Review: [untitled]

Author(s): F. R. Allchin
Reviewed work(s):
Rang Mahal: The Swedish Archaeological Expedition to India, 1952-1954 by Hanna Rydh
Source: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 23,
No. 2 (1960), p. 406
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/609717
Accessed: 15/04/2010 06:30

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406 REVIEWS
HANNA RYDHand others: RangMahal:
theSwedisharchaeologtcalexpedttzonto
India, 1952-1954. By Harma Rydh
by Holger Arbman,
with contrib?bti,ons
K. Gosta Eriksson, et al. (Acta
ArchaeologicaLundensia. Series in
4?, No. 3.) vii, 219 pp.> 86 plates.
Lund: C. W K. Gleerup;Bonn a.R.:
Rudolf Habelt Verlag, etc., 1959.
Sw. kr.100.
The excavationreportunderreview brings
a welcomebreathof fresh air into the Indian
archaeologicalatmosphere. It reports on
eLcavationscarriedout by a Swedishexpedi-
tion under Dr. Hanna Rydh and others from
the Universityof Lundin the valley of the old
Saraswati river, at the site of Rang lSIahal
nearthe townof Suratgarh.Thefirstimportant
featureis the geographicaland climaticsurvey
whichleads up to a valuablediscussionof the
periodsat which the Ghaggarriver has been
dry and at which it has flowed. This study is
not confinedto a numberof geologicalsections
across the river valley but is also carriedinto
the site by a soil study of the variousstrata.
Thus by an intelligent application of this
method the climatic and other evidence is
broughtout in a way not previouslyachieved
in any Indian site. K. G. Erikssonis to be
warmlycongratulatedupon his contributions.
The second novel feature is the refreshing
candour of the e2rcavatorsconcerning the
difficulties they encountered. The section
drawings make no attempt to simplify the
tremendousconfusion of a site upon which
sand was continuallydeposited,and indicate
the impossibility of finding clear-cut strata
in this type of site. The third outstanding
featureis the study of the pottery which not
only reaches back to the craft traditions of
the potters but also shows how far a careful
study can produce rewards in the field of
functional reconstructions. The plentiful
drawings and photographs are beautiful
throughout. The pains that have been taken
in the study of bone fragments, mollusea,
and textile impressions,and of all the other
categoriesof finds are laudable. There are
indeed a few problemswhich remain, as for
example concerningthe date of the stranga
human figuresin faienceand porcelainwhich
areso evasivelyevocativeof Victorianchildren
in poke bonnet and pinafore,but these are
mere details. We may also mention the
terracotta plaques supposedly from Rang
Mahalwhich are illustratedin a note by Sr
BallabhSaran. To state that these show the
influenceof the Gandbaraschool (p. 205) is
hardlycorrect. The architecturaluse of terra-
Gotta plaquesas facingscomesinto prominence
with the Guptas(fromMirpurKhas and Rang
Mahalin the west, via Bhitargaonand Ahic-
chatra to Paharpurin the east), and it is
unlikely that the present series should be
earlier. The whole style of the Govardhana
Llla may be comparedwith that of the Saivite
plaquesfrom Ahicchatra,and with the stone
facingpanelsfromDeogarh. The subjectmay
be comparedwith the examplefrom Mandor,
in JodhpurState, and with several examples
from Badami. Againthe Mukhalingais in all
respectscharacteristicof the period. Thus we
concludethat these panelsmay belongto the
fifth to seventh centuries. The typical
Rajasthani woman7sdress is noteworthy in
oneplaque.
If one is left at the end with a sense of
uneasinessit is becausethis magnificentreport
deserves to have been written concerninga
wider,morepressing,problemthan that of the
late Kllshanperiodin this, by that time, back-
water of Indian civilization. One wishes that
Hanna Rydh's team had been permitted to
turn their attentions to one of the Painted
Grey ware sites or to one of the Harappan
sites in the Ghaggarvalley, so that their
splendidresearchapparatuscouldhave helped
in the solution of the really importantprob-
lems of Indian archaeology. Then we might
indeed have had a more full history of the
vanishing Saraswati, of the Indus valley
settlements there, and of the coming of the
Aryans. In conclusion,may we express the
hope that Dr. HanrlaRydh will be able to
returnfor furtherworkin India, and that the
Indian Governmentwill continue its liberal
and enlightened attitude towards foreign
researchteams ? They clearlyhave a valuable
contributionto make to the gargantuantask
of reconstructingIndia's past.
F. R. ALLCHIN
MOHIBBUL HASAN[KHAN]: Kashmtr
uq?derthe sultans. -(Abdul Halim
emorial vol?sme.)xiii,338pp.,front.
5 plates 2 maps. Calcutta: Iran
Society 1959. Rs. 25.
Unfortunately,Dr. MohibbullIasan'sKash-
mtr under the s?41tAnsmerits many of the
criticismswhichmaybe madeagainsthistorical
writingon medievalMuslimIndiagenerally
of preferringa narrativeof politicalevents to
an analyticaltreatmentof the life of society
as an organic whole, of mistakingeulogistic
platitudesin the soureesfor criticalbiography
and of placing the zearch for the origin of
Inodern concepts and dileInmas over the
detection of the actual issues which worried
medievalman. The workis composedof ten
chaptersof often quite uncriticalnarrativeof