Painted Grey Ware Sites in India

Kaushambi

• Location:
  • Located in Kaushambi district, Uttar Pradesh
  • Situated near the confluence of the Yamuna and Ganga rivers
• Historical Significance:
  • Capital of Vatsa Mahajanapada, one of the 16 Mahajanapadas mentioned in 6th century BCE texts
  • Ruled by the famous King Udayana, known from Buddhist and Sanskrit sources
  • Visited by Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang in the 7th century CE, who described it as a prosperous city
• Religious Importance:
  • Jain tradition identifies Kaushambi as the birthplace of the 6th Tirthankara, Padmaprabha
  • Important Buddhist centre during the time of Buddha
    • Buddha is said to have visited the city several times
    • Site of an early Buddhist monastery (vihara)
• Ashokan Connection:
  • An Ashokan pillar with inscription in Brahmi script found at the site
  • Indicative of Mauryan presence and imperial patronage
• Archaeological Discoveries:
  • Excavations reveal settlements dating back to the 2nd millennium BCE
  • Presence of Painted Grey Ware (PGW) pottery layer
    • Suggests a Later Vedic settlement
    • Associated with iron tools, showing the emergence of iron-age urbanisation
  • Fortification walls built with mud and burnt bricks
  • Houses, streets, and drains found in urban layout
  • Coins, seals, and terracotta figurines discovered
• Economic Significance:
  • Located on ancient trade routes
  • Developed into a major commercial centre during the early historic period
  • Presence of punch-marked coins, indicating early use of currency
• Cultural Continuity:
  • Continuous occupation from Vedic period to the Gupta and post-Gupta period
  • Significant for understanding the transition from rural PGW settlements to urban Mahajanapada cities

Shravasti

• Location:
  • Located in Shravasti district, Uttar Pradesh
  • Situated on the banks of the Rapti River
  • Positioned strategically along northern trade routes
• Historical Significance:
  • Capital of the Kosala Mahajanapada during the 6th century BCE
  • Known in ancient texts like the Jatakas and the Brahmanical literature
  • Associated with both Buddhist and Jain traditions
• Buddhist Importance:
  • One of the six major cities in early Buddhism
  • The Buddha spent 24 rainy seasons (vassas) here, mostly at Jetavana monastery
  • Home to many important stupas, viharas, and Buddhist relics
  • Numerous Buddhist sculptures and inscriptions found
  • Became an active centre of Buddhist learning and pilgrimage
• Jain Importance:
  • Birthplace of Sambhavanath, the 3rd Tirthankara of Jainism
  • Jain texts refer to the city as a major centre of Jain religious activity
• Accounts of Xuanzang (7th century CE):
  • Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited and found Shravasti in ruins
  • Described decayed Buddhist monasteries and remains of stupas
• Archaeological Discoveries:
  • Identified as a Painted Grey Ware (PGW) and Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) site
  • Continuous occupation from Later Vedic period to early historic period
  • Structural remains in PGW levels:
    • Wattle-and-daub huts
    • Mud houses
  • Fortification remains indicate urban character in later phase
• Material Culture:
  • Copper and iron tools such as arrowheads
  • A unique iron image of the elephant god
  • Ornaments of copper, indicating metallurgical development
  • Terracotta figures, beads, bangles, and seals also unearthed
• Cultural and Economic Role:
  • Served as a religious and trade hub in the Gangetic plains
  • Played a pivotal role in religious syncretism—coexistence of Buddhism and Jainism
• Significance:
  • Offers a well-rounded glimpse into the urbanisation, religious plurality, and material culture of the early historic period in India
  • Important for understanding the evolution from Vedic settlements to Mahajanapada cities

Kampilya

• Location:
  • Situated in Farukhabad district, Uttar Pradesh
  • Identified with the ancient city of Kampilya, also spelled Kampil
• Historical Significance:
  • Capital of South Panchala, one of the 16 Mahajanapadas
  • Frequently mentioned in Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Panini’s Ashtadhyayi
  • Considered the birthplace of Draupadi in the Mahabharata
  • Mentioned as an important Vedic and epic centre
• Jain Significance:
  • A sacred site for Jainism
  • Associated with several Tirthankaras and ancient Jain traditions
• Archaeological Findings:
  • Occupied from the PGW phase (c. 1100–600 BCE) onwards
  • Stratified remains show:
    • Wattle-and-daub houses
    • Mud huts
  • Gradual transition from rural to semi-urban settlement
• Material Culture:
  • Painted Grey Ware (PGW) pottery associated with Vedic rituals
  • Iron objects, terracotta figurines, and other small artefacts found
  • Evidence of fire pits, suggesting domestic yajnas and Vedic sacrificial rituals
• Religious and Cultural Role:
  • A centre of Vedic learning, religious practices, and Mahajanapada politics
  • Its association with both Vedic and Jain traditions shows religious plurality
  • Connected to the epic traditions of Panchala Kingdom, which was a significant power in Later Vedic India
• Significance:
  • Kampilya represents a rich blend of archaeology, epic history, and religious sanctity
  • Provides evidence of early Iron Age culture, Vedic settlement patterns, and Mahajanapada-level political organisation

Ahichchhatra

• Location:
  • Situated in Bareilly district, Uttar Pradesh
  • Identified as the ancient capital of Northern Panchala Mahajanapada
• Cultural Phase:
  • Shows continuous cultural occupation from:
    • Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP)
    • Painted Grey Ware (PGW) (c. 1200 BCE onward)
    • Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW)
    • Early Historic Urban Development (up to 3rd century CE)
• PGW Settlement Features:
  • Excavations revealed:
    • Mud ramparts
    • Wattle and daub houses
    • Circular and rectangular huts
    • Fireplaces and storage pits
  • Indicates a semi-urban Vedic settlement with religious and economic complexity
• Material Culture:
  • PGW pottery with black geometric designs
  • Iron implements and copper tools
  • Terracotta figurines
  • Coins of Panchala and Kushanas
• Political and Cultural Importance:
  • Identified in Later Vedic and Puranic texts as the capital of Panchala
  • Continued significance during Mauryan and Kushana periods
  • Served as a Mahajanapada centre
• Archaeological Significance:
  • PGW was first identified here in 1946
  • Offers evidence for:
    • State formation in the Mahajanapada era
    • The overlap between textual sources and material archaeology
    • The growth of iron-based economies and early urbanism

Atranjikhera & Jakhera

• Location:
  • Located in Etah district, Uttar Pradesh
  • Situated on the banks of the Kali Nadi, a tributary of the Ganga River
  • Atranjikhera is slightly South East of Jakhera
• Chronological Sequence:
  • Shows a clear cultural sequence:
    • Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP)
    • Black and Red Ware (BRW)
    • Painted Grey Ware (PGW) – c. 1100–600 BCE
    • Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW)
  • Reflects transition from village to town (proto-urban evolution)
• Settlement and Architecture:
  • Excavations reveal:
    • Mud ramparts
    • Wattle-and-daub houses
    • Mud-brick structures in later phases
    • Wooden post-supported houses
  • Presence of fire altars and ritual hearths for Vedic yajnas
• Agriculture and Economy:
  • Evidence of:
    • Cultivation of wheat, barley, gram
    • Practice of two crops per year
  • Iron tools such as:
    • Sickles, arrowheads, ploughshares (earlier in PGW, increased in NBPW)
  • Copper tools and bone implements used
  • Horse remains found
• Material Culture:
  • PGW pottery with geometric patterns
  • NBPW pottery in later phases
  • Bone and ivory tools: arrowheads, beads, combs, bangles, etc.
• Vedic Associations:
  • Presence of fire altars supports association with Vedic domestic rituals
  • Aligns with descriptions in Shatapatha Brahmana and Samhitas
• Cultural Continuity and Significance:
  • Indicates continuity into Mahajanapada period
  • A key site showing transition from rural to urban society
  • Supports understanding of early state formation and agro-metallurgical economy in the Later Vedic period

Hastinapur

• Location:
  • In Meerut district, Uttar Pradesh
  • Situated on the right bank of the old bed of the Ganga River
  • Lies in the fertile upper Ganga–Yamuna doab region
• Cultural Sequence:
  • Excavated by B.B. Lal in the 1950s
  • Shows continuous occupation:
    • Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP)
    • Painted Grey Ware (PGW)
    • Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW)
  • Dates from the Vedic to early historic period
• Vedic and Epic Associations:
  • Identified as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom mentioned in the Mahabharata
  • Excavation revealed PGW pottery, fire altars, rice husks, indicating:
    • Vedic domestic life
    • Ritual practices aligned with Shatapatha Brahmana
  • Supported by later texts and Puranic tradition
• Material Culture (PGW Phase):
  • Pottery:
    • PGW bowls and dishes
    • Wheel-turned red ware with designs: fish, leaves, flowers, svastikas, triratnas, loops, circles, and other geometric patterns
  • Houses:
    • Made of wattle-and-daub and mud
    • Use of unbaked bricks
  • Tools & Implements:
    • Iron tools, copper objects
    • Weights made of chert and jasper
  • Animal remains:
    • Horse bones found, suggesting domestication and use
• Post-PGW Continuity & Urbanization:
  • Evidence of flood layer over PGW stratum
    • Possibly explains the abandonment of Hastinapur and rise of Kaushambi
  • Later (2nd century BCE–3rd century CE):
    • Planned urban settlement
    • Burnt brick structures
    • Ring wells used for water management
• Artefacts (Early Historic Phase):
  • Terracotta figurines: humped bull, torso of Bodhisattva Maitreya
  • Iron, ivory, copper objects
  • Rings, beads, potsherds, and seals
  • Coins:
    • Issued by Yaudheyas
    • Kushana coins also found
• Religious Significance (Jain Tradition):
  • Rishabha, the first Tirthankara, is believed to have lived here
  • Mahavira is said to have visited the site
• Archaeological Importance:
  • A rare site where archaeological findings correlate with Vedic literature
  • Critical to the historicisation of the Mahabharata and epic traditions

Alamgirpur

• In Saharanpur district, UP.
• Easternmost Harappan site
• No early Harappan level.
• Burnt bricks, copper objects found in late Harappan period.
• PGW preceded by a late Harappan level.
• Break in occupation between Late Harappan and PGW.

Bhagwanpura

• In Kurukshetra district, Haryana.
• Late Harappan phase shows craft activity:- clay tablets and sherds with graffiti.
• Overlap between the late Harappan and PGW.
• Houses- Round and of three different kinds namely huts, houses made of mud bricks and kiln-bricks found.
• A house with 13 rooms with a corridor and courtyard have been excavated
• Artefacts– stone, bone, and terracotta.
• No evidence of iron artefacts.
• Evidence of horse found– Skeletal remains, terracotta horse.
• Ram- a terracotta figurine found.

Ropar

• In Rupnagar district, Punjab, on left bank of Sutlej river
• IVC, PGW and NBPW.
• No early Harappan level.
• Transition from village to town in period c. 600–200 BCE, and yielded NBPW and punch-marked and copper coins.
• A seal with an inscription in Brahmi.
• Houses made of stone, mud-brick and burnt brick.
• Iron workshop and agate beads in NBPW.

Jodhpura

• In the north-eastern part of Rajasthan.
• Jodhpura: PGW and Chalcolithic.
• Pottery:
  • Handmade, Wheel-made, red in colour, with incised designs.
  • Shapes:-dish-on-stand.
• Three cultural phases:
  • Period I:
    • Hunting-gathering
    • microliths
  • Period II:
    • Beginning of metallurgy (copper).
    • Circular huts
    • Microliths
    • animal bones.
  • Period III:
    • Many copper objects found:- evidence of copper working centre.
    • Lesser number of microliths and animal bones.
• Contact with Harappan sites: – similar potteries, copper objects found.

Noh

• In Bharatpur district, Rajasthan.
• OCP, BRW and then PGW.
• Iron found at pre-PGW BRW levels.
• PGW with painted bird at the rim.
• Sunga and Kushana settlement found.
• Iron artefacts:– spearhead, arrowhead, axe.
• Remains of rice found.
• Gambling was favourite part time as suggested by discovery of gamesmen.

Chak-86

• On the banks of dried up Saraswati river, Ganganagar, Rajasthan.
• 5 circular huts of wattle and daub excavated.
• Beads of terracotta, carnelian, lapis- lazuli.
• Glass bangles, terracotta bangles and animal figurines, bone points , shell also found.
• Pottery – PGW (5%), BRW, Black ware, Red ware etc.
• Concentration of charred bones found.

Mathura

• On the bank of Yamuna, in Mathura district, UP.
• Centre of craft and trade.
  • Textile
  • Junction of trade route: Uttarpatha and dakshinapatha.
• Religious centre:
  • Buddhism,
  • Jainism, and
  • early Hinduism.
• Capital city of Shurasenas in 6th century B.C
• Also second capital of the Kushana.
• Mathura School of Arts under the patronage of the Kushanas.
• BRW, PGW, NBPW
• At Sonkh, near Mathura, PGW, BRW and grey ware found.
• Post-holes and a double ditch.
• Beginnings of urbanization during Kushana period.
• NBPW: Coins came and specialized crafts such as the manufacture of terracotta figurines, copper and iron working, and bead making.
• In mythology, place is attached to Lord Krishna.
• Big city, part of Uttarapatha network.

Bhawalpur

• Located in Pakistan, on southern side of river Sutlej in Indus basin.
• It is the western-most site of PGW culture.
• Some potteries along with a few evidence of iron have been found.
• There is some evidence even of rice cultivation at this site.

Lal Qila

• Location:
  • Located in Bulandshahr district, Uttar Pradesh
  • Around 3 km west of Atranjikhera, on an upper stream of the Kali Nadi
• Cultural Sequence:
  • Excavations revealed a long sequence of occupation, showing cultural continuity:
    • Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP): c. 2030–1730 BCE
    • Painted Grey Ware (PGW): c. 1100–600 BCE
    • Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) in the later phase
• Settlement Features:
  • Eight habitation layers discovered
  • Structural remains include:
    • Rectangular and circular huts
    • Post-holes
    • Fire pits
    • Charred bones
  • Indicates domestic activities, ritual practices, and long-term settlement
• Material Culture:
  • PGW pottery with painted geometric motifs
  • Terracotta figurines (possibly religious or decorative)
  • Copper-hoard tools and weapons
  • Iron tools (such as sickles, arrowheads), showing metallurgical advancement
  • Reflects an early craft-producing and metal-using society
• Economy and Subsistence:
  • Evidence of a mixed economy:
    • Agriculture: Tools and plant remains suggest crop cultivation
    • Hunting-Gathering: Burnt animal bones indicate continued reliance on wild resources
• Ritual and Vedic Significance:
  • Presence of fire pits suggests ritual practices linked to Vedic traditions
  • Pottery designs and structural layout hint at domestic yajnas or ritual hearths
  • Reflects Later Vedic cultural and religious transformation
• Archaeological Importance:
  • Lal Qila serves as a valuable site for understanding:
    • Vedic social evolution
    • Technological advancements from copper to iron
    • Continuity between OCP–PGW–NBPW phases
  • Acts as a supporting site alongside Atranjikhera and Ahichhatra in tracing Vedic-era settlement expansion in the Ganga plains