Ropar: Where history begins… and ends

Sarika Sharma

It is a muggy afternoon, and the road leading to the sleepy village of Bara lies deserted. There is no signboard to show the way to the archaeological site from which the unique Bara Culture takes its name. Two young men approach us on an Enfield. We ask them about the ‘khoj’, and the query draws a blank. “Where ‘samaan’ (artefacts) was found beneath the earth,” we try again. “Where ‘khudai’ (digging) had taken place?” It finally rings a bell. “Jitthe khudde si? Haan, khudde taan bharte si. (You’re talking about the pits? Well, they were filled),” they say. What these young men refer to as “khudde” are the pits where remnants of the unique pre-Harappan Bara Culture were discovered in 1955. The site is right next to the gurdwara, the men tell. A brick pathway, a typical feature of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) monuments, leads to the top of the mound. But there are no signs of those who lived here in 2000-3000 BC — just a quiet gurdwara at the end of the pathway and a famished black pup.

Indian archaeology made remarkable progress in the 1920s with the discovery of the sites of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, asserting that one of the world’s oldest and richest civilisations existed here too. But Partition snatched this glory from India, and these Indus Valley Civilisation sites went to Pakistan. Only two were left with India — Kotla Nihang Khan near Ropar in Punjab and Rangpur in Gujarat. The then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wanted the ASI to find something of equal importance in India. In 1953, in the quest for a new Harappan site, the ASI began Independent India’s first excavation at Ropar. A breakthrough came soon — remains of the Harappan civilisation were found right in the centre of the heavily populated city.

The exploration led them to Bara, about 6 km southwest of Ropar, which was excavated in 1955. Both excavations were led by a young archaeologist, YD Sharma, who later rose to become the Deputy Director General of ASI. The culture that emerged from the ruins was an important marker in the annals of Harappan civilisation. Finesse in pottery was its hallmark. Brown-red in colour, the pottery was ornamented with incised or black-painted designs and motifs. Initially seen as a stylistic development of Harappan pottery, it was later recognised as pre-Harappan culture.

At the ASI’s museum at Ropar, 45 km from Chandigarh, symbols of Bara Culture are displayed in glass cases, kept safe for the rare visitor who moseys in. Its distinctive pottery exhibits various shapes and decorations that are visually striking. Structures made of bricks, vegetation and mud huts shed light on the lifestyle of the Barans. Owing to its distinctive cultural characteristics, the Bara civilisation remains extremely significant despite having a local and rural economy.

Elderly residents recall how, long before the ASI came to their doorstep, pottery and skeletons would emerge from diggings around the mound. Gurmail Singh, who is in his late 60s, remembers the excavations being carried out when he was eight or 10 years old. “A few years ago, these sites were filled by the ASI (a claim refuted by the ASI),” he says. Seventy years after it was excavated, the site has withered away. Wild growth now covers this glorious chapter of history as if it never existed.

At the Ropar museum — built in 1992 to store antiquities and opened to the public in 1998 — a general lack of interest makes things unwelcome even for the one or two visitors. We are denied ASI publications displayed at the sale counter. “We have orders not to sell,” museum employees say. The sale stopped four years ago, and the employees have not been able to deposit the earlier money either, they share. However, over a phone call, KA Kabui, Superintending Archaeologist from Chandigarh Circle, confirms there are no such orders, and we finally get to buy some books. A further enquiry at the Chandigarh Circle Headquarters reveals that the museum has been left at the mercy of Class IV employees. There is no curator or gallery assistant.

Silently, the museum still speaks of the rich history, spanning six archaeological cultures, beginning with the Harappan (2000-1400 BC) and followed by the Painted Grey Ware culture (1000-700 BC), Northern Black Polished Ware (600-200 BC), early historic and historic (200 BC to 600 AD), early medieval (700-1200 AD), and medieval (1200-1700 AD).

The Harappans’ keen interest in decorating mundane objects like hopscotches and designing utilitarian items like silver spoons, cups and surahis is remarkable.

The Ropar site, located behind the museum, was excavated in 1953-54. Known as the Tibbi or Nalagarh Kothi mound, named so because of a kothi that serves as a landmark, it was last excavated by Prof VN Prabhakar, who was then with the ASI, in 2011-12, when some pottery was found.

In the nearby Fatehgarh Sahib district, Sanghol has the rare distinction of being a site where artefacts from all ages, from Harappa to the Gupta period, have been discovered. When Sanghol was first excavated in 1968, a Buddhist stupa was unearthed. On February 1, 1985, excavators hit another goldmine when 117 railing pillars were dug out. At both these sites, however, nothing has moved in years; in some cases, decades. The reason is the same: reports on all the excavations are still pending.

Terming these “some of the most significant signposts of Indian history and archaeology”, the Comptroller and Auditor General in its reports from 2013 and 2022 flagged the “significant delay in writing of the report on excavation”. “In this regard, ASI reported constraints due to the expiry and retirement of the excavator, which delayed the work of report writing,” it said.

The CAG raised concerns about the improper maintenance of these sites due to a lack of post-excavation protocols. Curiously, the excavators, including YD Sharma, wrote several papers on the excavations, but a report was never completed.

Kabui isn’t sure why the state of affairs at Bara is the way it is, but shares that Prof Prabhakar, who carried out excavations at Ropar a decade ago, is preparing a report. It remains to be seen when this report, or the one on Sanghol, will see the light of day.

For the thousands of tourists who pass by Ropar every day, if even a few are to be attracted, things need to improve. These signposts of history need to be preserved, not just for those who have faded into history, but for those who have inherited it.