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Tosali or Toshali was an ancient city in the present day
In 1948, the first excavation in Shishupalgarh was conducted by an Archaeological Survey of India team led by B.B. Lal, followed by another in 1950. These excavations led to the discovery of an ancient fortied urban centre in Shishupalgarh. The mud fortification, constructed in the early 2nd century BCE is almost square shaped and about 1.2 km each side. The evidence of habitation outside the fortified area between 300 BCE to 350 CE was also found during the excavations.
Since 2001, a joint team from the Deccan College, Pune and the University of California started excavating this site again. So far, the major findings of this team include eighteen stone pillars.
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
state in eastern 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 ...
. It was the capital of the eastern province of the Kalinga Kingdom. While some scholars tried to identify this ancient city with Dhauli, 7 km away from Bhubaneshwar, other scholars were inclined to identify this city with Shishupalgarh, 5 km away from Bhubaneshwar.
Recent archaeological excavations showing fort ruins and major ancient era weapons, inscriptions and presence of Kushan era gold coins gives credence to the sites at Radhanagar near Brahmani river
The Brahmani is a major seasonal river in the Odisha state of eastern India. The Brahmani is formed by the confluence of the Sankh and South Koel rivers, and flows through the districts of Sundargarh, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Cuttack ...
in Jajpur district to be the most likely location of Tosali.
Excavations at Shishupalgarh
In 1948, the first excavation in Shishupalgarh was conducted by an Archaeological Survey of India team led by B.B. Lal, followed by another in 1950. These excavations led to the discovery of an ancient fortied urban centre in Shishupalgarh. The mud fortification, constructed in the early 2nd century BCE is almost square shaped and about 1.2 km each side. The evidence of habitation outside the fortified area between 300 BCE to 350 CE was also found during the excavations.
Since 2001, a joint team from the Deccan College, Pune and the University of California started excavating this site again. So far, the major findings of this team include eighteen stone pillars.
Radhanagar site
Ashokan stupas
The 10 Asokan stupas described by the Chinese travellerXuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
in his travel accounts Great Tang Records on the Western Regions
The ''Great Tang Records on the Western Regions'' is a narrative of Xuanzang's nineteen-year journey from Chang'an in central China to the Western Regions of Chinese historiography. The Buddhist scholar traveled through the Silk Road regions of ...
were discovered nearby. The site matches the accounts made by Hieun Tsang, which he mentions that area here Emperor Ashoka
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...
built these stupas to commemorate Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
's visit and preaching.
See also
*Kalinga Kalinga may refer to:
Geography, linguistics and/or ethnology
* Kalinga (historical region), a historical region of India
** Kalinga (Mahabharata), an apocryphal kingdom mentioned in classical Indian literature
** Kalinga script, an ancient writ ...
* Maurya Empire
References
Ancient Indian cities History of Odisha Former populated places in India {{Orissa-geo-stub