Naksaparvat (also spelled Nakshaparbat) is a medieval archaeological site in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Located on the left bank of the Borgang River in the foothills of the Pakke-Kessang district of the East Kameng region, the site consists of a fortified settlement with an upper and lower habitation area, ring wells, a stone well, defensive stone and earthen ramparts, brick and stone plinths, stone posts or pillars associated with stilted house structures, structural remains, stone sculptured pillars, pottery assemblages and evidence of iron-working activity. It is known to have been built in the late medieval period between the 13th and 16th centuries, and is generally assigned to the Chutia kingdom. Historian Nityananda Gogoi specifically used the archaeological remains of Naksaparvat (referred to by him as Naxapahar) in reconstructing the western and northern extent of the Chutia kingdom. Gogoi noted similar marks on stones at the archaeological remains of Sadiya, at the Buroi site and at Naxapahar, which he located near the confluence of the Bargang and Dikal rivers. On this basis, together with the Chutia inscriptions of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, he argued that the kingdom at times included parts of present-day Arunachal Pradesh and extended through the adjoining Brahmaputra valley towards Biswanath. It was possibly built as a fortified foothills settlement similar to other sites like Ita Fort, Buroi, Gomsi, Rukmininagar, etc. The fortified settlement can be tentatively associated with the line of hill forts attributed to the Chutia king Gauri Narayan. According to the Chutia chronicles, Gauri Narayan, after consolidating his kingdom, “built a line of forts along the foot of the hills”, along with large tanks and temples.
Naksaparvat is among the few medieval sites in Arunachal Pradesh that have undergone systematic excavation and is considered important for understanding settlement patterns, fortification systems and material culture in the eastern Himalayan foothill region.
Description
Naksaparbat consists of a fortified settlement enclosed by earthen defensive works. Archaeological investigations have revealed habitation remains, structural foundations, ring wells, pottery, stone architectural fragments and decorated pillars, indicating the presence of an organised settlement with developed construction traditions.
The site occupies a strategic foothill location overlooking routes connecting the Brahmaputra Valley with the eastern Himalayan region. Its position suggests that it may have functioned as an administrative, defensive or commercial centre during the medieval period.
Affinities with other Chutia Kingdom sites Although no inscription has been discovered at Naksaparvat identifying its builders or political affiliation, several archaeological and historical observations have led scholars and researchers to note similarities between the site and known Chutia-period remains of the Assam–Arunachal foothill zone.
The site is dated to approximately the 13th–16th centuries CE, corresponding closely with the period of the Chutia kingdom. Historians have suggested that the Chutia kingdom extended westwards at least as far as Biswanath, immediately south of the Naksaparvat foothill region."Robinson and following him, N.N Acharyya, are of the opinion that the Chutiya kingdom extended up to Viswanath in the present Darrang district of Assam." Architecturally, Naksaparvat contains several features also found at medieval sites traditionally associated with the Chutia kingdom. Excavated buildings employed substantial brick and dressed-stone plinths, sandstone posts, ring wells, stepped foundations, stone-cum-earthen ramparts and combinations of masonry bases with lighter superstructures. Similar plinth-based brick and stone construction has been reported from Bhismaknagar, Rukmininagar Fort, Gomsi, Buroi (Ramghat-Tarasso), the Tamreswari Temple complex and other archaeological sites of the Sadiya region. Another similar brick plinth has also been discovered a few miles to the east of the Ramghat-Taraso (Buroi) site, at the Upper Balijan area.
Material culture provides a further parallel with Bhismaknagar. The pottery assemblage at Naksaparvat consists predominantly of red ware, with wheel-made pottery more common than handmade pottery; forms include pitchers, basins, dishes, bowls, storage jars and cooking vessels. Tada notes that some of the well-levigated wheel-made pottery is comparable with pottery from the medieval levels of Ambari, and also records a small quantity of kaolin ware at the site. At Bhismaknagar, Tada similarly records predominantly red, wheel-turned pottery, including bowls, dishes, dish-on-stand vessels, spouted vessels and jars, and notes that the finer wares bear close affinity with pottery excavated at Ambari; kaolin pottery has also been recovered from the site.
Almost all the building materials made of stone found at the site (including the stone posts and slabs) bear engraved symbols or masons' marks. More than forty such marks have been recorded at Naksaparvat. Comparable marks have been documented from Malinithan and other medieval sites of the Assam–Arunachal foothills, including Tamreswari Temple (on the encloser wall built in 1442 AD), Buroi ruins and other sites from the Sadiya archaeological landscape like a brick-stone tank and Buraburi than. Historians have argued that architectural continuity (including these marks) between the sites of the Sadiya region and others near Naksaparvat like the Buroi foothill site may indicate the wider extent of the Chutia cultural sphere."Though the geographical extent of these rulers' power is not yet known in detail, according to Neog, the present-day North Lakhimpur district of Assam, which covers the find sites of most inscriptions, perhaps formed a part of their political dominion. If architectural continuity is admitted between the fortifications in the Sadiya region and the Burai river ruin site, it would be possible to believe that the kingdom of these rulers extended as far as the outer limit of Darrang district, to the westernmost extent of which Ahom conquerors settled the vanquished Chutiyas in the early part of the sixteenth century.""A large number of these stones were found to contain marks, cut deeply into the sandstone... identical marks were found also in the marked stones found by Hannay in the fort near Sadiya assigned to Bhismak. It is therefore evident that the ruins near Sadiya and those on the banks of the Burai river can be assigned to the same period...The dynasty is evidently the line of Chutia kings who assumed the surname Pala." Historian Nityananda Gogoi specifically used the archaeological remains of Naksaparvat—referred to by him as Naxapahar—in reconstructing the western and northern extent of the Chutia kingdom. Gogoi noted similar marks on stones at the archaeological remains of Sadiya, at the Buroi site and at Naxapahar, which he located near the confluence of the Bargang and Dikal rivers. On this basis, together with the Chutia inscriptions of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, he argued that the kingdom at times included parts of present-day Arunachal Pradesh and extended through the adjoining Brahmaputra valley towards Biswanath.
Additional parallels include the use of serpent motifs in sculptural art (similar to the snake motiffs found at Tamreswari temple and the Sadiya Serpent Pillar), the presence of terracotta ring wells comparable to those reported from the Sadiya archaeological complex, and stone pillars similar to those identified at the Buroi site. These suggest that Naksaparvat formed part of the same broader cultural and architectural tradition that flourished in the eastern Himalayan foothills during the late medieval period.
Buddhist influence
Some evidence suggests Buddhist religious influence in and around the Naksaparvat–Borgang foothill region. Tada (2011) noted that Tantric Buddhist influences are visible on some of the sandstone sculptured pillars recovered from Naksaparvat, although other finds indicate a mixed religious landscape including Śaiva and nature-worship elements. A Tibetan-language stone inscription associated with the Borgang–Naksaparvat area is said to record the construction of a religious structure by a woman named Ayungel Humo for the spiritual benefit of her deceased husband Jo-ri or Jo-bi followed by the Tibetan mantra Om mane padme hum. Similar Tibetan Buddhist epigraphic material has been reported from nearby foothill sites. A stone bearing the Tibetan Buddhist mantra Om mani padme hum has been reported from the Sadiya–Roing region, while at Dimachang New Betali, a Tibetan rock inscription bearing the mantra Om mane peme hum and another inscribed object bearing Om mane peme hum and Om Bajra Guru peme Chije hum Shri were recorded. Another Vajra bell used as a ritual tool in Tibetan Buddhism was found in the Gohpur region of Lakhimpur district. Such finds point to Tibetan Buddhist religious contact in the northern Brahmaputra–Arunachal foothill zone, but do not by themselves identify the builders or political affiliation of Naksaparvat.
Architecture Archaeological excavations recovered decorated stone pillars, pillar bases, stone post supports, brick-and-stone plinths and architectural fragments. These remains suggest the existence of substantial structures within the settlement and indicate the use of both stone and brick in construction. Decorative elements found at the site include carved architectural stones, sculptured sandstone pillars and ornamented structural fragments, pointing to developed artistic and architectural traditions. As per Tada (2011), some of the sculptured pillars were shifted to the Assam State Museum, Guwahati. He also states that the original place of installation of these pillars within the site was also located, and the ruins included a stone plinth and some stone columns. A broken piece of granite found at that place was most probably a Shiva Linga indicating that the structure with the sculptured pillars could have been a temple. According to A. K. Thakur, eight of these sandstone pillars from the site bear engraved naturalistic figures depicting humans, plants and animals, including birds and reptiles. The figures are carved in relief and, although comparatively simple in execution, display indigenous artistic traditions and are considered representative of the socio-cultural and religious life of the people who occupied the site.
Thakur notes that the human figures exhibit tribal facial characteristics and may reflect the influence of Tantric Buddhist traditions. The figures are generally portrayed in active poses and emphasize movement and expression. The dressed stones used in the structures at Naksaparbat also contain numerous engraved symbols and mason's marks. More than forty different symbols have been identified, including geometric, non-geometric and pictographic forms. Thakur further observed that several of these symbols resemble marks recorded at Malinithan, a temple complex dated to the 13th–14th centuries CE, suggesting the persistence of similar stone-working traditions across different sites of Arunachal Pradesh.
Fortifications The upper settlement was protected by both earthen and stone ramparts. The earthen rampart, constructed from silty soil and surrounded by a ditch, extends for approximately 620 metres and may have also functioned as an internal road. A separate stone rampart constructed from sandstone blocks extends for roughly 300 metres along the southern side of the settlement. Tada(2011) interpreted the structure as part of the site's defensive system and suggested that it originally linked the upper and lower settlements.
Settlement pattern