2 Books on Champaner

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Champaner Pavagadh: World Heritage Series

Prehistoric Champaner - A Report On The Explorations Of Prehistoric Sites Around Pavagadh Hill (An Old And Rare Book)

The Department of Archaeology and Ancient History of the M. S. University of Baroda carries on a systematic study of the material culture of India by exploring and excavating archaeological sites. It publishes its findings in the M. S. University Archaeology series.

In this tradition, this is the 13th Monograph. It is the first report on extensive explorations conducted at Champaner by the Department. While exploring the mediaeval capital of Gujarat, accidentally rich prehistoric materials were discovered. These earliest antiquities of Champaner are presented in this Monograph.

I am sure that the scholars in the field will find this publication a useful one providing new data for the Panchamahals. The other reports on explorations and excavations at Champaner will be shortly published by the Department.

P. J. MADAN

Vice-Chancellor

M. S. University of Baroda

Our main project of the work at Champaner concentrates on the study of Mediaeval monuments, town and its archaeological potential to develop the methodological and theoretical tools for Mediaeval as well as Urban Archaeology. While doing this work, field archaeology has to pay attention to the phenomenon observed in the field work and it led to significant and startling results. While the town-scape of Champaner, a mediaeval capital of Gujarat was being studied, from the wall of a mediaeval house, one of our students Pandey S. N. collected a proto-handaxe, This tool (No. 54 in the text) from a mediaeval wall recalled the experience of the author at Tripuri, Navada toli and other places, and hence it was decided to follow the clue, to unravel the remnants of Prehistoric Champaner.

Initially the result was the collection of a few flakes of rhyolites and cores of microlithic nature. But pursuit in the nalas of Jorvan by C. U. Bhagat brought the evidence of larger cores and flakes. A systematic search of the river indicated the sections and many tools were collected.

Shri K. N. Momin and Shri V. H. Sonawane of the Department went on searching road cuttings, nalas and field in this area. This search built up the collection which is studied here.

Dr. H. D. Sankalia visited the site and confirmed our observations. This gave us an added impetus to study and collect the materials from the region, while we were engaged in studying urban archaeology of Champaner for understanding the archaeological potential of the Mediaeval Period. Field operations, therefore, are similar whether one conducts his activity in Mediaeval Archaeology or Pre historic Archaeology and hence the field workers should be on alert to pursue the clues offered in a given region.

The preliminary observations of our staff were further strengthened by furtherfield-work during the spare time. The illustrations for this report is the work of R. J. Khatri, N. M. Khatri and R. C. Sutaria to whom the author is obliged. The MSS was typed by Shri B. A. Shah and the proofs were read by Mrs. D. R. Shab In the botanical observations on the field the author received much help from Dr. G. M. Oza. He also gave the Indian names of the Vegetation for Appendix 1.

One of the son of the Department Kum. Darly worked out the food-potential of this region as a dissertation. Results of her work are given in the Appendix 1. that is prepared from her work by Dr. K. T. M. Hegde.

As already noted above our main work centres round Mediaeval and Urban Archaeology at Champaner. This important Prehistoric material is published as the first volume in the series of Publications on Champaner, for cultural and chronogical consideration.

The author is obliged to Professor P. J. Mudan, the Vice-Chancellor of the M. S. University of Baroda and Professor S. M. Sethna the Pro-Vice-Chancellor ed the University for their keen interest in the work. My gratitude is also due to Prol. Nurul Hasan, the Ex-Minister of Education, Government of India for his keen interest in the work. He is grateful to Shri M. N. Deshpande, The Director General of Archacology and Shri B. K. Thapar, The Additional Director General, Archaeological Survey of India for their help. The help given by W. Siddiqi and D. Margabandhu, the Superintending Archaeologists-Western Circle was praise worthy, Prof. Satishchandra, Chairman, U.G.C. encouraged us by his visit to the site and Prof. S. C. Misra by his enthusiasm.

R. N. MEHTA

Vijaya Dashmi,

V.S. 2033,

Vadodara.

This is part of a series of guidebooks published by the Archaeological Survey of India to showcase World Heritage Sites in India.

Champaner-Pavagadh is situated at 45 km north-east of Vadodara. The site was designated as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in July, 2004 for its stunning range of monuments, having antiquities datable to Stone Age, that include stone tools such as hand axes, choppers and cleavers recovered from the river Jorvan.

The discovery of Maitraka coins from the region suggests that ‘Champaner-Pavagadh’ was under the Maitraka rulers (circa AD 470- 776). Mahmud Begda, the Sultan of Gujarat defeated the Kichhi ruler Patai Rawal in AD 1484 and made Champaner as his second capital and named it ‘Muhammadabad’. Champaner became a flourishing city during the reign of Mahmud Begda but the glory of the town was short lived and it was pillaged by Emperor Humayun during the reign of Sultan Bahadur Shah in AD 1535.

Thereafter, the capital was shifted to Ahmedabad and Champaner rapidly declined. It did not regain its glory even under the supremacy of Marathas or the Britishers.

The Medieval city of Champaner Pavagadh is dotted with large number of historical monuments of various religious faiths as also palaces, forts and water bodies both natural and man-made.

The site of Champaner-Pavagadh was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004. Stone tools recovered from the region indicate that the antiquity of the site goes back to the Stone Age. The earliest historical monument of Champaner-Pavagadh is the Lakulisha Temple located on the Mauliya plateau. Built around the 1 0th 11th century AD, it is adorned with fine images of deities including Brahma, Vishnu, Gajendramoksha, Dakshinamurti, Indra and Ambika. Other notable structures are the temple of Kalikamata, the remains of many beautiful Jam temples, ruins of palaces and granaries, a number of ponds and water cisterns.

As the 131h century drew to a close, Gujarat came under the Delhi Sultanate and the local architecture increasingly blended with the Islamic. A distinct Gujarat style, however, emerged only after the Gujarat Sultanate was established at the beginning of the 15th century, and reached its zenith during the reign of Mahmud Begda (AD. 1458-1511). He founded Champaner at the foot of the Pavagadh hill, and shifted his capital there in 1485.

Champaner is a magnificent example of a pre-Mughal township. Its elegant monuments stand testimony to the harmonious synthesis of the local tradition of ornamentation and Islamic building traditions. The town was planned as a series of fortifications with the main one housing the Royal Enclosure. Large mosques were built near the city gates. The most imposing and beautiful is the Jami Masjid, a perfect example of Indo-Islamic architecture. Several other mosques survive in Champaner, most notably the Nagina Masjid, Kevada Masjid and Lila Gumbaj ki Masjid.

The World Heritage site of Champaner-Pavagadh is dotted with a large number of monuments. 38 of them are centrally protected and under the care of the Archaeological Survey of India. The Survey has taken up a number of conservation and environmental improvement works to enhance the experience of visitors. We hope that this guide book will help in understanding the history of the site and a better appreciation of its beauty and grandeur.