Historical site discovered at Kondapur

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http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/12/stories/2008011254960500.htm

 

Historical site discovered at Kondapur

 

M. Malleswara Rao

 

The 25-ft mound across 100 acres likely to be a Buddhist stupa

 

ASI dates the site from 200 BC- 200 AD, excavation planned in April

 

Upper strata of the mound reveals 2000 coins, ornaments, terracotta, etc.

 

HYDERABAD: Historians have discovered a 25-ft high mound spread over

100 acres at Kondapur in Medak district which they presume to be a

Buddhist stupa with myriad segments throwing light on the Buddhist

link of the present Telangana region.

 

The Archaeological Survey of India has decided to excavate the

site-dating to 200 BC- 200 AD -from April. If a stupa is unearthed as

hoped by the ASI, this will be the first Buddhist site in Telangana,

firmly establishing the belief among historians that this region too

was part of the Satavahana empire that extended into present

Maharashtra and that Kondapur, indeed, was a city that had a direct

connection with Paithan.

 

The stupas found elsewhere in the State, barring the Amaravathi ones,

occupied smaller extents.

 

Historians led by D. Jithendra Das, superintending archaeologist, ASI,

Hyderabad Circle, who inspected the mound recently, found it to be

" extremely fruitful " with its upper strata already yielding several

antiquities without digging.

 

Nearly 2,000 coins and many coin-moulds, ornaments made of gold and

semi-precious stones, beads and terracotta figurines have been

recovered from the surface area itself.

 

A valuable find was a gold coin of the Roman king Augustus.

Large city

 

The historians' team is of the view that ancient Kondapur city was

larger than Amaravathi skirted by a mud-fort.

 

A lake that possibly served the city as its water source, lies now by

the side of the mound.

 

While the fort's mud-wall is visible even now, most of the other

remains of the city lie buried under the earth, as a result of the

earthquakes and catastrophes through ages.

 

Any excavation of the agricultural fields that covered these remains

now, are sure to reveal different facets of the buried city, says Mr. Das.

 

Several structural remains have already been identified, some of them

belonging to Chaitya halls/monasteries.

 

Furnaces, floors, workplaces and storerooms have also been discovered

indicating a rich industrial past. It is assumed that ceramic industry

thrived in ancient Kondapur.