2800-Year-Old Settlement Discovered In PM Modi’s Hometown Vadnagar

“Vadnagar was a multicultural and multireligious (Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Islamic) settlement. Excavation in several deep trenches revealed the presence of seven cultural stages (periods) namely, Mauryan, Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian or Shaka-Kshatrapas (AKA ‘Satraps’, descendants of provincial governors of ancient Achaemenid Empires, Hindu-Solankis, Sultanate-Mughal (Islamic) to Gaekwad-British colonial rule and the city endures even today. One of the oldest Buddhist monasteries has been discovered during our excavation. We found characteristic archaeological artefacts, potteries, copper, gold, silver and iron objects and intricately designed bangles. We also found coin moulds of the Greek king Appollodatus during the Indo-Greek rule at Vadnagar,” said ASI archaeologist Dr. Abhijit Ambekar, co-author of the paper, said in an official statement.

The findings imply that the “Dark Age” was a myth and that cultures continuously existed in the region without total annihilation during the last 5,500 years. The period between the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation and the appearance of the Iron Age and cities such as Gandhar in present-day Afghanistan and Koshal in present-day Uttar Pradesh in India is referred to as the Dark Age.