Sirpur was excavated by the author from 2000 to 2011. Right from 6th c-B.C. it was flourishing trade centre with trade connection with South Asian countries by water rate and with Arabian countries by land route via Surat.
The area having rich deposit of iron, coal copper etc. metal manufacture made a major part of trade and export. Both peace and war items were produced alongwith domestic items of day to day use.
Implements recovered from the excavation indicate that at Sirpur metal technology has reached quite a high level of efficiency and this aspect has been discussed in this book.
K. Sharma is worldwide known for his inventive contributions in the field of Archaeology. During his 33 years of active career in ASI, he explored and excavated in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal, North-East India, Madhya Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Gujrat, Rajasthan, Goa, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and other remote areas. After retirement from ASI he was appointed as OSD in IGNCA to excavate Jhiri with French team. His all excavation reports (22 Books) have been published. He has edited Purasatana, Puraprakash, Purajagat and is editor of Puramanthan, yearly magazine on recent advances in Archaeology. He has established Archaeological Museums at Mansar and Maa Anandmayee smriti Museum at Kankhal (Haridwar). At present he is advisor to the Government of Chhattisgarh and Member of Standing Committee of Central Advisory Board of Archaeology. He is directing excavations at Rajim in Chhattisgarh.
Prabhat Kumar Singh is posted in Directorate, Culture and Archaeology of Chhattisgarh Government and participated in several Archaeological Excavations, Scientific-clearance and Surveys in different parts of the state. He worked in Sirpur excavations for five years. He Directed the Excavation at Madku-Dweep in 2010-11 and report has published by the Directorate. He is the co- author of the books ‘Buddhist Bronzes from Sirpur” and “Secular Monuments of Sirpur and author of many research articles. Presently he is working in Rajim excavations since 2012.
Praveen Tirkey is employed as Excavation Assistant in Directorate, Culture and Archaeology of Chhattisgarh Government and worked in Sirpur and Rajim excavations. He also participated in scientific clearance and surveys. conducted by the department. He is the co-author of the book ‘Secular Monuments of Sirpur’ and has published many articles.
Preface
Report on metal technology of Sirpur is before you. Instead of publishing complete report of the excavations conducted by us from 2000 to 2011, I thought it better to publish topical reports as and when we completed on different topics as these days it has been noticed that scholars are interested in different topics. Moreover, publication costs have increased.
Writing of complete reports covering all topics is a time consuming job. So far we have published reports on 1. Town-planning and Architecture, 2. Buddhist Bronzes from Sirpur, 3. Ancient temples of Sirpur, 4. Buddhist monuments of Sirpur, 5. Secular monuments of Sirpur, 6. Jainism at Sirpur and Copper-plates and stone inscriptions of Sirpur. Report on minor topics like saddle-quems and mullers, terracotta objects, beads and bangles, gamesman and play-objects etc. are being written. After covering all topics, comprehensive volumes will be published.
Swarnakars, Sonjhariyas, Tamrakars, Karsar and Lohars (Aghariyas) are traditional metal works of Chhattisgarh from the time these metals were exploited. Till recently the finished good were supplied to the society straight without middle-man.
I am thankful to my colleagues Shri Prabhat Kumar Singh and Praveen Tirkey for working hard in writing the above reports. I am also thankful to the Directorate, Culture and Archaeology, Govt. of Chhattisgarh for entrusting the job of excavating at Sirpur to me and to Bodhisattva Nagarjuna Smaraka Samstha va Anusandhan Kendra, Nagpur on whose behalf, I conducted the excavations from 2000-2004.
I am grateful to the Archaeological Survey of India for granting me permission to excavate at Sirpur, A centrally protected site.
A.K.Sharma
List of Figures and Plates
Introduction
Earlier Accounts
History
Metal Technology
