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Jognakhera
Jognakhera
Archeological site
	Jognakhera Jognakhera
	Coordinates: 29°58′17″N 76°53′14″E / 29.97139°N 76.88722°E
Country	India
Province	Haryana
Time zone	UTC+5.30 (Indian Standard Time)

Jognakhera is an archaeological site belonging to late Harappan phase of Indus Valley civilisation. Jogankhera is located in Kurukshetra District, Haryana, India.^[1]

Period

The find from this site belong to the mature Harappan phase as well as later-era PGW phase (Vedic period).^[2] The Painted Grey Ware culture (PGW) probably corresponds to the middle and late Vedic period, i.e., the Kuru-Panchala kingdom, the first large state in South Asia after the decline of the Indus Valley civilization (IVC).^[3]^[4] Painted Grey Ware culture (PGW) chiefdoms in the region were succeeded by Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) from c. 700-500 BCE, associated with the rise of the great mahajanapada states (mahajanapada states Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Surasena and Vatsa)^[2] and later of the Magadha Empire.^[3]^[4] Towards the end of the late Vedic period, many of the PGW settlements grew into the large towns and cities of the Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) period.^[5] B. B. Lal confirms that Mahabharata is associated with PGW sites and gives a date to c. 900 BCE for the War recounted in the Mahabharata.^[6]

Saraswati valley has the earlier phase of the PGW culture, such as excavation at Hat (Hathira) in Kurukshetra. Hathira was protected by a V-shaped moat.^[2] Similar moats were found Jognakhera and Kunal on the Saraswati river. The presence of moat shows these were chiefdom-based cultures. These cultures reach a peak in Ganga-Yamuna Doab before the rise of Mahajanapadas in the Northern Black Polished Ware period.^[2]

Excavation

Jognakhera was excavated during 2009, although local people are not aware of the importance of this ancient site.^[7] Pot shreds were also recovered from this site.^[7]

Copper smelting

Jognakhera was a copper smelting site where copper smelting furnaces with copper slag were recovered.^[7] The furnaces excavated from this site looked like huge saucers. ^[7]

Damage to site

Floods created out of breach to Sutlej Yamuna link canal during July 2010 caused damage to this archeological site.^[7]

References

^ Ghosh, Amalananda, ed. (1990). An Encyclopaedia of Indian archaeology. Leiden: E.J. Brill. p. 187. ISBN 9789004092648.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Suraj Bhan, Ancient Asia Journal.
^ ^a ^b Geoffrey Samuel, (2010) The Origins of Yoga and Tantra: Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century, Cambridge University Press, pp. 45–51
^ ^a ^b Michael Witzel (1989), Tracing the Vedic dialects in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, 97–265.
^ Kenoyer, Jonathan. "Cultures and Societies of the Indus Tradition" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
^ "Mahabharata Historicity by Prof. B B Lal". 24 June 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Sabharwal, Vijay (11 July 2010). "Indus Valley site ravaged by floods". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.