Indian Culture Portal
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The story of Ropar or Rupnagar begins almost 5000 years ago, on the left bank of the river Satluj. Long before the modern town took shape, people chose this river terrace as a place to live. Located 45 kilometres from the present-day state capital, Chandigarh, the archaeological site of Ropar is situated in the district bearing the same name in the state of Punjab. First brought to light through excavations conducted by Y.D.Sharma, between 1953 and 1955, the site is spread over approximately 12 hectares, and preserves evidence of continuous human occupation from the Mature Harappan Period to the Modern Period. This continuity makes Ropar crucial for understanding how human communities sustained themselves in changing environments, the technologies, and political systems that spanned five thousand years at Ropar.
If we peel back the layers of soil at the site of Ropar, the deepest level takes us to between the late third millennium BCE and the middle of the second millennium BCE (Period I), when the Harappans first settled here. Harappans were the people of the Indus Valley civilisation, a Bronze Age Society, characterised by settled life, agricultural production, skilled craftsmanship, and organised social systems.
As we move upward through the layers, the Harappan phase at Ropar overlaps with what archaeologists call the Bara culture, which emerged in the eastern region of the Indus Valley Civilisation around 2000 BCE. Radiocarbon analysis of charcoal samples obtained from the Harappan-Bara levels has yielded a calibrated date of 2400-2100 BCE, establishing the chronological framework for the site’s early occupation. This is succeeded by Painted Grey Ware (PGW) Culture of the Early First Millennium BCE (Period II), representing Iron-Age communities of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, known for its distinctive fine, grey pottery decorated with black geometric patterns. The site of Ropar then enters the Early Historic Period, marked by Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) from the Mid-First Millennium BCE (Period III), signifying the second urbanisation in India. From the third century BCE to the sixth century CE (Period IV), Ropar shows continuous occupation under changing political regimes. This is followed by the Early Medieval (Period V) and Medieval (Period VI) habitation, on top of which the current settlement exists. The town of Rupnagar, earlier known as Ropar, is traditionally believed to have been founded in the 11th century by a ruler named Rokeshwar, who named the settlement after his son, Rup Sen. Centuries later, this historic town gained political prominence as the venue of the Ropar Treaty in October 1831, concluded between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the British Governor-General Lord William Bentinck. The treaty formalised a British–Sikh alliance and sought to ensure peaceful coexistence along the Satluj frontier.
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The people of Ropar, particularly during the Harappan period, lived in a settled agrarian society supported by farming and animal husbandry. Faunal evidence from the site shows that domesticated animals such as cattle (Bos indicus), buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), sheep (Ovis aries), pig (Sus scrofa), and goat (Capra hircus) were used for their dietary practices. These animals provided milk and meat, while cattle and buffalo may also have been used for agricultural labour. Archaeobotanical studies revealed the presence of specimens of wheat (Triticum sphaerococcum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), jujube (Zizyphus jujuba), lentils (Lens esculenta), and two types of gram, green (Vigna sp.) and black gram (Vigna mungo). Together, these findings indicate a diversified and well-adapted subsistence economy. The continued use of the site suggests that Ropar remained socially and economically viable across generations. Although the settlement patterns varied, the construction materials remained almost the same across all these phases, like river pebbles, roughly hewn kankar, mud, and baked bricks. While all the cultural periods have evidence of more permanent habitations, the Painted Grey Ware phase lacks substantial structural remains, suggesting the use of perishable materials like mud, wood, and thatch for dwellings.
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