In this article, we will go through recently found Archaeological site of Sinauli in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is one of the important archaeological site ever found in history of India as it helped uncover many important facts and answered many unanswered historical questions.

ASI under the leadership of Dr. Sanjay Manjul discovered 116 burial sites there. 10 more were found in last 2 years. It is Asia's largest burial site discovered as of now. This site is more famous for Sold Wheel Chariot that ASI found which dates back to some 2100 BC to 1900 BC.

About Sinauli

It is an Archaeological Site located in the Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh, India. The name Sinauli derived from word Sina-sthali which is akin to other place names in Kuru Rashtra ending with the
suffix 'sthali'(a place) like Bastali(Vyasa-sthali), Bamanauli(Brahmana-sthali) and so on. This site became place of National Importance due to unique historical findings about the people lived in this region.

About ASI

ASI is an Indian Government Agency currently working under Ministry of Culture. It was originally founded by Alexander Cunningham in 1861. It is is currently responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural monuments in the country.

Archaeological Site of Sinauli: Ancient Burial Found in Uttar Pradesh

The site of Sinauli was accidentally discovered by people trying to level the Agricultural Land. The place became famous when Farmer started finding Human Skeleton, Pottery and other Copper materials. The word spreaded like fire in the Jungle and then ASI setup a team to start the excavations and search the whole area. ASI did two excavations till now: one in 2005-16 and another in 2018.

Why this Discovery is Important

• First time in the history of India, a Chariot was found. Three chariots found at the site have a fixed axle linked by a long pole to the small yoke and were run by a pair of animals.
• Before this discovery, there were no signs or evidence of war at that time(4000 Years ago).

Other Important Findings

• The burial pits had legged coffins along with systematically arranged vases, bowls and pots.
• One of the coffins was decorated with eight anthropomorphic figures.
• Some anthropomorphic figure made of Gold, copper associated with Vedic gods has also been found. More about findings on Site of Sinhauli.

Different Types of Burial in Sinauli

There are basically three different types of Burial found in Arachaeological Site of Sinauli.

• Symbolic Burial : It is a burial in which no skeleton is found.
• Primary Burial : This type of burial contains Full Skeleton.
• Secondary of Fragmented Burial : This type of burial has multiple fragmented Skeleton.

Difference between Male and Female Burial

• Male Burial was decorated with Copper Sheathing whereas Female Burial was decorated with Steatite Inlay.
• Copper Antenna Swords and War Shields were found in both Male and Female Grave indicating that both were actively engaged in War Activities.

Vedic Background

Although there are few works based on Vedic Culture but it is highly unlikely that the site of Sinauli was linked to Vedic Culture in any way. Below are few points which makes the difference:-

• The chariot found at the site of Sinauli looks heavy with the solid wheels makes impossible to use the Horses to pull these Chariots as compared to the Horse pulled Chariots mentioned in the Vedic Culture.
• The Burials in Coffins found at the site of Sinauli is not mentioned anywhere in the Vedic Literature.
• Funeral Practice also found to be different that Vedic People.

Relationship with Harappan Civilization

As per historian, though Sinauli Civilization was contemporary of Late Harappan Civilization, there were not much similarity found between both the Civilization hence it is difficult to relate Sinauli Civilization with Harappan.

Conclusion

In this article, we have see the Importance of Archaeological Site of Sinauli recently found in the State of Uttar Pradesh. We have also seen the objects unearthed from the site along with some uniquely found object like Chariot. We have also tried to find the relationship of Sinauli Civilization with Harappa and Vedic Civilization.