Hastinapur - History

History

Hastinapur was the capital of the Kuru dynasty of kings. All incidents in the epic Mahabharata were believed to have taken place in the city of Hastinapur. The first reference to Hastinapur in Puranas comes as the capital of Emperor Bharata. Samrat Samprati, the grandson of the emperor Asoka, has built many temples here during his empire. The ancient temple & the stoops are not present today. Excavation at Hastinapur was carried out in early 1950s, by B.B. Lal, Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India. Although the main aim of this excavation, mentioned by Lal himself, was to find out the stratigraphic position of the Painted Grey Ware with reference to other known ceramic industries of the early historical period. Lal could not resist attempting a correlation between Mahabharata, the text, and the material remains that he uncovered at Hastinapur. This exercise led him to historicize some of the traditions mentioned in the text, as well as link the appearance of the Painted Grey Ware with the arrival of the Aryans in upper Ganges basin areas. Though Pre history of Hastinapur is not clear as full scale excavation could not be undertaken in inhibited area. In medieval era, Hastinapur was attacked by Mughal ruler Babur when invading Hindustan, and cannons were bombarded on temples and stoopas. During British India Hastinapur was ruled by the Gujjar Raja Nain Singh Nagar. He built many temples in and around Hastinapur.