| Tosham Hill | |
|---|---|
 Toshām Hill showing the site of the ancient monastery and water cascade | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 207 m (679 ft) |
| Listing | List of Indian states and territories by highest point |
| Coordinates | 28°53′N75°55′E / 28.88°N 75.92°E /28.88; 75.92 |
| Geography | |
  Tosham Hill Tosham Hill (India) Show map of India | |
| Location | Bhiwani district,Haryana,India |
| Parent range | Aravali Range |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | Hike / scramble |
Tosham hill range (Tusham hill range old spelling), located at and in the area aroundTosham, with an average elevation of 207 meters (679 feet), and the rocks exposed in and around Tosham hills are part of subsurface north-western spur ofAlwar group ofDelhi supergroup ofAravalli Mountain Range, belong to thePrecambrianMalani igneous suite of rocks and have been dated at 732MaBP (million years before present).[1][2] This range inAravalli Craton is a remnant of the outer ring of a fallen chamber of an extinct volcano. Tosham hill range covers the hills at Tosham, Khanak, and Riwasa as well as the small rocky outcrops at Nigana, Dulehri, Dharan, Dadam, and Kharkari Makhwan. Among these, Khanak hill is the largest in area and tallest in height.
It is an importantbiodiversity area within the "western-southern Haryana" spur of theNorthern Aravalli leopard wildlife corridor.
The main Tosham hill is anextinct volcano which erupted sometime 732MaBP (million years before present).Geologic province ofKhanak-Tosham-Dharan-Riwasa-Nigana Khurd-Dulheri-Kharkari Makhwan-Dadam-Khanak is a narrow oval shapedring dike of eroded extinct volcanoes on the periphery of a collapsedcaldera (magmatic chamber) of roughly 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) diameter on its longest Khanak to Nigana Khurd NW-SE axis and 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) on its narrower Dadam to Tosham E-W axis. This sub-surface ring dyke is now buried under the later era soils. Much of the area to the west of ring dyke is covered withAeolian sand flown from the fringes ofThar Desert. The remaining area is covered undersedimentaryalluvium soil ofHarka river of Ghaggar-Hakra River system (paleoSarasvati River) to the north and east, and paleo channel ofYamuna through Bhiwani in the south and east. Among these hills, Khanak hill is the largest and tallest, and Tosham hill is the second largest smaller hill. The other neighbouring hills, in the order of decreasing size, such as Nigana Khurd, Riwasa, Dulehri, Dharan, Dadam etc. are composed ofgranite porphyries.[1][2][3]
Tosham Igneous Complex has 3 main hills (Khanak, Tosham and Riwasa) and several other smaller rocky outcrops, mainly around the ring dyke:
The rocky outcrops include the following:
Based on the scientific study of artifacts fromRakhigarhi and other sites, the people ofIndus Valley civilization sourced the raw materials for making beads and figurines from the Steatite mines of Tosham Hill range.[4] Commercial scale mining for stones used for construction is done in the government auctioned mines at Tosham, Khanak and Dadam hills, with several stone crushers in the zone.
There are several holy ponds on Tosham Hill inside the caves, namely Pandu Teerth Kund, Surya Kund, Kukkar Kund, Gyarasia/Vyas Kund and a reservoir or a small tank on the summit of the hill to store rain water. Water in these kunds (ponds) in various caverns containsulfur which is considered sacred by the devotees and pilgrimages as it heals skin diseases.[5]
There are several sacred kunds or reservoirs on the hill; one of them, thePandu Tirath, is considered so sacred that some of the neighbouring villages deposit the ashes of their dead in it instead of taking them to the Ganges.
TheSurya Kund is one of many kunds (pond) found in caverns of Tosham hill. It is considered sacred.
TheKukkar Kund is one of many kunds (pond) found in caverns of Tosham hill. It is considered sacred.
TheGyarasia Kund (Vyas Kund) is one of many kunds (pond) found in caverns of Tosham hill. It is considered sacred.
From 1894-96, Lt-General C.A. Mcmahon (1830-1904), who was also the president of BritishGeologists' Association, was the first modern geologist to study these rocks. He described thepetrography of the rocks in 1884 and 1886 and published his work in theRecords ofGeological Survey of India.[1][2] During 1994-96, Khorana, Dhir and Jayapaul ofGeological Survey of India carried out the first mineral survey and scout drilling of several hills in the Tosham range.[6] During 2014-2016, Ravindra Singh and Dheerendra Singh ofBanaras Hindu University undertook first ever Indus Valley Civilization archaeological excavations of the area to confirm the connection of ores mined from these hills with the smelting metallurgical work of IVS.[citation needed]
The plume related Malani magmatism in the NW Indian shield is intraplate, anorogenic, A-type and is indicative of extensional tectonic environment in the region. There is a relationship between mantle plume related anorogenic magmatism and assembly of a supercontinent. In this research paper similarities between TAB of NW Indian shield, Seychelles, Madagascar, Nubian-Arabian shield central Iran and South China constituting Malani supercontinent in terms of bimodal anorogenic magmatism, ring structures, Strutian glaciation and subsequent desiccation are discussed. Paleomagnetic data also support the existence of Malani Supercontinent
The TAB is unique in the geological evolution of the Indian shield as it marks a major period of anorogenic (A-type), ‘Within Plate’, high heat producing (HHP) magmatism represented by the Malani igneous suite of rocks (MIS). The Neoproterozoic Malani igneous suite (55,000 km2; 732 Ma) comprising peralkaline (Siwana), metaluminous to milidly peralkaline (Jalor), and peraluminous (Tusham and Jhunjhunu) granites with cogenetic carapace of acid volcanics (welded tuff, trachyte, rhyolite, explosion breccia and perlite) are characterized by volcano-plutonic ring structures and radial dykes. The suite is bimodal in nature with minor amounts of basalt, gabbro and dolerite dykes
There are severalIndus Valley civilization sites in and around Tosham Hill range as the area falls under the copper-bearing zone of Southwest Haryana and Northeast Rajasthan of the Aravalli hill range.[7][8] Investigation of IVC network of mineral ore needs for the metallurgical work and trade shows that the most common type of grinding stone at Harappa is of Delhi quartzite type found only in the westernmost outliers of the Aravalli range in southern Haryana near Kaliana and Makanwas villages of Bhiwani district has bears red-pink to pinkish-gray color, crisscrossed with thin haematite and quartz filled fractures in sugary size grain texture.[9][10]
Ravindra Singh and Dheerendra Singh ofBanaras Hindu University, in association withCambridge University, carried outASI-financed excavations ofIndus Valley civilization site at the ground of Government School in Khanak, during September 2014 and February-May 2016. They foundearly to mature Harappan phase IVC materials, pottery, semiprecious beads oflapis lazuli,carnelian and others. They also found evidence of metallurgical activities, such asCrucible (used for pouring molten metal), furnace lining, burnt floor, ash, and ore slugs.Ceramic petrography,Metallography,Scanning electron microscope (SEM, non-destructive, surface images of nanoscale resolution),Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXA and EDXMA, trade name EDAX, non-destructive, qualitative and quantitative elemental composition) andTransmission electron microscopy (TEM, destructive method) scientific studies of the material found to prove that the Khanak site was inhabited by the IVC metal-workers who used the locally minedpolymetallic tin, and they were also familiar with metallurgical work with copper and bronze. Since excavation did not reach natural soil, it is believed that finds at Khanak site might go as far back as the pre-Harappan era toSothi-Siswal culture (4600 BCE or 6600 BP).[11]
A Glass Bridge Skywalk is planned here, see alsoList of Glass Bridge Skywalks in India.
Due to the ongoing mining activities there are environmental, pollution and noise related concerns, as well assoil erosion,aridification, reducedgroundwater recharge and loss of wildlife habitat related to the encroachment and loss of forest cover in the mined area. The archaeological heritage in the hills, that includes the indus valley civilization habitation, smelter and mine sites, ancient rock inscription and ancient rock paintings, etc, are at risk due to the mining, lack of awareness and efforts for thenatural resources conservation andarchaeological and historic heritage preservation.
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