ABSTRACT
Kampil, Sankisa and Chakranagar: Sites in the Farrukhabad - Etah - Budaun - Mainpuri - Etawah Region of Uttar Pradesh
Dilip K. Chakrabarti, Rakesh Tewari, R.N. Singh, K.K. Singh and Rajiv Trivedi
This paper briefly reports the results of investigations at 94 archaeological sites in different segments of the central Doab section of Uttar Pradesh, covering an area of more than 22000 sq km and forming the core of the ancient kingdom of Panchala. Although a few individual sites of this area have been excavated, they have not yet been related to some of the basic ancient historio-geographical issues of the region.
Kampilya, identified with modern Kampil in the Farrukhabad area, is the traditional capital of South Panchala. Our field-study shows that although this region has a cluster of early historic sites in its immediate vicinity, it does not stand out as a site in terms of either location or extent in the context of the central Doab as a whole. From this point of view, its status as a city mentioned in the epic Mahabharata does not endow it with any special significance.
Sankisa, an important site in the area was linked to Kampil by a route through Muhammadabad and Bihar, both Buddhist monastic sites. Sankisa lay on the major east-west line of movement through the Doab. Moreover, it gave an easy access, through Chakranagar or Ekachakranagara, to the lower Chambal valley and the upper reaches of the Betwa in central India.
Atranjikhera in the Etah section was a major centre on the route between two of the earliest historic cities of India - Mathura and Ahichchhatra. The authors, however, deny its identication as the Veranja mentioned in the ancient Buddhist texts and have highlighted the significance of places like Awagarh and Jalesar that lie between Atranjikhera and Mathura.
The Mathura-Ahichchhatra alignment endows the sites in Budaun with significance. The Ganga was crossed at Soron on the western bank and Ujhani was the first major point on the eastern side, as it is even now. Bisauli marks an outlying fortified settlement to protect the route to Ahichchhatra from the Budaun side. The location of these sites on or near the major east-west line of movement in the Doab was complemented by the basic agricultural potential of the area, which was no doubt based on the utilisation of water from the numerous local watery depressions and small rivers. This led to the formation of large mounds like Rijor Khas and Kudarkot in the Mainpuri-Etawah section.
This paper is a part of an ongoing field-study of the ancient historical geography of the lower, middle and upper Ganga valley, the first part of which has been recently published as Archaeological Geography of the Ganga Plain - the Lower and the Middle Ganga by D.K.Chakrabarti (Delhi, 2001: Permanent Black)