p r e c e d i n g c e n t u r i e s m a d e th e s e d e v e l o p m e n t s p o s s ible. T h e r e came into e x i s t e n c e a l a r g e n u m b e r of u r b a n d w e l l e r s w h o t o o k no p art in the p r o d u c t i o n of food. in turn, m o r e a nd m o r e lands w e r e b r o u g h t
u n d e r c u l t i v a t i o n and an i n c r e a s i n g n u m b e r of n e w s e t t l e m e n t s (39
evolv ed . T h e g e n e r a l g r o w t h of p o p u l a t i o n d i s c u s s e d in a n
e a r l i e r c h a p t e r a ls o m a r k e d the i n c r e a s e in p o p u l a t i o n in D h a n y a k a t a k a a n d its h i n t e r l a n d . In the th ird and f o u r t h c e n t u r i e s , h o w e v e r ,
N a g a r j u n a k o n d a u n d e r the I k s v a k u s b e c a m e m o r e p r o m i n e n t , an d D h a n y a k a t a k a w a s v i r t u a l l y r e l e g a t e d to a s e c o n d a r y place, t h o u g h it c o n t i n u e d as an i m p o r t a n t u r b a n centre. N a g a r j u n a k o n d a is the m o s t e x t e n s i v e l y e x c a v a t e d s i t e in (40 A n d h r a P r a d e s h . T h e c o n s t r u c t i o n of a g i g a n t i c m a s o n r y dam, the w o r l d ’s la r g e s t , at the h e a d of the N a g a r j u n a k o n d a v a l l e y , led to an u n p r e c e d e n t e d p r o g r a m m e to save the a r c h a e o l o g i c a l r e l i c s f r o m b e i n g s ubmer g e d . T h e l o c a t i o n is o n the r i g h t b a n k of the r i v e r K r i s h n a in the P a l n a d t a l i k of G u n t u r dis t rict . T h e v a l l e y m e a s u r e s
2
a b o u t 23 k m . It is se c l u d e d , w i t h st e e p h i l l s o n t h r e e sides a n d the r i v e r on the fourth. T h e v a l l e y is n a m e d a f t e r the h i l l - f o r t
(41 to the n o r t h of the v a l l e y , w h i c h is of m e d i e v a l origin . I n s c r i p t i o n s of ou r p e r i o d r e f e r to the h e a r t of the v a l l e y as
Siripavate Vijayapura
or the c i t y of v i c t o r y of the S r i p a r v a t a w h i c h w a s the a n c i e n t n a m e of the N a l l a m a l a i m o u n t a i n rang e s, p r o v i d i n g a n a t u r a l f o r t i f i c a t i o n on t h re e sides of the v all e y. O n e of t h e s e o f f s h o o t s , the P h i r a n g i m o t u hi l l, p r o j e c t s a l o n g the n o r t h - e a s t e r n c o r n e r of the v a l l e y as ap r o m o n t o r y . T h e r i v e r its e l f w i n d s r o u n d it b e f o r e c o n t i n u i n g on its e a s t e r l y course.
39 Ch. II, Map III.
U0 The following account is based on the reports in
I.A.A.R.3
195k
to1960
-6 1
.*+1 Inscriptions from Nagarjunakonda valley are published in
E.I.}
V o l s . XX, XXI, XXXIII-XXXVI. For details see bibliography.121
T h e r e s u l t is a t r i a n g u l a r p a n c o n s t i t u t i n g the v a l l e y , w i t h a s i g n i f i c a n t s e r i e s of m o r p h o l o g i c a l s t ep s f o r m e d b e c a u s e of e r osion. At the n o r t h e r n p a r t of the v a l l e y is the N a g a r j u n a h i l l a b o u t 1.8 k m in length, d e v o i d of a n y e a r l y h i s t o r i c a l rema ins. T h e m a j o r i t y of the e a r l y h i s t o r i c a l s i t e s are c o n f i n e d to an a r e a
2 c o n s t i t u t i n g a b o u t a third of the v a l l e y , r o u g h l y k m .
T h i s a r e a is b e l o w the 120 m e t r e contou r . T h e v a l l e y s l o p e s f r o m the s o u t h to wa r d s the n o r t h a nd n o r t h - w e s t . W h i l e a n u m b e r of s t r e a m s d r a i n the v al l e y , a long p e r e n n i a l n u l l a h m a r k s the e a s t e r n s ide of it. To the n o r t h w e s t of the v a l l e y , w e h a v e an a r e a c o v e r i n g r o u g h l y o n e s q u a r e k i l o m e t r e w h i c h a b o u n d s in e a r l y h i s t o r i c a l rem ains. T h i s is t he a n c i e n t V i j a y a p u r l . It is h e r e that w e s h a l l l o o k for u r b a n i s m in r e l a t i o n to the h i n t e r l a n d of the r e s t of the v al l e y .
(42
T h e v a l l e y h a s e x t e n s i v e S t o n e A g e rem ains. T h e n e o l i t h i c p h a s e of the t h ir d m i l l e n i u m B.C. w i t n e s s e d the d e v e l o p m e n t of r u d i m e n t a r y c a r p e n t r y and c u l t i v a t i o n , the d o m e s t i c a t i o n of a n i m a l s and the a rt of m a k i n g pot te ry . A l t h o u g h e v i d e n c e for d w e l l i n g s is f o r t h c o m i n g , s e d e n t a r y l if e h a s n o t y e t begun. T h e s e m i - s u b t e r r a n e a n d w e l l i n g s , i n n u m e r a b l e p i t s of v a r i o u s s h a p e s and d i m e n s i o n s and a c e m e t e r y w i t h two l e v e l s of b u r i a l s n e e d n o t b y t h e m s e l v e s i n d i c a t e
sedentary p e op le . T h e s e f e a t u r e s are c o m m o n a m o n g n o m a d i c p e o p l e as well. T h e n e o l i t h i c p e o p l e of the v a l l e y w e r e s e m i - s e d e n t a r y p a s t o r a l p e o p l e w i t h r u d i m e n t a r y a g r i c u l t u r e .
1+2 K.V. Soundara Rajan, ’Studies in the Stone Age of Nagarjunakonda and its Neighbourhood*,
A.I.,
No. lU, pp. *+9-113.Archaeological sites—Nagarjunakonda M a p V I
1
2
T h e p e o p l e of the
Pandukal
sit e s of the v a l l e y d a t a b l e to the second h a l f of the fi r s t m i l l e n i u m B.C. n e x t e n t e r e d the a r e a w i t h the ir iro n t e c h n o l o g y a n d the t y p i c a l B l a c k and R e d ware.A l t h o u g h the r e m a i n s of a t o t al n u m b e r of n i n e t e e n i n d i v i d u a l s h a v e b e e n r e c o v e r e d f r o m f i f t e e n b u r i a l s , t h e r e is no i n d i c a t i o n of any h a b i t a t i o n a l area. A s m e n t i o n e d in an e a r l i e r ch apt er, t h es e
Pandukal
b u i l d e r s w e r e n o m a d i c p eo p le. T h e i r r e m a i n s h a v e b e e n f o und on the f r i n g e s of the 120 m c ontour. T h i s is in k e e p i n g w i t h the g e n e r a l p a t t e r n of thePandukal
sites, w h i c h w e r e p r e d o m i n a n t l y on the f r i n g e s of a r a b l e tracts.The e a r l i e s t h i s t o r i c a l e v i d e n c e in the v a l l e y is the (43
c o i n a g e of the l a t e r S a t a v a h a n a s . It is f r o m p r e - I k s v a k u leve l s and t e s t i f i e s to the i m p o r t a n c e of the v a l l e y in the s e c o n d c e n t u r y A.D. A c o n t e m p o r a r y fin d of i m p o r t a n c e is a b a k e d c l a y c o i n - m o u l d ,
i d e n t i f i e d as that of a s i l v e r p o r t r a i t i s s u e b e l o n g i n g to V a s i s t h l p u t r a (44
P u l u m a v i . T h e l e g e n d o n the mou l d , w h i c h is p r e s u m a b l y in e a r l y T el u g u , and the fac t that al l the i s s u e s in the two h o a r d s of
S a t a v a h a n a co i n s n ot o n l y b e l o n g to a s i n g l e type (ci r c u l a r w i t h the e l e p h a n t an d