Anis at 20:23, 25 March 2026

2026-03-25T20:23:49Z

New page

{{Short description|South Asian earthenware}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{HistoryOfSouthAsia}}
'''Black and red ware''' (BRW) is a South Asian [[earthenware]], associated with the [[Neolithic]] phase, [[Indus Valley Civilisation#Early Harappan|Harappa]], [[Bronze Age India]], [[Iron Age India]], the Megalithic and the early historical period.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Early Settlements in Jaffna: An Archaeological Survey|last=Ragupathy|first=Ponnampalam|date=1987|publisher=University of Jaffna|pages=9|language=en}}</ref> Although it is sometimes called an [[archaeological culture]], the spread in space and time and the differences in style and make are such that the ware must have been made by several cultures.<ref>[[H. N. Singh|Singh]] (1979)</ref>

[[File:Painted Grey Ware and Black and Red Ware sites 1.svg|thumb|Black and Red Ware sites ({{Circa|1450}} – 800 BCE)]]
In the Western [[Ganges]] plain (western [[Uttar Pradesh]]) it is dated to {{Circa|1450}}–1200 BCE, and is succeeded by the [[Painted Grey Ware culture]]; whereas in the Central and Eastern Ganges plain (eastern Uttar Pradesh, [[Bihar]], and [[Bengal]]) and Central India ([[Madhya Pradesh]]) the BRW appears during the same period but continues for longer, until {{Circa|700}}–500 BCE, when it is succeeded by the [[Northern Black Polished Ware]] culture.<ref>Franklin Southworth, [https://books.google.com/books?id=hTwuFUW5aEgC ''Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia''] (Routledge, 2005), p. 177</ref>

In the Western Ganges plain, the BRW was preceded by the [[Ochre Coloured Pottery culture]]. The BRW sites were characterized by [[subsistence agriculture]] (cultivation of rice, barley, and legumes), and yielded some ornaments made of shell, copper, [[carnelian]], and [[terracotta]].<ref>Upinder Singh (2008), [https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA220 ''A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India From the Stone Age to the 12th Century''], p.220</ref>

In some sites, particularly in [[Punjab, India|eastern Punjab]] and [[Gujarat]], BRW pottery is associated with [[Indus Valley Civilisation#Late Harappan|Late Harappan]] pottery, and according to some scholars like Tribhuan N. Roy, the BRW may have directly influenced the [[Painted Grey Ware]] and [[Northern Black Polished Ware]] cultures.<ref>Shaffer, Jim. 1993, Reurbanization: The eastern Punjab and beyond. In Urban Form and Meaning in South Asia: The Shaping of Cities from Prehistoric to Precolonial Times, ed. [[Howard Spodek|H. Spodek]] and D.M. Srinivasan. p. 57</ref> BRW pottery is unknown west of the Indus Valley.<ref>Shaffer, Jim. Mathura: A protohistoric Perspective in D.M. Srinivasan (ed.), Mathura, the Cultural Heritage, 1989, pp. 171–180. Delhi. cited in Chakrabarti 1992</ref>

Use of iron, although sparse at first, is relatively early, postdating the beginning of the Iron Age in [[Anatolia]] ([[Hittites]]) by only two or three centuries, and predating the [[Europe]]an ([[Celt]]s) Iron Age by another two to three hundred years. Recent findings in Northern India show Iron working in the 1800–1000 BCE period.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tewari |first1=Rakesh |title=The origins of iron working in India: new evidence from the Central Ganga Plain and the Eastern Vindhyas |journal=Antiquity |date=2003 |volume=77 |issue=297 |pages=536–544 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00092590|url=http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/tewari/tewari.pdf |citeseerx=10.1.1.403.4300 }}</ref> According to Shaffer, "the nature and context of the iron objects involved are very different from early iron objects found in Southwest Asia."<ref>Shaffer 1989, cited in Chakrabarti 1992:171</ref> From Sri Lanka, a variant of Black and red Ware has been discovered from its early Iron Age (900–600 BCE) which is also marked by appearance of horses, paddy fields, iron tools etc.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wikramanayake|first=T. W.|date=2004|title=The Life Style of Early Inhabitants of Sri Lanka|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44626733|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka|volume=50|pages=89–140|jstor=44626733 |issn=1391-720X}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Kuru kingdom]]
*[[Malwa culture]]
*[[Jorwe culture]]
*[[Rang Mahal, Sri Ganganagar#Rang Mahal culture|Rang Mahal culture]], Rajasthan-Haryana border
*[[Pottery in the Indian subcontinent]]
*[[Vedic period]]

== Notes ==
*Shaffer, Jim. Mathura: A protohistoric Perspective in D.M. Srinivasan (ed.), Mathura, the Cultural Heritage, 1989, pp. 171–180. Delhi.

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
* [[H. N. Singh|Singh, H.N.]] (1979): [https://www.lkouniv.ac.in/site/writereaddata/siteContent/202004120808039161anil_kumar_Black_and_Red_Ware_2.pdf 'Black and Red Ware. A Cultural Study'] in [[D. P. Agrawal|Agrawal, D.P.]]; [[Dilip Kumar Chakrabarti|Chakrabarti, D.K.]] (ed.) ''Essays in Indian Protohistory'', B.R. Publishing Corporation
*[http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/tewari/tewari.pdf The origins of iron-working in India: new evidence from the Central Ganga Plain and the Eastern Vindhyas] by Rakesh Tewari
*[http://www.indiaheritage.org/creative/creative_earthenware_&_pottery.htm India Heritage – Earthenware and Pottery]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black And Red Ware}}
[[Category:Archaeological cultures in India]]
[[Category:Ancient pottery]]
[[Category:Prehistoric India]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Pakistan]]

Black and red ware - Revision history

Anis at 20:23, 25 March 2026