HISTORY OF AGROHA
The Agroha Mound or `Ther` is situated about 1.5 km away from the present Agroha village. Buried under this mound are the remains of the ancient town. Agroha is situated in the district of Hissar, Haryana and in it lies buried the ruins of the capital of the Agroha State. The ancient Agroha town existed some hundred years before the Kushan dynasty.
According to the Punjab Govt. Gazette "Agroha" was a very big ancient city. The primary efforts to discover its historical past were made in the year 1888-89, when the Indian Govt. started excavations at the ancient Agroha site under archaeologist C.T. Rogers. However the initial excavations were carried out only for 15 Days.
The excavation was restarted in the year 1938-39, though even this could not be carried on for long due to the 2nd World War, but it provided major historical input towards Agroha's existence. In 1978-79 the Archaeological Department of Haryana Govt. began excavation work under the guidance and supervision of Mr. J.S.Khatri and Mr. Acharya. It was at this time that people actually became aware of the extent of this great kingdom.
Ancient Sites: Two sites from the pre-Harappan and Harappan period can be found in Rakhi Garhi, Jind and Agroha Mound.Some of the materials collected from the excavated site at Agroha:
Coins: A large number of coins have been found at the excavated site. The coins are predominantly of silver & bronze in different shapes and sizes. The Script and signs on the coins depict that they belong to different periods. The bronze coins have "Agadke, Agach, Janpads" in Prakrit language inscribed on them. A coin dated 200 BC called die struck or counter struck has been found besides Roman, Kushana, Yodhaya and Gupta dynasty coins.
Seals: The seals that have been found at Agroha have been inscribed with words like "Pitradutt", "Sadhu Vridhasya", "Shamkar Malasya", "Madrsya" etc.
Artifacts: From the excavation site many statutes made of stone and sand have been unearthed. Masks, Terracotta Animals and Toys have also been found. Utensils belonging to 2nd century BC in black, brown and red polish have also been discovered. It became quite apparent from the excavations that below the mounds exists a big, well planned progressive town. It was the place where Harappan coins were discovered apart from stone sculptures, terracotta seals, iron and copper implements, shells etc.
It was in these lands that the very first evidence of the presence of man was discovered with the excavation of Agroha, Banawali and Kunal. All of these were the pre-Harappan settlements, bringing for us the very first images of prehistoric times. The presence of the pillar in the Hissar Fort belonging to the time of Emperor Ashoka (234 BC) was originally from Agroha. The discovery of coins of the Kushan Kings tells tales of ancient India.
The Agroha Mound consists of the Agroha Dham on one side and the Sheela Mata Shakti Mandir on the other side
PRE-HARAPPAN HISTORY OF INDIA
Vedic civilization is the earliest civilization in Indian history of which we have written records that we understand. It is named after the Vedas, the early literature of the Hindu people. The Vedic Civilization flourished along the River Saraswati, in a region that now consists of the modern Indian states of Haryana and Punjab. The Vedic texts have astronomical dates, that some have claimed, go back to the 5th millennium BC. The use of Vedic Sanskrit continued up to the 6th century BC. Vedic is synonymous with Aryans and Hinduism, which is another name for religious and spiritual thought that has evolved from the Vedas.
The early Aryans: Unfortunately, the origin of the Saraswati Valley civilization (Vedic culture) and its relation to the Indus Valley civilization remain hazy. The timeline of Vedic civilization is 4500 BC-1800 BC while that of Indus valley civilization is 3300 BC-1800 BC. The texts describe a geography that some believe to be North India. The greatest river of the Rigveda was Saraswati, now dry and identified with Ghaggar, a seasonal river. It is believed that this river ceased to reach the Arabian Sea by about 1900 BC. Now, a dry river bed, that seems to fit the description of the Saraswati River, has been detected by satellite imagery. It begins in the modern Indian state of Uttaranchal and passing through Haryana, Punjab, and Rajasthan, reaches the Arabian Sea in Gujarat. Our knowledge of the early Aryans comes from the Rigveda, the earliest of theVedas.
Origins of Hinduism - Hinduism is eternal with no beginning and no end. Current thinking suggests that Hinduism was formed somewhere between 3200-2500 BCE. The date of approximately 3102 BC comes from the Mahabharata epic, where the exact positions of the stars were recorded at Shri Krishna's birth. The later dates come from linguistic and literary dating of the Rig Veda, the oldest of the Hindu spiritual texts.
The origin of Hinduism cannot be ascribed to a single founder, a single time and a single place of foundation. The Vedas (regarded as the earliest piece of written Hindu work) are the spiritual laws binding upon all of creation and even upon God. Each Veda was written by multiple enlightened beings (Hindus) over a period of time. The term "Hinduism" is derived from of the word Sindhu, which literally means "dweller in the Sindhu (Indus) Valley". Hinduism is more of a federation of loosely banded conventional religions and cultures. It is non-organizational and does not seek or encourage collectivism.
What can be said to be common to all Hindus is belief in Dharma, Karma, and Moksha (liberation) of every soul through a variety of moral, action-based, and meditative yogas. Still more fundamental principles include ahimsa (non-violence), the guru/chela dynamic, the Divine Word of OM and the power of mantras, love of Truth in many manifestations, and an understanding that the essential spark of the Divine (Atman/Brahman) is in every human and living being, thus allowing for many spiritual paths leading to the One Unitary Truth.