Mandi, Uttar Pradesh

Mandi is a village in the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, India.[1] It is located about 200 km northeast of Delhi. It is notable for the discovery and looting of an ancient treasure trove by villagers in June 2000. The treasure is believed to have been from the Indus Valley Civilisation period. It is known as "Mandi treasure" or "Mandy hoard".

Mandi

Maandi, Mandy
village
Mandi
Location in Uttar Pradesh, India
Mandi
Mandi (India)
Coordinates: 29.436234°N 77.574098°E / 29.436234; 77.574098
Country India
StateUttar Pradesh
DistrictMuzaffarnagar
BlockBaghra
Government
  BodyGram Panchayat
Elevation
272 m (892 ft)
Population
 (2000)
  Total4,000
Languages
  OfficialHindi
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
Vehicle registrationUP-

2000 treasure discovery

Till 2000, a mound of mud used to exist on the border of the village. It was located on the 500 sq. m. property of Anil Kumar, who intended to level the land for cultivating sugarcane. He told the other villagers that they could remove the mud from the mound for their own use. In June 2000, three women villagers uncovered a copper urn containing gold ornaments, while scraping mud from the mound. On that day, Anil Kumar had gone out of the village to visit a sick relative. The three women started fighting over the treasure. The noise attracted the family of a landless labourer, who snatched the urn from the women. By the evening, other villagers were also seeking the treasure. A husband-wife duo uncovered another pottery urn containing and estimated 40 kg of bracelets and necklaces. Next, Anil Kumar's cousin and local strongman Sudhir came to the site with eight men, and uncovered more treasure. According to Anil Kumar's mother, who had fled to an adjacent sugarcane field after Sudhir pulled a gun on her, the men discovered around 60 kg of jewellery and three copper urns, also presumably filled with jewellery. Subsequently, the local transport chief and bus driver dug up an estimated 40 kg of gold. By the night, most of the 4,000 villagers had crowded around the plot, digging and fighting for treasure.[2]

The police arrived at around 10 pm. According to a villager Mahinder Singh, the police asked his son to Somi Singh to continue the digging. Somi Singh allegedly unearthed 35 kg of gold pieces and a golden scabbard of a dagger, but was later arrested on the frivolous charges. According to the official records, only 10 kg of treasure was recovered by the district authorities. The authorities estimate that the villagers had uncovered around 500 kg of treasure. They offered the villagers double the market price for the ornaments. However, most of the treasure was sold to the local traders, who melted it.[2][3]

According to the experts from ASI and the Uttar Pradesh Department of Archaeology (DoA), the jewelry belonged to the Late Harappan period. It resembled the jewelry found at Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) sites such as Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Lothal, Rakhigarhi and Dholavira in India.[4][5]

List of artifacts recovered

The list of artifacts recovered by the district authorities is as follows:[6]

Material Object Number of pieces Dimension/Weight
Banded Agate (Black & White Bands) Bead 6
Banded Agate (Black & White Bands) Bead 2
Copper Copper incrustation pieces --
Copper Pot (Circular) - Upper Part Partially Broken 1 Height (outer) - 15.5 cm, base diameter (Outer) - 21 cm
Copper Pot (Rectangular) 1 47 cm x 9.5 cm x 4 cm
Gold Bead Joint 97.93 g
Gold Bead Joint 10.71g
Gold Very fragile bead of foil, with few foil pieces ---
Gold Conical-shaped beads 37 141.89 g
Gold Conical-shaped beads 5 15.65 g
Gold End Terminal 13 57.15 g
Gold End Terminal 2 5.99g
Gold Five thin disc beads joined together with an unidentified bead 1 1.76 g
Gold Cylindrical foil 1 0.30 g
Gold Spacer 43 45.4 g
Gold Spacer 5 4.58 g
Gold Thin Disc Bead --- 8526.03 g
Gold Thin Disc Bead 948.43 g
Semi-precious stone with multi-color bands Bead (Type-1) 23 2-3.4 cm
Semi-precious stone with multi-color bands Bead (Type-1) 3 2-3.4 cm
Semi-precious stone with multi-color bands Bead (Type-2) 45 1.5-1.99 cm
Semi-precious stone with multi-color bands Bead (Type-2) 5 1.5-1.99 cm
Semi-precious stone with multi-color bands Bead (Type-3) 115 0.7-1.49 cm
Semi-precious stone with multi-color bands Bead (Type-3) 14 0.7-1.49 cm
Semi-precious stone with multi-color bands Broken bead pieces 8
Silver Roughly half of a large hollow kara (bracelet)
Silver Broken pieces of a large hollow kara (bracelet) 2
Unidentified Bead 6
Unidentified Bead 2

See also

References

  1. "Integrated Management Information System (IMIS)". Government of India. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  2. Michael Fathers (10 July 2000). "Stealing from History". TIME Asia. 156 (1).
  3. Manoher V. Sonalker (1 January 2007). India: The Giant Awakens!. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 157. ISBN 978-81-269-0769-4.
  4. Maneesh Kumar (10 October 2010). "Harappan Jewelry". Archaeology. Archaeological Institute of America.
  5. Randall William Law (II.) (2008). Inter-regional Interaction and Urbanism in the Ancient Indus Valley: A Geologic Provenience Study of Harappa's Rock and Mineral Assemblage. ProQuest. pp. 146–. ISBN 978-0-549-62879-8.
  6. "Maandi Village Treasure". Muzaffarnagar District Administration. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
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