Given its geophysical condition, Bangladesh was not supposed to be conducive to preservation of ancient structures. Its neighbouring Indian state of Bihar, and also Nepal, have played host to the growth of scores of historic sites for centuries. In contrast, the region of eastern Bengal, now Bangladesh, boasted only a handful of these relics. Those, too, dated back to eras not too distant from now. The ruins from the past in the land remained confined mostly to the Sultanate and Mughal times and a few from the period of the East India Company's rule. Thanks to the generally humid climate and the swampy character of the land, Bangladesh had long been considered unfit for preservation of brick structures. Only a couple of decades ago, the number of the country's archaeological sites from times preceding the Mughal rule was few. Those prominent among them included the remains of Mahasthangarh (dating back to 300 BC), the ancient city of the Pundra Kingdom in Bengal, and the Paharpur Buddhist Monastery in greater Rajshahi. The latter belonged to the Pala Dynasty that ruled Bengal in the 8th-9th centuries.
With the recent discoveries of historical sites made one after another across the country, many dating back to the pre-Medieval and Medieval Bengal, the archaeological map of the country appears to be set for a redrawing. The latest in this spate of excavation of new sites is Nateshwar, a village in Munshiganj, not far from Dhaka. The place once belonged to a vast area called Bikrampur, noted for its being the place of birth of Atish Dipankar (980-1053), the legendary preacher, philosopher and academic. He is considered the second-highest Buddhist scholar after Buddha shortly after the death of the religion's founder. Aish Dipankar was born in the village of Bajrajogini in the Bikrampur region.
Bangladesh, the eastern part of Bengal, had long been considered a mostly flat river-dominant country. Except its scenic beauty comprising green crop fields, a vast mangrove forest, a few hill ranges and a long beach, the land had no tangible attractions for outsiders. It began changing with the discovery of the ruins of Mahasthangarh in Bogra district and the start of its excavation in 1931. The later spotting of the Paharpur Monastery, the Kantojeu Temple in Dinajpur district and their renovation stood witness to the faint unfolding of the archaeological richness of the land. The discoveries of a number of pre-Mughal Sultanate mosques helped add to this hitherto unknown chapter in the history of Bangladesh. That the country was indeed a treasure trove in terms of ruins from the past began gaining speed from the current century; endeavours by archaeology-enthusiasts were underway in the 20th century though. The work on the now-famous Wari-Bateshwar ruins in Narsingdi began in 2012. Few are aware of the fact that the local initiative of digging with focus on a collection of coins began in 1933. With intervals caused by financial and other constraints thus delaying a full-fledged excavation project, the work was undertaken, with pauses, in 1955, 1956 and 1976, when it was left incomplete until 2012. Primarily initiated by a local enthusiast, Hanif Pathan, and his son Habibullah Pathan, the giant work was later picked by Sufi Mostafizur Rahman, teacher at the Department Architecture at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh. The intrepid teacher and his team eventually proved that Bangladesh had reached a level in the global architectural arena where it could take pride in a landmark discovery. As researches showed, the ancient city of Wari-Bateshwar dates back to 450 BC, during the Maurya Dynasty. Due to the location of the 2500-year-old city being a place near the old course of the Brahmaputra River, a section of scholars would like to call Wari-Bateshwar a port city. Later it came to be viewed as one of the major archaeological sites in South Asia. In fact, it sounds veritably incredible that the country can now take pride in a lost urban centre which flourished two thousand and five hundred years ago.
Apart from the major excavations, the country seems to be littered with dozens of other partly-excavated ruins. The one at Savar near Dhaka makes architects hopeful of unearthing a highly advanced locality. Prior to the start of the Nateshwar project, the ruins of a 1300-year-old Buddhist locality were found on the eastern side of the present site. Like Nateshwar this site was also dominated by several 'Stupas', road structures and drain facilities.
According to the archaeologists involved with both the excavations, the one of Nateshwar is set to emerge with a lot of distinctive features. It has 16 'Stupas' (meditation retreats), lots of well-planned space, learning chambers and other facilities found at an academic centre. Although it was declared open to visitors in 2016 and is now crowded by people interested in archaeology, the site had been detected long time back. Digging work on it formally began in 2012. Undertaken by a team led by Prof Mostafizur Rahman, in collaboration with another led by a Chinese archaeologist, the project has reportedly been provoking interest among the South Asia region's archaeological circles. That it will do so is a foregone conclusion; for the centre related to the name of the great Bengalee Buddhist scholar Atish Dipankar has all the features of a self-sufficient monastery. What amazes many is the flourishing of a Buddhist city in the midst of vast rural and agrarian swathes. According to Mostafizur Rahman, the carbon-14 test of 26 relics dug out at the site has proved their age at 1,100 years. The test has been carried out at a laboratory in the USA. Identifying the spot as a monumental one, the director of China's Hunan Provincial Archaeological Institute has predicted Nateshwar's future emergence as a World Heritage Site.
Few can say with assertion that more archaeological wonders do not remain buried or undetected in Bangladesh. Contrary to the general belief, also based on geophysical support, the land has long proved conducive to preservation of brick-built ancient structures. The long survival of Mahasthangarh can be linked to the nature of soil in northern Bangladesh. But the unearthing of complete ports and cities in the alluvial and marshy Meghna-Brahmaputra river basins puzzles many. Taking it to be a great quandary, a lot of people find themselves in a maze of sorts. But some others propound new geophysical theories. The most convincing of them is the land in the distant past remained gifted with a climate friendly to certain types of brick-built structures. Those which did not comply with the construction rules of the period were devoured by the elements. A section of climate watchers finds the extremely humid air of the land to be a phenomenon not older than a couple of centuries. With these observations coming true, Bangladesh can brace for a raft of archaeological wonders springing up across the country.
State of climate has been behind the growth of many ancient civilisations. The most prominent among them is the Nile civilisation. The Egyptian region that witnessed the growth of this civilisation, and Giza, the location of the largest pyramid in the world, belonged to a fertile land awash with the River Nile. The landscape was strikingly different from today's aridity in the Giza area. That was 5,000 years ago. Carrying the giant rocks by boat along the Nile to the pyramid sites was an arduous task. But, otherwise, the construction of these man-made wonders was accomplished more or less smoothly. Scientific information like this, gleaned lately, debunks the long-held theories of extraterrestrial help in the building of the pyramids.
That Bangladesh climate was conducive to historic edifices centuries ago helps (define) explain the prevalence of ancient ruins across the country. With the fast changes in climate, many such structures have passed into oblivion. However, the nation is fortunate enough to chance upon some other ruins frequently. At the same time, archaeological preservation is linked with politics, i.e. government policy on the projects concerned and the flow of funds.
shihabskr@ymail.com