Pottery culture in India

Pottery refers to three categories of utensils: Earthernware, Stoneware and Porcelain (requires minerals like kaolin to be heated up to 1200^oC). These may be glazed or unglazed.

Glazing of Pottery

When a water based solution of finely ground mineral is is applied to the pottery, which is then dried and heated at a high temperature, the surface of the pottery becomes glazed.

Evidence of the earliest pottery in the Indian subcontinent has been found in the Mehargarh (Harappan Civilization). Even today, it is a very popular cultural art in India, which is insignificant in studying culture and reconstructing our past.

Neolithic Age

The first reference to pottery was found in the Neolithic age. Naturally, it is handmade pottery, but during the later period, the use of foot wheels also prevailed. Evidence of such pottery has been found throughout India, including South India. Burzahom is famous for coarse grey pottery.

Prominent features of Neolithic pottery:

The pottery was mainly handmade coarse grey pottery with an unglazed rough surface devoid of any painting.

• The pottery was made up of clay mixed with mica and sand.
• Twisted rice husk cords were also impressed into wet clay for decoration many times.
• It also includes black-burnished ware, grey ware and mat-pressed ware.

Ochre Colored Pottery (OCP) culture (2600 to 900 BCE)-

It is named after a ceramic type which is highly rolled and fragile. This pottery is red, but when archaeologists excavate it, it leaves an ochre colour on the fingers. Therefore, it is known as Ochre Coloured Pottery.

• Geographical extent: It was first excavated at Bisauli and Rajpur Parsu (Uttar Pradesh).
• Other sites– Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh (Attranjikhera), and some sites in the upper Ganga-Yamuna doab, namely, Bahadarabad, Manpur, Bhatpura, Ambkheri and Bargaon.

Salient features of OCP culture:

• Shelters-Settlements with well-made floors, mud huts and hearths show their sedentary lifestyle.
• Agriculture– Remains of domesticated animals like cattle and evidence of cultivated crops like rice and barley further provide information on their subsistence practices.
• Distinct feature– Artefacts of this culture are similar to the Late Harappan and Vedic cultures.

Eventually, the Chalcolithic Age transformed into the Bronze Age in the areas where tin was available. In other areas, it gave way to the Iron Age directly. For example, the painted grey-ware (PGW) age is often marked as the Iron Age’s arrival in North India. Although in the initial stages of this age, copper is much more prevalent than Iron.

Harappan Pottery

The Indus Valley pottery consists chiefly of very fine wheel-made wares, very few being handmade. Different types of pottery are: –

Plain pottery It generally consists of red clay. It can also have a fine red or grey slip. A few pots are ornamented with rows of knobs (Knobware). It is more common than painted ware.
Polychrome pottery It mainly comprises small vases decorated with geometric patterns. It uses red, black, and green colours and rarely white and yellow are used. Ochre was used to produce red colour for paintings.
Black and red painted ware It is a characteristic black colour manufactured by combining dark reddish-brown iron oxide with black manganese. Animal and geometric designs are executed in glossy black paint on the fine coating of red slip.
Incised ware The incised decoration on such pottery is confined to the pans’ bases and the offering stands’ dishes. Example: Dancing girl incised on a potshread in Birhana
Perforated pottery It includes a large number of holes small holes all over the wall and a large home at the bottom. It was probably used for straining beverages.

 

The pottery found in the Harappan civilisation reveals the highly advanced skills of contemporary people. Some of them are: Figure:  Harappan ceramic pottery with geometric decorations One of the most important cities in the Indus Valley civilisation was Lothal, where red and polished ceramic pottery can be found. They knew how to bake the ceramic, controlling the oxidation-reduction process. They are denominated as the ‘Red ceramic culture’.

Chronology of Harappa with the help of pottery

Although various sites in the Indus Valley date back to the Neolithic era from before 5000 BCE, the ‘bronze age’ Harappan civilisation is dated between 3300 BCE and 1300 BCE. This whole period is divided into three phases: Early Harappan, Mature Harappan and Late Harappan, as given below –

Vedic Age –

Painted Grey Ware (PGW) Culture (1100-400 BCE)

Painted Grey Ware (PGW) is a fine, smooth, and even-coloured grey pottery. It is largely associated with the later Vedic culture, which is therefore also known as PGW because of its inhabitants’ use of earthen bowls and dishes made of painted grey pottery.

Geographical extent:

• PGW sites stretch over a large area, from the Himalayan foothills to the Malwa plateau and from Bahawalpur (Pakistan) to Kaushambi (Prayagraj).
• Other sitesinclude hilly regions of Kumaon and Garhwal, Vaishali in Bihar, Lakhiyopur in Sind and Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.
• Mathura was the largest PGW site.

Prominent features of PGW age:

• It is an iron age pottery, Characterised by a fine, grey pottery painted with geometric patterns in black colour.
• The later Vedic age was acquainted with 4 types of pottery, viz:  Black-and-red ware, black-slipped ware, painted grey ware and red ware.
• The mature PGW phase at Jakhera has also given substantial evidence of iron implements used in agriculture, like a sickle, ploughshare and hoe.

Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW)

Towards the end of the Later Vedic period, we see the emergence of 2nd phase of urbanisation. This time period also marked the beginning of the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW). Archaeologically, the 7th century BC marks the beginning of the NBPW phase. It is representative pottery of the Mahajanapada era in North India.

Prominent features of NBPW:

• NBPW was a very glossy, shining type of pottery and could have served as the tableware of wealthier people.
• At this time, the use of pottery wheels became universal.
• The Maruyan period pottery is the most significant example of the NBPW Phase.

Other significant pottery styles of northern India:

Gupta Age:

• Most of the remains of this era were found at Ahichchhatra, Rajgarh, Hastinapur and Bashar.
• Redware is the most significant pottery of this age.

Kushana Age:

The Kushans brought a new horizon in ceramic craft. The main characteristic of Kushana pottery is a unique red polished ware with a stamped design along with a large number of dull or sturdy red ware. 

Turko Mughal and Rajput period:

In the 13th century AD, with the advent of Turkish kings, glazed pottery became very popular in the Indian subcontinent.

 In many places from Gujarat and Maharashtra, archaeologists have discovered glazed ceramics with Persian models and Indian patterns dating from the Sultanate period.

This epoch, Jaipur BluePottery, is a well-known traditional Jaipur craft.

South Indian pottery of the Megalithic Era

This culture is placed between the 3rd Century BC and 1st Century AD. Megaliths refer to monuments constructed of big stones. This culture is particularly known for its massive stone graves. In the South, this age is characterised by the use of Iron.

Geographical extent :

The Megalithic civilisation was widespread in Kashmir, the Deccan, and South and North East India. However, it is more prominent in the Post-Neolithic sites of South India.

Significant features:

Such sites contain various types of artefacts and archaeological evidence, such as Human remains with pottery (Black and Red ware), tools, weapons of Iron and sometimes skeletons of horses, horse equipment, and ornaments (made of stone and gold). These help in the reconstruction of the history of the time.

Conclusion:

The style of pottery has evolved over time in response to different cultures. It represents the socio-economic and environmental conditions in which civilisation flourished, aiding archaeologists and historians in comprehending our history in an inclusive manner.

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