Urbanism Beyond the Core: Mapping Dispersed Settlements in The Hinterland of Champaner – Pavagadh, Gujara

Avradeep Munshi

The proposed paper examines the urban transitions of medieval western India through a landscape archaeological study of the hinterland of Champaner Pavagadh (22.484731°N & 73.532221°E). In general, interpretations of South Asian urbanism during the medieval period have often privileged monumental cores and elite material culture, producing biasness, that underplays the infrastructural and provisioning zones that sustain urban centres. The author argues that Champaner Pavagadh in Gujarat is best understood as a dispersed urban landscape in which key urban functions such as movement, provisioning, and resource management were distributed across multiple nodes beyond the monumental core. Drawing on published literature and exploratory observations, the paper maps the spatial patterning of archaeological indicators, including settlement scatters, architectural remains, and diagnostic material culture, alongside water management features, specifically brick-lined wells and stepwells, which suggest the established infrastructure supported dispersed habitation beyond the core, enabling continuity in everyday life, despite dynastical changes.  Finally, the study aims to provide an alternative platform for previewing medieval urbanism by moving beyond bounded definitions and understanding the porous interfaces between the core and periphery, visible at the landscape scale through overlapping material practices and shared infrastructure.