The New Nation - Internet Edition

IF history is the record of civilisation then archaeology is the embryo of history. Written history is not much old. Herodotus, its father, lived only in 3rd century B.C. The length of historical age is said to be 5000 years. So, history is not only the written chronological record of events but also the crude materials which through careful selection can form historical literature. Such crude and still scanty materials have been found by a group of archaeological excavators beneath Vasu Bihar of the Pala dynasty in Bogra district of Bangladesh. The leader of the government archaeological team presumes that the site they have discovered is a pre-Pala establishment. The site exists beneath three to four metres under three rooms of Vasu Bihar. The floor of the room has been built by concrete and the walls brick.

Much still remains to be known about the archaelogical remains as the team leader says, if the Vasu Bihar and 'Bihar Dhap,' divided by a one kilometre road cultivable land, could be excavated and studied properly, the patterns of a university complex could be found. From the character and nature of the site and also from the artifacts found in the room the excavators presume that the Vasu Bihar site resembles the historical sites and monuments of Nalanda of Bihar which presently forms a province of the Indian republic. So long the historical notion was that there is no evidence of cultural remains or heritage of ancient civilisation in Bangladesh.

If further archaeological studies of the evidences found beneath Vasu Bihar site prove otherwise the entire premise of the history of our land shall change. As the discovery of Indus Valley civilisation in early 20th century changed the entire concept of Indian history. The archaeological study thus merits further support.