archaelogy of haryana: ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE RATTAK

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE RATTAK

Interesting archaeological findings from the lost bed of Drishadvati ,a tributary of Saraswati have come to light after thediscovery of a ransacked mound located at Rattak, a village underTehsil Asandh about 10 Kilometer from Assandh on Assandh -Sirsal Road at Rattak on the lost valley of Drishadvati or Rakshi or the so called Western Yamuna canal called Chautang Nala during exploration ( oct,2010)conducted by a final year student of Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology,K.U.K. Sh Manoj Kumar

The Drshadvati River has often been identified with the Chautang River. According to the major religious work Srimad Bhagavatam, the Drsadvati is one of the many transcendental rivers in India. The Drsadvati River is a river already mentioned in the Rig Veda together with Sarasvati and Apaya. In the Manu Smriti, this river and the Sarasvati River define the boundary of Brahmavarta.

Rajesh Purohit, Deputy director ,

Srikrishna

TARRACOTT BULL

Museum, Kurukshetra colour and fabric collected from the site, says the antiquities unfold new evidences about a

disappearance of Drishadvati and flow of yamuna over the lost bed of Drishadvati or the palaeo Yamuna river .

The evidences of Rattak are based on the surface findings of the Indus antiquities along with Painted Grey Ware or the pottery

BONE ANTIQUITY

associated with the Mahabharata. Similar findings have also been reported from Bhagwanpura, Daulatpur and Jogana Khera in this district.. It may also unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of the Saraswati and the Drishadvati Rivers of greater Kurukshetra region in Haryana.

Rattak is a huge archaeological mound of 20 ft in height and spread over18acres. It
encompasses deposit of human habitation starting from Late Indus or Harrapan to the painted grey ware culture dated back to 11th century BCE and finally ended with Kushan period that is First Century AD. The evidences are mostlysun baked brick structure or mud brick structures of Indus period alog with Pottery like Dish on stand etc andPainted potteries of the same period . Painted Grey ware shreds etc.Other findings include Terracotta Bull, stone pestle, saddle corn, copper coins of Kushana period etc.

Most of the valuable antiquities are lying unattended and slowly being destroyed by the innocent villagers who have no idea about this archaeological findings.They have constructed houses and dug pond on this historical area of Haryana.With the passage of time slowly the mound of archaeological significance will be lost in the oblivion as the rivers have been lost.

Keeping in view of its immense significance, this site should be declared a protected site and excavation should be conducted.

Saraswati was believed to have had three tributaries, Shatadru (Sutlej) arising from Mount Kailas, Drishadvati from Siwalik Hills and the old Yamuna.
Together, they flowed along a channel, presently identified as that of the river Ghaggar, also called Hakra Rajasthan as well as in Pakistan and Nara in Sindh.

The rivers, Saraswati and Ghaggar, are therefore supposed to be one and the same, though a few workers use the name Ghaggar to describe Saraswati’s upper course and Hakra to its lower course,

SPOUTED POT

while some others refer Saraswati of weak and declining stage, by the name
Ghaggar.

A study of satellite derived data has revealed no palaeochannel link between Indus and Saraswati confirming that the two were independent rivers; also, the three palaeochannels, south of Ambala, seen to swerve westwards to join the ancient bed of Ghaggar, are inferred to be tributaries of Saraswati/ Ghaggar, and one among them, probably Drishadvati .

HISTORICAL POTTERY

According to some scholars , ancient Shatadru or Sutlej must have been this tributary and possibly ancient Yamuna (palaeo-Yamuna) also flowed into Ghaggar, a conclusion they claim is strengthened by archaeological findings of active life that

existed at one time on thire banks.