Apsinga

Apsinga
Village
Apsinga

Location in Maharashtra, India

Coordinates: IN 18°02′11″N 76°01′29″E / 18.03638°N 76.02476°E / 18.03638; 76.02476Coordinates: IN 18°02′11″N 76°01′29″E / 18.03638°N 76.02476°E / 18.03638; 76.02476
Country India
State Maharashtra
District Osmanabad
Population (2011)
 • Total 4,541[1]
Languages
 • Official Marathi
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)

Apsinga (आपसिंगा) is a village located in Tuljapur tehsil of Osmanabad district, Maharashtra. Its located 31.9 km away from district headquarters Osmanabad.

Climate

The climate of this region is cool and pleasant as compare to other region of the district, due to luxuriant vegetation. Hence, this place is glowing the beauty of Balaghat ranges of Maharashtra (Gore-2012). The average temperature ranges from 27 to 38 degree Celsius and the average rainfall of Osmanabad district including this area is about 730 mm.[2][3]

Geography

The hilly terrain is the main feature of this region,[2] the entire area is covered by South east Balaghat ranges and large spur & valleys have pockets of high biological diversity. Thus, it is probably the richest region in biological diversity of rain shadow area of Maharashtra. The granite rocks have given rise to red as well as black cotton soil. Most of the hill tops are bare or covers coarse gravel while the low laying accumulates clay and loam during rainy season. Apsinga village (18º 03’638" N.; 76º 02’476" E.); with an average elevation of 1862–2166 ft. from mean sea level) is 7 km north-west of Tuljapur tehsil and 15 km south of Osmanabad district headquarter. A seasonal nallah locally known as Odhā flows 40 m north to the village. The village is situated in the foothills of Balaghat ranges. This range surrounds the village from north-east, east, south and south-east direction. The rest of area is plain. The granite rocks have given rise to red as well as black cotton soil in the region. Most of the hill tops are bare or covers coarse gravel while the low laying accumulates clay and loam during rainy season. The Maharashtra State Gazetteer of Osmanabad district (1972) mentions it to be fertile area suitable for agriculture.

History

The great historical gate of Apsinga village (Tuljapur)

The village Apsinga has great historical background. In the past the Marathwada region was a part of Hyderabad state under the Nizam domain. Now Apsinga is completed in its four circles Kamtha, Katri, Dipak Nagar and Apsinga itself. In this areas the important things are great historical place Apsinga-wes (आपसिंगा वेस), Hutatma smarak, Shree Ram Mandir, Jahagirdar wada, Hutatma Shridhar Vartak samadhisthal and Awliya Dargah. The people celebrate various festivals like Dipawali, Dussehra, Ganeshotsav, Navratri etc.

Apsinga- a Satavahana Settlement

We discovered an ancient habitation site (180 03’ 38.16" N.; 760 02’ 36.43" E) in midst of three villages; to south-eastern side at a distance of 2.3 km is Apsinga village, in the eastern side at a distance of 1.5 km is Kamta village and in the western side at a distance of 2 km is Katri village. This ancient habitation site is in the agricultural field belonging to a farmer of Apsinga village hence the name of the site is named as Apsinga. The site is surrounded by two small seasonal rivers one at a distance of 300 m coming from south direction is Nagzhari and the other flows at 5 m away, comes from eastern direction called as Kamta river.

This site is highly disturbed because of continuous agricultural activities and appears as a flat land. It covers a total area of 1.5 hectares and is owned by a farmer named Shri Jnanoba Gore. The habitation deposit is roughly about one meter high from the surrounding plain and is locally called as ‘Pandhari’. This site was first explored by authors Dr. Shahida Ansari, Vijay Sarde and Mayur Thakre in 2008 and revisited by Mohan S. Pardhi in 2012. During the exploration many archaeological remains were found on the surface. They are mainly potsherds, bricks, fragments of shell bangles, terracotta objects and a small piece of human figurine of Kaolin (an important raw material used for making diagnostic art object during Satavahana period) and faunal remains.

According to the villagers- ‘in ancient times there were two villages called Limgaon and Jambulgaon situated on the presently located ancient habitation site. The ghat which is at a distance of about 2.8 km away is popularly known as limghat and was used during the ancient time for crossing the Balaghat ranges; old stone pathway can still be observed there. They also claim that similarity between the ancient site name has affinity with the name of the ghat i.e. limghat’. Apsinga village has a rich historical background. Before independence this village was part of Hyderabad state under the Nizam's domain. During the Medieval period there were a total of four entrance gate made of stone and bricks on all four directions of the Apsinga. But presently only two gates are remaining; one is the main entrance gate of southern side and the other is on the eastern side (almost collapsed). The height of the southern entrance gate is 50 to 55 feet and is still in use.

Medieval garhi (Jahagirdar wada(Palace)) There is a medieval fortified garhi made of stone and mud at Apsinga. It has fortified walls and four bastions in all four directions. Presently, fortified walls of the garhi in west, north-west, north and north-east directions have collapsed. Only the walls of the east, south-east, south and south-west direction survives. The bastion of the north-west has collapsed and the other three are partially in good condition. Presently, the Nimbalkar family is residing inside the wada. Also seen is an Awliya Dargah inside the garhi. There are many sculptures of medieval period seen scattered around this village. A few of them are in good condition and include Hero stones, images of Mahishasur Mardini having inscription in devnagari script, Durga, Ganesh and Vishnu. Also seen in the garhi is an Awliya dargah.

Ancient stone pathways, Balaghat Ranges Limghat (18º 04’ 79" N.; 76º 04’ 82" E.) is located in Balaghat ranges and is only 3 km south-east of Apsinga. An ancient stone pathway of approximately 250 m long is located in Limghat. The stones used for the pathway are made on basalt and are circular/square/rectangular in shape, not dressed, and have become polished due to surface movement. The pathway starts at the foothills and goes further on southern direction. The width of the pathway varies from 5 to 15 m (in the middle area). In between some stones are – removed and moved so it appears irregular in places. A number of neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss.) and jambhul (Syzygium cumini (Linn.) trees grow along the pathway. Laman Banjara a local traders belonging to ‘Denotified Tribe’ settle at the foothills of Limghat.

According to local traditions/folklore during the ancient times this pathway was used for going to Tuljapur a taluka place, is 7 km south of Apsinga, for trading purposes. According to folklore, when Lord Rama came in this region to search Sita, he had crossed the ghat to reach Tuljapur. When he reached near Ghatshila, Goddess Bhavani (Parvati) changed herself to appear like Sita. Goddess Bhavani's intention was to examine the intensity of his search for Sita. But when he saw Parvati he easily recognized her and said "Tu ka Aai" (Oh you mother!), then Goddess showed Lord Rama the way to move further south from this place. A number of place names associated with Lord Rama in this region are; Kunthalgiri, Ramlinga, Sitechi Nahani, Ramtale, Ramdara, and Ramvardayini temple.

Importance of Apsinga village site in ancient Indian History

The archaeological remains at Apsinga suggest it to be an important settlement of the Early and Late Satavahana period and medieval period. Ter and Paithan flourished during the Satavahana period as a major Indo-Roman trade centre in the Deccan and played a major role in the Satavahana economic activities. In ancient time this area was a part of Dakshinapath. Archaeological sources suggest that when Ter was gaining important during Satavahana period, in 40 km radius smaller settlements started to develop gradually and contributed to the flourishing of Indo-Roman trade.

Apsinga appears to be one of the smaller Satavahana settlements supporting bigger settlement like Ter. According to the villagers ‘till recent time cotton was traded via Wadgaon (Siddheswar), ancient Stupa site, situated 8 km north east of Apsinga towards Ter’. Also black soil in and around the site is most suitable for growing cotton. The evidence of conch shell debitage and large amount of shell bangle pieces suggests that the raw material was being imported at site for shell working. Including the brick structure of the area the site seems to have covered an area of 3 hectares. The amount of bricks coming from the site suggests that site had a lot of structural activities.

The discovery of ancient stone pathway of Limghat to cross Balaghat ranges gives us some important clues for understanding possible southern trade route.

Economy

The main crops in the region are Onion, Grapes, Jawar & other vegetables.

Majority of the population is dependent on agriculture and wage labouring.Around 80% of the village population has farming as there major source of livelihood.Rest of the 20% population is either engaged in laboring or move to Osmanabad or Tuljapur for non-farm activities like dairy, honey collection, and almost all women of the village work in the fields

Education

In Apsinga village educational institutions include: Narendra Arya Vidyalaya, Z.P. primary School, and one private institute, Rajeshwari Computers. During last fifty years Narendra Arya Vidyalaya has served students from poor and rural areas. Rajeshwari Computers is established under the supervision of Mr. Dnyaneshwar M. Todkari, they offer various courses, including MS-CIT (an information technology literacy course), D.T.P. (Desktop publishing), and TALLY (accounting and inventory management software).

References

  1. ↑ "Apsinga Population - Osmanabad, Maharashtra". census2011.co.in.
  2. 1 2 Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Tuljapur
  3. ↑ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Osmanabad

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN 'APSINGA'A SATAVAHANA SETTLEMENT IN OSMANABAD DISTRICT, MAHARASHTRA SHAHIDA ANSARI, VIJAY SARDE and MOHAN S. PARDHI Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute Vol. 72/73 (2012-2013), pp. 225–244 Published by: Vice Chancellor, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed University), Pune Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43610699 Page Count: 20

External links

ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN 'APSINGA'A SATAVAHANA SETTLEMENT IN OSMANABAD DISTRICT, MAHARASHTRA SHAHIDA ANSARI, VIJAY SARDE and MOHAN S. PARDHI Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute Vol. 72/73 (2012-2013), pp. 225–244 Published by: Vice Chancellor, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed University), Pune Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43610699 Page Count: 20

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