Sites and settlements of the hinterland zone in the part of Varendri/Gauda, Northwestern Bangladesh Background The archaeological sites/places in northwestern part of Bangladesh, like most of the archaeological sites with overtly non-urban nature and context, have a stereotyped, marginalized and precarious presence in archaeology and history writing of Bangladesh. There has been a systematic neglect of surveying and excavations in the sites which do not fit into the category of large sites, or monumental sites. Even when they are excavated, represented and referred to, the interpretive methodology is narrowed and confined within conventionalized and dominating discourses of description of architectural formal attributes and emphasis on selective objects, like coins, sculptures, terracotta plaques, etc. The finds, overtly uncritical about the spatial context of discovery, have been used to narrate history within a linear evolutionary chronological framework. The historical narratives, moreover, take into account and resort to those archaeological materials and interpretations that complement the arguments about the history of the region or country. The context of northwestern part of Bangladesh The area which is dealt here, was known during seventh-eighth century CE and onward as Gauda or Varendri. The area was also part of the larger unit which was known as Pundravardhana and/or Pundra from the early historic period. Most of the copper plate inscriptions issued by the late Gupta rulers were found from this area. According to the administrative context of fourth-fifth century CE, the area was part of the Pundravardhana Bhukti comprising several visaya, such as, Kotivarsa, Fanitabithi, Panchanagari, etc. It is effective to consider this particular area as a part of a distinct spatial unit – a sub-region – of early Bengal. Northern part of present West Bengal, India and Northwestern part of Bangladesh form this sub-region of early Bengal. Scholars have suggested that distinct spatial units of early South Asia emerged with specific sub-regional or regional identity during the period between fifth to seventh century CE.1 This period is also identified as a time of the emergence of regional state and polity. Historians have already debated widely about the 1
Among many of the transformations, the gradual emergence of sub-regional identity was one of the most important aspects of the period that has been identified as “Early Medieval’. See, Brajadulal Chattapadhyaya, The Making of Early Medieval India (Second Edition), Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2012; Bhairabi Prasad Sahu, The Changing Gaze: Regions and the Constructions of Early India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2013. For a perspective on the debate, Upinder Singh (ed.) Rethinking Early Medieval India: A Reader. Oxford University Press, 2012. See also, B. M. Morrison, Political Centers and Cultural Regions in Early Bengal, University of Arizona Press, Arizona, 1980.
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nature, structure and processes of polity, society, economy and religion during this period that marked the beginning of ‘Early Medieval’. Unfortunately, the history of the sub-region is dominated by the epigraphic and textual sources. Two of the urban centres in this sub-region, Mahasthangarh and Bangarh, have attracted attention from the historians and archaeologists. Monumental monastic sites like Paharpur or Jagaddal have also their presence in this narrative, albeit from a particular perspective and perception of Buddhism and Brahmanism. The area of Dinajpur-Joypurhat of Bangladesh and its archaeology is the centre of attention in this short note. This area clearly falls within the hinterland zone between the two urban centres. Geomorphologically and geologically, the landscape of the area is characterized by the tectonically uplifted terrace known as Barind Tract cut and filled by later sediments transported by various rivers like Punarbhaba, Tangon, Karatoya, Atrai, Chhoto Jamuna, etc and their tributaries. The northern part of the Dinajpur District and Thakurgaon District is located on Teesta Maga Fan (TMF) with recent (>10000 yrs BP) alluvium. The ever changing dynamic characters of rivers in this region have had a considerable impact on the way the past of the human lifeways and societies should be addressed and understood. Unfortunately, this human and river entanglement has hardly been engaged with in the dominant history and archaeology of the region. New perspectives on the methodology and results The results and interpretations in this brief note have been attained by developing various methodologies and their contextualization in Bangladesh. Full-coverage/total surveying was conducted in each upazila by taking every mauza as a sampling unit. Pedestrian survey aided by remote sensing was principal modality of recognizing and recording the archaeological places and their classification. Proveniences of epigraphic records, sculptures and coins were carefully analyzed to understand the relation of archaeological records with other sources of historical interpretations. The excavations were conducted following Harris Matrix Method and it aimed at understanding the archaeological sites in their spatio-temporal context of transformation and continuity. This note is a summary of some of the key findings and their probable impact upon rethinking our taken-for-granted understanding of so called ‘minor’ sites. Consequently, this note cannot be able to incorporate all the details of arguments and interpretations of studies which are being conducted since last fifteen years.
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Full-coverage surveying and results2 District of Dinajpur has been under complete survey coverage. The following table represents the number of sites in each upazilas of the district.
2
Sl. no
Name of Upazila
the Number of sites
1.1.
Birampur
71
2.
Phulbari
70
3.
Nawabganj
123
4.
Hakimpur
42
5.
Ghoraghat
56
6.
Parvatipur
44
7.
Bochaganj
130
8.
Birganj
116
9.
Kaharole
89
10.
Biral
126
11.
Khansama
19
12.
Chirirbandar
42
13.
Dinajpur Sadar
22
Results of a few survey have been published as reports. See, Swadhin Sen, Khandakar Mehbubul Islam, Muhammad Kamal Hossen Akanda, Ahmed Sharif and Syed Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan, Survey Archaeology in the Margin: Construction and analysis of the initial database of the recognized and recorded archaeological data/places of present Biral Thana, Dinajpur of Northwestern part of Bangladesh. In M. M. Hoque, A. T. M. Atiqur Rahman and Seema Hoque (eds.) Selected Essays on History & Archaeology: Papers Presented in Memory of Professor. Abu Imam. Centre for Archaeology & Heritage Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2010; Flora Ferdousi, Swadhin Sen, A. K. M. Syfur Rahman and S. M. K. Ahsan, Report of the Microregional Survey at Panchbibi, Pratnatattva Vol. 18, 2012; Afroza Khan Mita and S. M. K. Ahsan, A Preliminary Report and Analyses of the archaeological prospection at Kshetlal Upazila, Joypurhat, District, Pratnatattva 14, 2008.
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950
Total:Total
Three upazila of Joypurhat District have been surveyed with full-coverage. Following is the tabular representation of their numbers: Sl No.
Upazila
Number of sites
1.
Kalai
47
2.
Kshetlal
39
3.
Panchbibi
42 128
Total:Total
Among these sites/places, those which were detected and recorded in Birampur, Fulbari, Nawabganj and Hakimpur Upazila of Dinajpur and Panchbibi, Kalai and Kshetlal Upzila of Joypurhat District have been chronologically categorized within a broad time bracket. It must be noted that many of the sites were continued to be used even after 13 th century CE. The table below shows the number of sites according the each chronological category:
Temporal Bracket
th
Pre-13 records
Post-16 records Total
th
NWB BRP
FLB
HKM
PHB
KTL
KLI
Total
century 113
47
55
27
36
30
41
350
century 10
24
15
15
06
09
06
85
70
70
42
42
38
47
436
126
The most difficult task was to devise a methodology for identifying the settlements and delineating their boundaries. On the basis of spatial analyses in GIS environment and on (Draft of the entry submitted for publication in History of Bengal project under Asiatic Society)
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satellite imagery and Google Earth, the degree of clustering was carefully and systematically measured and the settlement boundaries were identified. It must be noted that in absence of visible parameters of boundary, such as wall, fortification, organization of ponds, moat, rivers and palaeochannels, the interpretation of spatial distribution and patterning of each site/place was done and in that sense, the boundaries of those settlements are fuzzy and porous. Sixty six settlements have been detected in seven upazilas of Southern part of Dinajpur District and three upazilas of Joypurhat District. They are represented in following table with their extent and type. Sl. No
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Sl. No
Database code3
Name
Area (in Settlement hectare) type Semi-compact
11.
BRP.CLS.7
Deur
31.26
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
12.
BRP.CLS.8
Amail
17.54
Polygonal, Semi-compact
13.
BRP.CLS.9
Chapra
20.35
Polygonal, Semi-compact
14.
BRP.CLS.10
Baro Gopalpur
4.64
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
15.
BRP.CLS.11
Dhangora
2.48
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
16.
BRP.CLS.12
North Kadipur
5.48
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
17.
BRP.CLS.13
West Boidahar
8.79
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
18.
BRP.CLS.14
Birampur Garh
1.81
Rectangular, Nucleated
19.
FLB.CLS.1
Purba Bajitpur
2.75
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
20.
FLB.CLS.2
Saraswatipur
13.49
Pentagonal, Semi-compact
21.
FLB.CLS.3
Srikisnapur
12.73
Linear, Semicompact
22.
FLB.CLS.4
Pukuri
476.7
Semi-circular, Nucleated with satellites
23.
FLB.CLS.5
Narayan Madhab
6.168
Linear, Semi compact
24.
FLB.CLS.6
Jujhapur Sahara
50.69
Quardangular, Semi-compact
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Sl. No
Database code3
Name
Area (in Settlement hectare) type
25.
FLB.CLS.7
Jayanti
8.74
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
26.
FLB.CLS.8
ChintamonRahmatpur
20.96
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
27.
FLB.CLS.9
Amra Village
98.53
Semi-circular, Semi-compact
28.
FLB.CLS.10
Barai Chhay Pukur
1.64
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
29.
FLB.CLS.11
Choukiapara
237.1
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
30.
FLB.CLS.12
Jharkathipara
1.36
Linear, Semicompact
31.
FLB.CLS.13
Chourait
33.24
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
32.
FLB.CLS.14
Basudevpur Garh and 0.75 + 1.97 associated records
33.
FLB.CLS.15
Garh Govinda undetermined Nucleated (Phulbari Garh) with satellites
34.
NWB.CLS.1
Sitakot-Fatehpur Marash
54.93
Linear, Semi compact
35.
NWB.CLS.2
Manjapara
6.41
Semiquadrangular, Semi-compact
36.
NWB.CLS.3
Laugari
1.73
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
37.
NWB.CLS.4
Kusdaha
4.06
Linear, Semicompact
38.
NWB.CLS.5
Kundan-Horarpara
6.01
Semiquadrangular, Semi-compact
Nucleated with satellites, Quadrangular
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Sl. No
Database code3
Name
Area (in Settlement hectare) type
39.
NWB.CLS.6
Gunvihar
30.22
Semi-circular, Semi compact
40.
NWB.CLS.7
Dhiash-Tegora
20.60
Linear, semicompact
41.
NWB.CLS.8
Binondnagar
4.18
Semiquadrangular, Semi-compact
42.
NWB.CLS.9
Bhabanipur
21.41
Polygonal, Semi-compact
43.
NWB.CLS.10
Loka
10.47
Semi-circular, Semi-compact
44.
NWB.CLS.11
Khulshi (Tongisahar)
11.93
Polygonal, Semi-compact
45.
NWB.CLS.12
Khairghuni
92.33
Polygonal, Semi-compact
46.
NWB.CLS.13
Chak Junid
52.88
Semitriangular, Semi-compact
47.
NWB.CLS.14
Domile-Hasarpara
120.20
Semiquadrangular, Semi compact
48.
NWB.CLS.15
Harinathpur Bhita
49.
NWB.CLS.16
Jigagarh
16.52
Nucleated, Rectangular
50.
PHB.CLS.1
Uchai
158.15
Polygonal, Semi-compact
51.
PHB.CLS.2
Mohipur
104.59
Oval, Semicompact
52.
PHB.CLS.3
Panchgachhi
33.41
Polygonal, Semi-compact
Rajbari 10.20 +
Nucleated with satellites, Retangular
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Sl. No
Database code3
Name
Area (in Settlement hectare) type
53.
KTL.CLS.1
Rasulpur
88.39
Semi-circular, Semi compact
54.
KTL.CLS.2
Krisnanagar
52.89
Polygonal, Semi-compact
55.
KTL.CLS.3
Khetlal Baira
15.88
Polygonal, Semi-compact
56.. KTL.CLS.4
Khetlal
34.46
Polygonal, Semi-compact
57.
KTL.CLS.5
Kasba
10.92
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
58.
KTL.CLS.6
Dasara
73.84
Quadrangular, Semi-compact
59.
KTL.CLS.7
Ati
11.27
Polygonal, Semi-compact
60.
KTL.CLS.8
Banaich
21.78
Linear, Semicompact
61.
KLI.CLS.1
Salgun
155.47
Semi-circular, Semi-compact
62.
KLI.CLS.2
Haitor
93.70
Semi-circular, Semi-compact
63.
KLI.CLS.3
Duranju
46.94
Rectangular, Semi-compact
64.
KLI.CLS.4
Borai
40.81
Semi-circular, Semi-compact
65.
KLI.CLS.5
Baligram
319.04
Semi-circular, nucleated
66.
KLI.CLS.6
Kusumsara Roair
35.44
Linear, Semicompact
The sites in other upazilas of Dinajpur District are yet to be spatially and temporally analyzed and categorized on the basis of the datable artefacts. But the excavated sites in those areas (Draft of the entry submitted for publication in History of Bengal project under Asiatic Society)
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may shed light on their temporality. The settlement patterns and structures have been published.4 Summary of the findings in excavated sites Three sites were excavated earlier in the study area. A Brahmanical Temple was found at Baigram at Hakimpur and the temple was identified to be one of the temples which were mentioned in Baigram copper plate inscription, issued during the reign of Kumargupta, a late Gupta ruler, found from a pond in the vicinity. 5 Our surveying in surrounding area and surface collection indicate that the pottery belongs to the 8th -9th centuries CE. A hoard of cowry shells was also found by a local from a pit dug close to the excavated remains. Under these circumstances, it is very difficult to date the excavated remains to 4th -5th centuries CE. A small Buddhist vihara was excavated by the then Directorate of Archaeology, Bangladesh and it is known as Sitakot Vihara at Nawabganj Upazila in between the locations the settlements of Domile-Khairghuni and Charkari. The date of this monastic remains could be dated tentatively to 7th-8th century CE.6 Another Buddhist vihara was excavated at Arun Dhap in Nawabganj Upazila by the Directorate of Archaeology, Bangladesh in early 1980s. The report has not yet been published. The site is located within Chak Junid-Chakdiyanat Cluster. We have conducted excavations on following sites: Table: List of the Excavated Sites Sl. No
Site Name
1.
Tileshwarir Aara
2.
Domile Buddhist vihara 1 Domile Buddhist vihara 2 Domile Buddhist vihara
Swadhin Sen, Landscape Contexts of the Early Medieval Settlements in Varendri/Gauda: An Outline on the basis of Total Surveying and Excavations in Dinajpur-Joypurhat Districts, Bangladesh. Pratnasamiskha New Series, 2017. 5 Annual Report of Archaeological Survey of India (1934-35). Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi 6 Ahmed N. (ed.) (1979) Excavation. Bangladesh Archaeology 1(1): 21 – 91.
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Summaries about the results are as follows: Tileshwarir Aara: A structural mound in Chandipur-Garh Pinglai cluster/settlement at Birampur, Dinajpur. Excavations on this mound have revealed a Visnu Temple with its subsequent transformations into a space with possible shift in its nature and function. The
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report has already been published.7 With the support of chronometric dates, the stratigraphy of the site has been interpreted and its various periods and their chronology is given below: Table: Chronology of Tileshwari Aara
Period
Temporal frame
Level 1B
Mid to late part of 8th century CE
Level 1C
Early to late part of 9th century CE.
Level 1D
9th – 10th century CE
Level 2A
Later part of the 10th century CE
Level 2B
Later part of the 10th century to earlier part of 11th century CE
Level 3A
On around 11th – 12th century CE
Level 3B
On around 11th -12th century CE
Level 3C
12th – 14th , extended even to earlier part of the 15th century CE
The stratigraphy represents the transformation of the site and the associated settlement. Level 3A presents an event of destruction of the garbhagriha (sanctum) and refilling possibly during 2B. The event could be related to the local or sub-regional level political and religious events 7
Swadhin Sen, The Transformative Context of a Temple in Early Medieval Varendri: Report of the Excavation at Tileshwarir Aara in Dinajpur District, Bangladesh. South Asian Studies 34(1), 2015.
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of conflicts. The edifice as a Brahmanical ritual space, however, continued to be in use after the demolition and subsequent, reconstruction. But during period 3C, the nature and function of the structure completely changed. It is, however, not possible to determine the exact function of the structure at this period. The transformation of the place and the settlement in which the site is located hint at a dynamic history of the settlement. The settlement is located on the bank of an abandoned channel of present Chhoto Jamuna River. It is relevant to mention here that this river has been identified as the Jambu River referred to in the Damodarpur Copper Plater Inscriptions, found in the village of North Damodarpur in Phulbari Upazila in the vicinity. Domile-Hasarpara: This is another settlement in which systematic excavation and surveying have revealed a cluster of Buddhist Vihara (monasteries). The report of this excavation has been published. 8This settlement is situated in Domile of Nawabganj Upazila of Dinajpur District. The excavation of the first and second monastery has revealed following stratrigraphic chronology: Table: Chronology of Domile Buddhist Vihara 1 Period
Temporal Frame
Level 1
Not before 7th century, most probably from the early part to middle part of the 8th century CE
Level 2
Mid 9th century CE
Level 3
Not later than 12th century CE
Table: Chronology of Domile Buddhist Vihara 2 This Vihara was established possibly on around 10th -11th century CE
8
Swadhin Sen, Settlements on the Changing Alluvial Landscape in Early Medieval Varendri: Survey and Excavation in Domile-Khairghuni, Bangladesh. Man and Environment XL(2), 2015
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The third Buddhist Vihara was detected by robber trenches dug by the locals to the north of these two viharas. The second vihara was constructed after the establishment of the first one. This monastic settlement was associated spatially and chronologically with Khairghuni in which smaller mounds with temples, shrines and stupas are located. Both of these settlements are separated by an abandoned channel of Tulshiganga River. It was found that the settlement was, entirely or partly, abandoned because of the floods and changes in the courses of Tulshiganga-Nalshisha Rivers. Buddhist monasteries with smaller or moderate sizes are organized in Domile-Hasarpara settlement in clusters. In Nalanda, for example, the clustered organization of monasteries is found. Bowalar Mandap Mound: This particular mound is located in Charkai of Birampur Upazila on the bank of an abandoned channel of Asuli-Nalshisa Rivers. The preliminary report was published in 2014.9 The stratigraphy of the exposed Buddhist stupa-shrine is as follows: Table: Chronology of Bowalar Mandap Period
Temporal frame
Level 1
Not before 5th century CE
Level 2
7th – 8th century CE
Level 3A
Not before 10th – 11th century CE
Level 3B
12th century CE
Level 3C
11th – 12th century CE
Level 4
Possibly 13th century CE, could be extended upto 14th century CE
9
Swadhin Sen, Interpreting Transformation of Material Culture in reference to Stratigraphy: Report on the Excavation at Bowalar Mandap Mound, Birampur, Dinajpur, Bangladesh. Pratna Samiksa New Series 4, 2014.
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Like most of the archaeological places which have been excavated, the stratigraphy of this edifice hints at the transformations. From a Buddhist stupa-shrine, built upon a raised platform with cellular architectural style, it was transformed into a Brahmanical edifice. Interestingly, as the report of this excavation suggests, the Brahmanical edifice continued to exist after the the coming of the Turks and their conquest of the north Bengal in 1205-5 CE. The attempted journey of Bakhtyar Khilji to attack Tibet followed a path through the study area as has been proposed by A. K. M. Zakariah contesting the earlier propositions by Raverty and Bhattashali.10 In spite of this fact, the edifice continued to be used, indeed in a transformed and dilapidated state, possibly till 14th century CE. This edifice seems to be an isolated place. The settlement of Charkai, the core of which was a structural mound known as Chor Chakrabartir Dhap, was spatially associated with this edifice, lying 4 km away from the centre of the settlement. Exploratory excavation on Chor Chakrabartir Dhap, by Government Department of Archaeology, suggests that the mound contains a Buddhist Monastery. The stratigraphy also explicitly indicates that the edifice was constructed on the bank of a river within the flood zone. Contrary to the assumption that the human settlements in early Varendri was formed in a flood free zone, this settlement along with several others offer us a different perspective about human-landscape interrelation during this period when human settlements had to adapt with the floods11. Chak Junid-Chak Diyanat: This settlement is located at Daudpur of Nawabganj Upazila. Excavation on a smaller mound, locally known as Kaladugri Dhibi, among many others, revealed the base of the structure of a Brahmanical temple. The temple, as stratigraphy suggests, went through changes without changing its affiliation. The ground plan of the temple indicates that it was a temple with ratha projections. As the base was severely damaged by the brick hunting, it is very difficult to ascertain whether it as of saptaratha or navaratha variety according to Kalinga Style of temple architecture. According the testimony of the land owner, a gauripatta was found during the excavation of a small pit in front of this
10
A. K. M. Zakariah (1979) Ikhtiyar-Ud-Din Muhammad Bakhtyar’s Expedition to Tibet. Bangladesh Archaeology 1(1): 159 – 190. 11 Swadhin Sen, Landscape Contexts of the Early Medieval Settlements in Varendri/Gauda: An Outline on the basis of Total Surveying and Excavations in Dinajpur-Joypurhat Districts, Bangladesh. Pratnasamiskha New Series, 2017.
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temple. It could be assumed, therefore, that the temple was a Saiva one. The chronology of the periods is as follows:
Table: Chronology of Kaladugri Mound Period
Temporal Frame
Level 1
Not before 7th century CE
Level 2A
Within 8th – 10th century CE
Level 2B
Before 13th century and after 10th century CE
Level 2C
13th century CE
Interestingly, another mound within the same cluster/settlement was excavated by Government Department of Archaeology in early 1980s. This mound, locally known as Arun Dhap, has revealed the remains of a small Buddhist monastery. According to personal communication with the excavator, it was found that there was clear evidence of the transformation of the monastery and probably, at a later period it was changed into something that cannot be identified as a Buddhist edifice at all. As the report has not yet been published, it is difficult to authenticate his observations. The prevalent methodology of archaeological excavations in this part, except a few exceptions, does not give emphasis upon the stratigraphic understanding of a structure and hence, the transformations can hardly be understood. The settlement of Chak Junid-Chak Diyanat is located on the bank of an abandoned channel of present Karatoya River. Its location on the edge of the transitional zone between Barind Tract and Karatoya Flood Plain also suggests that the settlement was not located on a flood free landscape. Jhinai Khari Ghat: This large ghat (landing stage) is located on the left bank of Jhinai Khari, a tributary of Tulshiganga River, at Patharghata of Uchai, Pachbibi Upazila. A marjor portion of the ghat has been robbed by the local people. It seems that the ghat measured approximately 15 metres (north to south) and 12 metres (east to west). This ghat was detected (Draft of the entry submitted for publication in History of Bengal project under Asiatic Society) Page 16
accidentally as it was partially exposed because of the digging by the locals. The brick lain structure of the ghat with its size is extremely significant in the context of the remains of Patharghata (Uchai-Mahipur Cluster/settlement). The settlement is one of the largest among the delineated ones and it probably acted as a nodal settlement locality. Hundreds of curved and sculptured stone fragments are distributed on the surface of the Uchai Barzar and the adjacent area and stone blocks are also found on the bed of the river of Tulshiganga. Frequent occurrences of stone chips and unfinished curved stone blocks point at the manufacturing activity in the settlement. Several mounds are also located on a flood plain of Tulshiganga and Jhinai Khari, both of the streams are now abandoned and ephemeral. Our geoarchaeological investigations point to the change in hydraulogical regimes of the river more than twice and the incision of the river bed. Current channel of Jhinai Khari is too narrow to be corroborated by the existence of such a large landing stage. The sedimentological data which suggest a larger river with bigger competence and capacity is attested by the existence of this landing stage. The settlement, one of the function of which probably was a manufacturing site of stone blocks used with the brick built constructions, needed such landing stage as the unfinished stone blocks were probably transported here through riverine route from different query sites of Chhotonagpur Plateu. The analyses in the preliminary report on the survey of the area can be found in the published report.12 Belwa: The village of Belwa is located at Ghoraghat Upazila and it is famous as the find-spot of two copper plate inscriptions issued during the reign of the Pala kings Mahipala I and Vigrahapala III. The excavated mound was a huge one and it was partially robbed by the locals. The mound of Panur Dhibi in the settlement of Belwa is within a rectangular settlement clearly demarcated by the detectable remnants of a moat at four cardinal directions. The presence of any enclosure wall could not be detected during our surveying and excavation. Preliminary interpretation of the stratigraphy suggests that the earliest period was marked by the construction of a Brahmanical Temple with clearly differentiated space of sanctum and assembly hall with six pillar bases. The temple was approached from the east through brickbuilt pavements and solid platform, to which a stair was probably attached. Findings of a fragment of stone sculpture of Surya, a miniature bronze image of Ganesa and small fragments of sculptures of Visnu and Visnu Patta clearly suggest the Brahmanical affiliation 12
Flora Ferdousi, Swadhin Sen, A. K. M. Syfur Rahman and S. M. K. Ahsan, A Report of the Microregional Survey at Panchbibi, Pratnatattva 18, 2012.
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of the edifice. It is, however, difficult to determine the central deity of the edifice. The temple could be devoted to a central deity and subsequently, many other deities were appropriated within the sacred built space of the temple. The process of appropriation of other deities is not uncommon in the religious history of South Asia. As we do not have chronometric dates in reference to stratigraphy, the tentative date of the construction of the temple could be placed reliably between 10th and 11th centuries CE on the basis of other datable artifacts. Small solidly built platforms were added later to the northeast corner of the temple. The temple then went through a divisive shift possibly in two different phases. Three domestic furnaces, built on complete pots, were found attached to the western edge of the enclosure wall. Fragmentary remains of four other furnaces were associated with them. The presence of these furnaces and the change in the consecutive rammed floors hints at a major shift in the nature and function of the edifice. The change was more explicit during the next phase of the period during which the walls of the earlier temple were found to be broken and overlain by fillings of earth. More than 15 domestic hearths with the filling of charcoal and ash were found associated with mud floors and flimsy walls made of reused bricks. They all occurred within the space that was used as sanctum and assembly hall of the temple. Most importantly over 3000 pieces of stones were recovered from the deposits of this period. Varying in sizes, these pieces of stones with their shape and fractures suggest that they were the result of systematic and planned destruction of the stone pieces which were used as the pillar bases, pedestals and other components in earlier temple. This is a period of destruction and construction, a period of turning a religious edifice into a secular habitational space. The date of this period is not clear, as we do not have any radiometric dates till now. The easiest interpretations would be to point at the Turks for the acts of destruction, which is very popular and acceptable as an inferential framework. Without appropriating the most acceptable and popular inferences regarding the conversation of a sacred space into a secular one, the tentative date of this period, on the basis of pottery, hint at 13th-14th centuries CE. The last period of the place is marked by the presence of a thick rammed floor constructed upon a brick soling. The floors were found in patches because of the later brick hunting and destruction of the place by locals in last two decades. The tentative date could be during and after 14th century CE.
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It is, however, important to point at the importance of Ghoraghat as an administrative and political centre of Sultanate Bengal. The protected Suba Mosque and three important walled settlements – Goraghat Fort, Baro Paiker Garh and Raghunathpur Garh – are located in this territory. There are, moreover, several mazars and dargahs of peers in the vicinity of the excavated site. The excavated site and its spatial context at a larger scale can be very important to understand the transition from ‘Early Medieval’ to Medieval’ in northern part of Bangladesh. Without going into hasty generalizations, it must be mentioned that no significant changes in the material assemblages, especially in pottery were detected in our preliminary analyses. Some of the fabrics changed and also, occurrence of more domestic wares in later periods were noticeable. The glazed wares which are unquestionably taken as a marker of the beginning of medieval in Bengal were not found from the excavation. But a few sherds were found from other settlements in the vicinity and also, from the surface survey within the walled settlements referred to above. The settlement patterns seem to be changed very little during the period between fourteenth and seventeenth centuries CE. The nature of settlements changed, new settlements in the form of walled spaces emerged and several other places continued to be used and reused in different purposes during this period. Gopalpur: The settlement of Gopalpur is located in the Palsa Union of Ghoraghat Upazila. During the construction of an Eidgah by the locals, walls were detected and they were buried under thick deposits of sediments. During our excavation at Belwa, we cleaned the walls and it was found that the walls represent the remains of an artificial water reservoir. This artificial water reservoir was renovated once, and scattered potsherds were detected on the surface and around the walls. These potsherds were dumped by the locals during their collection of mud. The water reservoir is within the perimeter of the settlement of Gopalpur and the boundary is marked by the remnants of a moat which is filled and cultivated at different locations. As most of the other archaeological places in this settlement of Gopalpur have been destroyed, the artificial water reservoir stands as the only plausible signature in order to tentatively place this settlement within a chronological bracket. On the basis of pottery, which was probably dumped after the abandonment of the place, the date of the reservoir can be placed within 10th and 12th century CE. (Draft of the entry submitted for publication in History of Bengal project under Asiatic Society) Page 19
Local respondents informed that several sculptures and sculptural fragments were found during the digging of the place. It was not possible to identify the whereabouts of these sculptures. After getting an idea about the settlements in the southern part of present Dinajpur District and Joypurhat District, full-coverage surveying was conducted in the northern part. Most of the area in the northern part of Dinajpur District is covering the geomorphological unit of Teesta Mega Fan (TMF). The sediments of this geomorphological unit belong the Holocene and the rivers cutting through the fan are more dynamic than the southern part as has been detected from the presence of numerous abandoned channels. The analysis of the spatial organization and patterning of the sites in this area have not yet been completed. Several sites have have been excavated to understand the stratigraphy and chronology of the settlement formation on this extremely dynamic landscape unit. The reports of these excavations are yet to be published in scholarly manner. Summaries of the findings of these excavations are as follows:
Basudevpur: A mound, locally known as Itakura Mura, was excavated at Bochaganj Upzila. The mound is situated at Basudevpur on the bank of an ephemeral channel known as Sua. The excavation exposed structural assemblages of two distinct periods. A Buddhist temple was found to be converted into a Brahmanical (Saiva?) temple in later period. Earlier Buddhist temple was associated stratigraphically with several small stupa with crematory remains. Circular brick-built bases of these stupas were to the west, just after the entrance into the temple and outside the enclosure wall to the east. These sharirika stupas to the west were covered with think deposit of sand and overlain by a rammed floor for the later temple. The sanctum of the later temple was placed directly above the sanctum of the earlier temple. Stone pieces from the earlier temple were also reused in the later temple. Interestingly, in association with the Sharirika stupa a small Siva lingam was found. Pot with charred bones and ashes were also found from the first period along with terracotta plaque of the Buddhist god Yamantaka and Brahmanical god Surya. The deposits associated with the later temple revealed terracotta plaques from both Buddhist and Brahmanical Pantheon. It seems that the transformation of the sacred space from a Buddhist one, possibly a place importance for Tantric Buddhism, into a sacred space, possibly belonging to Tantric Saivism, was gradual. The appropriation of various ritualistic spaces related to Buddhism by various (Draft of the entry submitted for publication in History of Bengal project under Asiatic Society) Page 20
dominant Brahmanical sects is not unique, as far as the textual and other sources suggest. But archaeological evidence, with stratigraphically informed data, points at the gradual processes of appropriation and rejection in reference to an entire temple and associated remains is not very common in Bengal. The Buddhist temple seems to be an isolated one, dissociated from any monastic establishment. The dominant idea that Buddhism was confined mainly within the samghas of various monastic establishments can be questioned by this discrete location of the temple. It also hint at the circulation of tantric/esoteric Buddhism among the laity. On the basis of pottery and other artifacts, for example, the style of the terracotta plaques, it might be suggested that the earlier temple was built on around 10th -11th century CE. The later Brahmanical temple was constructed on around 12th- 13th century CE or later. A lastest period was identified in stratigraphic analyses. This period is marked by the partial use of the rammed floor of the later temple for iron smelting purposes. Occurrence of iron slags with huge deposits of charcoal and ash attest to this later use of the religious edifice. Maherpur Mound: This mound is one of the smaller mounds organized in a linear pattern on the bank of an abandoned channel in Chhatoil Union of Bochaganj. Close to the Maherpur bazar, a structure was identified accidentally when we were conducting excavation at Itakura Mura. The landowner was levelling the mound for agricultural purposes and after getting the information about exposure of a brick-built structure, local administration informed us to assess the remains. It was found that a Brahmanical temple was exposed by the digging of the land owner. Although we were able to protect the structure and tried our best to record the exposed remains, it was not possible to understand the stratigraphy of the mound. The small temple consists of a sanctum, now preserved as a solid square brick built structure with a square assembly hall to the east. The edifice was enclosed by a wall the base of which was detected in different places. From the ground plan, it could be assumed that there was a shikhara type superstructure above the sanctum and the roof of the assembly hall could be with shikhara or flat roofed. This style closely resembles the Kalinga Style of Temple Architecture flourished in Orissa and spread in Bengal and other parts. The date of the temple could be placed, on stylistic ground, in between 11th -13th centuries CE.
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Madhabgaon: Madhabgaon Buruj Dhibi, a mound in Kaharol Upazila was excavated and a Brahmanical temple with nava-ratha style was discovered. This huge structure composed of a garbhagriha or sanctum with a santum sanctorium of 4 sq. m. in size. The mandapa with four pillar bases were attached to the east of the sanctum. The entrance into the mandapa was through a staircase which was attached to a solid brick built structure of rectangular size. The stair is destroyed. The nava-ratha variety is a category of deul type temples of Kalinga Style. The main superstructure over the sanctum was a curvilinear rekha and a pida was capping the mandapa. Perhaps, the most stratigraphically important evidences from this excavation are the signatures of a palaeoseismic event. Various signatures in the form of fracture, twisting, slanting, etc. on different parts and components of the entire edifice. On the basis of the analyses on palaeoseismology by the French Archaeological Mission at Mahasthan, the date of this earthquake could tentatively be placed on around 1255 CE. The edifice was reused by completely covering the mandapa with a thick rammed floor and by blocking the the pavement into the sanctum. It seems that there was no superstructure made of permanent construction material at this period of use of this edifice. The function of the structure could also be changed. This period could be dated tentatively to the end of 13th century CE. Stylistically, the construction of this Brahmanical temple could tentatively be dated to 11th – 12th century CE. Bheloya: According to A. K. M. Zakariah, Bheloya, in Kaharol Upazila, possessed several mounds and archaeological deposits in late 1960s. Our survey could not detect any of them except a portion of a mound which is now a place of a small locally built temple. Zakariah had reported the finding of Jain, Brahmanical and Buddhist sculptures from this settlement of Bheloya. We could also found the remnants of a ghat (small landing stage) on the bank of a pond which was covered by a rammed floor during a later period. Interestingly, base of two votive/sharika stupa were found to the edge of this ghat. The sculpture of Risavanatha, a jain Tirthankara is now being displayed in Dinajpur museum. The other sculptures reported by Zakariah could not be traced in the museum collection. Probably, they were looted during the liberation war in 1971. This settlement represents the intermingling of religious traditions as has been attested by the sculptural findings. The Buddhist or Jain affiliation is proved by the
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presence of the bases of stupas. The Brahmanical appropriation can not be brushed aside on the basis of the archaeological evidence from other excavated sites referred to above. Bishnupur: The village of Bishnupur, at Birol Upazila, possesses several archaeological places lying in a linear pattern on the bank of a abandoned channel called Parulganga. Bishnupur Mound 2 (Burir Than) is the latest excavated site by our team. The data from this excavation is still to be analyzed. On the basis of preliminary observation, it could be said that a temple complex has been revealed through this excavation in 2017. The stratigraphy also is very interesting. The earlier brick built structure was a Buddhist one as far as the ground plan of the main edifice suggests. Six solid brick built platforms were attached to the enclosure wall during the second phase of the occupation. The central edifice of the Buddhist temple was destroyed and a Brahmanical temple of sapta ratha variety was constructed at that place. This Brahmanical temple resembles the temple of Madhagaon in its ground plan, but it is smaller in size. Terracotta plaques found from this two periods represent depiction of erotic postures by male figures. After the abandonment or later destruction of the site, the eastern and southeastern part of the space was used for habitational purposes as has been attested by the presence of mud floors, furnace like structures (?), storage jars with lime lumps and a pit filled with discarded pottery belonging to 14th -15th century and onward. Importantly, the mazar of Muluk Dewan is just 200m to the east of this mound. During our surveying, it was found that the structure of the mazar, which has been renovated later, was possibly built upon an earlier structure the nature of which is uncertain. The mazar of the peer could belong to the 14th century or later. In that case, the archaeological place of excavated structures along with the settlement that included the mazar provides a very crucial record of transformation of religious nature and affiliation of the place. Further analyses of the excavated remains and the spatial patterns of the places might shed light on the complex politico-religious history of this particular area.
Provenance of epigraphic sources and their correspondence to archaeological materials Geographical provenance of the copperplate inscriptions and the analogy of the administrative units are debated issues for a considerable period of time. Late Gupta period copper plate inscriptions were found from Damodarpur (now the village of North Damodarpur in the vicinity of Chandipur-Garhpinglai settlement), and Baigram in Hakimpur (Draft of the entry submitted for publication in History of Bengal project under Asiatic Society) Page 23
Upazila. Biyala Copper plate inscription was recovered from the village of Biyala in Kalai Upazila. The find-spot of Silimpur inscription is just to the adjacent village of Biyala. Chaprakot Stone Inscription was found from Lohanipara which is located in Badarganj Upzila of Rangpur in the vicinity of the settlement of Kusdaha. Rajbhita Stone Inscription was found from the site of Rajbhita close to Basudevpur in Bochaganj, though that site is now within the jurisdiction of Peerganj Upzila of Thakurgaon. The copper plate inscription of Ishwarghosa was found from Shibganj of Ranisankail. It is not possible at this moment to identify the exact location of the find-spot owing to frequent changes and redefinition of administrative units during colonial and post-colonial periods. The location might be close to the Shibganj of present North Dinajpur District in West Bengal, India. But it has to be checked in reference to the history of changes in administrative units and archaeological contexts.
There are references to Kotivarsa Visaya and Panchanagari Visaya in the
inscriptions found from the study area. There is also reference to Phanita-Bithi Visaya. Gallitipyaka Visaya has been mentioned in the Shibganj CPI. The geographical delineation of Kotivarsa Vishaya is much clearer than the other administrative units referred to in the inscriptions issued during the reign of ‘Gupta’ and ‘Pala’rulers. The archaeological site of Bangarh (later, Devkot) is identified as Kotivarsha of historical times. This particular vishaya (probably equivalent to present district) was around this urban centre. Its eastern boundary has been identified by Zakariah13 as the Chhoto Jamuna River. And, the course of Asuli River was probably the northern boundary. His observations are more likely to be accurate. However, the location and boundary of Panchanagari Vishaya are much debated issue. Sircar14 thinks that Panchanagari denotes the same city that was called Pentapolis by Ptolemy. Vayigrama of Baigram copper plate inscription is identical to present Baigram15. He found no doubt in identifying this city with present Panchbibi of Joypurhat district. Morrison has agreed with this identification16. However, Zakariah has refuted these identifications with a very detailed argument17. He thinks that Panchanagari is definitely the Pentapolis of Ptolemy and Pentapolis means the existence of five cities. He has identified these five cities in present Birampur Upazila. They are: 1. The first city occupied the place around Chor 13
A. K. M. Zakariah, Bangladesher Pratnasampad, second edition. Divyaprakash, Dhaka, 2011. D. C. Sircar, Two Pala Plates from Belwa, Epigraphia Indica XXIX: 1-13, 1951. 15 Morrison, B. M. (1980) Political Centres and Cultural Regions in Early Bengal, Rawat Publications, Delhi. 16 Morrison, Ibid, 30. 17 Zakariah, Ibid, 103-104 14
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Chakrabartir Dhap. It extended to the north, south and east of this site and covered an area of approximately four square kilometers. 2. The second one covered an area on the west of this city up to present Chhoto Jamuna and included present railway station, town and market. 3. The third one starts from the railway crossing and extends up to the present Birampur degree college. It covered almost eight square kilometer area. 4. the area to the east of Birampur Garh was the location of the fourth city. 5. The fifth city was located in Mirzapur area. He contends that the entire city of Panchanagari has covered an area of more than 40 square kilometers. On the basis of Belwa copper plate inscriptions, Zakariah thinks that after the demise of Mahipala I, this administrative unit lost its importance. 18 However, I think that a city covering more than 40 square kilometers seems to be an overstatement. The idea of urbanism and city, as it has been accepted and repeatedly reproduced in the works of the scholars including Zakariah is founded upon the already rejected parameters of urbanism propagated by Gordon Childe. Zakariah included present Nawabganj Upazila, Ghoraghat Upazila, Panchbibi Upazila, Kshetlal Upzaila, and the area to the east of Chhoto Jamuna River in Birampur and Hakimpur Upazila, area to the west of present Karatoya River in Govindaganj Upzaila, and part of Joypurhat Sadar Upazila within this vishaya.19 From the archaeological evidences on settlements, it seems that there is not a single settlement which can undoubtedly be identified as a ‘nagari’ or as a city or as an urban centre. Since the survey coverage in the region is far from being complete, it would not be plausible to say that there was no ‘nagari’ in the region. But the nature and structure of the settlements hint at the nonexistence of any such urban centre in the area considered as Panchanagari Visaya. Existence of five cities would be very much speculative. Rather, Chattopadhyaya thinks that ‘nagari’ as a suffix to Pancha might have been used to designate five settlements to denote the prosperity and authority of those settlements in the regional settlement networks. 20 The indication of the granted lands in Kotivarsa Visaya in the Kalai inscription of Mahipala I raises serious problem regarding the delineation of southern boundary of Kotivarsa and Panchanagari as two separate administrative units. Present location of Kalai makes it apparent that according to this inscription, if the find-spot is considered as the primary context of the record, Kotivarsha Visaya, with its main urban centre in present Bangarh, had 18
Zakariah, Ibid, 103 Zakariah, Ibid, 104. 20 B. D. Chattopadhyaya, personal communications. 19
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overlapped with Panchanagari Visaya. That is impossible in terms of the delineation of any administrative boundary. With the present state of knowledge it not possible to say anything regarding the southern boundary of this unit. The accepted practice of considering the findspots of the inscriptions as the primary context must be critically examined and questioned. It must be remembered that inscriptions on copper plates and stone slaps are movable artefacts like coins and coin hoards. They, as a document of ownership and property rights, moved a distance often. Another point regarding the anomaly of find-spots and administrative boundaries could be the fluidity of the ‘boundary’ and ‘territoriality’ in early Bengal which was not as fixed and immutable as it is in modern nation-states. Phanita-Bithi Visaya is identified as the village of Pantitual or Panitola on the bank of Karatoya by Sircar.21 Following Sircar, Morrison could not identify this place.22 But through this study the demarcation of the boundary is impossible right now. But the area of this visaya can tentatively be placed to the southeastern side of both of the above visayas. Gallitipyaka visaya, referred to in the CPI of Isvarghosa, probably included the present region of Birol, Bochaganj, Birganj Upazila of Dinajpur and Thankurgaon District during 11th -12th centuries. Zakariah has pointed to another name of city – Bardhankut – referring to Tabqat-i-Nasiri by Minhaj i Siraj23. In his way to expedition to Tibet, Ikhtyar al-Din Bakhtyar, Minhaj described, came from Devkot to Bardhankut and faced the mighty river that has been identified as Karatoya at that time. The identification of present Badhankot of Govidaganj to the east of Hakimpur Thana of the study area, according to Zakariah, is inaccurate. This Bardhankot became well-known in colonial period because of the zaminders of this place. Zakariah pointed to a stone slab inscription found from Chaprakot or Lohanipara of present Badarganj Thana of Rangpur District from a structural mound that has been identified as a Buddhist Vihara by him. Lohanipara area is located to the northeast of present study area. The inscription, presently under the jurisdiction of Bangladesh National Museum, was partially read by R. K. Sharma and the findings were presented in a seminar at Faridpur in 1978 by K. M. Miser24. Mention of the genealogy of a dynasty with several names – Amshu Vardhana, S/o, Vikram Vardhana, grandson of Paikha Vardhana and great grand son of 21
Sircar, Ibid, 11. Morrison, Ibid, 45. 23 A. K. M. Zakariah, Ikhtiyar-Ud-Din Muhammad Bakhtyar’s Expedition to Tibet, Bangladesh Archaeology 1(1): 159 – 190, 1979. 24 A. K. M. Zakariah, Ibid.: 180 22
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Sridhar Vardhana – were noted by the writer of the paper. Zakaria thinks that city of Bardhankut was associated with the kings of this dynasty and the city was one of the cities of Panchanagari. However, Mukherji has deciphered this inscription and he thinks that this inscription was issued during the reign of Pala King Gopala IV (c. 1128-1143 CE).25 He corrected the previous reading and clarified that ‘a mahaVihara’ was built by Sri Amsu Vardhana and the reading of the name Paikha Vardhana is wrong. Instead of Paikha Vardhana it would be Pahila Vardhana. Furui reedited the inscription and suggested that Kalyanavardhana, a subordinate ruler under the Gopala IV, constructed the Mahavihara in the vicinity of a lake.26 Although Furui suggested the location of the mahavihara at present Lohanipara, the exact location could be identified as the main mound of the Lohanipara cluster of mounds which consists of at least seven mounds according to our survey in that zone. Zakariah has identified the mahavihara in this main mound and presented a tentative drawing of the monastery.
27
Interestingly, Lohanipara cluster/ settlement is situated on the
left bank of the Jamuneshwari River which is known in the downstream as Karatoya River. The floodplain of Karatoya River has numerous signatures of the lateral migration of the rivers. Several signatures of back-swamps are known locally as beel (low land which is flooded during the monsoon). The floodplain itself was flooded during the pick summer monsoon giving the impressions of large waterbody. Epigraphic reference to another two place names must be mentioned here. Sircar identified Chanda-grama, mentioned in the third Damodarpur Copperplate Inscription of 163 GE is the same as Chandagrama Visaya referred to in two copper plate inscriptions of Gopala II28. Furui contends that if this identification is accurate, it may indicate the growth of a settlement into an administrative unit.29 Chandipur of present Birampur Thana could be the Chandigram and Garh Pinglai-Chandipur settlement with its archaeological remains could attest to the resemblance between the two. 25
S. C. Mukherji, Bangladesh National Museum Stone Slab Inscription of King Gopala IV (?), Journal of Bengal Art 6: 61-64, 2001 26 Ryosuke Furui, Chaprakot Stone Inscription of the Time of Gopala IV, year 9. In Alamgir Muhammad Serajuddin, Nazrul Islam, Sultana Shafee, Syed Manzoorul Islam and Syed Mohammad Shaheed (eds), Centenary Commemorative Volume (1913-2013), Dhaka: Bangladesh National Museum, 2013 27 Zakariah, Ibid, 156-157. 28 D. C. Sircar, Select Inscriptions bearing on Indian History and Civilization, Vol. 1; from the sixth century BC to sixth century AD (reprint), Asian Humanities Press, Delhi, 1986, p. 333. S. C. Mukherji, Two New Copper-plate Inscriptions (Nos. 1 and 2) of King Gopala II, Pala dynasty of Bengal and Bihar, regnal year 4 (circa 878 AD), Pratnasamiksha 6-8: 71-80, 1997-99. Ryosuke Furui, Re-reading Two Copper Plate Inscriptions of Gopala II, year 4. In Mevissen, G. J. R. and Banerji, A. (eds.) Prajnadhara: Essays in Honour of Gouriswar Bhattacharya, Kaveri Books, Delhi, pp. 319-330, 2008. 29 Furui, Ibid, 323.
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Sircar mentioned another place – Sravasti – in reference to Silimpur Stone Inscription and according to him, it is supposedly falls in vicinity of present Hili-Balurghat area of South Dinajpur District, West Bengal, India.30 This was a location of several Brahmanical centres in Varendri and Tarkari was one of them. Hili is included within the present study area, but nothing could be said archaeologically about this place and the centre. The settlement of Baligram in Kalai could be the village of Balagrama mentioned in the Silimpur Inscription. It is, however, important to mention that the settlement could be dated earlier than the date of Silimpur Inscription in which the formation of a Brhamanical settlement has been mentioned. In the light of the provenance of Silimpur Stone Inscription, the location of the Brahmanical settlement of Sravasti, as has been argued by Sircar, can be problematized. The settlement of Sravasti could be located in other places, as there is no such large settlement in the Hilli-Balurghat area. The location of the settlement must be sought by correlating archaeological and epigraphic data. Summary of observations: It is not possible to elaborate upon various facets of complex and multilayered interpretations on the basis of the findings of the fieldwork in northwestern part of Bangladesh in this note. On the basis of the result of full-coverage surveying and excavations following key observations, however, can be summarized: 1. There is overt discrepancy between the epigraphic sources of ‘Late Gupta’ period from the study area and archaeological materials. Not a single site with reliable material evidence has been found to be dated to 4th -5th century CE. The idea of a ubiquitous presence of Gupta settlements in this area has to be rethought on the basis of archaeological evidence. It must be remembered that the inscriptions are portable artefacts and they could be used at later times as a document of legal claims over the land. This is not to say that there were no settlements in that period in this area. We have to consider the dynamic alluvial landscape context and its transformations, preservation state of perishable construction materials used to build the habitations and the huge proliferation of settlement building activating on around 7th century CE. All of these factors were not very suitable for detectable preservation of the smaller and sporadic rural settlements of that particular period. 30
D. C. Sircar, Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India (reprint), Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1990, pp. 294-298.
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2. Habitational remains have not been found belonging to pre-13th century period. Most of the detected sites of this period are structural mounds. The habitational remains did not survive in the conditions of alluvial environment. It is, however, important to point out that the religious establishments were the core around which the settlements formed and developed at this period. 3. The settlement formation activities had a visible proliferation in the southern part on around 7th-8th century CE. The reasons for the sudden rise in the number and extent of settlements are yet to be explained convincingly. It cannot simply be explained in terms of migration of Brahmins, stability of landscape and assimilation of indigenous population. These problems pose an interesting question regarding the accepted sociopolitical history of Varendri/Gauda, as a sub-region. 4. Artificial waterbodies or ponds were entangled to the settlements and their boundaries. Many of the settlement boundaries are still discernable on the basis of the spatial patterning of ponds. In conventional archaeological practice, the ponds are not given any importance as archaeological site/place. Our study show that the ponds could be recorded systematically and they can be analyzed in contextual association with other archaeological sites/settlements. 5. No settlement can be identified in reference to their religious affiliation, like Brahmanical, Buddhist, Muslim, etc. It is because of the fact that stratigraphy of the excavated sites and the surface collections of pottery from other sites suggest the transformation of religious affiliation both vertically and horizontally. 6. Sizes of several settlements are much larger than the urban centres of Mahasthangarh and Bangarh. The parameters of urban centres or cities as proposed by Gordon Childe have long been rejected by archaeologists and historians. It seems that many of the sites are rural in the sense of the construction materials of their habitations and their other characteristics. The differentiation of production is not always represented by the material culture. Yet, some of the places have high density of settlements (i.e. the 20 km zone on the bank of Nalshisha-Asuli Rivers). These settlements with their attributes and spatial organization suggest that zones as such much be elaborated with factors, parameters and processes which transgress the binary division between the rural and the urban. The definition of the urban and the rural, therefore, has to be rethought in the context of archaeology of northwestern part of Bangladesh. 7. The role and function of Buddhist samgha must be rethought on the basis of our findings. The term monastery is a misnomer and it homogenizes the differences (Draft of the entry submitted for publication in History of Bengal project under Asiatic Society) Page 29
among mahavihara, vihara and viharikas. Though it is not possible to differentiate between vihara and viharika on the basis of archaeological and epigraphic sources, it seems that viharika was a distinct variety and it might have been smaller than the vihara’s or might have been used for bhikhunnis. At the same time, the taken for granted assumption about the Buddhist ‘monasteries’ as a secluded space confined only for learning and meditation of the renunciant monks already been questioned by other scholars.31 On the basis of textual, archaeological and ephigraphic sources, new ideas and narratives have emerged. It is evident that many small viharas were built right upto to 12th century CE in this study area. Several viharas, at the same time, were transformed, abandoned, appropriated completely or partially. Riverine dynamics and changes in conjunction with socio-political and religious processes acted simultaneously in the complex social processes. The Buddhist samgha had to maintain and negotiate with the laity in close association. The evidence also point at their essential role in the agrarian processes of reclamation hitherto uncultivated land for cultivation, irrigation management and consequent expansion of settlements. They had to interact directly with the management of flood which was regular during ISM (Indian Summer Monsoon). The Brahmanical religious centres and institutions, as it seems from the spatial patterns of excavated and detected Brahmanical edifices also acted as the core of the settlement formation process and concurrent, expansion of agrarian and exchange networks, transgressing the sub-regional boundaries which were fluid and changing. Several important historical aspects could be rethought and interpreted in accordance with these enumerations. The social and political processes were not simply developmental and linear, homogenous and fixed. Patronage from the kings was as significant as the patronage from the samantas. Community level initiative and management were crucial for the sustenance of the critical components of the settlements like ponds and irrigation system. It is assumed that ‘Buddhist’ religious edifices are essentially and spatially associated with samgharamas. The discovery of the temples in Bochaganj and in Birol challenges this accepted notion and they point at the development of ‘Buddhist’ religious institutions independently from samgharmas. The penetration of various Buddhist traditions deep into the common people or in laity is attested by these isolated monuments.
31
See for example, Gregory Schopen, Indian Monastic Buddhism: Collected Papers on Textual, Inscriptional and Archaeological Evidence. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, New Delhi, 2010.
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8. The transition from the ‘ancient’ to the ‘medieval’ was not as straightforward and spatio-temporally homogenous even within this small spatial unit of early Varendri/Gauda. The stratigraphy of Belwa and associated `early medieval’ and ‘medieval’ archaeological remains of Ghoraghat Upazila clearly point at the fact that the boundary demarcation between the ‘ancient’ and ‘medieval’ in Bengal by the coming of the Turks on around 1204/5 CE is deeply problematic. Other settlements with their transformations and continuity, both horizontally and vertically, problematizes the boundary, and the social, economic and political processes which are assumed to be drastically changed within the framework of such periodizing categories. Indeed, new settlements formed and developed, several settlements changed their nature and at the same time, several settlements continued to exist, even with their earlier religious affiliations. 9. If the findings are approached from the perspectives of the archaeology of religions and rituals, new questions can be raised. The ways in which labels such as ‘Buddhism’, ‘Hinduism’ and ‘Tantric Buddhism’ are being normalized and applied in history writing can not be validated in the light of the analyses of the findings. As has already been shown, the term ‘Hindu’ denoting a group adhering to particular set of traditions came to be used on around 14th -15th centuries CE.32 The same could be applicable to an umbrella term like ‘Buddhism’ which is much later in origin during the colonial period.33 The dichotomy between ‘religion’ and ‘cult’ as reflecting ‘great traditions’ and ‘little traditions’ respectively is also problematic. The stratigraphy of the excavated sites in northern part of Dinajpur District point to the complex interactions among various religious traditions. The influence of Saiva Tantric traditions on Buddhist ones are clearly demarcated.34 The appropriation of a sacred space affiliated to Buddhist traditions gradually, first, by Brahmanical traditions and secondly, by Islamic traditions is attested by the stratigraphy and spatial extent of the excavated and surveyed sites at Bishnupur. I propose, on the basis of archaeological interpretations of rituals and religions, that religious traditions and their complex interrelationship of power, patronage and property in terms of appropriation, 32
David N. Lorenzen, Who invented Hinduism? Essays in Religion in History. Yoda Press, New Delhi, 2006. Philip Almond, The British Discovery of Buddhism, Cambridge University Press, 2007. 34 Alexis Sanderson, The Śaiva Age: The Rise and Dominance of Śaivism during the Early Medieval Period. In Shingo Einoo (ed.) Genesis and Development of Tantrism. Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, 2009. Institute of Oriental Culture Special Series, 23, pp. 41-350. Also, Alexis Sanderson, The Influence of Shaivism on Pala Buddhism. A Lecture delivered in The University of Chicago, 2010. http://chiasmos.uchicago.edu/2009-2010/southasia-100301-sanderson.shtml (for the audio of the lecture). 33
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exclusion, contestation and reconfigurations could be a domain that could be explored in further details in future works. 10. In contrast to the dominant historical narratives, the archaeological settlements and their transformations do not universally point toward the universal extinction of Buddhism from early Varendri (and from Bengal). It is true even in the context of the fact of the expansion of sacred spaces and monuments which are affiliated to Brahmanical traditions, especially in northern part of the study area covering Teesta Megafan during and after 11th -12th centuries CE. Several of these ‘Buddhist’ edifices continued even after the 13th century CE. The accepted wisdom about the extinction of various Buddhist traditions from the region has been questioned already by various scholars35. The question of where did all these people affiliated to various traditions of ‘Buddhism’ go has to be addressed within a frame of reference of the complex articulations of religious traditions in this sub-region and in, Bengal.
-Swadhin Sen
35
Giovanni Verardi, Hardship and downfall of Buddhism in India, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2011.
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Report "Sites and settlements of the hinterland zone in the part of Varendri/Gauda, Northwestern Bangladesh"