Ahar-Banas culture

Also called: Ahar culture · Topic: Prehistory: Human Origins and Stone Age Cultures · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Ahar–Banas culture (also called the Ahar culture) was a Chalcolithic (copper-and-stone using) farming culture of south-east Rajasthan, c. 3000–1500 BCE (dates are approximate). It grew up in the valley of the Banas river and its tributaries. Its main sites are Ahar, Gilund and Balathal. Its people made copper tools, lived in houses of stone and mud, and used black-and-red ware pottery.

It matters for two reasons:

• It was next to the Indus civilisation and lived at the same time, so it shows that village farming cultures existed alongside the Harappan cities. [1]
• UPSC often asks about regional Chalcolithic cultures matched to their states and sites.

Explanation

Background: what "Chalcolithic" means here

• Chalcolithic means "copper-stone". People still used stone tools, but they had also started making things from copper. They did not give up stone. They simply added copper.
• The subcontinent did not move into the copper age at one time:
• Mehrgarh (Pakistan) was already Chalcolithic by c. 4000 BCE.

• In other places, stone-using Neolithic (New Stone Age, farming) groups went on living for a long time.

• By 2500 BCE, Neolithic farming-and-herding groups covered most of the subcontinent. In some places they were in contact with Chalcolithic neighbours who already used copper.

• Ahar–Banas is one of the named Chalcolithic cultures in this belt. [1]

Why the Banas valley suited it

• Copper close at hand. The Aravalli hills of Rajasthan have copper ore. The people of Ahar–Banas could get the metal locally.

• Because of this, Ahar's ancient name is usually given as Tambavati, meaning "the place of copper".

• River and soil. The Banas and its tributaries gave water and fertile land for farming villages.

Main features

• Copper working. They smelted copper and made axes, bangles, sheets and other objects. Stone tools stayed in use alongside them.

• Ahar is notable because it has very few small stone tools (microliths) compared with other Chalcolithic sites. Copper was more important here.

• Houses. They built houses with stone foundations and mud walls. Stone was easy to find in the rocky Aravalli country.

• Pottery. Their typical pottery was black-and-red ware: pots that are black inside and near the rim and red outside, often painted with white lines and designs.
• Farming and herding. They grew cereals and kept cattle, sheep and goats, like other agro-pastoral (farming and herding) groups of the time.
• Seals. The culture is known for its terracotta seals (seals of baked clay). [1]
• Planned and protected sites. Some settlements, such as Balathal, had a fortification wall around them.

How it changed and what it left behind

• It began before the mature Harappan cities and lasted alongside them. [1]
• It outlived the Harappan decline and continued to about c. 1500 BCE (approximate).
• Result: it shows that, outside the Indus cities, the subcontinent had long-lasting regional village cultures. They worked metal, traded, and used seals. They did not need to be urban to do these things.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: Chalcolithic, c. 3000–1500 BCE (approximate dates). It was contemporary with the Indus civilisation. [1]
• Region: South-east Rajasthan, in the Banas river valley, around the Mewar–Udaipur area, close to the Aravalli copper sources.
• Key sites:
• Ahar (near Udaipur). This is the type-site, the site that gives the culture its name. Its ancient name is Tambavati.
• Gilund, in the Banas valley. Seals and seal impressions found here link to the culture's terracotta seals. [1]

• Balathal, near Udaipur. It is a fortified Chalcolithic settlement.

• How we know: almost entirely from archaeological finds. This was a pre-literate culture, so there are no inscriptions or texts. The main evidence is:

• copper objects and smelting remains
• black-and-red ware with white paint
• stone-and-mud house foundations
• fortification walls
• terracotta seals [1]

Don't confuse with

• Harappan (Sindhu–Sarasvatī) civilisation. It was a Bronze Age urban civilisation with cities, baked-brick drains and a script. Ahar–Banas was a rural Chalcolithic culture of the same period, using copper, not a city culture. [1]
• Ganeshwar–Jodhpura culture. This is also in Rajasthan, but in the north-east (Sikar–Jaipur area). It is famous for supplying copper objects to the Harappans. Ahar–Banas lies in the south-east, in the Banas valley, around Udaipur.
• Malwa culture. This is a Chalcolithic culture of Madhya Pradesh (for example, Navdatoli), not Rajasthan.
• Jorwe culture. This is a Chalcolithic culture of Maharashtra. Its sites include Inamgaon (Period I 1600–1400 BC to Period III 1000–700 BC) [2] and Daimabad, known for its copper objects. [3] It is later and further south than Ahar–Banas.

Prelims Hooks

• Ahar–Banas culture: Rajasthan. It is a Chalcolithic culture of the Banas valley, south-east Rajasthan.
• Main sites: Ahar, Gilund, Balathal. All three are in Rajasthan. A common trap is placing Gilund or Balathal in Madhya Pradesh or Gujarat.
• Ahar = Tambavati, "the place of copper", because the Aravalli copper ores were close by.
• Pottery: black-and-red ware with white painted designs. Houses: stone foundations with mud walls.
• Ahar–Banas was contemporary with the Indus civilisation and is marked by terracotta seals. [1]
• Chronology trap: Mehrgarh becomes Chalcolithic (c. 4000 BCE) → Ahar–Banas (c. 3000–1500 BCE) → Inamgaon Period III ends (700 BC). [2]

Mains Points

• Cities and villages lived side by side. Ahar–Banas was next to and contemporary with the Indus civilisation. [1]
• So the Harappan cities were not alone. Around them were regional farming cultures that had their own copper, pottery and seals.

• This helps a GS-I answer show that Indian protohistory had many centres, not just one urban core.

• The three-age scheme is not a timetable.

• Ahar–Banas was using copper while Neolithic groups elsewhere still used stone.
• It outlasted the Harappan cities.
• Chalcolithic life in Maharashtra went on to about 700 BC. [2]

• This shows that "Stone–Copper–Bronze" is a teaching tool, not a sequence that every region followed in order.

• Geography shaped culture.

• Copper ore in the Aravallis led to early metal-working, and gave Ahar the name Tambavati.
• Rocky ground led to stone-footed houses.
• This is a good example of how local resources produced distinct regional cultures in Chalcolithic India.

Related concepts

• Mehrgarh
• Burzahom
• Gufkral
• Chirand
• Koldihwa
• Mahagara
• Lahuradewa
• Daojali Hading
• Sarutaru
• Brahmagiri

Read more

• Neolithic and Chalcolithic in the subcontinent