The Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) decision to shift the pre-Iron Age artifacts, including chariots reportedly belonging to the Mahabharat-era, recently unearthed from Sanauli village at Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district to the Delhi’s Red Fort museum for further investigation, has not gone down well with the villagers.
Several Sanuali villagers told The Pioneer that they want a museum to be e constructed at the site itself, showcasing the recovered artifacts which would help boost tourism in the region. They also felt that the museum will enable the future generation of the region to have a glimpse of their rich history. However, the ASI feels that setting up a museum needs long-term planning and it will be too early to give a thought to their demand.
The site at Sanauli was accidentally discovered early this year by Satender Kumar Maan, village Pradhan, while he was levelling his agricultural land. “We informed the district officers who in turn intimated the ASI,” he said.
In the three-month long excavation, which started in March this year, the ASI, a premier archaeological agency under the Union Culture Ministry, unearthed eight burial sites and several artifacts, including three coffins, antenna swords, daggers, copper pots, steatite beads, combs, and ornaments, among others.
The ASI has now started shifting the artifacts and items recovered from the site to the museum of the ASI’s institute of Archaeology Museum located in the Red Fort for further investigation. Mahabharat-era Chariots and coffins which are in a dilapidated State are yet to be lifted from the site as they are very fragile and need special handling.
However, the villagers are not happy at the ASI move. Maan said, “We want these artifacts should be kept here for the tourists. We don’t want that the artifacts to be tempered by shifting to other sites.”
Most of the locals here are engaged in land cultivation. The ASI has found the region, which is used for cultivating crops like maize and sugarcane, archaeologically rich.
In 2005, the ASI, just 120 metres from the Sanauli site, had found 116 burials along with antenna swords and pottery. The excavation has been touted as one of its own kind where the ASI found physical evidence of the chariots in the sub-continent dating back to 2,000 BC - 1,800 BC.
“The region is historically rich. If a museum is set up here showcasing these excavated archaeological items, we hope to see our revenue soaring as tourists will come to visit the site,” said Shri Ram Sharma, another villager who had offered his five-acre land to the ASI for the digging purpose.
land owner Prabhat Sharma feels showcasing a historical treasure at the site itself will enhance its value.
However, Director of the Institute of Archaeology SK Manjul said the artifacts will be further investigated in details in Delhi to probe the speculation that the burial pits might be “royal” ones or the weapons might belong to warrior class.
“Site museum needs a long-term planning. These are very fragile items and cannot be kept at the site in the open,” he added.
The ASI feels that the recovery is set to give new dimension to our history and date of the Mahabharata period, and further into the origins of chariots and horses in the Harappan age.