Archaeological Exploration of Defence Structures & Fortress City based on Ancient Folklore of Mount Abu, Rajasthan, India

Abstract

In terms of archaeology the defence structure defined as protective or fortification construction or enclosure around any settlement on the area with or without a moat. In an archaeological context, defence structures are mainly constructed on a formal or informal plan and consist of walls and fortification built in massive size. In our winter exploration, we tried to investigate the discovery of the ruins of defence structure found near sacred place/pilgrimage site in Sirohi District. Methodology: Our field survey in Sirohi district based on ancient folklore of Mount Abu to relate its multidisciplinary archaeological science related to the field of geography about the number of defence structures & fortress city. Remote sensing and GIS applications use to tracing the geo-coordinate location of structures and ruins. Also tries to focus on the contour of the area to know its higher-point, elevation and even measured MSL. Aim & Objective: In the history of Sirohi, only a few forts have been reported for example Basantgarh/Vasantagar, Chandrawati, Achalgarh, Sirohi city fort. First, three cities established in ancient time especially Vasantgarh is the oldest fortress city in the district. but What was purpose behind building these forts? What was the role of fortified temple in the kingdom? What trade links it have through trade routes and links with other kingdom? Why these cities got destroyed? We found ruins of defence structure near Vastanji, Gharkav Mata Ji, Shergaon, Utraj and Oriya. These sites are explored near Mount Abu. Conclusion: Most of the sites in above finding seem to possibly destroy in the earthquakes as these sites located near Seismic fault zone and here we found fallen ruins, large scattered rocks and buried cities mound. Most of the Modern settlement of Sirohi district built their houses on the buried mound. Still, sometimes villagers finding here artefacts related to historical settlement of ancient cities. In the end, we like to conclude that the geography of the area is very difficult to explore in a short period, our exploration continues.