Geospatial Study of Early Historic Sites and Navigation Potentialities at the lower reaches of River Bhima, South India
Dublin Core
Title
Geospatial Study of Early Historic Sites and Navigation Potentialities at the lower reaches of River Bhima, South India
Description
This paper explores the Bhima River's historical significance and navigational potentialities in human settlement
from prehistoric to early historical periods. The upper and lower reaches of the Bhima River are home to
numerous sites dating back to the prehistoric and Early Historical periods. However, the lower reaches have a
large number of sites compared to the upper reaches, where the basin is broad and shallow in the open
landscape. The importance of the Bhima River in facilitating short and long-distance navigation likely increased
significantly from establishing sedentary villages to the emergence of larger settlements and towns during the
Early Historic period (300 BCE-500 CE). The present study is centred on analysing two distinct types of
archaeological sites, emphasising their respective geographical distributions. (i) Sites centred within a distance
of 1 km from the Bhima River course. (ii) The sites centred within a 10 km radius of the Bhima River course in
the lower reaches, spanning from Firozabad (17°5'3.00"N, 76°47'25.00"E) to its confluence with the Krishna
River near Gundloor (16°24'39.00"N, 77°17'1.23"E). The present study constitutes an initial attempt to identify
and establish a plausible connection for understanding the potential influence of navigational pursuits in
establishing significant early historical sites, utilising geospatial techniques and analysis, and reviewing
published archaeological reports to reconstruct the socio-economic contexts.
from prehistoric to early historical periods. The upper and lower reaches of the Bhima River are home to
numerous sites dating back to the prehistoric and Early Historical periods. However, the lower reaches have a
large number of sites compared to the upper reaches, where the basin is broad and shallow in the open
landscape. The importance of the Bhima River in facilitating short and long-distance navigation likely increased
significantly from establishing sedentary villages to the emergence of larger settlements and towns during the
Early Historic period (300 BCE-500 CE). The present study is centred on analysing two distinct types of
archaeological sites, emphasising their respective geographical distributions. (i) Sites centred within a distance
of 1 km from the Bhima River course. (ii) The sites centred within a 10 km radius of the Bhima River course in
the lower reaches, spanning from Firozabad (17°5'3.00"N, 76°47'25.00"E) to its confluence with the Krishna
River near Gundloor (16°24'39.00"N, 77°17'1.23"E). The present study constitutes an initial attempt to identify
and establish a plausible connection for understanding the potential influence of navigational pursuits in
establishing significant early historical sites, utilising geospatial techniques and analysis, and reviewing
published archaeological reports to reconstruct the socio-economic contexts.
Creator
Deepak Pal
Arjun Rao
Publisher
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
Date
2023
Language
English
Bibliographic Citation
Pal, Deepak and Arjun Rao. 2023. “Geospatial Study of Early Historic Sites and Navigation Potentialities at the lower reaches of River Bhima, South India.” Edited by Jennifer Craig, Jay Mok, T. Kurt Knoerl, and Arjun Rao. In Proceedings of Fifth Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage: Gwangju, The Republic of Korea, November 13-18 2023. The Museum of Underwater Archaeology. URL: https://apconf.omeka.net/exhibits/show/apconfproceedings/item/2025
Files
Citation
Deepak Pal and Arjun Rao
, “Geospatial Study of Early Historic Sites and Navigation Potentialities at the lower reaches of River Bhima, South India,” Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage Proceedings, accessed October 12, 2026, https://apconf.omeka.net/items/show/2025.