Jajmau – an endangered ancient heritage site in Kanpur
The ancient heritage mount at Jajmau
The morning sun had bathed the ancient mound overlooking the shimmering waters of the sacred Ganga at Jajmau in a cascade of gossamer sunshine. The languorous traffic on the highway cutting through the heritage site rolled like having been set to a soporific beat. The birds foraging for their morning meal could be seen flocking to the beach looking for an odd insect or two. An occasional sound of the radio and idle conversations from the nearby habitations completed the scene on a cold December morning around this important historical site. If it could speak, the crumbling mound would narrate stories from history about which we little know, for it has been a quiet, although an increasingly frail witness to the changing cultural tides and fortunes which have been played out on its very shores since times ancient.
Kanpur – A Brief Historical Overview
The heritage site with which we will acquaint ourselves in this article falls within the geographical limits of Kanpur, a region, which, during the Vedic period, was part of the ancient kingdom of Panchal. During the Mahabharata era, the territory of Kanpur became part of the kingdom of southern Panchal whose capital was Kampilya. Besides the traditional history of the region which is narrated in our ancient texts, the cultural antiquity of the region is attested by a number of artefacts which have been unearthed in this geography from time to time. Gohand in Hamirpur district has reported finds from the Stone Age period, Galatha, on the bank of the Ganga, in Fatehpur district, is the site of the discovery of black and red ware, painted gey ware, northern black polished ware, the ancient site of Musanagar on the river Yamuna, in the Bhoginipur tehsil, has been the location of the discovery of a Neolithic celt hand axe, similarly, Bithur, which was known as Utpalaranya / Utpalavartaka in ancient times, and was the location of Rishi Valmiki’s ashram, and Bangarmau in Unnao, have thrown up evidence from the bronze age in the form of spearheads and arrows. Along with these are locations such as Jajmau, a site which as per archaeologists holds tremendous archaeological promise deserving of a further and more comprehensive study which could extend its cultural antiquity far beyond the currently assessed pre NBP ware period making it a four thousand year old ancient riverine site. These discoveries provide ample evidence of a continued habitation of the region since prehistoric times into as late as the medieval and the modern period.
Jajmau
“The Ganges flows along the north eastern and eastern boundary of the district for its entire length skirting the tehsils of Bilhaur, Sheorajpur, Cawnpore and Narwal. It has a wide and sandy bed in which the stream rolls from side to side changing its channels almost every year as the sandbanks are formed or washed away. In the rains the Ganges is of immense breadth but during the cold weather the river shrinks to comparatively small dimensions, the reduction of the volume being greatly increased by the diversion of its waters into the many canals it supplies. This cause also has resulted in the deterioration of the river as a means of communication although it still bears a considerable number of country boats with a small draught and a light tonnage. In the Cawnpore tenhsil…between Bithur and the headquarters station, lies a wide stretch of low lying ground, wholly alluvial in character and probably representing a former bed of the river, but now raised beyond the reach of ordinary floods; it is designated kachhar and is a highly fertile tract, bearing the best crops without irrigation. Above the sandy foreshores rises the Ganges cliff, which consists of a high ridge running in an almost continuous line throughout the district, but broken by innumerable ravines that carry the drainage down to the river. This cliff varies in height and abruptness, standing out in fine bluffs at Durgapur in pargana Sheorajpur and at the old town of Jajmau.”
Cawnpore Gazetteer
On the east south east part of Kanpur city, on the banks of the sacred Ganga, lies the archaeological site of Jajmau. As per legends, Jajmau, during ancient times, was the capital of the kingdom of Yayati or Jajati, a celebrated king of the Chandravanshi / Lunar dynasty, after whom the place derives its name. Jajmau also finds mention, as a stoppage on the historical route between Kannuaj and Prayagraj, in the account of the eleventh century Iranian traveller to India, Alberuni . Tradition also assigns the name Siddhapuri to this place after Siddheshwar Mahadev and Siddhi Devi whose shrines lie on the eastern part of Jajmau. The archaeological mound at Jajmau overhanging the river Ganga is believed to have been the fort of the founder of the Chandella dynasty whose reign is assigned to ninth century CE. The traditional history of the region as given in our texts throws light on the dynasties which ruled over this fertile expanse during the early part of its civilisational history. Kings from the Lunar dynasty – Aila, Nahusha, Yayati, Puru – reigned over a vast geography which included the territory of Jajmau.
During the British period, the archaeological mound stretched a mile in length and was two hundred yards broad. The old brick work of the fort extended deep into the ground with pieces of pottery and bricks strewn about the surface and the crevices of the cliff. In those times, the only buildings atop the mound were the station of the trigonometrical survey which lay on the eastern portion of the mound, the ruined houses of the Sheikhs who traced their descent from the Islamic cleric who had accompanied Qutubuddin Aibak during his iconoclastic attacks on this part of the country in the early medieval era, and a small mosque which came into existence in the seventeenth century. To the west of the mound had lain a neatly built ghat by the Ganga, and beyond it were constructed a house and a garden which belonged to a railway contractor. The Jajmau village in those days was spread out among the ravines with a number of tombs dotting its expanse. Amongst all, there was one tomb which stood out, distinctive as it was in appearance, as its construction had been carried out from the remains of damaged Hindu temples at the site. This tomb belonged to the cleric who had been part of Aibak’s raiding force. Another building in the vicinity of this tomb which is mentioned in the British records belonged to the Qazi who attended to the tomb and who came from the family which claimed descent from this very cleric.
Besides its historical significance, Jajmau is also a bustling industrial hub with an overwhelming proportion of manufacturing units engaged in the leather business. In the colonial era, the presence of an ordinance depot and government arsenal in Kanpur had meant a huge demand for leather goods for the consumption of the British military. These goods were supplied to the military by the local bazaars which gave impetus to the local leather manufacturing industry which saw an opportunity in the field of production of boots, harness and accoutrements which eventually came to be supplied to military units throughout India, although several leather goods continued to be imported from Britain for use by the armed forces due to the superior quality of imported leather. However the mutiny of 1857 brought about a rethink on the sources and the process of British military procurements. The events of eighteen fifty seven served as a turning point in the economic and environmental future of Kanpur. The chaos that ensued, post the mutiny, in trade and commerce, along with an increased demand for boots and other articles of need in military service led to introspection on whether procurement of leather items from Britain was really a sound strategy or was it better to set up full scale units of production of quality leather and related goods in India to meet the defence requirements. This is the period which saw structured beginnings of the famed leather manufacturing industry of Kanpur. It’s another matter that the seeds of industry also brought with it huge environmental costs and demographic changes as the later years proved. As Jajmau provided an ideal location being on a strategically crucial arterial route offering excellent advantages in transportation and communication the leather industry firmly planted its roots in its fertile soil.
Archeology of Jajmau
H R Nevill writing in the archaeological report of the early 20th century laments the unexplored, and scarcely documented history of Kanpur.
“…there is perhaps no other district of the United Provinces concerning which so little is on record in the archaeological field in spite of the existence of so many sites of undoubted antiquity. Jajmau possesses much of real interest and the immense fort mound overhanging the Ganges would doubtless repay exploration since bricks and debris extend fully forty feet below the surface”
The earliest study of the site was carried out during the nineteen fifties when excavations were undertaken by the Department of Archaeology, Government of Uttar Pradesh, at Jajmau. These excavations brought to light, among other objects, antiquities from the northern black polished ware period. Further excavations in a more comprehensive manner were undertaken during the nineteen seventies to trace the cultural sequence of the site. These excavations led to the discovery of more archaeological material including the painted grey ware, iron implements, jewellery made of ivory, terracotta objects, among other things. The team of archaeologists revisited the site in 2007-08 as part of a salvage operation and excavations were resumed to document and preserve the cultural record as gleaned from the mound. This was to ensure sufficient collection of historical evidence before any further destruction was caused to the heritage site obliterating precious antiquity. The need for a salvage operation arose in view of the damage which was caused to the site during the construction of National Highway 2, popularly known as the Grand Trunk road which resulted in the complete removal of a part of the historical mound while dividing the remaining mound into two parts by cutting through the site. For the construction of a parallel river bridge at Jajmau on the national highway route number 25 (Lucknow-Jhansi), a part of the famous mound was again demolished.
The excavations during the salvage operation revealed five cultural periods.
Period I – Pre NBPW represented by black slipped ware, red ware, black and red ware and grey ware.
Period II – NBPW / Mahajanapada/ Mauryan period
Period III – Shunga and Kushan
Period IV – Gupta period
Period V – Medieval period
As revealed through these excavations, ancient Jajmau flourished as a well planned city with adequate civic amenities that ensured an organised and well to do standard of living for its residents. The town was laid with drains and had well paved streets, people lived in housing complexes, in dwellings provided with kitchens and bathrooms and regular water supply. The houses were made of both mud and burnt bricks. The abodes of people were spacious enough to accommodate granaries for the storage of grains especially during seasons of agricultural surplus. The finds during these excavations included terracotta beads, copper coins, silver punch marked coins, seals, pieces of pottery, utensils, bone arrow heads, NBP ware, semi precious stones, glaze ware pottery. The cultural layer attributed to the Kushan era 130 BCE to 185 CE. indicated changes in the living standards of the people from the preceding centuries. As a riverine port by the Ganga, Jajmau served as a crucial transportation point for goods and people from its neighbouring civilisational centres like Hulaskhera, Dadupur, Ain. Nagram, Galatha, Bangarmau, etc for travel to central India and beyond which emphasises its strategic location in the larger geographical expanse..
Present Day Status
Unfortunately, this ancient Hindu heritage site has been subjected to alarming destruction on account of flawed civic planning, chronic mismanagement, sustained apathy and rampant corruption. There seems to be little hope of an end to its appaling condition, if we go by the recent newspaper reports. An article in the Dainik Jagran, published September 2021, extensively reported on the dire straits, the heritage mound at Jajmau, is in today. It has been swallowed by encroachments which are causing a gradual erosion of its historical wealth through cultural vandalism and smuggling of its artefacts. Though it has been a victim of maladministration and corruption since long, this prolonged poisonous cocktail has turned it into a striking model of man made catastrophes. Around four years back efforts were made to rid the archaeological site of all encroachments, but these were aggressively forestalled by the vested interests.
The mound is under the protection of the State Archaeology Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh since the year nineteen sixty eight. The total size of the heritage mound is 16 bighas out of which 5 bighas are under the occupation of the land mafia. The squatters have not only occupied the site, they have carried out constructions on its premises comprising a huge wall and a gate. The land mafia has also “sold off” land falling within the limits of the protected zone. In 2017 a Kanpur advocate filed a case in the local court on the issue of the illegal occupation of the mound and related issues of archaeological destruction which gained publicity for the cause of heritage conservation and created awareness among the public about the dismal state of its preservation. Activists and residents of Kanpur raised their voices for the protection of the site, calling for liberation of the mound from the clutches of the squatters. But soon enough, the whole issue was buried by those who were hand in glove with the mafia. In 2018, the local Magistrate even conveyed the issue to the district authorities that land records pertaining to the site had been forged and meddled with, but no redressal happened.
Conclusion
The condition in which a people keeps its heritage is a useful marker of a society’s cultural health and orientation. Gradual changes, however detrimental, in aspects which do not closely affect us, are often hard to comprehend. These changes can keep happening in front of our eyes in so regular a fashion that they soon become a part of our accepted surroundings. The situation may become irretrievably damaged yet it may fail to stir our conscience for we may have already been conditioned for too long and too effectively to remain sentient of the decline, the deterioration around us.
“Corrosive change in values, behaviour…is often hard to observe; things look the same until they don’t”
Cullen Murphy
One fervently hopes that such is not the fate of an immensely valuable heritage such as Jajmau. For if it were to be lost, Kanpur would have lost a jewel in its heritage crown, the worth of which, as a record of our cultural identity and roots, would only become understood long after it has disappeared from our sights.
References
Indian Archaeology Reviews on Jajmau excavations
Cawnpore Gazetteer
Kanpur Gazetteer
Geographical dictionary of ancient and mediaeval India with as appendix on modern names of ancient Indian Geography By N. L. Dey
The first picture in this article of the Jajmau mound is courtesy a Twitter user – @iammhk.
