Ratha

Ratha (Proto-Indo-Iranian: *Hráthas, Sanskrit: रथ, ; Avestan: raθa) is the Indo-Iranian term for a spoked-wheel chariot or a cart. The term has been used since antiquity for both fast chariots and other wheeled vehicles pulled by animals or humans, in particular the large processional carts still used in Indian religious processions to carry images of a deity. The Indus Valley Civilization sites of Daimabad and Harappa in the Indian subcontinent, there is evidence for the use of terracotta model carts as early as 3500 BC during the Ravi Phase. There is evidence of wheeled vehicles (especially miniature models) in the Indus Valley Civilization, but not of chariots. According to Kenoyer, During the Harappan Period (Harappa Phase, 2600–1900 BC) there was a dramatic increase in the terracotta cart and wheel types at Harappa and other sites throughout the Indus region. The diversity in carts and wheels, including depictions of what may be spoked wheels, during this period of urban expansion and trade may reflect different functional needs, as well as stylistic and cultural preferences. The unique fonts and the early appearance of carts in the Indus valley region suggest that they are the result of indigenous technological development and not diffusion from West Asia or Central Asia as proposed by earlier scholars. Indo-Aryan Indigenists have argued for the presence of chariots before its introduction by the Indo-Aryans in the early 2nd millennium BCE. Archaeologist B. B. Lal argues that finds of terracotta wheels painted lines (or low relief lines) and similar seals indicate the existence and use of spoked wheel chariots in Harappan Civilization, as showed in the Bhirrana excavations in 2005–06. Bhagwan Singh has made a similar assertion and S.R. Rao has presented evidence of chariots in bronze models from Daimabad (Late Harappan). The earliest Copper-Bronze Age carts remains that have been found in India (at Sinauli) have been dated to 1900BCE which were interpreted by some as horse-pulled "chariots", predating the arrival of the horse-centred Indo-Aryans.