Rajghat Excavation

Syllabus: GS1/Ancient History

Context

• Rajghat excavation is important to go back to the history of archaeological excavations in Varanasi.

About Rajghat

• Rajghat today refers to a neighbourhood located in eastern Varanasi. 
• But the Rajghat archaeological site more specifically refers to the ancient settlement located in the northeastern outskirts of the city, near the confluence of the rivers Ganga and Varana.
• Rajghat is identified as the capital of the Kashi Janapada. 
  • Janapadas were territorial kingdoms or political units that emerged in ancient India, particularly during the later Vedic period. 
  • Some of these janapadas grew into larger, more powerful kingdoms known as mahajanapadas by the 6th century BCE. 
  • Early Buddhist and Jain texts mention Kashi as one of 16 mahajanpadas in the Indo-Gangetic plain.
• Sarnath emerged as a pilgrimage site, Rajghat developed as the main urban centre. 
  • The remaining settlements, which are dated to be several centuries older, were peripheral, rural regions of Kashi.

Rajghat Excavation Findings

• The credit of the discovery of Rajghat goes to Krishna Deva, who took up trial excavation of the site on behalf of ASI in 1940.
• The lowest, and therefore oldest, layer of the settlement yielded pre-Northern Black Polished Ware (pre-NBPW), a type of pottery associated with an earlier phase of the Iron Age. 
  • Based on this evidence, the origins of the settlement at Rajghat were dated to around 800 BCE.
• Among the artefacts recovered from the site are hundreds of seals and sealings. 
  • Many of them carry Greek inscriptions, names of the administrative units and their officials.
  • Ivory and iron objects, punch-marked coins, and terracotta figurines have also been found.

Source: IE