Chandravalli is an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

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 ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. 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. Biograp ...

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

Satavahana The Satavahanas (; ''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras (also ''Andhra-bhṛtyas'' or ''Andhra-jatiyas'') in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavaha ...

and

Hoysalas The Hoysala Kingdom was a kingdom originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka, parts of Tamilnadu and South-Western Telangana between the 11th and the 14th centuries CE. The capital of the Hoysalas was i ...

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 mi ...

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

emperor

Augustus Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

and a coin of the Chinese

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

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 CE), 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 Karnatak ...

(345 CE) found in the ''Bhairaweshwara temple''. Chandravalli is the first capital city of Kadamba dynasty.

Prehistoric period

Chandravalli is pre-historic archaeological site, historians found painted pottery and coins from the pre-historic and Shatavahana 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. Further excavations were carried out by H. M. Krishna in 1928-29 and finally by

Mortimer Wheeler Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, CH Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire, CIE Military Cross, MC Territorial Decoration, TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeolo ...

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 Alexander ...

in 1947. ;Findings Two distinct periods;

megalithic A megalith is a large Rock (geology), stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging ...

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 historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

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 dynas ...

and

Hoysala The Hoysala Kingdom was a kingdom originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka, India, Karnataka, parts of Tamilnadu and South-Western Telangana between the 11th and the 14th centuries Common Era, CE. The c ...

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 cus ...

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 Krishnaraja Wodeyar III (14 July 1794 – 27 March 1868) was an Indian king who was the twenty-second Maharaja of Mysore. He ruled the kingdom for nearly seventy years, from 30 June 1799 to 27 March 1868, for a good portion of the latter period ...

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

Krishnadevaraya Krishnadevaraya (17 January 1471 – 17 October 1529) was emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1509 to 1529 and the third ruler of the Tuluva dynasty. Widely regarded as one of the greatest rulers in Indian history, he presided over t ...

of Vijayanagar, various

kings and Viraraya of

kingdom. Among the foreign coins found were

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 neoliths, a

cist In archeology, a cist (; also kist ; ultimately from ; cognate to ) or cist grave is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. In some ways, it is similar to the deeper shaft tomb. Examples occur ac ...

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 A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

Notes

References

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