‘Annigeri skulls result of a massacre’

The Karnataka state archaeology department is pretty much convinced that the hundreds of skulls found buried in rows in Annigeri near Hubli were a result of a planned massacre. But the department officials prefer to wait for scientific evidence and a “lot of research data” before putting their finger on it.

The 601 skulls date back to the 12th century AD. These were first discovered in August 2010. The department sources said they have almost zeroed in on two historical events, which could have led to the massacre. One is an invasion and the invader conducted a “festival of massacre”; the second is a possible massacre by a local ruler targeting a particular community.

State archaeology department director, R Gopal, said precise period of massacre would be known through carbon dating the skulls, the results of which are expected in 15 days from the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneshwar. “This is the first archaeological evidence of a massacre of this extent for the whole country,” he said.

“We have found skulls buried separately and even on the remains of other body parts there are no ornaments. And the line-up of skulls found at a depth of 1.5 ft clearly indicates that it was a second burial. The place of the burial, which is outside the main gate of the erstwhile fort and near a water body, also points to the massacre theory,” he said.

Historians point to massacres by Muhammad Adil Shah, the erstwhile ruler of Bijapur, while Bombay Gazetteer and stone inscriptions found in Annigeri mention massacre by a ruler who invaded this part of the province. But Dr MS Krishna Murthy, retired professor from Mysore University and a archaeology expert, said many angles still need to be analysed before concluding that it was a massacre.