Exploring teh forest and mapping its archaeology: Bandhavgarh National Park and Tiger Reserve, India

The archaeology of historical India has usually been perceived through the lens of cities and states, leaving forest tracts to a large extent unexamined. This article considers the historical signature in a segment of the Bandhavgarh National Park and Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India, in order to understand how histories of occupation in jungles and wilderness where no settlements presently exist can be studied. Our survey involved a combination of ground-level investigations using GPS devices along with an analysis of satellite images to explore whether such images can be used for locating structures and sites. The earliest archaeological markers in Bandhavgarh are cave shelters of the 2nd century CE, which form the subject of this article

Tracing Ancient Itinerants and Early Medieval Rulers in the Forests of Bandhavgarh

This article arises out of a disquiet about the archaeology of historical India which has largely been concerned with cities and villages. Forests and wilderness rarely figure there, except in passing when the expanding agricultural terrain is described in relation to forest lands being domesticated or when there is an exploration of lines of communication, some of which pass through forested tracts. Because of this gap in engaging with lands beyond agrarian tracts and city sites, large expanses that carry markers of ancient human use have not centrally figured in such research. Here, we describe our field work in the Bandhavgarh National Park and Tiger Reserve and its implications. The earliest remains go back in the form of caves to the 2nd century CE. Shrines of early medieval antiquity, sculptures, and reservoirs begin in the time of Kalachuri kings (7th century CE till the 13th century CE) and continue into the high medieval with Vaghela fortifications and palace remains (13th century CE onwards). What these can tell us when they are immersed in the hills and meadows of Bandhavgarh, in its forests and around its water bodies, is explored here