Heritage: Palaeontological and Iconographical Aspects

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The present book is based on the Faunal and Iconographical collections made by renowned scholars of the Vikram University of Ujjain and housed in the University Museum. Part I deals with the faunal material collected by the late Dr. V.S. Wakankar from various areas in the Central Narmada Valley particularly in the districts of Narsinghpur and Hoshangabad. The collection throws important light on the palaeo-environmental history and chronology of the geological formations of the Narmada sediments. The Narmada Valley has proved to be a benchmark for the Old and New World faunal elements and patterns of their migration. Faunal groups included are the Proboscideans, Artiodactyles, Perissodactyles, Reptiles, Microvertebrates, etc. as also the Stone Age tools and Gondwana wood fossils. Comments on the Hathnora pre-Homo sapiens Man, recently discovered in the Valley, which has a great bearing on the Hominin evolution in South Asia as a whole, have also been included.

Part II reviews the Chalcolithic culture in the Ujjain region as based on the various archaeological excavations. The present work gives a brief idea about the movements of Chalcolithic Community of Malwa in context of the famous sites like Kayatha, Dangawada, Mahidpur, Runija, Ujjain and Sodanga. Classified and descriptive catalogues of the cults – icons, viz., Saiva, Vaisnava, Sakta and Jaina, etc., the rare sculptures of the Salabhanjika, Apsarases, etc. and the list of inscriptions preserved in the University Museum are included in this catalogue. Also included are the rare collections of the Manuscripts in Scindia Oriental Research Institute and the illustrations of the Bhaktivijaya by Mahipati. We hope that this catalogue will be useful to students of Heritage Management particularly those interested in Palaeontology and Iconography of Madhya Pradesh.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rahman Ali

Dr. Rahman Ali was born in 1943 in a village Chanakapur, Dist. Gorakhpur (U.P.). He obtained his post-graduate degree in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology from Gorakhpur University in 1965. Later, he joined Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Poona (Now Deemed University) and obtained Ph.D. Degree under the guidance of world renowned Professor H.D. Sankalia, Padma Bhushan, from Poona University in 1972. Dr. Ali participated in the scheme of Village to Village Survey sponsored by ASI and UGC, New Delhi and received First Prize for rare discoveries in the field. While stay at Deccan College, Poona Dr. Ali underwent training in Archaeological Excavations and Explorations of Pre-Proto and Historic sites of India under the scholarly supervision of Prof. H.D. Sankalia and his team for a period of ten years. Dr. Ali has written half-a-dozen books on different aspects of art, architecture and archaeology; and written excavation reports of Sodanga and Mahidpur (M.P.). Besides these, many of his research articles on different aspects of art, archaeology and culture have been published in National and International Journals. Dr. Ali is actively engaged with research and other academic pursuits and many of his research scholars are pursuing their research work under his scholarly guidance. Apart from the academic zeal, Dr. Ali is associated with different academic bodies and associations throughout the country and at present he is a Senior Professor in School of Studies in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Vikram University, Ujjain (M.P.).