Ancient site · Settlement
Hastinapur
A mound on the old bank of the Ganga in Meerut district, Uttar Pradesh, traditionally the capital of the Kuru kings in the Mahabharata and holy to Jains. B.
B. Lal's excavations in 1950–52 found a Painted Grey Ware village of the early Iron Age, dated about 1100–800 BCE, ended by a Ganga flood, with later early-historic towns above. Lal linked that flood to the Mahabharata's story of a Ganga flood under King Nichakshu, a link many historians treat as tradition, not dated history.
- Dates
- Painted Grey Ware town c. 1100–800 BCE (Lal; 2021–22 dig: from c. 1500 BCE); occupied into medieval times
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 29.17° N, 78.02° E
How we know
The mound is excavated and dated by pottery and radiocarbon; its link to the Kuru capital of the Mahabharata comes from tradition, not proof.
Nearby sites
- Sinauli c. 2000–1500 BCE
- Iron pillar of Delhi c. 400 CE (reign of Chandragupta II, c. 375–415 CE)
- Rakhigarhi village from c. 4600 BCE; city c. 2600–1900 BCE
- Bhirrana claimed c. 7500 BCE; most scholars: 4th millennium BCE to c. 1900 BCE
- Kalibangan c. 3500–1750 BCE
- Harappa c. 3300–1300 BCE; city at its height c. 2600–1900 BCE
Related
- Painted Grey Ware culture archaeological culture
- The world in 1500 BCE: Chariots and Empires chapter