Sirsa, India

History

There are two adjacent archaeological mounds on the southwest side of present-day Sirsa, but archaeologists have not excavated them; therefore, the origins of the settlement at Sirsa remain unknown. However, some isolated discoveries have been made at the Sirsa mounds. The oldest find is a terracotta toy wheel, discovered in 1988, that archaeologists believe dates back to the Iron Age Painted Grey Ware culture (c. 1200-600 BCE). Four terracotta figures, including three depicting women and one depicting a tree (possibly a kalpataru motif), are dated to roughly the time of the Maurya and Shunga dynasties. Numerous copper coins of the Yaudheya and Kushan periods have been found at Sirsa, along with various terracotta objects. These include a statue of the Buddha, a 0.6-m-tall sculpture of the goddess Ganga on her mount, a mukhalinga depicting Shiva, a figure of an elephant with a man and woman riding on top, and various others. Three gold coins from the Gupta Empire (one depicting Samudragupta and an unnamed queen consort, one depicting Chandragupta II, and one of Kumaragupta I) have also been found at Sirsa, along with numerous terracotta objects.

Another discovery from Sirsa is a stone slab inscribed in Sanskrit with a eulogy to a king. The king's name, along with most of the composition, is lost. This inscription is dated to the 5th or 6th century.

From the History section of Sirsa on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.