A Study of the Archaeological Landscape of Bairat, Jaipur district, Rajasthan

Summary

Bairat is a region located in the present day, Viratnagar tehsil of Jaipur district in Rajasthan. So far it is known for yielding two Ashokan inscriptions in the 19th century and being identical with the mythological Viratnagara of Mahabharata. This paper develops a larger understanding of the history of Bairat by studying its material culture which came into light after post-Independence excavations and explorations. To understand the settlement from about 7th century BCE upto 3rd century CE, I carefully examined ceramics in existing archaeological collections and integrated them with surface finds of a new site Khera-ki-Dhani which was discovered during the field surveys. This integration of sources of archaeological information offers insights into the history of Bairat, helping us contextualize the royal Ashokan proclamations while providing perspective view on Bairat through time—as part of the larger narratives from Mauryas to Mughals.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Archaeology of India

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15459