The question of whether the Mahabharata is a historical event or merely a literary work often arises among people who watched the series about it in childhood. Although there was no definitive answer to this question previously, modern historians can provide various evidence and theories.
Dr. Sanjay Mandjul, Deputy Director of ASI, put forward a significant assertion while participating in the Padhaku Nitin Podcast on Aajtak Radio. Dr. Mandjul, who has conducted excavations in several sites related to the Mahabharata, including Sinauli in Baghpat, believes there is a possible connection between the Mahabharata and the Indus Valley Civilization, or Harappa.
Many who believe in Hindu traditions consider the Mahabharata to be a history, and the war between the Pandavas and Kauravas took place in Kurukshetra. However, the question arises: if the kingdoms, cities, and battles described in the Mahabharata are historical, can their traces be found underground?
In the 1950s, archaeologist B.B. Lal conducted excavations in Hastinapura, which is named the capital of the Kauravas in the Mahabharata, to answer this question. Remains of an ancient culture were discovered during these excavations, but the question remained whether the presence of a settlement meant that the battle actually took place there.
The discussion of this issue resumed approximately six decades later when ASI conducted excavations at Sinauli, located in the Baghpat district, Uttar Pradesh, in 2005 and again in 2018. Dr. Sanjay Mandjul led the ASI team responsible for these excavations. The artifacts found underground attracted the attention of both historians and the general public.
During the excavations, Mandjul managed to find a 4000-year-old chariot and swords with handles, indicating possible use in military actions. Furthermore, burials were found where women's legs were amputated below the ankles.
Recently, on the Padhaku Nitin Podcast, Dr. Mandjul answered questions about the history of the Mahabharata. He explained that in the late Harappan period (2000 BCE), the civilization migrated and began merging with local cultures, and it was around this time that the Kuru and Panchala kingdoms, mentioned in the Mahabharata as the setting for this epic, developed.