Dr. Md.

Shafiqul Alam Director, Department of Archaeology Bangladesh is heir to a very rich cultural legacy, despite the various destructive activities of nature and man over centuries. In its over two millennia of chequred history splendid cities, palaces, temples, stupas, monasteries, mosques, mausoleums, roads, bridges etc. were created by various dynasties, dignitaries and even commoners. These are the unmistakable source for the reconstruction of human history of this fertile delta. But unfortunately a large number of those establishments have disappeared with the passage of time. Still the surviving relics are not less than 2000 which spread throughout the country. Department of Archaeology owns 391 such relics which have been declared as protected monuments under the provisions of the Antiquities Act. 1968 (Amended in 1976). Of them Paharpur Buddhist Monastery and Bagerhat group of monuments have been included on the World Cultural Heritage List and Mahasthan, Mainamati, Sitakot Vihara, Kantaji Temple and Gaur Group of monuments are in the tentative list. Other famous sites are Vasu Bihar, Bihar Dhap, Mongolkot, Bharat Bhayna, Harishchandras Palace, Baro Bazar group of monuments, Baga Mosque, Kushmba Mosque, Hatikumrul Temples, Panam City and so on. Short description of some major archaeological sites is as follow : Mahasthangarh : Situated in village Mahasthan of Shibganj thana under Bogra district the extensive site represents the wreckage of an ancient city (4th century BC. to 16th century AD.) called Pundranagara. It is oblong (1.523 km X 1.371 km) in shape enclosed by high rampart with thick brick wall. Inside the fort, remnants of temples, stupas, mosques, tombs and residential complexes at random are still visible. A large number of movable antiquities have also been salvaged from the site. They include silver punch marked coins, copper cast coins, rouletted ware, NBPW, Black slipped ware, Black and Red Ware, beads of semiprecious stones, terracotta plaques, toys, sculptures, objects of every day use and so on. But by far the most important one is a Brahmi inscriptional slab datable to the 3rd century BC. Suburbs were developed in a vast area around the fortified city excepting the east. A large number of monuments, mounds and water reservoirs testify to that. A few of them namely Vasu Bihara, Bihar Dhap, Gokul Medh, Mongalkot, Salvan Rajar Bari, Govinda Bhita, Godai Barir Dhap have been excavated in last few decades. There is a small site museum near the northeast corner of the fort. Lalmai Mainamati : An extraordinary rich cultural assemblage of Buddhist period spreads over the Lalmai-Mainamati hill range which stretches through the middle of the Meghna basin in Comilla district of Bangladesh. The northern part of this hill range is known as Mainamati while its southern part as Lalmai. The 16

km long range lies about 8 km west of Comilla town. This range was inhabited by the people in the remote past. The cultural evidence of the people of both prehistoric times as well as of historic period are abundant. Though the prehistoric evidence is less known and has been identified recently but the historic archeology is well known for a period of more than a century. Of the prehistoric remnants only the Neolithic artifacts of fossilized woods have been discovered from the southern part of the hill range. These artifacts consist of axe, splayed axe, adze, chisel, flake, blade etc. The entire range was thickly populated during the historical period as indicated by the discovery of a large number of Buddhist monasteries, temples , stupas on the crest, slope and foot of the hills ranging between 6th and 13th century of the Christian era. Amongst these Salvan Vihara, a large monastery with a central shrine in the courtyard near Mainamati Museum, Kutila Mura, a group of stupas, Charpatra Mura, a small temple, Rupban Mura, a small monastery and a temple, Itakhola Mura, another monastery and a temple site, Bhoj Vihara, a large monastery with a central temple in the courtyard, Queen Mainamati's Palace Mound and Latikot Mura have been excavated. Besides, Anada Vihara, the largest monastery in the area with a large central shrine has been partly exposed. From these excavated sites a large number of movable objects have been recovered which include Hindu and Buddhist sculptures, coins, objects of daily use, terracotta plaques, carved bricks ornaments, potteries, metallic utensils, seals and sealings, copper plates etc. On stylistic ground they may be dated in the circa 6th-13th century AD. Scholars are of opinion that there lie the ruins of a southeastern Bengali capital Devaparvata by name in a corner of the hill range. There was another capital Joykarmantavasaka in an adjoining corner of the range. Phaharpur Situated in the heartland of 'Varendra', comprising the northern districts of Bangladesh, the extensive ruins of Paharpur, originally known as Somapuri Vihara, is undoubtedly the most spectacular pre-Islamic monumental complex in the country. Built in the 8th century by the great Pala emperor Dharmapala in his native land of Varendra' as a famous Asian centre for education and pilgrimage, it is located in a flat countryside amid an unspoiled peaceful agrarian landscape. Occupying about 9 hectares of land this vast, nearly square monastery complex, measuring 281m each side with 177 monastic cells, numerous votive stupas and a multitude of other ancillary buildings inside its enclosure, is dominated by a cruciform central temple, which rises in gradually receding three pyramidal terraces. It is conspicuous for its complicated scheme of decoration of basement walls with carved brick cornices, friezes of numerous terracotta plaques and stone

sculptures. The exquisite stone sculptures, placed in specially built niches which decorate the base of the gigantic temple, represent various scenes from the HinduBuddhist pantheon, created in the glorious aesthetic tradition of the classical Gupta period and of the Pala art. It was an intellectual centre of great renown, attracting, learned Buddhist monks from all countries of Asia, and in its turn sending monks as missionaries to Central Asia and the Far East. It was also a centre of the arts whose influence was felt in workshop as far away as Nepal, Tibet, Burma and Ceylon. Architecturally this grand monument is a treasured heritage of the world which, in ancient Asia, profoundly influenced the later architectural efforts of the Far East. Bagerhat: In mid 15th century, a Muslim colony was founded in the inhospitable mangrove forest of the Sundarbans near the sea coast in the Bagerhat district by an obscure saint-General, Ulugh Khan Jahan by title. He was the earliest torch-bearer of Islam in the south who laid the nucleus of an affluent city during the reign of Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud Shah (1442-59 AD) then known as `Khalifatabad' (present Bagerhat). Khan Jahan adorned his city with numerous mosques, tanks, roads and other public buildings, the spectacular ruins of which are focused around the most imposing and the largest multi-domed mosque in Bangladesh, known as the Shait-Gumbad Masjid. The stately fabric of the monument, serene and imposing, stands on the eastern bank of an unusually vast sweet-water tank, clustered around by the heavy foliage of a low-lying moorland characteristic of a seacoast landscape. Other monuments of Khan Jahan, precariously surviving against the ravages of time within the ruined city area for miles around, half-hidden in luxurious vegetal growth of the locality, are the massively built Ranvijoypur Mosque, Bibi Begni's Mosque, Chunakhola Mosque, Singar Mosque, Nine-domed Mosque, Reza Khoda Mosque and Zinda-Pir Mosque. Besides the elegant single-domed tomb of the great saint-General, there is an identical mosque close to it. The simple tomb of the founder of- the city is perched picturesquely on the elevated northern bank of another unusually large sweet-water tank known as Thakur dighi. The stepped grave within the mortuary chamber is profusely inscribed with verses from the holy Quran as well as the date of his demise on 26th Zil Hijjah 863 A.H/25th October 1459 AD. This striking group of 5 centuries old mosques are characterized by their puritanical simplicity, massively built tapering walls and bastion-like corner towers, comparable to the Tughlaq architecture of Delhi and represent important milestone in the architectural development in Asia. These monuments, situated close to the sea-coast are subject to regular sea water inundation to high tide and therefore, suffered badly due to dampness from salinity and water logging of the area.

Bharat Bhayana : The site is located in village Bharat Bhayna under Jessore district. The village and its surroundings are dotted with some mounds and sparsely lying architectural pieces. Of them only one, Bharat Rajar Deul, has yielded the substantial ruins of a brick-built temple of cir. 5th-6th century AD. Originally the temple was planned on a cruciform base and in later phase it was endowed with a series of bind cells above. It shows strikingly plain wall surface save some offsets at the base level only. The present height of the roofless structure is about 10m at its highest point which appear to have been much more in its original form. The site has also yielded some terracotta busts of princely male figures of Gupta idiom. Harischandra Rajar Place Mound : Situated on the north-east corner of Savar town (18 km north of Dhaka Metropolitan city), the mound has yielded the substantial ruins of a smaller Buddhist monastery entirely built of brick. On its close north there still exist the ruins of a medium size stupa. The site has also exposed some bronze sculptural pieces belonging to Buddhist pantheon, carved bricks, potteries and a silver coin of Pattikera Harikela origin. It is worth mentioning that a number of Imitation Gupta Gold Coins have earlier been reported from the surroundings. Moreover, there exist the remains of a mud fort, Kotbari by name on the north west of the monastery. A group of votive stupas were also discovered a few years back in a place called Rajasan which is only 150 m east of the site. Among other promising structural ruins of the neighboring area mention may also be made of Harischandra Rajar Buruj which appears to have been a brick-built stupa. On stylistic ground they are datable to the circa 6th-8th century AD. Laksmanavati Gour : The site sprawls over roughly 5sq. km area in the Shibgonj thana of Chapai Nawabganj district and in the bordering areas with Maldaha district of India. It accommodates some sparse medieval monuments and demonstrates the place where the suburb of the first capital of the sultans of Bengal, Gauda by name was established in the 13th century AD. However, the capital continued to flourish excepting some short interludes, till the downfall of the sultans in 1538 AD. To understand the grandeur of the bygone city there one can still visit the Chotosona Mosque (1493-1518AD) Darasbari Madrasa (1504 AD.) Darasbari Mosque (1479 AD), Khania Dighi Mosque (15th century AD), Dhunichak Mosque (15th cent. AD), Shah Sujas Taha Khana (Turkish Bath) (17th cent. AD.) and Shah Niamatullah Wallis Tomb-Mosque complex (17th cent. A.D.). Sonargaon> Panam City: Situated near the eastern peripheral land of Dhaka, at about 24 km from the zero point, the site represents the substantial remains of an early medieval bygone city

called Suvarnagram>Sonargaon. It now accommodates a mosque called Gowaldi Masjid built in stone-brick masonry (1519 AD), a tomb built entirely of carved stone called Sultan Giasuddin Azam Shah Mazar, some bridges (17th century AD), a tomb complex and some sparse structural vestiges. There is also a folk museum at one corner of the site. Another attraction of the site is Panam City which emerged in one end of the Sonargaon during British regime (late 19thearly 20th century AD). More than 50 beautiful buildings still survive on either site of a narrow street. Sahar Muhammadabad Barabazar : It lies in Barabazar of Kaliganj thana under Jhinaidaha district and historically known as Sahar Muhammadabad (the town of the Muhammedans). It sprawls over roughly 8sq. km area with scattered remains of mosques, graves and reservoirs. Notable of them are Shatgachia Gayebana Mosque, Monohar Mosque (both are 35 domed), Gorar Mosque, Noon gola Mosque, Pirpukur Mosque, Namajgaon Grave yard, Jahajghata etc. They have been dated in circa 15th century A.D.

1. Chunoru Dighi Dhap. Systematic archaeological excavation of Mahasthangarh was first started in 1928-29 under the guidance of K.N.Dikshit of the Archaeological Survey of India. The areas around Jahajghata, Munir Ghon and Bairagir Bhita were explored. Excavation was resumed in 1934-36 at Bairagir Bhita and Govinda Bhita. Excavation was carried out in 1960s around the Mazhar, Parasuramer Prasad, Mankalir Dhap, Jiat Kunda and in a part of the northern rampart. In the next phase excavation was carried out sporadically in parts of the east and north ramparts but the final report is yet to be published. In the period 1992-98 excavation was conducted in the area lying between Bairagir Bhita and the gateway exposed in 1991 as a Bangla-Franco joint venture, which is now in its second phase with excavation around the mazhar in the western side of the citadel. Inscriptions: A 4.4 cm x 5.7 cm lime stone slab bearing six lines in Prakrit in Brahmi script, discovered accidentally by a day labourer in 1931 was an important find. The text appears to be a royal order of Magadh, possibly during the rule of Asoka. It dates the antiquity of Mahasthangarh to 3rd century BC. An Arabic inscriptional slab of 1300-1301 discovered in 1911-12 mentions the erection of a tomb in honour of Numar Khan, who was a Meer-e-Vahar (lieutenant of the naval fleet). A Persian inscriptional slab of 1718-19 records the construction of a mosque during the reign of the Mughal emperor Farrukhshiyar.[11] Coins: Silver punch marked coins are datable to a period between the 4th century BC and the 1st-2nd century AD. Some uninscribed copper cast coins have been found. Two Gupta period

coins have been reported from a nearby village named Vamanpara. A number of coins belonging to the sultans of 14th-15th century and British East India Company have been found.[11] Ceramics: Mostly represented by a vast number of shards.[11] Sculpture: A 5th century Buddha stone sculpture recovered from Vasu Vihara, a Lokesvara stone sculpture showing blending of Visnu and Avalokitsvara, salvaged from neighbouring Namuja village, a number sand stone door-frames, pillars and lintels (datable to 5th-12th century), numerous Buddha bronze sculpture datable to 10th-11th century, a terracotta Surya discovered at Mankalir Bhita, and numerous other pieces.[11] Terracotta Plaques: A number of terracotta plaques have been discovered. Many of these are on display in the site museum, which is open Sunday to Thursday summer:10 am to 6 pm, winter:9 am to 5 pm. Recess:1-2 pm, Friday recess is from 12.30 to 2.30, opens at 9 am in summer, other timings same. Summer timings 1 April to 30 September, winter timings 1 October to 30 March.[2] Books on Mahasthangarh and other archaeological sites in Bangladesh (in Bengali and English) are available at the ticket counter for the site museum.

Inside the citadel

Bairagir Bhita: Constructed/ reconstructed in four periods: 4th-5th century AD, 6th-7th century, 9th-10th century, and 11th century. Excavations have revealed impoverished base ruins resembling temples. Two sculptured sand stone pillars have been recovered.[12] Khodarpathar Bhita: Some pieces of stone carved with transcendent Buddha along with devotees in anjali (kneeling with folded hands) recovered.[12] Parasuramer Prasad: Contains remains of three occupation periods - 8th century AD findings include stone Visnupatta of Pala period, 15th- 16th century findings include some glazed shreds of Muslim origin, and the third period has revealed two coins of the British East India Company issued in 1835 and 1853.[12] Mankalir Dhap: terracotta plaques, bronze Ganesha, bronze Garuda etc. were discovered. Base ruins of a 15-domed mosque (15th-16th century) was revealed.[12] Bangla-Franco joint venture: Excavations have revealed 18 archaeological layers, ranging from 5th century BC to 12th century AD, till virgin soil at a depth of around 17 m.[12]

[edit] Outside the citadel

Govinda Bhita: Situated 185 m north-east of Jahajghata and opposite the site museum. Remains dated from 3rd century BC to 15th century AD. Base remains of two temples have been exposed.[12]

Totaram Panditer Dhap: Situated in the village Vihara, about 6 km north-west of the ciradel. Structural remains of a damaged monastery have been exposed.[12] Narapatir Dhap: Situated in the village Basu Vihara, 1.5 km north-west of Totaram Panditer Dhap. Base remains of two monasteries and a temple have been exposed. Cunningham identified this place as the one visited by Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang) in the 7th century AD.[12] Gokul Medh: Also known as Behular Basar Ghar or Lakshindarer Medh, situated in the village Gokul, 3 km to the south of the citadel, off the Bogra-Rangpur road, connected by a narrow motorable road about 1 km. Excavations in 1934-36 revealed a terraced podium with 172 rectangular blind cells. It is dated 6th-7th century. Local mythology associates it with legendary Lakshmindara-Behula. The village Gokul also has several other mound Kansr Dhap has been excavated.[12] Skandher Dhap: Situated in village Baghopara on the Bogra-Rangpur road, 3.5 km to the south of the citadel, a sandstone Kartika was found and structural vestiges of a damaged building were revealed. It is believed to be the remains of Skandha Mandira (temple consecrated to Kartika), mentioned in Karatoya mahatmya, as well as Kalhans Rajatarangin, written in 1149-50. There also are references to Skandhnagara as a suburb of Pundranagara. Baghopara village has three other mounds.[1