Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s native village Vadnagar in Gujarat has come into the spotlight after the discovery of the remains of 2,800-year-old human settlement that is as old as 800 BCE (before the Christian Era).
After eight years of comprehensive study of the several deep trenches in the village, the archaeologists have found evidence of the presence of as many as seven cultural periods.
These include Mauryan, Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian or Shaka-Kshatrapas, Hindu-Solankis, Sultanate-Mughal (Islamic), and Gaekwad-British colonial rule.
In the study published in Elsevier Journal 'Quaternary Science Reviews', the experts revealed that they had discovered one of the oldest Buddhist monasteries along with archaeological artifacts, potteries, copper, gold, silver, and iron objects, and intricately designed bangles.
“We also found coin moulds of Greek king Appollodatus during the Indo-Greek rule at Vadnagar,” ASI archaeologist Abhijit Ambekar, the co-author of the paper, said.
The experts said that the so-called ‘Dark Age’ after the Harappan civilisation’s collapse is a myth and the driving force behind these historical events appears to be significant changes in climate, such as fluctuations in rainfall or periods of drought.
They also suggested a correlation between the rise and fall of various kingdoms over a 3,000-year period and recurrent invasions by Central Asian warriors.