Vol-7 Number-2 April 2022
Chief Editor: Vijay Kumar
Publisher: National Trust for Promotion of Knowledge, Lucknow
Mode of Publication: Online (e-Journal)
This article by Alka Srivastava discusses the pollen morphology of representatives of subfamily Caesalpinioideae including fifteen species (8 genera). The pollen morphology of the studied species is described with pollen key and photo-documented with light microscope. Size of pollen ranges from medium sized grains (ME) to large size grains (MA), while pollen of Parkinsonia aculeata falls in the category of small sized grains (MI).
This article by Alka Srivastava discusses the pollen morphology of representatives of subfamily Caesalpinioideae including fifteen species (8 genera). The pollen morphology of the studied species is described with pollen key and photo-documented with light microscope. Size of pollen ranges from medium sized grains (ME) to large size grains (MA), while pollen of Parkinsonia aculeata falls in the category of small sized grains (MI).
This article by Brij Mohan describes 14 megalithic sites found in the Adhaura block district Kaimur, Bihar. These megalithic sites are generally found in all the parts of the Adhaura region like foothills, forests or in the vicinity of villages. The megaliths are mainly of Menhir or cairn circles variety. Some are combination of the two. Cultural material was also recovered from a few megalithic sites
This article by Raj Kumar Patel, Niraj Kumar Verma & Aakanksha Roychowdhury gives the circumstances of the discovery of copper hoard at Ganeshpura village p.s. Kurawali district Mainpuri U.P. and their complete details. This hoard has 77 pieces. The breakup of this hoard is as follows: 2 spearheads, 5 short sword, 8 swords, 46 harpoons and 16 anthropomorphic figures. All the pieces of this hoard were recovered shortly after the discovery. In this case, the complete copper hoard was recovered. In contrast to this, whenever a copper hoard was found, most of the pieces were lost and only a few pieces were recovered.
This article by Vijay Kumar, Amit Rai Jain & Atul Mishra gives the details of 82 copper hoard weapons, tools, ornaments & other objects which were recovered from different places in northern India. Shahjad Rai Research Institute recently acquired 4 anthropomorphic figures, 3 Celts, 4 bar Celts, 7 flat Celts, 5 antennae swords, 1 short sword, 3 chisels, 30 bangles, 4 currier’s knife, 1 knife, 3 helix shaped bars, 3 shouldered axe, 4 leather hole cutter, 1 harpoon, 1 flat axe & 1 pointed bar. The collection of Atul Mishra contains 17 copper hoard objects. It consist of 2 shouldered axes, 1 harpoon, 3 celts, 7 bar celts, 1 sword, 2 bangles and 1 knife.
This article by Vijay Kumar gives the details of settlements around Ganeshpura village p.s. Kurawali district Mainpuri U.P. The author could identify seven settlements around this village. Six among these are located near the oxbow lakes/ depressions and only one was on the bank of the tributary of river Kali. The people in a village made their huts at some distance to each other spread over a large area. The copper hoard was placed at a central and safe place. These weapons were state of art weapons. The later archaeological evidences point to the anthropomorphic figures being associated with the cult of Skanda/ Kartikeya/ Shaka/ Vishakha/ Naigamesha/ Guha/ Murugan & Subramaniam. The later mythology of Skanda makes him Deva Senapati i.e. General of the Army of Gods.
This paper by Abdul Adil Paray is a preliminary report of the recently archaeological survey carried out to locate and record new archaeological and historic sites and settlements and discover and document unrecorded monuments and sites. This was not an extensive exploration or systematic archaeological survey but the field walking reconnaissance method was followed. During this survey, three tehsils, Awantipora (Pulwama), Ahan (Ganderbal), and Narvaw (Baramulla) of Kashmir valley, were explored, and I came across many new archaeological sites and artefacts. These three surveyed areas are situated in the south, center and northern Kashmir, respectively. The main surface finds include pottery, terracotta objects, remains of religious structures, and ancient mounds. Usually, river basins are being archaeologically surveyed to find the ancient human settlements and remnants of the past. However, this survey was unconventional because the study area is not located on the main rivers and is also far from the tributaries of the rivers. The survey's main objective is to find new archaeological sites and published these for future research, scientific explorations, and excavations. Furthermore, the paper advocates that future archaeological surveys should be carried out along with the river systems, on Karewas, and in the side valleys of Kashmir. Likewise, it is also recommended to systematically set down the scattered ruins of fallen and destructed sites and monuments as well.
This article by A.K. Singh, Ram Vinay & Narsingh Tyagi gives the detailed catalogue of the terracottas found in the excavation of Hulaskhera which was done between 1979 & 1982 by Hemraj and from 1983-84 by Rakesh Tiwari. This gives the details of – of terracotta pieces. The site yielded the terracotta of pre-Mauryan, Mauryan, Shunga, Kushan, Gupta, Early medieval & late medieval periods. The maximum number of terracottas are of Gupta period. After this comes the terracottas of Kushan period. The number of terracotta pieces belonging to early & late medieval are very less.
This article by Prashant Srivastava discusses the chronology of Western Kshtrapa from Ghsamotika to Rudradaman. He tries to reconstruct the political events and the struggle for succession on the basis of numismatic evidence. He suggests that after Chastan nominated Jayadaman, his successor. Jayadaman died and the ruler ship was acquired by Dāmaghsada, who was finally replaced by Rudradaman. This event is alluded to in Junagadh inscription.
This article by Huang Lele says that Buddhism was transmitted to China during the Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE) and got integrated with existing Chinese cultures such as Confucianism and Taoism. It emerged gradually as a specific cultural phenomenon with Chinese qualities and traits. Within Buddhism itself, Avalokiteśvara, a Bodhisattva who is believed to have made a great vow to assist sentient beings in times of difficulty and to postpone his own Buddhahood until he has assisted every sentient being in achieving nirvana, experienced a long process of change. One of the striking changes in the image of Avalokiteśvara in China is the shifting of the gender of Avalokiteśvara. The great Sui-Tang dynasties patronized Buddhism as a state cult during the greater portion of their reign. Many scholars like Wu Yan, Jiao Jie, Sun Xiushen, Cui Feng and etc. observed that Sui-Tang period was the turning point for the gender transformation of Kuan-yin (Cui Feng 2013, Sun Xiushen 1995, Wu Yan 2015). What are the reasons for transformations in the visual imagery of Avalokiteśvara? In this paper, I am going to do a comparative study on the representations of Avalokiteśvara from both India and China broadly from seventh to tenth centuries, in order to see how Kuan-yin transformed in China and whether there might be influences from India in the ways that Kuan-yin’s gender is constructed in the iconography
This article by Huma Matloob gives the details of study the old buildings located within the campus of Aligarh Muslim University for their thermal comfort performance and energy efficiency achieved through the design elements. These buildings are found to be performing well in extreme weather conditions providing much-needed effort without much involvement of electrical and mechanical devices. The study aims to provide some insight into efficient building design for contemporary designers.
This article by Asif Ali & Mohammad Saquib gives the information about the earliest mosques of Islam were simple and austere. As Islam reached from the Arab region to the rest part of the world, the ubiquitous need for a place of worship developed several styles of mosque architecture. The earliest examples of mosques style in the region where Islam reached were indigenous and traditional. With the passage of time, the mosque architecture developed with the amalgamation of immigrated techniques and the regional indigenous architecture. With the arrival of Muslims in India, several indigenous styles were adopted for the earliest mosques. In Gujarat, a trabeated system with corbelled domes and richly ornamented pillars and ceilings was dominated by medieval architecture. Hence a similar style was adopted for the early mosques of medieval Gujarat. Later the arcuated system was blended with the indigenous architecture and a new style evolved. The features like minarets, arches and domes were added as the style grew. This paper investigates the development of mosque architecture in medieval Gujarat through several case studies
This article by Babli Devi gives the details of Mughal garden at Pinjore. The emergence of the tradition of Char-Bagh gardens based on the theme of ‘Paradise’ also arrived with the foundation of the Mughal Empire during the reign of Babur and developed fully up to the reign of Emperor Shahjahan. In Islamic traditions, gardens were constantly mentioned as a symbol of heaven. Whereas running water channels of these gardens were the symbol of bliss and four major rivers of heaven. Mughals were fond of gardens and most of their gardens were founded on the same theme. The tradition of laying gardens already existed in India, even before the establishment of Mughal rule but they lack the proper style and running water channels, which were the basic component of the Mughal gardens. Pinjore garden built during the late seventeenth century is another marvelous example of gardens built under the Mughals. It was the last garden which was built in proper Mughal style. However, it is noteworthy that it was not built by Aurangzeb the last Mughal emperor but by his foster brother Fidai Khan.
This article by Kisha Shanker & Devendra Kumar Gupta throws light on the management perspective of site museums in India which has more than thousand museums under various private, state and national agencies. It has around thirty two cultural sites which have been included in the World Heritage List by UNESCO. These sites are important landmarks for any country and thus their story needs to be told, the best possible way of informally educating masses about these are museums. In this regard, site museums become very important. The advantage of a site museum is that it tells the story of a single site through time and space. This work is based on on-the-ground research, interviews with museum workers, and a review of the literature. Essentially, it provides information on the current state of site museums in India that are part of World Heritage Sites, with a focus on management issues. The article finishes with a management model to give a long-term and effective plan for maximising the power of museums as cultural and social institutions
This article is by Bandita Biswal & Shisira Bania. Kuhibahal in Subarnapur district is the largest terracotta cluster village in entire western Odisha where both pottery and terracotta figures are produced. The potter communities of this village produce number terracotta items which they learn from their predecessor and meet the present day demands. Their unique products have demands not only in the local markets but also other parts of India. This ancient craft practice in Kuhibahal village is not only the source of livelihood for these craftsmen but also reveals the socio-cultural characteristics of this region with many changes and innovations.
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