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Sunet - Historical Village of Ludhiana
Historic places always attract curiosity. They act as a potential magnet for tourists. Sunet, a village now surrounded by Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, a posh colony of the city, is one such place. It had first hogged limelight in the early 1980s when thousands of coins and sealing dating as old as first century AD were found during excavations carried out by the National Department of Archaeology, Punjab.
Sunet village comprising of ancient mounds, some of which were excavated, is, sadly, passing into oblivion. Apathetic attitude of the residents and continuous ignorance of the place by the Department of Archaeology and Conservation, Punjab, has left it look like an eyesore to the surroundings.
Only a junk-eaten board of the department around a large mound behind a gurdwara in BRS Nagar declares it as a protected monument and a barbed wire has been laid around the mound to protect it! People throw garbage and litter over the barbed wire and pay tributes to the rich past of the abandoned place!
Vigorous digging carried out by the archaeologists in early 1980s brought out a large number of seals and thousands of coin moulds of the Yaudheeys, coins of Hermaeus, Gondopharnes, of Chandragupta and Samudragupta, thus throwing light on the pre-Harappan and late Harappan period. The excavations also assumed significance as it answered several pertinent questions regarding the dark ages from the 3rd century to the 8th century.
According to later books published by the department, the place used to be a mint (taksal) and thus a number of coins were found at the place. The digging revealed that Sunet was inhabited in correct sequence of history. It had signs of Harappan civilisation from Ramayan and Mahabharat kal, Kushana kal and Arya kal and even Gupt kal.
According to Gen Alexandera Cunningham, a British historian, Sunet also went through the epic glory of the Buddhist period. It came in the limelight in the Kushan age when the ethical, political and cultural impact was at its zenith in Afghanistan and beyond. This region had spells of Rajput feudal regimes. Sunet gained prominence as later researches in archaeology confirmed this fact. Sunet was the central link between Kabul and Mathura of Kushan time.
He visited Ludhiana during the years 1878 and 1879. He studied bricks, a few sculptures and a number of coins. His research forms an important part of his monumental research work, ‘Archaeological Survey of India’. About the age of Sunet, he writes, ‘’The town Sunet was in existence before the Christian era, as evidenced by the coins of Uttamadatta and Amoghabhuti’’. ‘’It continued to flourish during the dominion of Indo-Scythians and of their successors who used Sassanian types down to the time of Samanta Deva, the Brahman Shahi King of Kabul and Punjab,’’ he writes.
It may be relevant to recall that the rulers of Kabul and Zabul in and around Afghanistan were also known as Hindu Shahi. Kushans were perhaps the ancestors of the vast tribe of Jatts or Jats of Sind, Rajasthan, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh. Sunet provides a crossroad linking residues of Indus-valley, Indo-Scythians and Aryans. Kushans also had urban culture. Gen Cunnigham also wrote about the destruction of Sunet village. He writes: ‘’From the total absence of coins of the Tomar Rajas of Delhi, as well as different Mohammadan dynasties, it appears that Sunet must have been destroyed during one of the invasions of Mahmud of Ghazni and thereafter it must have remained unoccupied for many centuries.’’
T.W. Tolbort, another historian, writes in the proceedings of Asiatic Society, Bengal (1869-70), the possibility of its destruction due to an earthquake. He wrote, ‘’It is likely that Sunet was the headquarters of some Hindu kingdom, small or great and we can deduce safely that Mahmud had looted and devastated Sunet.’’
He records about Sunet: ‘’It is in ruins in the district of Ludhiana, Punjab, situated three miles south-west of Ludhiana.’’ Time has changed, Sunet was away, now Ludhiana has taken it over and expanded beyond! A few baked clay seals bearing the legends ‘Yau Dhayaganasya Jaya’ or ‘Yaudheyanam, Jaya Mantra Dharanam’ were studied by eminent scholar, Alterkar, who thought the legend pointed to celebration of victory over Kushans. The town in the time of Samudra Gupta (4 AD) was a flourishing one. During the Rajput feudal period it existed till the Turkish invasion. Turks dealt it a destructive blow. Though ruined, mound stands as a tableu of the past.
The digging at Sunet coincided with a similar excavation exercise carried out in Sanghol village on Ludhiana-Chandigarh highway, which later assumed limelight throughout the world as several nude statues and structures were found from the village. However, Sunet could not get that recognition even though the excavations found here are treated as significant by archaeologists. While Sanghol was earmarked as a tourist site, Sunet awaits even a befitting memorial.
The present sorry state of the site, whose ruins attracted film- makers from Bombay and Punjab, is a sad climax of a glorious beginning. A visit to the site revealed that the place which had become world famous is lying forgotten. Youngsters quizzed about the place where excavations were found denied any knowledge of it. Only some old people remembered the time when teams of archaeologists not only from India but from abroad frequented the place.
According to the area residents, the place was no longer frequented by people. He said people who were constructing houses even now find strange coins and other utensils which are mostly broken due to careless digging. Village elders said people had been finding such coins from time to time but the Department of Archaeology has ceased to show any interest. They said the department might have some reason for stopping the work but they could protect the mounds so that they were available for future digging purpose.
Sources in the department said the mounds were protected in case of need for future digging but now they were lying abandoned because of shortage of funds to develop it as a tourism policy. Further, there were no plans to excavate the site. Sources revealed that the authorities had been apprised of the encroachments and the lack of preservation done at the site but nothing had been done in this regard.
According to an official of the state Archaeology Department, who was a member of the team which carried out the excavations, the digging was stopped as the immediate aim of finding the inhabitants as suggested by history was found. He said there was, thus, no need for further digging. However, the Central Government had declared the mounds as protective monuments to preserve them in need of further excavations.
Source: The Tribune (Jupinderjit Singh)
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