A Socio-Stylistic Study of Terracotta Elephants at Ahichchhatra: A Multicultural Site of Upper Ganga Plain, Central India

Abstract

Ahichchhattra, (20˚ 22ʺ N;79ʹ 08 12ʺ E), the ancient capital of Northern Panchala kingdom as mentioned in Mahabharata, is located near the Ramnagar village of Bareily district, Uttar Pradesh. The site is located between Aril and Peria rivers, the tributaries of Ramganga. Geologically, this area forms a part of Indo -Gangetic alluvium formation prominently consisting of clay and sand. This site roughly spread across 5.50 sq.km area is prominently located above the surrounding agricultural fields was identified and excavated primarily by Cunningham in 1862 followed by A. Ghosh in 1940. This revealed the chronology dating from 600 B.C.E to 1100 C.E. Culturally the site dates back to period of Ochre Colored Pottery (OCP), Painted Grey Ware (PGW), Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) and early historic phases respectively. Among all the regions within the Indian sub-continent, the region of Ganga-Yamuna doab has yielded majority number of terracotta objects both in the exploration and excavation. This site has yielded various terracotta figurines consisting of animals, humans and miscellaneous terracotta objects. Within this, elephant appears to be the most prominent in the category of animal figurines at the site. The site seems to have been gradually transformed into a large city along with a rich artistic tradition. Artistic expressions are usually guided and shaped by society through its evolving concepts and developing beliefs. This ancient city has so far produced plenty of examples to prove it. This paper is an attempt to understand the cognition behind the artistic expressions considering the variety of creative elephants. This paper thus intends to prove the stylistic evolution of terracotta elephant figurines and its correlation to artistic development of the society at the ancient settlement of Ahichchhatra.