Continuity from Protohistory to History

There was a seamless transition from late prehistory (or protohistory, as it is called in Indian archaeology) to history in India (for the details of this section, see Chakrabarti 2006: 303–10). In late prehistory itself, the different strands of the Neolithic-Chalcolithic that we traced in Chapter 1.26 for non- and Post-Harappan India slowly acquired the trait of iron-smelting without undergoing any perceptible change in any other material cultural remains. The process lasted basically throughout the 2nd millennium bce. One could say that by c. 1000 bce all the major agricultural regions of India were ready for the transition to the phase of documented history.

The deep-rooted base of agriculture and animal husbandry is not in doubt. At site after site, in the iron-using and earlier levels the excavated wood-charcoals bring to light a vegetation that characterises the Indian landscape today. In the Gangetic Plain, the core area of India’s historic development, the evidence comes mainly from Hulas, Atranjikhera, Sringaverapura and Narhan. The wood-charcoal remains identified in the Harappan and later contexts of Hulas are those of Pipal (Ficus religiosa), Acacia (Babul), Shorea robusta (Sal), Tectona grandis (teak) and a species of bamboo. The ochre-coloured pottery (OCP) level at Atranjikhera shows, in addition to Babul, Sal and teak, Shisham (Dalbergia sissoo) and pine (Pinus roxburghii). In the iron-bearing painted grey ware level of Atranjikhera, the material includes chirwood (Pinus roxburghii). Babul, pine, bamboo and Ber (Zyziphus sp.) occur at Sringaverapura (OCP level) together with mango (Mangifera indica) and Mahua (Madhuca indica).