Right from the dawn of the civilization human beings had a feeling of protection for their survival from external dangers. This feeling initiated the need of shelters by raising barriers around dwellings. This must have been an earliest thought of human mind to construct the ramparts, fortification around his residence. In ancient India traces of fortification goes back to Harappan cities (Indus Valley Civilisation). Archaeological excavations have unearthed many defensive structures like ramparts, mud brick walls and revetments of strategic importance. Archaeologically speaking long before the preparation of Sanskrit treatises on fortification of township and villages, they were in vogue in many sites like Harappa, Mahenjodaro and Kalibangan of Chalcolithic period.

In the Rig Veda we find the trace of Pura (Fort). Pura has come to signify a ‘rampart’ ‘fort’ or ‘stronghold’. Rig Vedic references to Pura clearly associate them with the dasas and dasyus. Indra claims to have shattered a hundred puras of dasyu Sambara and a few puras of dasyu Pipru and got the title Purandara or ‘destroyer of forts’.

The Brahmanas and Upanishads also refer to the word pura and Mahapura to mean the fort. The Ramayana furnishes us with the classified list of forts into river forts (nadya), the hill fort (parvatiya), the forest fort (vana) and the artificial fort (krtrima). On the other hand the Mahabharata reports different types of citadel in Shantiparva, viz: - water citadel, human citadel and forest citadel. The Jatakas also mention about cities being fortified with walls and ramparts, watch towers and massive gates, multistoried dwellings, underground chambers. It is also evident from the writings of classical writers that Alexander invaded forts and strongholds held by Hindu Chiefs in 4^th Century BC.

Devi purana says that the water and mountain fortification are best suited for defending populous centres, where as desert fortifications for a very sparse population. Generally speaking there were four gates at four corners of each fortified city. These gates were sometimes provided with suspended bridges spanning the outer moat. In Ramayana it is mentioned that each of the gate of the walled city of Lanka there was a suspended gigantic bridge which evidently could be lowered down in position or lifted up when necessary. According to Manasara, all forts are to be surrounded with strong walls and wide moats. Walls are to be made of brick, stone and other materials. There should be water towers too. Manusmriti described six types of forts such as Dhanudurga, Mahidurga, Abdurga, Varnshadurga, Noudurga and giridurga. The importance of the fort was well appreciated by Manu. He wrote that a warrior protected by the fort can fight with hundred enemies that are outside and a band of hundred warriors fighting from the fort can easily challenge ten thousand enemy soldiers.

Kautilya’s Arthasastra reflects to a very great extent the facts and ideologies that were prevalent in those days. According to Kautilya the Durga or the fortified city is one of the seven constituent elements of the state and it was considered more important than the treasury and the army itself. For it is because of the fort that the treasury and the army are safely kept and it is from the fort that the secret war, upkeep of the army, reception of the allies and driving out the enemies are successfully practiced. The text recommends a series of posts along the frontier, each in charge of an antapala. In particular, there are four posts in the four principal directions which are to serve as gates of entry into the state.

Kautilya classifies forts under four principal heads on the basis of their location.

The Arthasastra has a close contemporaneity with the growth of an early historic fort of Sisupalgarh situated in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Sisupalgarh is an excavated site famous for its ancient fortification. In the present context the word garh has been referred to an early human settlement having fortified township. From very ancient times people had associated such places with rulers and administrators. In course of time, such places were abandoned and only structural remains and antiquities are found. The site has derived its name from a small village called Sisupal, located in the eastern sector of the fort itself. The views that the fort was built by a king called Sisupal mentioned in the Mahabharata or by Sisupal Kesari of the Kesari dynasty does not hold good since excavation revealed that the occupation of the site did neither go back as early as the Mahabharata period nor continue as late as the Kesari dynasty. The possibility of Sisupalgarh being identical with either Toshali of the Ashokan edicts or Kalinganagara of Kharavela’s inscription or both may be considered.

The discoveries at Sisupalgarh are quite similar as described in the Arthasastra. Translations from the Arthasastra about the description of fortified town are given in the following passages.

"… the king may have his fortified capital as the seat of his ….in a locality naturally best fitted for the purpose. Such as the bank of the confluence of the rivers, a deep pool of perennial water or a lake or a tank, surrounded with an artificial canal of water connected with both land and water paths."

" Above the rampart, parapets in odd or even numbers and with an intermediate space from 12-24 hastas from each other shall be built of bricks."

"Demarcation of the ground inside the fort shall be made first by opening three royal roads from west to east and three from South to north…"

These references from the Arthasastra are corroborated by Archaeological findings at Sisupalgarh e.g

So far there are two differences:

The fort forms Rough Square in plan. The outline clearly suggests the existence of corner towers and eight large gateways, two on each sides besides about eight smaller openings distributed all over the perimeter. The gateways are so placed that if the distance between the two corner towers of any side is trisected, a gateway will be found near each point of trisection. All these suggests a regular planning not only of the fortification but of the streets inside which are likely to have run east-west, north-south connecting the opposite gateways in a grid pattern.

Excavation has revealed that the fort was in occupation from the beginning of the third century BC till the middle of the fourth century AD. It also suggests that the culture of the site had reached its height in the early phase i.e., 200 BC to 100 AD. And the deterioration had started taking place around 100 AD to 200 AD. Originally the defences were constructed towards the beginning of 200 BC and consisted of massive mud ramparts,10.12 meters wide at the base and more than 8 meters high with magnificent gateways, guard rooms, ancillary passages and corner towers. In the second phase the clay rampart being susceptible to erosion was reinforced by adding a thick layer of gravel in its top. The third phase is marked by the erection of two brick walls, eight meters apart on top of the gravel layer with fillings of mud and debris in between. Finally a collapsed revetment wall was renovated with a battered exterior. The city was systematically planned with well built houses of laterite or brick laid out in orderly streets in a grid pattern. Cart-tracks uncovered at various levels of the streets reveal a record of life of the people in the city.

Water resource is the deciding factor for town planning. Sanskrit and Pali literatures as well as Vastusastras exhibit moat, ditch or natural water barriers as safety valve of defense for the fort or the capital city. The moats though planned for defensive measure in the past, served as well for the water source for the township. Sisupalgarh is circumscribed by the water streamlet called the Gangua. The flow of the water is around the north, east and western sides of the fort, thus producing a moat with perennial supply of water. The houses inside the fort have wells fed by percolating water of the moat.

It was while excavating the site of Sisupalgarh to find out the culture sequence of rouletted ware that fortunately along with the rouletted ware an excellently laid out fort of the pre-Christian era was unearthed by Prof. B. B.Lal in 1948. Soon after the Archaeological Survey of India ( ASI) declared the site protected in February 13, 1950 with the caption: "Ancient remains inside and outside rampart mostly buried". ASI has also recommended the site be declared protected for excavation. Organisations like Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and Orissa Development Studies (ODS) had come forward with similar demands.

However, the present situation is quite alarming with large scale encroachments going on at the site since past five decades for agricultural and housing purposes. Along with Sisupalgarh there are five other villages that have come up in and around the fort area. Major villages like Mahabhoisasan and Talabania are in the hands of private owners who have divided their patch of lands into numerous plots and sold it off. Villagers have attempted digging, laying roads and constructing structures at a site which is of utmost historical importance. It was a dried up pond which was identified by experts as an amphitheatre or auditorium of the time of Kharavela. To protect the adjoining land from misuse, unplanned development, construction of building and quarrying, the Government in 1992 issued a declaration prohibiting constructional activity and mining operation up to 100 meters as the protected limits and further beyond 200 meters as prohibited and regulated area. Ignoring these legislations private owners have started building new houses inside the fort area and for that they have used locally found laterite slabs. Walls of the fort are dug and made into roads. Even violating the Treasure Trove Act of 1972, villagers have been collecting antiquities which are found scattered in and around the fort area.

Since 1948, no attempt has been taken by the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) for further excavation of the site. It was the State Archaeology in 1978, which excavated a gateway of the fort but soon after the stone slabs of the gateway were misused for a bridge over the moat linking the village with Bhubaneswar. However some major international work conducted at the site resulted in proper and methodical documentation of the site. The project undertaken by Dr. Monica L.Smith, Department of Anthropology, University of California, consisted of systematic archaeological survey and mapping to evaluate ancient economic organization, trade and urban configuration in 2000. An Indo-German research project (2000-2003) consisted of mapping and measuring the fort.

However, these high profile research projects notwithstanding, a substantial part of the early historic site of Sisupalgarh still remains undiscovered. The history of Bhubaneswar following Kharavela and preceding the rise of Sailodvabas in about 7^th century AD is bridged by the excavated materials from places like Sisupalgarh. Further excavation in this area could unearth some grey areas in the Orissan history. This is one of the rarest attempts in excavation with an attempt to explore the character and exposing the town plan of an early historic city. A complete town plan of Sirkup, the second city of Taxila was exposed by Sir John Marshal and with Sirkup now forming a part of Pakistan, India has no such other site.

Keeping the facts in mind that large amount of precious stones are unearthed, the excavation reports showing a town plan of a city in early historical period, original and imitated roman coins and last but not the least, history of Orissa from Kharavela upto the rise of the Sailodvabas is still in obscurity, raises the importance of the site even more. Gifts of nature may not be available in abundance, but at Sisupalgarh there are manmade assets to be discovered, experienced and cherished.

A. P. Singh, Fort and Fortification in India, Kanishka Publication, Delhi, 1987.

B. B. Lal, "Planned Conservation between Archeologists and Scholars of Ancient Literature: A Crying Need," Man and Environment, Vol. XVII (I).

B. B. Lal, "Sisupalgarh 1948: An Early Historical Fort in Eastern India", Ancient India, Vol. V. Archeological Survey of India, Delhi, 1949.

D. Mitra, Bhubaneswar, Archeological Survey of India Publication, Delhi, 1996.

K. C. Panigrahi, History of Orissa, Bhubaneswar, Kitab Mahal 1986.

L. N. Ranagarajan, The Arthasastra, Penguin, New Delhi, 1987.

P. V. Begde, Ancient and Medieval Town Planning in India, Sagar Publication, Delhi, 1978.

R P. Mahapatra, Archeology in Orissa: Sites and Monuments, Vol.1, B R Publication, Delhi, 1986.

R. P. Kangle, The Kautilya Arthasashtra, Motilal Banarasidas, Delhi, 1997.