Chandravalli is an archaeological site located in the

Chitradurga district Chitradurga district is an administrative district of Karnataka state in southern India. The city of Chitradurga is the district headquarters. Chitradurga gets its name from Chitrakaldurga, an umbrella-shaped lofty hill found there. Tradition ...

of the state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The region is a valley formed by three hills, Chitradurga, Kirabanakallu and Jolagudda.Amalananda Ghosh (1990), p97 It is a semi-arid region with scrub vegetation with a stream running through it. Peter N. Peregrine,

Melvin Ember Melvin Lawrence Ember (January 13, 1933 – September 27, 2009) was an American cultural anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher with wide-ranging interests who combined an active research career with writing for nonprofessionals. Biograph ...

, Human Relations Area Files Inc. (2001), p367 Excavations at Chandravalli have revealed earthen pots, painted bowls and coins of Indian dynasties like

Vijayanagar The Vijayanagara Empire, also called the Karnata Kingdom, was a Hindu empire based in the region of South India, which consisted the modern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and some parts of Telangana and Maharas ...

Satavahana The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the la ...

and

Hoysalas The Hoysala Empire was a Kannadiga power originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur, but was later moved ...

as well as

denarii The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

emperor Augustus Caesar and a coin of the Chinese

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

Emperor Wu Ti belonging to 2nd Century BC.S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar (1995), p343

Mythology

Chandravalli (''moon shaped'') was known as ''Chandanavati'', name attributed to the king as this place was once ruled by ''Chandrahasa'' (king of Kuntala).

Chandravalli cave temple

The Chandravalli cave temple (also known as the ''Ankali Mutt'' - Saints from Ankalagi (Belgaum) came here for meditation) is semilunar in shape located between two giant monolithic rocks, a pre-historic site is about three km from Chitradurga. There is a lake which is adds the importance to cave temple. The forest around the lake is a good place for bird watching.

History

At Chandravalli there is a rock inscription of the first Kannada dynasty Kadambas founder

Mayurasharma Mayurasharma or Mayuravarma (reigned 345–365 C.E.), a native of Talagunda (in modern Shimoga district), was the founder of the Kadamba Kingdom of Banavasi, the earliest native kingdom to rule over what is today the modern state of Karnataka, ...

(345 CE) found in the ''Bhairaweshwara temple''.

Pre-historic period

Chandravalli is pre-historic archaeological site, historians found painted pottery and coins from the pre-historic and

Shatavahana The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the late ...

period and found that the human habitation existed during the ''Iron Age''.

Excavation history

In 1909 ''B L Rice, R Narasimhachar and R Shamashastry'' carried out the excavation work at Chandravalli. During 1929-30 ''M H Krishna'' did the significant contribution. Chandravalli was first excavated by R. Narasimhachar who was the Director of Department of Archaeology and Museums of the

Mysore state Mysore State, colloquially Old Mysore, was a state within the Dominion of India and the later India, Republic of India from 1947 until 1956. The state was formed by renaming the Kingdom of Mysore, and Bangalore replaced Mysore as the state's c ...

. Further excavations were carried out by H. M. Krishna in 1928-29 and finally by

Mortimer Wheeler Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH CIE MC TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeologist and officer in the British Army. Over the course of his career, he served as Director of both the National Museum of Wales an ...

under the guidance of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...

in 1947. ;Findings Two distinct periods; megalithic and

were noticed during the excavations. It was found that Chandravalli was inhabited from

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

onwards. The inscriptions found in the nearby hillocks belonged to the

Chalukya The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynasty ...

and

Hoysala The Hoysala Empire was a Kannadiga power originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur, but was later moved ...

period, with one belonging to the king

, the founder of the Kadamba dynasty. ;General layout The total measurement of the site excavated was 730 m × 730 m, and the general layout of the site contained a housing complex with walls of bricks, covered stone drains, red-gravel rammed floors and fireplaces made of bricks. It was also a

mortuary A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cu ...

site. ;Earthen ware The earthen ware found included megalithic pottery, painted vessels coated by a russet coloured wash (Russet-coated painted ware), red and black coloured ware as well as rouletted ware. The paintings on these wares were linear and geometric and consisted of criss-cross, dotted lines, hatched triangles and other patterns. The shapes of these wares were vessels with funnel-shaped lid, carinated bowls, three-legged vessels and other forms. ;Coins Coins of the following Indian kings were found: Krishnaraja Wodeyar III of

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

, Krishnadevaraya of

, various

kings and Viraraya of

kingdom. Among the foreign coins found were

of Augustus Caesar and a coin of the Chinese

Emperor Wu Ti. ;Trade ties with ancient Rome Assessment of historic settlement has led to an interesting finding on the existence of commercial contacts with ancient Roman world. ;Other objects Other objects found included

neolith The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

s, a

cist A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle Ea ...

with a skeleton in it, pots containing bones and teeth of animals and a Roman bulla. One of the

s also appeared to contain the legs of a sarcophagus.

Notes

References

* * * {{Portal, India History of Karnataka Former populated places in India Archaeological sites in Karnataka