The archaeological site and remains at Sadikpur Sinauli in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district where evidence of the existence of a warrior class around 2,000 BCE was discovered in 2018 have been declared to be of “national importance” by the Archaeological Survey of India.
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The ASI’s notification under provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 on Wednesday brings the 28.67-hectare-site under Central protection. The site would now be maintained by the ASI and development works around it would be subject to Central rules.
The notification comes two years after the ASI unearthed remains of chariots, shields, swords and other items indicating the presence of a warrior class at the site that is 68 km from Delhi.
According to Wednesday’s notification, the ASI had issued a draft notification on June 6, 2019 about its plans to declare the site to be of national importance and sought feedback from the public for a period of two months.
“...no objection has been received from the public to the making of such declaration by the Central Government,” the notification said.
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According to a statement issued by the ASI after the excavation, three chariots, legged coffins, shields, swords and helmets were among the objects found at the site. ASI termed the site the “largest necropolis of the late Harappan period datable to around early part of second millennium BCE”.
An ASI official said the objects, which date back 3,700 to 4,000 years, have been kept at the ASI Institute of Archaeology currently. With the declaration of the site as one of national importance, it comes under the ASI’s protection, the official said.
