Locating ‘Urban’ in Early Mediaeval Maharashtra

An attempt is made to locate urban settlements in Maharashtra during the early mediaeval period of fourth to thirteenth–fourteenth centuries CE as reflected in epigraphic sources. Published epigraphic material spanning the reigns of Vakataktas to Yadava dynasties record donation of villages, land and/or revenues to Brahmanas or temples. Concomitantly, we get information on numerous settlements, many identified with present-day villages. Based on these, it is attempted to understand the nature of settlements, variations in types of settlements and the changes that occurred in the character of settlements during the period under study. It focuses on identifying urban centres and patterns of urbanisation during this period. It is argued that the epigraphic sources point at an abundance of settlements in contrast to the presence of scant archaeological record during this period. The nature of settlements appears to be predominantly rural during fourth to ninth centuries with the mention of a few towns, while the number of urban centres with flourishing trade activities shows a marked increase after ninth–tenth century CE. Some of these settlements changed over time, but most of them indicate long occupation, at least from early historic up to modern times. It is suggested that an in-depth study of epigraphic sources to identify and map settlements in archaeological landscape may lead to a better understanding of early mediaeval period in Indian history.