What, then, is the archaeological legacy of the society so richly documented in the Rig-Veda? There should be evidence of an urban society with religious leaders and evidence for a sacrificial bull cult and a god of fire. There should be evidence for trade by river and sea, large houses for an elite, plows and irrigation employed in the cultivation of barley and wheat, dairy cows, metal, and horse-drawn chariots. Finally, there should be the cities themselves. Given that there is no conclusive evidence for the date of the original Vedas, Frawley finds no reason to ignore as the prime candidate the civilization of the indus Valley itself. The archaeological evidence is indeed convincing. sites such as Kalibangan have furnished fire altars and sacrificial pits containing cattle bones on the brick temples. seals show horned gods and animal sacrifice. There were opulent houses, and the elite wore gold ornaments. Some seals bear images of large boats. Indus seals in Mesopotamia and Mesopotamian seals in india indicate sea trade. The remains of a plowed field have been uncovered at Kalibangan. Terra-cotta figurines of horses survive, as do models of wheeled vehicles. The indus civilization relied on the cultivation of barley and wheat. Harappa has a large series of threshing floors beside a granary. Many dice reflect a passion for gambling.
It would indeed be fascinating if the great body of religious lore contained in the Rig-Veda did in fact describe the cities of the indus civilization, for the script remains undeciphered, and knowledge of the social organization is hazy at best. Further implications have the potential to alter profoundly the appreciation of the course of indian civilization. Thus, are the gods seen on the Indus seals and the stone lingams recovered from such sites as Mohenjo Daro representatives of early Hindu deities? if the people of the indus civilization spoke an Indo-European language, for how long had their ancestors been present in this region, and how did a branch of this language family reach south Asia? Many authorities consider it likely that the early Vedas date between 1800 and 1000 B. C.E. However, there remains the possibility that some are considerably earlier and would thus fall within the compass of the indus civilization. indo-European speakers were also early farmers who expanded from the Near East and took with them knowledge of agriculture.
THE MIDDLE GROUND
The equation of the Rig-Veda with the indus civilization, however, has not received widespread acceptance. There remains a substantial middle ground of scholars with a third view, who accept neither this straightforward linkage nor the notion of an invading horde of nomadic barbarians. Raymond Allchin, for example, has suggested that far from being an invading force, the indo-Aryan people infiltrated Pakistan over many centuries.
Ritsuryo A ritsuryo is a civil and penal code. Several were issued by Japanese emperors in the late seventh and early eighth centuries to establish the legal basis of the imperial late yamato and nara state. They were modeled on the chinese system and provided the framework for a tightly structured aristocratic regime in which the state owned all the land and people. The emperor Tenchi issued an early set of laws when ruling from Omi in 662 C. E. Revised in 689 C. E. these formed the basis for the minute regulation of society embodied in the Taiho code of 701 C. E. and the yoro code of 718 c. e. No copy of the former survives, but the latter is embodied in later commentaries. The purpose of the codes was to provide for social stability and establish the status of the ruling family and aristocracy In the same context, the NIHONGI was ordered at the same time as the Yoro Code to confirm the antiquity and legitimacy of the royal lineage.
Ritual bronze vessels In the Chinese ritual tradition bronze vessels played a key role. Many thousands have been recovered under controlled conditions from tombs, particular those dating to the shang state (1766-1045 B. C.E.) and WESTERN ZHOU DYNASTY (1045-771 B. C.E.); more have been looted and sold to collectors. One of the most important aspects of the study of these bronzes is that many, particularly during the Western Zhou dynasty, were embellished with inscriptions of inestimable historical value. The bronzes also changed over time in both form and decoration, and the quality and quantity of vessels can be used to identify both the tomb occupant and the person’s status.
The vessels were cast by using the complex piece-mold system, in which a ceramic negative in separate pieces was assembled over a corresponding clay core before the casting procedure. This was a distinctive Chinese technological accomplishment that demanded high skill of specialists. Their accomplishments are nowhere more clearly reflected than in the tomb contents of FU HAO (c. 1200 B. C.E.), royal consort to King Wu Ding, at ANYANG. More than 200 bronzes were found, totaling 1,600 kilograms (3,520 lbs.) of bronze, some weighing up to 70 kilograms (154 lbs.) each. These were Fu Hao’s ritual and banqueting ware, one feature of which was an assemblage of more than 50 wine vessels, or gu. Other major forms were used for serving food and drink.
During the period of Eastern Zhou, ritual bronzes continued to be cast in considerable quantities, and the inscriptions that recorded their owners and the circumstances of casting provide a vital source of historical information. Often bronzes along with chariots were given by the king, and the services that attracted such rewards are recorded. Indeed, the first historic document describing the successive rulers of the Western Zhou dynasty and their achievements is found on the SHI qiang pan, a vessel from the zhuangbai hoard (c. 771 b. c.e.) of 103 items belonging to five generations of an aristocratic family.
Rock monasteries More than 1,000 rock monasteries have been identified in central and southern India. They were built between the second century b. c.e. and the ninth century C. E. as centers of Buddhist life and learning. They typically have rooms for the monks, with stone beds and pillows, a mandapa, or hall for meetings and religious ceremonies, and a sanctuary, or caitya, incorporating a stupa. A stupa is a mounded structure that in the early days of the rock monasteries represented the Buddha and would be deemed to contain a relic of the Buddha or one of his followers. Early examples in the Deccan are seen at Lomasa Rishi and Sudama. Their architecture clearly reveals that they were built in imitation of wooden structures with a thatched roof. As at Lomasa Rishi, which has a simple caitya and apsidal-end chamber, the early rock monasteries of the Decan began with a small and spare plan, extending only about 10 meters (33 ft.) in the rock face and terminating with a circular chamber containing the stupa. Over the course of time, these temples became larger and of more complex design. At Bhaja, for example, the interior had a series of columns, and similar trends are seen among the earliest caityas at ajanta, dated to about 70 B. C.E., and soon to be embellished with the first paintings. The most famous at ellora and Ajanta are major architectural achievements, incorporating fine sculptures and paintings. All are now deserted.
Rojdi Rojdi is a settlement site that falls broadly in the tradition of the INDUS valley civilization but also reveals a number of distinctive local characteristics. It is located on the Saurasthra Plateau in Gujarat state, India. Its location beside the Bhadar River might explain its long but narrow form, 500 meters (1,650 ft.) in length but only 150 wide (495 ft.). Excavations in 1982-86 and again in 1992-95 showed that a threefold sequence, dating within the outer limits of the Indus Valley civilization (2500-1700 B. C.E.). The ceramics show only a few parallels with those of sites to the west, while there is a notable absence from the site of the weights and seals so characteristic of this civilization. Again, the typical food plants, wheat and barley, gave way at Rojdi to the harder millet. The site was ringed by a stone defensive wall that began two meters wide, but was later strengthened; while the houses were typically built of mud over a stone base, there is no evidence for a drainage system. Rojdi thus represents a singular Harappan adaptation of considerable durability in this inland region of Gujarat.
Rong Chen The temple pyramid of Rong Chen is located on the kulen hills north of angkor in Cambodia. It is widely considered to be the most likely location for the consecration of jayavarman ii as CHAKRAVARTIN, supreme king of kings, in 802 C. E., thus initiating the kingdom of Angkor.
Rongkab Rongkab is the name of a village mentioned in a copper plate inscription dating to 901 c. E. from central Java in Indonesia. The actual find spot of this inscription is not known. It records how the villagers were granted exemption from paying a certain form of tax. The minor officials involved were paid measures of silver in return. It also mentions the names of village elders, one of whom held the office of chief of the rice supply.
Ropar Ropar, also known as Rupnagar, is a settlement and cemetery of the INDUS valley civilization (2500-1700 B. C.E.) located on the south bank of the Sutlej River in northwestern India. It was excavated in 1950 and again in 1982. There are three distinct mounds, the northern 21 meters (70 ft.) high and revealing evidence for settlement from the early and mature Indus civilization through the period of painted grey ware (800-500 B. C.E.) and into the Indian medieval period. The western mound covers an inhumation cemetery in which the dead were interred with the head to the northwest and associated with pottery vessels, personal ornaments, and, in one case, the skeleton of a dog. Deep soundings in the northern mound have revealed the remains of mud-BRiCK houses on stone foundations, together with a typical Indus material culture that includes stone weights, a STEATITE SEAL, the remains of clay bearing three separate sealings, and terra-cotta carts. Copper arrowheads and spears are also characteristic of the Indus civilization.
World History
