Ancient Settlement Pattern in Orissa : With Special Reference to Bhubaneswar

Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Habitation sites and nature of settlements. 3. Early period and society. 4. End of Sisupalgarh culture and transition to religious settlement of Ekamra-Bhubaneswar: a narrative. 5. Evolution of society from sixth century AD to sixteenth century AD. 6. End of Hindu rule and aftermath. 7. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.

"The study of settlement archaeology has recently become popular subject and many of the recent excavation reports have given much stress on the specific study of settlement remains rather than the other objects. In this book, the author has examined the material remains of a given area i.e. of Bhubaneswar tracing the origin, development and decay of various settlements in that area in a wider time-span. However, the study is not confined to only settlement remains, but the documentary evidences provided by the epigraphic and literary sources have also been taken into consideration to chain the missing links and suitable corroborations have been rendered. Resultantly new interpretations have been obtained, the more interesting are the identifications offered to the largely debated "nagara" and "khibira" of the Hathigumpha inscription and Tosali of Asokan rock edict and Gandhasindhu of the Ganga inscriptions the logical outcome of the field survey and analytical studies thereof.

The rich source material has also provided the substantial basis for reconstructing a vivid picture of the social set-up pertaining to various settlements and thus the study ultimately projected the man the master of those settlements. Bhubaneswar has been well-studied placed in various respects; e.g. monuments, history and culture etc. however, a new treatment has been given to that source material and the corroborations and the interpretation have become easy with the native concepts of the settlements." (jacket)