Indian Chariot Discovered

[Patrick Waterson]

The ongoing excavations at Sinauli have recently (at the time of writing) excavated a number of warrior tombs, and in the process unearthed a nice collection of weapons - and three chariots.

Story here.

"The excavation, which began in March, has also unearthed eight burial sites and several artefacts, including three coffins, antenna swords, daggers, combs, and ornaments, among others. The three chariots found in burial pits indicate the possibility of "royal burials" while other findings confirm the population of a warrior class here, officials said."

[Duncan Head]

Very interesting. Can't get the video to run, but that sword looks very cool.

[Patrick Waterson]

It does look nice, and copper swords do seem to last.

There is another smaller but clearer picture here, if one does not mind agreeing to an Indian cookie or two.

[Dave Beatty]

So much for the peaceful 'noble savage' view of the Harappan culture.

That looks like a 4 wheel vehicle so might be termed a cart ala Sumer rather than a chariot?

And that sword looks suspiciously similar to some Unetice weapons from Europe...

[Patrick Waterson]

I am not sure if they have found any wheels to go with the chariot bodies.  However the sword does rather suggest the 'Aryan' invasion of tradition which present-day Indian historians seem keen to abolish or reverse.

[Andreas Johansson]

2000-1800 BC sounds a bit early for Aryan invaders, which is supposed to be more like 1500 BC.

(Are we in for a Watersonian revisionist theory of Indian chronology too? )

Similarities with western parts might be due to trade. How secure is the identification with the Mesopotamians' Melukhkha with the Indus Valley?

[Erpingham]

Regarding the nature of the chariots, this article raises some interesting questions.  It is based on an interview with Dr Manjul, director of the excavation. 

On the wheels :
"The chariots discovered have two wheels fixed on an axle that was linked by a long pole to the yoke of a pair of animals. A super structure was attached to the axle consist of a platform protected by side-screens and a high dashboard. The wheels were found solid in nature, without any spokes, Dr Manjul says. "

Note the controversy over whether this is a horse-drawn chariot or an ox-drawn vehicle.

[Duncan Head]

So much for the peaceful 'noble savage' view of the Harappan culture.

The find is not Harappan - "While it was difficult to ascertain the exact race of the latest buried remains, Manjul asserted that the chariots and coffins did not belong to the Harappan civilisation" (from the Times of India story). It's down in the Deccan somewhere, I think.

2000-1800 BC sounds a bit early for Aryan invaders, which is supposed to be more like 1500 BC.

And (as the outlookindia story hints) various people on the web are already using this find as further evidence that the whole Aryan Invasion theory is colonialist nonsense.

Regarding the nature of the chariots ... "The chariots discovered have two wheels fixed on an axle that was linked by a long pole to the yoke of a pair of animals. A super structure was attached to the axle consist of a platform protected by side-screens and a high dashboard. The wheels were found solid in nature, without any spokes, Dr Manjul says. "

Note the controversy over whether this is a horse-drawn chariot or an ox-drawn vehicle.

Two solid wheels, but with a box superstructure, sounds like a "platform car" - in Littauer's terminology - a sort fo two-wheeled version of the Sumerian "battle car", and conceivably ancestral to the "true" chariot.

[Andreas Johansson]

The find is not Harappan - "While it was difficult to ascertain the exact race of the latest buried remains, Manjul asserted that the chariots and coffins did not belong to the Harappan civilisation" (from the Times of India story). It's down in the Deccan somewhere, I think.

No, it's in Sinauli, in westernmost Uttar Pradesh, quite close to the Harappan area if not actually within it. WP credits the site with Harappan graves.

[Andreas Johansson]

Note the controversy over whether this is a horse-drawn chariot or an ox-drawn vehicle.

That seems like a false dichotomy BTW. The Mesopotamian parallel noted in the article ought suggest the answer may well be neither.

[Patrick Waterson]

2000-1800 BC sounds a bit early for Aryan invaders, which is supposed to be more like 1500 BC.

(Are we in for a Watersonian revisionist theory of Indian chronology too? )

No such luck , but perhaps in the future a revision of the carbon dating results, if the samples ever go to a non-Indian laboratory.