Sisupalgarh

An Early Historic Fortress in Coastal Orissa and its Cousins

Abstract

Renowned in the context of Ashokan India (4^th century BCE), ×i÷upãlgarh, the largest early historic fortress in the eastern part of the
Subcontinent (with exception of Pãtaliputra, present-day Patna), plays a role in virtually all discussions about this period. Its symmetrical plan and great size (130 ha, 1190 m × 1150 m measured at the top of the glacis) reveal an architectural ideal for its day. South Asia experts usually discuss it as an example of defensive early historic architecture, largely omitting any relation to predecessors, relatives, or successors. Recent research conducted by a team from the University of Kiel, Utkal University in Bhubaneshwar and the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz has rekindled the research largely of the 1940s, revealing the uniqueness of Sisupãlgarh and its role in the eastern part of the India. To our knowledge this is the first application of this kind of scanning in the archaeology of the Subcontinent.