Kalibangan
Kalibanga · Kali Banga
Sothi / Pre-Harappan to Mature Harappan 3500–1900 BCE·Indus Valley (Harappan) with Sothi antecedent·🇮🇳 Rajasthan, Hanumangarh District, left bank of Ghaggar (Sarasvati), between Suratgarh and Hanumangarh, India
About
About Kalibangan
Major provincial capital of the Indus Valley Civilization on the southern Ghaggar bank in Hanumangarh, Rajasthan, occupied from c.3500 BCE. Distinguished by the world's earliest attested ploughed field (Sothi phase, furrow marks), unique series of brick fire altars in citadel and lower town, and evidence of earthquake damage; Luigi Tessitori first identified pre-Mauryan Harappan character here and B.B. Lal–B.K. Thapar excavated 1960–69 with full report published 2003 after 34-year delay.
Why it mattersOnly Harappan site with preserved ploughed field; fire-altar sequence crucial for Vedic ritual antecedent debate.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Were fire altars proto-Vedic yajna?
- 02Cause of abandonment — Ghaggar desiccation or earthquake?
Theories
- 01Ploughed field as double cropping proof
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.3500 BCE Sothi; mature 2600–1900 BCE
- Period
- Sothi / Pre-Harappan to Mature Harappan 3500–1900 BCE
- Culture
- Indus Valley (Harappan) with Sothi antecedent
- Builders
- Indus Valley builders
- Purpose
- Provincial capital and agrarian ritual center on Ghaggar
- Abandoned
- c.1900 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 1917 Tessitori; excavated 1960–69
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.3500 BCE
Sothi Pre-Harappan settlement with ploughed field furrows
c.2600–1900 BCE
Fortified Harappan citadel and lower town with fire altars
1960–69
ASI excavation by B.B. Lal and B.K. Thapar; report published 2003
On the ground
Structures & features
29.4741° N · 74.1303° E · 180 m · 2 mapped features
Citadel (western mound)
citadelFortified citadel with fire-altar platforms
29.4745° N · 74.1298° EPloughed Field
fieldSothi-phase furrowed field south of settlement
29.4732° N · 74.1305° E
Gallery