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Networked medieval strongholds in Garhwal Himalaya, India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2021

Nagendra Singh Rawat ,
Tom Brughmans Open the ORCID record for Tom Brughmans [Opens in a new window] ,
Vinod Nautiyal  and
Devi Dutt Chauniyal
Nagendra Singh Rawat*
Affiliation:
Department of History and Archaeology, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal (Central) University, India
Tom Brughmans
Affiliation:
Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet) and Classical Archaeology, Aarhus University, Denmark
Vinod Nautiyal
Affiliation:
Department of History and Archaeology, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal (Central) University, India
Devi Dutt Chauniyal
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal (Central) University, India
*
*Author for correspondence: ✉ nagendra.rawat957@gmail.com
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Abstract

Hundreds of high-elevation medieval strongholds are dispersed throughout the Central Himalayan region of Garhwal Himalaya, India. Believed to have originated in the eleventh century AD, these sites are interwoven into local folklore, yet they have been subject to limited research. This article presents new survey data, along with computational and spatial analyses of 193 Garhwal strongholds, facilitating the assessment of more complex hypotheses—particularly visual-signalling theories—concerning the fortification phenomenon. The results strongly suggest the integration of Garhwal's strongholds as a coherent visual-signalling network. In turn, the method also holds great potential for the evaluation of putative visual-signalling networks in other archaeological contexts.

Keywords

IndiaGarhwal Himalayamedieval fortsvisual-signalling networksnetwork science
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 95 , Issue 381 , June 2021 , pp. 753 - 772
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd.

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