Harappan Technology and its Legacy by D.P. Agrawal

Author:D.P. Agrawal [Agrawal, D.P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Infinity Foundation India
Published: 2020-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

Silver

There is some controversy regarding the sources of silver. Chakrabarti (1990), while emphasising the significance of Afghanistan as a possible source of Indus copper, lead and silver, says that each of these metals is easy to procure in Baluchistan, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Ratnagar however thinks that there was no indigenous production of silver in India until a fairly late period, and that the Harappan silver came from Mesopotamia. Chakrabarti argues that this statement does not appreciate the extent to which India has argentiferous galena in the lead-zinc deposits of Zawar and Agucha in Rajasthan.

Ratnagar, replying to Chakrabarti’s criticism about silver, says that this point about two urbanised termini of the trade comes across vividly when the silver trade is considered. Little silver has been found in the intermediate areas of southeast Iran, Seistan, or the Gulf, except for two silver artefacts at Shahr-i-Sokhta in Seistan and two silver beads in an Oman grave. She had earlier argued (Ratnagar 1981: 144-46) that the Harappans, who were the only people of proto-historic South Asia to have used silver on a substantial scale, imported this metal, most likely from Mesopotamia. A regular movement of silver from the Assyrian merchant colonies of Cappadocia to Mesopotamia, is well documented for the period between 1920 and 1750 BCE, and texts from Ur which refer to silver being taken overseas by merchants to buy copper in Dilmun (clearly an entrepôt) date to the time of Rimsin of Larsa (1822-1763 BCE). It had also been pointed out that silver occurs in the three large Harappan settlements, Kunal, Mohenjodaro and Harappa, but is almost totally absent at other sites. Another argument in favour of Mesopotamia being the source is that even earlier, around 3500-3000 BCE and also later, silver and lead were used on a substantial scale in Mesopotamia and Elam. One example is provided by the Early Dynastic III Royal Cemetery at Ur, with a truly exceptional amount of silver (Moorey 1985: 114 ff, 122 ff). Secondly, there is now a run of radiocarbon dates from the silver-lead bearing localities of Dariba, Agucha, and Zawar, near Ajmer in Rajasthan, which testify to mining in the later part of the first millennium BCE, rather than earlier (Craddock et al. 1989). The only earlier mining is attested to at Dariba, but the dates are post-Harappan, namely, the later part of the second millennium BCE. Finally, it needs to be mentioned that Kosambi noticed traces of cuneiform writing, on a rectangular piece of silver from Mohenjodaro. He expressed his surprise that neither Marshall nor Mackay had paid attention to it; but, as copied by Kosambi, the cuneiform signs are not complete (Ratnagar 2008: 77-79).

The late Shashi Asthana (1993), who did some very important studies on Indus trade, has made some interesting observations about silver, in the Harappan context. Asthana thought that silver was apparently quite popular with the Harappans living at Mohenjodaro and Harappa, but those at Lothal and Kalibangan rarely used it. Silver was used for making vases and ornaments, such as bracelets, bangles and beads.

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