GemsOfINDOLOGY Profile picture
Mar 23 17 tweets 8 min read Read on X
Have you ever wondered why the topic of dinosaurs in India seems absent from common knowledge?

In truth, dinosaurs thrived in the Indian peninsula 250 to 65 million years ago, and they were unlike any others seen globally.

Sadly, many people, including myself, aren't aware of this, which is why I'm sharing this #thread.

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The very first dinosaur discovery, Titanosaurus Indicus, unearthed from the Deccan Traps in Jabalpur, dates back to 1832 and is 70 million years old. After vanishing in 1877, it made a dramatic comeback, resurfacing in the Shiwalik Gallery of the Indian Museum.

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Titanosaurus blanfordi was 2nd dino remain found in Pisdura, Maharashtra.

Rajasaurus - Regal Lizard remains were found in Kheda, Gujarat and Jabalpur MP. This 30 feet giant roamed in India around 70-65 Mya

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Rajasaurus - Regal Lizard remains were found in Kheda, Gujarat and Jabalpur MP. This 30 feet giant roamed in India around 70-65 Mya

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Rajasaurus - the majestic Regal Lizard, whose formidable remains were unearthed in the regions of Kheda, Gujarat, and Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. This awe-inspiring 30-foot predator roamed the ancient Indian subcontinent approximately 70-65 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period, a time when dinosaurs dominated the Earth.

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Jainosaurus is a remarkable example of a primitive titanosaur from the Late Cretaceous period. This colossal dinosaur reached an impressive length of 70.5 feet and weighed around three tonnes. It was named in honor of Sohan Lal Jain, a pioneering Indian paleontologist who contributed significantly to our understanding of prehistoric life. Fascinatingly, a bone of the Jainosaurus is preserved in the Nasik Museum, offering a tangible connection to this majestic creature from a bygone era.

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Isisaurus, a plant-eating dinosaur belonging to the Sauropod lineage, was named in honor of the Indian Statistical Institute. Stretching up to 69 feet, it shares a connection with Titanosaurus and sported a notably long and robust neck.

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Rahiolisaurus Is a genus of Abelisaurid dinosaur from the late cretaceous period of India. Greek for Rahioli Lizard, it was discovered near Rahioli village. It also roamed during the late cretaceous period, about 70-65 million years ago and was discovered in 2010

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Bruhathkayosaurus a massive sauropod dinosaur from the early Maastrichtian of India and is the second largest dinosaur found to date, with a length of 45 meters. Found in Kalimedu, TN was lost soon after discovering due to monsoon

9️⃣ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruhathkayosaurus
Kotasaurus Discovered from the Kota formation in Andhra Pradesh, Kotasaurus is Greek for Kota Lizard. It walked in India about 180-175 million years ago. it grew up to 30 feet long and weighed up to 10 tonnes. pp

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Fossil bone fragments of sauropod dinosaurs as old as nearly 100 million years discovered from an area around West Khasi Hills district in Meghalaya.

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A stunning fossil of an Ichthyosaur has been unearthed in Gujarat, revealing a prehistoric giant akin to 6 SUVs parked end-to-end. This marine reptile, which once glided through ancient seas, was comparable in size to those that thrived in the frigid realms of the North Pole, offering a glimpse into a bygone era.

1️⃣2️⃣https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthyosauria
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Vasuki, the colossal reptile rocking the science world!

At over 40 feet long and 50 million years old, Vasuki rewrites prehistoric history. With armor-like scales, this giant predator is reshaping our understanding of ancient ecosystems.

Unearthed in Gujarat, India, Vasuki Indicus challenges the legendary Titanoboa. Fossils reveal a snake that once roamed India and ventured to Africa, making waves in the Eocene era. Excavated from Kutch, Gujarat, these findings are rewriting the reptile rulebook.

#Archaeology

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135-million year old dinosaur fossil in Kutch, Gujarat. Pieces of bones of the hip and two legs that have been found are around two feet long, suggesting that the dinosaur was at least 10 to 15 metre in length. Fig representative

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Lamplughsaura is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Sinemurian-age (Early Jurassic) Dharmaram Formation in India, dating between 196 and 190 million years ago. The genus includes only one species, Lamplughsaura dharmaramensis. This species is known from several partial skeletons of a large quadrupedal animal measuring up to 10 meters (33 feet) in length. It was either a basal sauropod or, less likely, a more basal sauropodomorph.

The genus was named in honor of Pamela Lamplugh Robinson, the founder of the Geological Studies Unit at the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata.

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A distinct collection of fossilized dinosaur eggs, featuring an unusual egg-within-an-egg configuration, has been discovered at the Dinosaur Fossil National Park in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar District.

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More from @GemsOfINDOLOGY

Dec 18
🧵 THREAD: Sambhar Lake didn’t become salty by accident.
It is the chemical footprint of the Aravallis. 🧂⛰️

Erase the hills, and the lake doesn’t shrink.
It dies.

#SaveAravalli Image
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@narendramodi @PMOIndia @mygovindia @TVMohandasPai @CPCB_OFFICIAL @PIB_India @moefcc 1/
Sambhar Lake sits at the NE edge of the Aravalli Range.
This is not coincidence.
It is a tectonic basin formed along ancient Aravalli fault lines.

No Aravallis → no Sambhar.
Simple geology. Ignored policy. Image
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2/
The Aravallis are ~3.2–2.5 billion years old.
Among the oldest folded mountains on Earth.

Sambhar exists because these rocks fractured, weathered, subsided.
Deep time created today’s salt.

Not “desert evaporation folklore”.
Read 10 tweets
Dec 17
1/
#GemsofASI #2 : British ASI manuals still rule India.
Not symbolically. Institutionally.

India became independent in 1947.
Its archaeology did not.

The Archaeological Survey of India still operates on conservation doctrines framed between 𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟒–𝟏𝟗𝟑𝟖, designed for colonial governance—not for a living civilisation.

#DecolonisationImage
2/
The 𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭, 𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟒 wasn’t written to protect Indian culture.
It was written to **control it**.

Its goals were explicit:
• Centralise authority
• Isolate monuments from locals
• Treat ritual use as damage
• Convert living sites into silent ruins

This logic never left ASI.Image
3/
British conservation doctrine insisted:
“Preserve the monument in the condition in which it is found.”

In Europe, that meant stabilising already-dead ruins.

In India, it meant 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐝-𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡.

One rule. Two civilisations. Very different consequences.
scribd.com/document/44447…Image
Read 13 tweets
Dec 16
1/9
Ever hear of the Santhal Hul? Two years BEFORE the 1857 "Sepoy Mutiny" that history books love to call India's "first war of independence," the Santhal tribes rose up in 1855 against British exploitation. This was pure grassroots fury – bows and arrows vs. an empire. Let's dive in. 🏹Image
2/9
Background: The British "invited" Santhals to clear forests in the Rajmahal Hills (Damin-i-Koh, now Jharkhand/Bihar/WB) for farming and revenue. Sounded good – until zamindars, moneylenders (mahajans), and corrupt officials turned it into a nightmare. Debt traps, land grabs, exorbitant interest, forced labor. Santhals called outsiders "dikus" – exploiters.Image
3/9
The spark: Brothers Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu (plus Chand, Bhairav, and sisters Phulo & Jhano) claimed divine visions from Thakur Bonga (their god) commanding them to rebel and establish Santhal rule. On June 30, 1855, at Bhognadih village, 10,000+ Santhals gathered, took oaths, and declared war on the dikus.Image
Read 9 tweets
Dec 15
#GemsOfASI #1

ASI was founded in 1861, not to protect India’s past—but to manage it.

The Archaeological Survey of India was created by the British Empire, staffed by military engineers, and embedded inside colonial administration. The name "Survey" itself says it all.

This matters.Image
2/
ASI’s first Director General, Alexander Cunningham, was a Royal Engineers officer.

His training was not in living cultures.
It was in surveying, mapping, classification, and control.

Archaeology was an imperial tool. Image
3/
The mandate was clear:
• Identify ruins
• Catalogue monuments
• Standardise interpretation
• Detach sites from communities

A living civilisation is unpredictable.
Ruins are manageable. Image
Read 11 tweets
Dec 12
🧵🏰 What kind of fort gets called "minor" at 2,700 feet with multi-tiered defences visible for miles?

The kind that didn't fit colonial narratives. Rayadurgam Fort, Anantapur — massive, sophisticated, erased.

We're still using their textbooks. The stones outlasted empires. The lie outlasted the stones.

#GemsofASI MNI#20

1/15Ancient stone fort perched atop a rocky hill, winding battlements and stairways bathed in warm golden sunset light.
🛕 Built by 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐤𝐚 (1520s–30s), this was a Vijayanagara frontier fort controlling movement between AP & Karnataka. Colonial historians later downgraded it as "minor". Minor? A 2,700-ft citadel controlling two regions. But the empire narrative couldn't accommodate decentralised power. So it became "minor".

2/15Bearded, armored ruler with sword and staff overseeing laborers building a massive stone fort wall from scaffolding and blocks beneath a dusty sky
⛰️ At ~𝟐,𝟕𝟐𝟕 𝐟𝐭, Rayadurgam was built for surveillance: long-range visibility, multi-tiered access paths, natural cliffs turned to defence. But British-era archaeology catalogued it under 'regional ruins'. Right — altitude high, curiosity low. Classic imperial scholarship.

3/15Steep rocky hill with ruined stone fortifications and terraced walls, scattered vegetation and a rectangular ruin at the base under a cloudy sky
Read 15 tweets
Dec 9
1/ They taught us the British ended Sati. Saved us from our barbarism. 🕊️

Then why did Sati cases spike from 1 in 8 years to 5000 per year under British rule?

Why did cases DROP under Mughal emperors?

Let's talk about the history they never taught you. 🧵 Image
2/ From 1900 BCE to 1900 CE—2,500 years—historians found fewer than 500 verified Sati incidents.

That's one every 8 years. Rare. Tragic. But rare.

Between 1813-1829, just 16 years under British rule, they documented THOUSANDS.

What changed? Image
3/ In 1813, British administrators LEGALIZED Sati.

They created two categories:
"Legal" Sati (voluntary)
"Illegal" Sati (forced)

By defining legal Sati, they gave official sanction. Approval.

Court of Directors later admitted Indians saw this as a RECOMMENDATION. 💰 Image
Read 12 tweets

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