DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal today announced that a chair will be set up in the name of Maharaja Agrasen in Maharaja Agrasen Medical College, Agroha (Hisar) besides setting up a statue of Maharaja Agrasen in the premises of Hisar Airport, which is also named after him.

These announcements were made by the Chief Minister during an MoU signing ceremony organized at Haryana Bhawan, New Delhi for developing Agroha as prominent archaeological site. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Archaeological Survey of India and Department of Archaeological and Museums, Haryana in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal.

Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Gyanchand Gupta, who has been recently nominated as Chairman of Agroha Development Project (ADP), along with Haryana Minister for Urban Local Bodies, Dr Kamal Gupta, who is also Co-Chairman of ADP were also present on the occasion.

The Chief Minister said that a statue of Maharaja Agrasen will be set up in the premises of Hisar Airport and the statue would be made with the cooperation of Vaish Samaj.

He said that he had named the world's largest Hisar Airport after the name of Maharaja Agrasen, though none asked for it. He said that the Maharaja Agrasen chair would be set up for taking up research and study on Maharaja Agrasen.

Talking about the evolution of human civilization, the Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that evidences have been found that the habitation mainly happened near the rivers and river Saraswati, which has its origin from Aadibadri (Yamunanagar), also flowed through Haryana.

Over a period of time, due to excavations and mining, the river Saraswati got merged with other rivers but pictures received from satellite indicate that the river Saraswati, initiating from Aadibadri fell into the sea after flowing through parts of Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Many habitations came up along this river, out of which Agroha was one of them. The remains of ancient city Agroha is buried under this mound. This site was excavated from 1978 to 1981. Presently it is a centrally protected monument of National importance.

It is an early historical site covering the stages of history from 4th century BCE to the 14th century CE. Buried in these significant ruins are evidences of the capital of the Agroha state, which was the so-called capital of Maharaja Agrasen, the famous king of the Agrawal community.

It was an important center of trade and commerce in ancient times. The archaeological site of Agroha is located about 1.5 km from the present Agroha village, district Hisar.

He said that the Agroha mound dates back to the 4th century BCE and it was here that stone sculptures, terracotta seals, iron and copper tools, shells and coins of the Janapada were discovered, among many other notable remains. Excavations have yielded five cultural periods ranging from approximately the fourth century to the fourteenth century CE.

Excavations have also revealed a Buddhist stupa and a Hindu temple. A hoard of coins including 4 Indo Greek, one punch-mark and 51 other coins from Agrodaka has been found from the site. Silver and bronze coins belonging to different periods have also been found at this site.

They belong to the Roman, Kushan, Yaudheya and Gupta empires. The language used in these is Prakrit. About seven thousand artefacts were recovered during the excavation. Apart from numerous stone sculptures, iron and copper tools and beads of semi-precious stones have also been found.

The Chief Minister said that important archaeological and historical sites found around Agroha give a distinct importance to this place. The Internationally famous Rakhigarhi site is located just 1 hour away from this site, and other Harappan period sites like Bhirdana, Kunal, Banawali etc. are also found near this site.
(editor@dailyworld.in)