Kaimur Prehistoric Tales Hills

The antiquarian remains lying on the Kaimur hills in Bihar provide a unique opportunity to study our indigenous culture and to radically analyze the current socio-economic perils of ‘ancient Magadh’.

The discovery of rock paintings depicting pre-historical lifestyle have not only added a new dimension to Indian history but have also clearly lead to the conclusion that indigenous culture all over the world is uniform. The rock paintings discovered in Bihar are identical to the ones found in Central and Southern India. And the Indian rock paintings and stone tolls have close resemblances with those found in Europe and Africa. The rock paintings of Spain’s Alta Mira and France’s Lascaux are almost identical to those found in Bihar.

But the tradition of painting on rocks did not last long in European countries whereas in India they became an integral part of life. The overlapping or super imposition effects noticed in the rock paintings of Bihar clearly substantiate that these paintings were done over periods.

Like any other traditional art, the rock paintings too happen to be the creations of our female ancestors. After realizing the importance of settled life, human beings settled themselves in caves close to flora and fauna. While the male adults stayed away hunting for food, the females decorated their caves with painting mostly depicting the hunting scenes.

Discovery of certain rock painting sites in Kaimur (Bhabhua) district in Bihar by its then District Magistrate Rajesh Bhushan had hit the newspaper headlines, some 5-6 years ago. Consequently, a senior officer working with the Archaeological Survey of India had advised me to write an investigative report about these paintings.

During the last quarter of 1997 one of my childhood friends was posted there as the Police Superintendent and we planned to visit the sites together.

One fine morning he rang me up and said that he would be reaching Patna after a few hours and would returning the same evening and suggested I return with him. Some ‘hidden force’ dragged me along. On the way he revealed that the Kaimur district administration had already prepared a video film on these paintings and the would not be accompanying me to the spots but would depute adequate armed police personnel for my personal security during the tour.

Before I started out I wanted to watch the video film that he had mentioned. In the video. A Vayoge to Discovery Rajesh Bhushan narrates the history of the rock paintings. His discovery involves an 11 km walk through dense forests, crossing the local Sunra river at four points. His real journey begins from Bhagwanpur. After scaling Goria Pahari he discovers a chakra (wheel) of prehistoric age, finds numerous mounds and brick remains. He then comes across the remains of an ancient fort in Garevat and argues that when Buchanan visited here in 1812 a bit fort greeted him. A stone inscription lying nearby, though yet to be deciphered, probably narrates its glorious past. The entrance to the fort is of clay and is called spider tunnel in the local dialect.

Rajesh then moves on to Karar Pahari in Adhoura block and discovers numerous caves and rock shelters painted with minerals. All such sites are located close to sources of water. The exquisite rock paintings held me spellbound and increased my excitement to see them firsthand.

A private jeep was hired for my excursion. Neither the driver, Janardan Tiwari, nor his helper, Munna Dube, were aware of the exact location. The two local youths who accompanied us were also ignorant. Still, we set out on our voyage to discovery.

After a four hour drive through the dilapidated hilly road linking Bhabhua with Adhoura, we stopped near a well in Karar village to quench our thirst and also to enquire about locations. The jeep too needed a little rest and was feeling ‘thirsty’.

But here too the youths feigned ignorance about the prehistoric paintings. Suddenly, a village priest Hanuman Das, generously offered to lead our team. On reaching Telhar village he asked the driver to take on the road leading to Telhar Kund.

The Telhar Kund was once a gigantic waterfall. Even now, during the monsoons, it present is a picturesque scene. The priest then pointed to pictures drawn under the rock sheds. Paintings depicting fishing with bow and arrow, symbols of religious value, animals of different shapes baffled us.

Most of these paintings, however, initially appeared dull, probably because of the thick layer of dust that had gathered on them. Experienced Hanuman Das soaked his towel in the stream of water flowing near by and wiped out the dust and I was automatically compelled to capture these paintings in my camera.

He then took us to numerous ‘hideouts’ in Mauja Karar, Ajhuravan Kund… before we reached Adhoura for a meal. The local people there proudly claimed that even one full life was not sufficient to trace all the antiquarian remains lying on the Kaimur hills. They regretted that the people sitting at the helm of affairs had not included this place on the tourist map. And the ‘intelligentsia’ had branded them as extremists, even though they always wholeheartedly greeted visitors. The poor residents of Adhoura locality rendered me speechless. I wished to stay for a few days but my work forced me to return.

On my return I ventured into the state government’s Archaeology Department to gather more information about these paintings. I met Ajit Kumar Prasad who worked there as a Deputy Director and is credited with producing several research papers about these paintings.

Ajit maintained that these paintings belonged to the Mesolithic period which ranges in Bihar from 5,000 BC to 2,500 BC. Those paintings had a long tradition and extended upto the British period. The tradition of drawing sketches on the rocks began some 30,000 years ago.

Prehistoric human beings drew sketches of nature around them on the rocks and caves where they resided with the help of their improvised tools. Such type of paintings have been discovered all over the world, including Africa, America, Europe, Central Asia, former Soviet Union and Australia.

In India, they have been found in several districts of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Orrisa, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. So far 2,000 such rock shelters and several hundred prehistoric paintings have been discovered in our country. They depict the cultural specialities of the inhabitants of the particular region through the ages and they have been classified accordingly.

The paintings during the Mesolithic period were done with minerals after sharpening them or with the help of a brush or by using the sharp edge of a tree branch. Food store scenes too appear in a few paintings. The oldest paintings are in green and white and are comparatively bigger.

In Bihar, the rock paintings were first discovered by Dr. Rakesh Tiwari in Garhwa district in 1971. In 1994 Bulu Imam and his friends discovered several such paintings in Hazaribagh district. In due course, Col. A.K. Prasad made new discoveries in Nawada. Koderma, Giridih and Jamui districts. Rajesh Bhushan discovered nine such sites in Kaimur district. Overall, now there are 1,500 such rock painting sites in Bihar.

The paintings found in the Bhavanathpur block of Garhwa district too lies in the dense forests of Kaimur hills. Since the Kaimur hills are rich in lime stone, its rocks are naturally suitable for the rock shelters. Images of animals have been drawn with the help of brush by mixing haematite with kaolin. Though the signs and symbols of these paintings are abstract, natural behaviour of animals have been minutely sketched. Images of deer and stag appear in abundance.

Three rock shelters have also been spotted in Barkagaon block of Hazaribagh district, some 45 km southeast of the district headquarters. The sites are located on Sati Pahari and have been named Mado and Kohabar. The rocks of this hill are made of sandstone.

Rock shelter-I is almost at the top of the hill. It is a large cave and about 200 persons can sit in it at a time. A stream of water flows inside the cave round the year. According to Ajit, Mesolithic tools including a scrapper have been fished out of this stream. It is widely perceived that this region was inhabited by human beings during the Mesolithic period.

Rock shelter—II which is located a bit away, is a natural cave of small size. A stream of water flows close to it. Ajit said that Mesolithic stone tools have been discovered from this stream of water as well.

Paintings depicting the ancient lifestyle are spread over in this rock shelter over an area of 25.5 m x 3 m. Human figures have been shown with both hands raised. Such type of human figures also appear in the paintings discovered in Madhya Pradesh. However, an Austrian Archaeologist, Numamair, described these paintings as more appealing than those found in rest of the country.

Geometric designs have been given more prominence in the paintings drawn in later ages. Squares abundantly appear, while circles and triangle are comparatively less. Hunting scenes and animals dominate these paintings.

At one place, human figures appear along the row of trees. A male has been shown carrying a prey on his shoulder. Figures of buffalo, tiger, deer, stag, various kinds of birds, trees plants, sun, moon, lotus, flowers and vegetables of different kinds appear in these paintings. In some cases, slanting lines bifurcate the squares. Similar figures also appear in the rock paintings found in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Feathered insects appear in the paintings found at Rock shelter-III, in Sati Pahari. Pictures of insects with equal feathers are rare. These pictures also depict metamorphosed anthropomorphous and zoomorphous. Fishing scenes too appear in these paintings.

Ajit maintained that apart from the discoveries made by Col. Prasad several rock painting sites have also been identified in Saraiya. Rattam, Raum, Thethagi, and Satapahari localities in Tandwa block of Hazaribagh district. Most of these paintings depict animals in their natural form. The Mesolithic paintings do not have much geometric designs but they abundantly appear in the later paintings.

Even hornet’s nests and whirlpools have been accurately portrayed in the rock paintings of Bihar. More than one colour has been used in some of the pictures. These paintings have close resemblance with the ones found in Katni district in Madhya Pradesh. Whirlpools also appear in the rock paintings found in other states.

While our discussions were in full swing, Dr. Ajay Kumar Sinha entered. Ajit introduced us and said that Sinha too worked as a Deputy Director in the Archaeology Department and his researches on Indo-Greek culture have been acknowledged all over the world.

Dr. Sinha argued that the paintings discovered by Col. Prasad cannot be yet been reported discovery of prehistoric tools from those sites.

But then Kharosti was spoken in the North-West. Traders from Taxila went to Tamralipti via Champanagar (modern Bhagalpur). What forced them to take this dangerous route is yet to be secretariat somewhat perplexed.

Extensive survey and operations works may lead to many new discoveries and help us understand the lifestyle of our ancestors. They might even give a new turn to our history.