Rehman Dheri

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Rehman Dheri
رحمان ڈھیری
Rehman Dheri is located in Pakistan
Rehman Dheri
Shown within Pakistan
LocationPakistan
RegionKhyber Pakhtunkhwa
Coordinates31°57′58″N 70°47′39″E / 31.966111°N 70.794167°E / 31.966111; 70.794167

Rehman Dheri or sometime Rahman Dheri (Urdu: رحمان ڈھیری) is a Pre-Harappan Archaeological Site situated near Dera Ismail Khan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. This is one of the oldest urbanised centres found to date in South Asia. Dated (3300 - 1900 BC), the site is situated 22 kilometres (14 mi) north of Dera Ismail Khan. It is on the Tentative List for future World Heritage Sites in Pakistan.[1]

Location[]

The site is located on the Gomal River Plain near the Indus river. Since the earliest occupation, except for the extension outside the city in the south, the entire habitation area was enclosed by a massive wall, built from dressed blocks made from clay slabs. [2] The low rectangular mound is covering about 22 hectares and standing 4.5 m above the surrounding field.Gomal river is mentioned in Ramayan as river Gomti and Raam Dheri (renamed to Rehman Dheri) is the site of Ayodhya originally.


Cultural context[]

See also: Archaeological culture, Archaeological cultural dating, Phases in archaeology, Tools and technology of archaeology, and Pottery culture in Indian subcontinent

The earliest site of this culture is Kunal (4000 BCE)[3] in Haryana which is older than Rehman Dheri (3300 BCE).[1] The type site, the first excavated site of this type of culture is Kot Diji.[4] Rehman Dheri, which was considered oldest example of this culture, is now the second oldest example of this culture after Kunal was excavated and found to be older than Rehman Dher with similar older cultural artifacts then the Rehman Dheri.[3]

Kot Diji and Amri are close to each other in Sindh, they earlier developed indigenous culture which had common elements, later they came in contact with Harappan culture and fully developed into Harappan culture. Earliest examples of artifacts belonging to this culture were found at Rehman Dheri, however, later excavations found the oldest example of this culture at Kunal. These are cultural ancestor to site at Harappa. These sites have pre-Harappan indigenous cultural levels, distinct from the culture of Harappa, these are at Banawali (level I), Kot Diji (level 3A), Amri (level II). Rehman Dheri also has a pre Kot Diji phase (RHD1 3300-2800 BCE) which are not part of IVC culture. Kot Diji has two later phases that continue into and along side Mature Harappan Phase (RHDII and RHDII 2500-2100 BCE). Fortified towns found here are dated as follows.[4][3][5][6][7]

  • Kunal (5000/4000 BCE- ),[3] in Hisar district of Haryana in India is the earliest site found with layers in phase I dating back to 5000 BCE[8] and 4000 BCE,[3] site's culture is an older ancestry of the Pre-Harappan site of Rehman Dheri which was dated to 3300 BC. A button seal was discovered at Kunal during 1998-99 excavations by Archaeological Survey of India. The seal is similar to the Rehman Dheri examples. It contained a picture of two deer on one side, and geometrical pattern on other side. The similar specimen from Rehman-Dheri is datable to c. 4000 BCE, which makes Kunal site an older ancestor of Rehman Dheri.[3] The second phase of Kunal corresponds to post-neolithic phase of Hakra culture' (also called Early Harappan Phase, c.3300-2800 BCE or c.5000-2800 BCE) was also found.[9]
  • Kot Diji (3300 BCE),[1] is the type site, located in Sindh in Pakistan.
  • Amri (3600–3300 BCE), also has non-Harappan phases daring 6000 BC to 4000 BC, and later Harappan Phses till 1300 BCE.
  • Kalibangan (3500 BC – 2500 BC),[7] in northwest Rajasthan in India on Ghaggar River.
  • Rehman Dheri, 3300 BCE,[1] 3300-2800 BCE is pre Kot Diji phase.[4]

Cultural finds[]

The mound is rectangular is shape with a grid-like street network. The walls demarcating individual buildings and avenue frontages are still clearly visible, and it’s easy to recognize some small-scale industrial areas; within the site, eroded kilns and scatters of slag have been found.

The fortified town shows sign of town planning. Pottery, and stone and metal tools were found.

No seals were found and no writing was discovered, though some type of notations on the pottery were observed. These 'potter’s marks', engraved or painted, are "strikingly similar to those appearing in the Mature Indus symbol system".[10]

At Kunal in Haryana, a button seal was discovered during 1998-99 excavations by Archaeological Survey of India. The seal is similar to the Rehman Dheri examples. It contained a picture of two deer on one side, and geometrical pattern on other side. The similar specimen at Kunal is datable to c. 4000 BCE, and it is older than Rehman-Dheri, which makes Kunal site an older cultural ancestor of Rehman Dheri.[3]

Archeological phases[]

In Rehman Dehri the archeological sequence is over 4.5 meters deep and it covers a series of over 1,400 years that was begun at c. 3,300 BC. Reham Dehri characterizes different periods which includes the period from c. 3300-2850 BC, c. 2850-2500 BC, and the last is from c. 2500-1900 BC.

In its earliest phases it is accepted that the settlement receives its formal planning and that consequent stages extended the plan over time. Even though the excavators have cut a number of deep trenches into the lower levels, the uncovered area was too limited to study the spatial sharing of craft activities.

In the middle of the third millennium BC, at the beginning of the mature Indus phase, the site was abandoned. There was limited reoccupation.

Some more records are found at the neighbouring archaeological mound Hisam Dheri.

Due to the recent developments, the plans of the Early Harappan settlement were disturbed.

This site represents the earliest urban settlement on the sub-continent, with a very rich bead industry. It was earlier than the Kot Diji-Sothi complex.[11]

Ram Dheri theory[]

All India Muslim Personal Law Board's member Abdul Rahim Qureshi quoted former Archaeological Survey of India official Jassu Ram to argue that Ram was actually born in Dera Ismail Khan district of Pakistan, in a town called Rahman Dheri, which was earlier called Ram Dheri complex.[12]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b c d UNESCO Karez System Cultural Landscape
  2. ^ Hasan, Shaikh Khurshid (2005) Historical Forts in Pakistan, National Institute of Historical & Cultural Research, Centre of Excellence, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. ISBN 969-415-069-8
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Archaeological Survey of, India (2004). "Excavations at Kunal,Haryana" (PDF). Indian Archaeology 1998-99 a Review: 11–12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  4. ^ a b c Charles Keith Maisels, Early Civilizations of the Old World: The Formative Histories of Egypt, The Levant, Mesopotamia, India and China. Routledge, 2003 ISBN 1134837305
  5. ^ Higham, Charles (1 January 2009). Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations. Infobase Publishing. pp. 9–. ISBN 978-1-4381-0996-1.
  6. ^ Sigfried J. de Laet, Ahmad Hasan Dani, eds. History of Humanity: From the third millennium to the seventh century B.C. UNESCO, 1996 ISBN 9231028111 p.674
  7. ^ a b Tejas Garge (2010), Sothi-Siswal Ceramic Assemblage: A Reappraisal. Ancient Asia. 2, pp.15–40. doi:10.5334/aa.10203
  8. ^ Haryana Gazateer, Revennue Dept of Haryana, Capter-V.
  9. ^ Museum at pre-Harappan site soon, The Tribune, 23 Dec 2020.
  10. ^ Charles Keith Maisels, Early Civilizations of the Old World: The Formative Histories of Egypt, The Levant, Mesopotamia, India and China. Routledge, 2003 ISBN 1134837305
  11. ^ Charles Keith Maisels, Early Civilizations of the Old World: The Formative Histories of Egypt, The Levant, Mesopotamia, India and China. Routledge, 2003 ISBN 1134837305
  12. ^ "'Lord Ram was born in Pakistan, not Ayodhya'". 3 November 2015.

Coordinates: 31°57′58″N 70°47′39″E / 31.96611°N 70.79417°E / 31.96611; 70.79417

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