the excavation undoubtedly reveals that the shelter was occupied by
the Acheulean man. The experts studying the petroglyphs claim it to be the "oldest rock art in the
world", about 2 to 5 lakh (200,000–500,000) years old.[

Daraki-Chattan (hillock) near Bhanpura in Mandsaur district being dated by experts as between 2
lakh and 5 lakh years old. (Rock art Society of India- 2016 report)

In order to study the early cupules in India, an international project called "Early Indian Petroglyphs"
was established in 2000. It is a joint venture by researchers from Rock Art Society of India (RASI) and
Australian Rock Art Association (AURA), under the supervision of the International Federation of
Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO), Robert Bednarik and Giriraj Kumar

Closer view of cupules on the right (south) wall of the cave.

Tentative interpretation (James Harrod). “When I entered into the cave the two walls both seemed to
suggest representations of a row of two or three 'elephants’.”

Of all the images in this webgallery, this one gives the best evocation of these creatures, the shape
toward the back an excellent 'elephant'. The features all seem to me to be natural. Natural or
partially artificially flaked, these cupule marked 'elephants' are strikingly similar in quality to the
possible 'elephant' figuration of Chief's Rock at Bhimbetka, with its cupules.
The Bhimbetka rock shelters (near Bhopal, MP) are a canvas for some of the oldest paintings in
India.

The paintings have been divided into various periods like Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Chalcolithic,
Early History and Medieval history.

They are present in 500 caves out of the total of 750. Out of all of these 500 caves- only

12 to 15 are open and accessible to visitors.

However, experts are of the opinion that there may have been many more which got eroded with
time.

Bhimbetka rock shelters also speak about the Acheulian Man’s settlement patterns

The settlement of these hominin groups is found to be both in open air and in the rock shelters.
From the nature of the activity area, it may be assumed that there might have been 15 to 20 people
in each group. This can be inferred from the fact that the scatter of artefacts are both in open air and
rock shelters. However, it is interesting to note that a greater number of artefacts found are in open
air with the exception of places like Bhimbetka and Adamgarh, where the artefacts are found in rock
shelters. According to prehistorians, this shows a preference amongst the hominin groups to stay
outside than to stay in the rock shelters. According to Dr V.N. Misra, who was a professor of
Prehistory in Deccan College, Pune, to stay outside they might have used temporary shelters made of
tree branches and leaves, a behaviour noticed in present-day chimpanzees too. Palaeolithic
archaeologist Prof Sheila Mishra believes that they might have used some form of bags to carry
finished stone tools and perhaps some plant remains for their daily use.

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Rock Art in Bhimbetka is classified under nine groups-

The Bhimbetka paintings have been classified into nine phases under three broad cultural periods:

Phases I–V in the Mesolithic period,

Phase VI in the Chalcolithic period and

Phases VII–IX in the Historic period.

Some scholars further suggest that the paintings could even have originated around 40,000 B.C.E. or
earlier.

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Based on considerable archaeological evidence, it is suggested that there is a clear distinction

between the cave paintings from the Mesolithic and Historic periods and those from the Upper
Paleolithic period and later medieval period, which are fewer in number and less significant, as they
do not subscribe to a distinct style, as seen in the drawings from the Mesolithic and Historical
periods.

Green paintings, like these dancers superimposed on older red figures have been ascribed to the
end of the Palaeolithic. Bhonrawali Hill.

Neolithic/Chalcolithic. Panel with numerous white animal figures. A man sitting at lower right is
called The Shaman. “Zoo Rock” (Shelter IIIC-50).

Early Historic Period dancers in red. Image enhanced with D-Stretch.

Later Historic Period dancers in white. Shelter IIIC-48

A famous Historic Period panel on top of a small shelter (IIIC-43) includes soldiers, dancers and
various animals (tigers, peacocks, jungle fowls, scorpions). Image enhanced with D-Stretch.

Note carefully the chieftain’s ordained horse and special sword. The rest are following him
Historic Period- Battle Scenes abound at Bhimbetka, and may include elephant and horse riders, as
well as soldiers armed with bow and arrows, lances, shields or swords.

Historic Period- Soldiers and horse rider accompanied by drummers. Shelter IIIC-50. Image
enhanced with D-Stretch.

Historic Period- warriors and riders with different kinds of weapons. Shelter IIIC-50.
Most of these are done in red and white on the cave walls.

A multitude of themes were covered in this form of rock art and it depicted scenes like singing,
dancing, hunting and other common activities of the people staying there.

This also adds strength to the argument that the caves used to be home for hundreds of people
sometime during 300 BC.

The oldest of the cave paintings in Bhimbetka is believed to be about 12,000 years ago.

found only in four shelters of the Pachmarhi area.

There are scenes showing a man holding a human head in one hand and a weapon in the other, and
he seems to be running away and looking backwards, giving the impression that he is being chased
by the enemy. Such depictions of head hunting are prominent in the shelter located in Langi Nadi
hill.

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References, further reading from both popular culture and academia-

- https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/human-presence-in-india-dates-back-
to-15-million-years/article8593324.ece

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asian_Stone_Age

- http://www.sharmaheritage.com/projects/attirampakkam
 - https://ancienttamilcivilization.wordpress.com/2015/03/05/attirampakkam/

- https://ancienttamilcivilization.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/final-attirampakkam.jpg

- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/vadodara/vadodara-made-in-india-stone-tools-
existed-2-47-lakh-years-ago/articleshow/93464622.cms2

- https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/Madhya-Pradesh-houses-
world%E2%80%99s-oldest-rock-art-experts/article16699668.ece

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhanpura

- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337440543_The_earliest_petroglyphs_in_the_w
orld

- https://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/explore/story/70582/the-sudden-discovery-
of-the-bhimbetka-rock

- -shelters

- https://www.sahapedia.org/acheulean-sites-cultural-heritage-of-prehistoric-central-india

- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/50850835_Early_Pleistocene_Presence_of_Ache
ulian_Hominins_in_South_India

- https://www.bradshawfoundation.com/india/central_india/index.php

- https://smarthistory.org/bhimbetka-cave-paintings/

- https://www.britannica.com/place/Bhimbetka-rock-shelters

- https://www.originsnet.org/darakigallery/index.htm

- https://www.bradshawfoundation.com/news/cave_art_paintings.php?id=Headhunters-of-
Pachmarhi-rock-art

- https://leakeyfoundation.org/rock-art-of-pachmarhi-hills-in-india/

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