Some of the important sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation and their

archaeological findings are:

• Harappa in present Pakistan on the bank of River Ravi – 2 rows of six
granaries with big platform, stone symbol of lingam and yoni, mother
goddess sculpture, wheat and barley in wooden mortar, dice, copper
scale and mirror. Moreover, sculpture of dog chasing a deer in bronze
metal, and a red sand stone male torso have been excavated.
• Mohenjo-daro in present Pakistan on the River Indus – the citadel, the
great bath, the great granary, post cremation burial, sculpture of
bearded priest, the famous bronze statue of the Dancing Girl and
Pashupati Seal.
• Dholavira in Gujarat – giant water reservoir, unique water harnessing
system, stadium, dams and embankments, inscription comprising 10
large sized signs like an advertisement board. It is the latest IVC city
to be discovered.
• Lothal (Manchester of Indus Valley Civilisation) in Gujarat –
important site for naval trade, had a dockyard, rice husk, fire altars,
painted jar, modern day chess, terracotta figures of horse and ship,
instruments for measuring 45, 90 and 180 degree angles, practice of
burial of cremated remains.
• Rakhigarhi in Haryana is considered to be the largest site of Indus
Valley Civilisation. Granary, cemetery, drains, terracotta bricks have
been found here. It is called the provincial capital of Harappan
Civilisation.
• Ropar is located on the banks of River Sutlej in Punjab, India – Dog
buried with human in oval pit burials, copper axe. Roper in the first
Harappan site of independent India. First site to be excavated after
independence.
• Balathal and Kalibangan in Rajasthan – bangle factory, toy carts,
bones of camel, decorated bricks, citadel and lower town, fire altar.
• Surkotada in Gujarat – first actual remains of the horse bones.
• Banawali in Haryana on the dried-up Saraswati river – toy plough,
barley grains, lapis lazuli, fire altars, oval shaped settlement, only city
with radial streets and oval shaped settlements.
• Alamgirpur in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh on the banks of Yamuna –
Eastern most site of IVC. Major findings are broken blade made of
copper, ceramic items and Impression of a cloth on a trough.
• Mehrgarh in Pakistan, considered precursor to Indus Valley
Civilisation. Pottery, copper tools have been found.
• Chanhudaro (Lancashire of India) located in present day Pakistan –
only Indus city without a citadel. Bead making factory and use of
lipsticks has been found.
• Kot Diji located in present day Pakistan. Tar, statues of Bull and
mother goddess have been excavated from here.
• Suktagandor western most site of IVC, located in Pakistan. Bangles of
clay have been found here.
• Balu (Haryana) various plant remains have been found. (earliest
evidence of Garlic).
• Daimabad (Maharashtra) southern most site of IVC. Bronze
sculptures including a Bronze Chariot has been discovered here.
• Kerala-no-dhoro (Gujarat) salt production centre during IVC.
• Kot Bala (Pakistan) earliest evidence of furnace.
• Mand (Jammu and Kashmir) Northern most site of IVC.
Other prominent sites of IVC include Mehrgar (Pakistan), Desalpur
(Gujarat), Pabumath (Gujarat), Rangpur (Gujarat), Shikarpur (Gujarat),
Sanauli (UP), Kunal (Haryana),Karanpura (Rajasthan), Ganeriwala
(Punjab), etc.

 The location of the nine stupas built after the death of Buddha are
Rajagriha, Vaishali, Kapilavastu, Allakappa, Ramagrama, Vethapida,
Pava, Kushinagar and Pippalivana
IMPORTANT ANCIENT INSCRIPTIONS AND EDICTS
1. Sohgaura Copper Plate: The earliest known copper-plate, known as
the Sohgaura copper-plate, is a Mauryan record that mentions famine
relief efforts. It is one of the very few pre-Ashoka Brahmi
inscriptions found in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
2. Ashokan Edicts: The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of 33
inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka as well as boulders and cave
walls made by the Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire during
his reign from 269 to 232 BC. These inscriptions were dispersed
throughout the country and it represents the first tangible evidence
of Buddhism. The edicts describe in detail the Ashoka’s view about
dharma, to solve the severe problems faced by the complex society.
The Edicts are divided into:
• Pillar Edicts
• Major Rock Edicts: 14 edicts (termed 1st to 14th) and two separate
ones found in Odisha.
• Major Rock Inscriptions: Minor Rock Edicts, the Queen’s Edict,
Barabar cave inscriptions and the Kandahar bilingual inscription.
These inscriptions show Ashoka’s devotion towards the Buddhist
philosophy along with his efforts to spread and develop the Buddhist
dharma throughout his kingdom. The edicts mainly focus on social
and moral precepts rather than specific religious practices or the
philosophical dimension of Buddhism.

The inscriptions revolve around a few themes: Ashoka’s conversion to

Buddhism, the description of his efforts to spread Buddhism, his
moral and religious precepts and his social and animal welfare
programmes. In these inscriptions, Ashoka refers to himself as
“Beloved Servant of the God” (Devanampiyadasi). The identification
of Devanampiyadasi with Ashoka was confirmed by an
inscription at Maski. The inscriptions found in the Eastern part of
India were written in Magadhi Prakrit using the Brahmi script.
3. Rummindei Pillar Edicts (Lumbini): These inscriptions, written in
Brahmi script, come under the Minor Pillar Inscriptions. These
contain inscriptions recording their dedication. The inscriptions
mentions Ashoka’s visit to Lumbini (Rummindei), Rupandehi
district, Nepal, the birthplace of Lord Buddha. Ashoka exempted
Lumbini from paying tax, and fixed its contribution of grain at one –
eighth.
4. Prayag-Prashasti: Prayag-Prashasti is the name given to the
Allahabad Pillar. “Prayag” means a meeting place for something or
someone. Prayag is an ancient name of Allahabad as it is the meeting
place or ‘Sangam’ of rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical
Saraswati. Prashasti means “in praise of someone” and is a eulogy.
The Allahabad Prasasti was originally engraved on the Ashokan Pillar
in Kausambhi near Allahabad. Later it was removed to the Allahabad
fort. It is an Ashokan Stambh but has four different inscriptions i.e.
a) The usual Ashokan inscriptions in Brahmi script as in all pillars.
b) The Queen’s edict regaling the charitable deeds of Ashoka’s wife
Kaurwaki.
c) Samudragupta’s (335 – 375 AD) inscriptions written by Harisena
in Sanskrit language and Brahmi script. It mentions about the
conquests of Samudragupta and boundaries of the Gupta
Empire.
d) Jahangir’s inscriptions in Persian.
5. Mehrauli Inscription: The Mehrauli Iron Pillar is located in Delhi
in the Qutub Minar complex. It is notable for the rust-resistant
composition of the metals used in its construction. This pillar was
established by Chandragupta- II of Gupta dynasty as Vishnupada in
the honour of Lord Vishnu.
This pillar credits Chandragupta with conquest of the Vanga
Countries by his battling alone against the confederacy of the
enemies united against him. It also credits him for conquest of
Bahlikas in a fight that ran across seven mouths of Indus River.
6. Kalsi Inscription: Kalsi town is known for its heritage importance. It
is a small town located in between Chakrata and Dehradun on the
banks of Yamuna river. The site of Ashoka’s inscriptions at Kalsi is
singularly unique as it is the only place in North India where the great
Mauryan emperor has inscribed the set of the 14 rock edicts. The
language of these edicts is Prakrit and the script is Brahmi. The
Rock edict was written around 450 BC and is made of quartz which is
8 ft broad and 10 ft long.
These rock edicts reflect Asoka’s human approach in his internal
administration when he converted himself to Buddhism. It also
reflects the policies for the commitment to non-violence and
restriction of war. The inscription also tells about his life when he
took the path of spirituality.
7. Maski Inscription: Maski is a village and an archaeological site in
Raichur district of Karnataka. It lies on the bank of the Maski river
which is a tributary of the Tungabhadra. The site has a minor rock
edict of Emperor Ashoka. It was the first edict of Emperor Ashoka
that contained the name Ashoka in it instead of ‘Devanampriya’ or
‘Piyadassi’. The inscription remains a dharma shasana, and tells
people to follow the tenets of Buddhism. Moreover the inscription
also suggests the spread of Mauryan rule up to the Krishna Valley of
North-eastern Karnataka.
8. Kalinga Edicts: Kalinga in present Odisha still stands tall as a
witness of its thousand year old legacy. The Kalinga War was the
turning point in Ashoka’s career and he not only gave up his ambition
of “Digvijaya” but also decided to take the path of non – violence and
to follow Buddhism.
The set of Rock Edicts contain 11 out of the well known 14 Rock
Edicts of Ashoka. The language of the edicts is Magadhi Prakrita and
the script being the early Brahmi. In place of the 11th, 12th and 13th
rock edicts, two special edicts known as Separate Rock Edicts or
Kalinga Edicts have been incorporated, which are peace-making in
nature and meant for the pacification of the newly conquered people
of Kalinga.
9. Kanganahalli Inscriptions: Located in Gulbarga district of
Karnataka, this site contains a Mahastupa of 75 ft diameter along
with various sculptural slabs. A prominent one being the portrait slab
of King Ashoka and his queen attended by two chauri bearers. To
confirm that it is Ashoka, the sculptural slab also contains a single
line label “Rayo Ashoka” in Brahmi script of the Satavahana period.
10. Aihole Inscription: Aihole in Karnataka was the first capital of
Chalukyas. Many inscriptions were found at Aihole, but the
inscription found at Meguti Temple popularly known as Aihole
inscription witnessed many historical events of Chalukyas. The
inscription is written in Sanskrit and it is in Kannada script.
There is a mention about the defeat of Harshavardhana by
Pulakeshin II and the victory of Chalukyas over Pallavas. It also
mentions about the shifting of the capital from Aihole to Badami.
They were written by Ravikirti, the court poet of Pulakeshin II who
reigned from 610 to 642 AD.
11. Hathigumpha Inscription: The Hathigumpha Inscription also known
as Elephant Cave Inscription from Udayagiri-Khandagiri Caves in
Odisha, were inscribed by King Kharavela during 2nd century BC.
The Hathigumpha Inscription consists of 17 lines in Prakrit language
and in Brahmi script. Hathigumpha Inscription at Udayagiri Caves is
the main source of information about Kalinga ruler Kharavela.
The Hathigumpha Inscription is like the history of Kharavela as a
king, a conqueror, a patron of culture and a champion of Jainism.
12. Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra Rock Edicts: Located in present
Pakistan, they record 14 edicts of King Ashoka and were written in
Kharosthi script.