Context
The Asurgarh fortified settlement, which was excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in Odisha’s Kalahandi district, has been ascertained to be the oldest among the major fortified settlements in the State.
Key-highlights
- It dates back to the ninth century BC.
- The landscape of Asurgarh attracted iron using people to begin their settlement around the eighth-ninth century BC.
- The excavation revealed three periods of human occupation without any hiatus.
Comparison
- The Asurgarh era has been compared with early historic sites in Odisha such as
- Sisupalgarh (near Bhubaneswar)
- Jaugarh, a fortified settlement on the Rushikulya valley (Ganjam)
- Manamunda (Boudh)
- Khalkattapatna (Puri)
- the port site of Manikpatna (Puri)
- Radhanagar (Jajpur)
- Kharligarh (Balangir)
- Budhigarh (Kalahandi)
- Excavations were carried out by scholars to find parallels with early civilisations such as the Harappan Civilisation.
- The cultural sequence of the site could be divided into three phases —
- the Iron Age (ninth century BC to fourth century BC)
- early Historic or Rampart phase (second century BC to first century AD)
- the Late Period/Decline of the settlement (second century AD to third-fourth century AD)
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To determine the age of the ancient settlement, the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon technique was used.
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Asurgarh
- Asurgarh, Fort of Asura, is near Narla in
- This place was once inhabited by urbanised and civilised people of 500 BC to 500 AD and served as a political and cultural hub.
- It has four entrances in each direction and each entrance enshrines a different deity.
- The east entrance is presided by Goddess Ganga, whereas the west entrance is ruled by Kala Pahad.
- The Vaishnavi image is installed in the south and Lord Budharaja is worshipped in the north direction.
- The fort’s presiding deity is Goddess Dokari or Old Lady who is enshrined inside the fort.
