Part 3 - Related works on our settlement zones

The first Settlement zone i.e. Rājagṛha-Nālandā suffers from a general dearth of comprehensive works. But we have few very important surveys on this circle. One of the oldest and most detailed surveys of the area came from Francis Buchanan in the early 19^th century. His survey covers the districts of Patna and Gaya in 1811-12. It is an itinerary and within the Rajgir valley he surveyed important spots like Jarasandh ka machan or baithak, Ron bhūmi, Hangsapurnagar, Giriyak valley. While doing his survey he depended on Hiuen Tsang’s record and the local traditions, orally transmitted by the Brahmanas of the valley. But he was attracted most by the hot springs of the valley. He meticulously recorded temperature, condition, religious importance and anecdotes related to them.^[1] It may be called a systematic survey of Rajgir and the surroundings but the element of historical research is limited.

Alexander Cunningham, as the first Director-General of Archaeological Survey of India conducted an elaborate and systematic survey of the region with a view of exploring the archaeological remains and to relate them with historical events. He was the first to recognize Rajgir-Nalanda as a cultural unit. He conducts an extensive exploration of the region. Based on the descriptions of Fa-Xian and Xuang–Zang a preliminary identification of the historical valley, surrounding hills, measurement of their respective distances were done. He made a detailed survey of the sacred Buddhist spots described in the old Pāli literature and the Jain spots of Sonbhandar caves, short inscription found here, Maṇiyar Math. But the most fascinating find of his study was the New Rājagṛha that he suggests to be built by Śreṇika around 500 BCE and the wall running over the hills, of some prehistoric origin. The famous hot springs of Rajgir also attracted Cunningham’s attention and he mentioned their individual names. So his survey of Rajgir may be called an uncut work, first of its kind. He starts his work on Nālandā with its location in respect to Rājagṛha, thus taking note of the physical closeness that is the very basis of the relation of the two sites. He notes the growth of Nālandā. Cunningham has observed the history of Nālandā as a prosperous village from the pre-Buddhist times and its gradual assumption of a Buddhist identity. Based on the descriptions of the Chinese pilgrims he was the first to explore the Nālandā ruins collectively known as “Mounds” among the villagers. Large scale excavations, marking of the monasteries took place under his direction. His work comprised the most basic and essential work that was required. He was the first to identify a consistent and vast Buddhist topography in this belt where Rājagṛha and Nālandā occupied very prominent places.^[2]

A much more focused and planned survey of the site comes with the publication of the Annual Report of 1905-06 of Archaeological survey of India by Sir John Marshall. His report focuses on chief structural remains which are almost entirely of religious nature, except the great wall surrounding the valley. He deviates on certain points from Cunningham and points to the inaccuracies in his measurement and observations. He put much effort to examine the architectural details of the great wall and brings out the defence mechanisms attached to it. Other spots covered and mentioned were Saptapṇṇī hill, Karaṇḍa tank and Veṇuvana, Pippala stone house. A systematic exploration of the New Rājagṛha by Pandit Daya Ram and Maṇiyar Math by T. Bloch started under the stewardship of Marshall. These two excavations brought to notice considerable Buddhist remains, Jain, Hindu and even local tribal and antiquities from the site. Thus the Buddhist connection and an exposure to a mixed religious culture of the site were once again proved. The report comes with a tentative map of the valley with spots so far excavated.^[3]

V. H. Jackson’s Notes on Old Rajagriha of 1913-14, makes mention to the older works of Dr. Francis Buchanan, Sir John Marshall and Captain Kittoe. He further investigates the “Hangsapurnagar” identified by Buchanan, located outside the valley, enclosed by walls. In his opinion the same was called Hansu Taur by Kittoe. Dr. T. Bloch thinks that the site was not meant for permanent residence, but a last resort in an emergency situation. He further makes some survey of the external gates and walls, roads, wells and identified the site of Jīvaka’sᾹmbavana and discussed the site of Maṇiyar Math in brief.^[4]

Dr. Bimala Churn Law’s work on Rājagṛha of 1938 is essentially different from the other works because he deals with the ancient literary sources and tries to determine the position of Rājagṛha on the basis of literary evidences. He covers a wide range of literary sources ranging like the epics, Jain and mostly the Buddhist texts. The work contains general historical information and a survey of the topography, rivers, lakes and the spots where the Buddha halted and which are physically present in the valley. His work focuses on the historical context of Rājagṛha’s rise as the capital of Magadha under Jarāsandha and takes care of the Purāṇik list of kings who ruled over the place in the pre-historic times.Political history of the phase, so long Rājagṛha was the capital of Magadhawas well captured in this work. Using the literary clue he captured the mixed and cosmopolitan religious ambience of early historic Rājagṛha. He even addresses the later local and tribal religious practices of the valley. The neighbourhood of Rājagṛha also comes underthe purview of his work. The Buddhist affinity or the general religious temperament of the area has been overtly expressed in the literary sources. Law has elaborated the Buddhist connections of the area with Rājagṛha, Nālandā, Uruvela as important nodes of the zone. So he brings to our notice the religious-Buddhist topography of this region. He traces the history of Nālandā from the pre Buddhist times and highlights the main ascetic cultures to which it was exposed. It was also the birth place of Sāriputra and oft visited by the Buddha.^[5]

Rajgir by Mohammad Hamid Quraishi, revised by A. Ghosh published in 1987, by the Archaeological Survey of India is of the nature of a travel guide that contains all necessary travel related information.It features a short history discusses in detail all the architectural, structural and sculptural remains located on each hill and made a survey of the hot springs of the valley. A map of the whole valley is attached with hills, rivulets, passes and old structures shown clearly. The chief merit of the work is its completeness that presented all the geographical, historical, mythical, structural and religious details in an abridged form.^[6]

The latest extant work on Rajgir comes from a team of Archaeological Survey of India credited with the complete excavation of an old monastery with fair antiquities at Vanganga, Rajgir. It adds to the structural remains of the old city.^[7]

The monograph of Royal Asiatic Society, London, named “The Magadhas in Ancient India” by Bimala Churn Law in 1946 gives a detailed account of the Magadha mahājanapada with all the information that the literature could furnish on the topic. He narrates the mainstream political development from the early Vedic times when we have a few literary references to Magadha up till the Gupta period and the antiquities related to it. The people, their choices and tastes, huge wealth of the merchant class of Rajgir was called the earliest centre of heresy and it provided a receptive field for the growth of Buddhism, its rival sects and nāga or yakṣa cult. Corollary to it, there was a growth of Buddhist education in this sphere. By the early medieval times, several monastic academic sites grew in this region and Nālandā being the foremost of them. Surpassing the glory of the renowned university of Takṣaśīlā, Nālandā occupied the place of prominence. This point of Law highlights that how utilizing this logic nodal points like academic institutions can grow with a Buddhist essence.It was a comprehensive work on this whole geographical and cultural zone.^[8]

Amulya Chandra Sen’s “Rajagriha and Nalanda” of 1954 is another early work offering an in-depth analysis of the two closely located sites. Utilizing the literary sources, the text started with a discussion of the prehistoric Magadha, found mainly in the Vedic and auxiliary literature. The text mainly views Rājagṛha in association with important personalities. Thus his chapters are named Bimbisāra’s Rājagṛha or Buddha and Mahavīra’s Rājagṛha. The book also covers the period after loss of its imperial favour when it ceased to be the Magdhan capital. It is attached with an itinerary by the author. This portion is actually a tour across all the archaeological remains of the valley.^[9]

Mithila Sharan Pandey’s work entitled “The Historical Geography and Topography of Bihar” basically thrusts on the need to study history in the contest of old political divisions or in the historical context of the region. It provides an insight to the geographical components of the old Aṅga-Magadha region. Rivers and rivulets, mountains, those surrounding Rājagṛha, their locations, different names mentioned in different texts, their roles in historical events and developments and their general role in shaping the course of history in this zone was the main subject matter of this work. He points out the route taken by the Pānḍavasand how the Barabar hills served as a defence against a Kaliṅga attack. This book highlights the effect of geography on history.^[10]

Arun Kumar Singh’s Archaeology of the Magadha Region, published in 1991 is a compendium on the archaeological information of the area concerned. General survey of numerous prehistoric sites dated from Palaeolithic to Chalcolithic or even later periods was done here. Lithic industry, botanical remains, metal antiquities collected from these sites revealed a cultural assemblage of the Magadha region. Some sites had a continuous occupation since the remotest time while some other had a late emergence. Despite all these disparities by the NBPW or BRW phase a rich archaeological horizon is suggested by this work. This serves as a basic book on the archaeology of this region.^[11]

Hirananda Sastri’s encyclopedic work on the epigraphic items found from Nālandā deals exclusively with the inscriptions, seals of different type found during the course of excavation. It records the growth of Nālandā that started from the Gupta period. It shows how the site grew as a monastic and academic seat with enormous grants and donations from all the major dynasties and ordinary men. Varied type of seals showed other than academics the site also performed numerous administrative and miscellaneous works.

This remains indispensable for the study on Nālandā.^[12]

R. K. Mookerji was one of the earliest scholars to take a complete view on Nālandā, not only as a university but as a prosperous village near Rajgir and traces the beginning of building activities from the 4^th century CE. He makes an overviewimportant donative seals, office seals, seals of revenue yielding villages, some colleges working under the university and their individual seals and miscellaneous type of seals of those agencies working under Nālandā. It is a brief but balanced work with some analysis of the epigraphic materials and their relation to the university’s growth and functions.^[13]

H. D. Sankalia’sUniversity of Nalandawas one of the earliest works, based on archaeology and coming with a complete map of the site. The book touches all the important facets of the site, its Buddhist links its growth under consistent royal patronage, it functions as a university, procedure of admission, curriculum, libraries and observatories, co-curricular activities and self subsistent mode of living, finances and sponsorships, daily life. In a word it was a compendium of the students’ life. The crises, challenges of the monastery and the collapse of this renowned university in the face of Muslim invasion in the 12^th century come under the scope of the book. The book may be called an uncut version of the history of Nālandā.^[14]

Among the recent works mention must be made of B. N. Misra’s three -volume work on Nālandā. Volume I is on the sources and background of the site, Volume II covers the Nālandā art and volume III deals with the iconography and architecture. Being interested on the historical development of the site we are mainly concerned with volume I that deals with our specific purpose. In the first volume he makes a survey of the locality around the Nālandā ruins. He talks about 52 tanks in the area gives their names and locations, ancient approaches to Nālandā, the planning of the monastic complex. His work also deals with the explorations and a short history of excavations. Discussions on the Buddhist images of the early medieval to medieval times, seals are the important features of the work. It is also an in-depth study of the vital aspects of Nālandā’s growth and success.^[15]

Archaeological Survey of India published the monograph Nalanda, by Amalananda Ghosh, translated in Hindi by Kedarnath Sastri in 2006. This is yet another brief account with useful details. It begins with the general tourist guide. The second chapterdeals with the history of the place, its genesis, old account written by Tibetan historian Taranath, Chinese pilgrims Fa-Xian and Xuang-Xang and its status under important dynasties and its sudden fall. Remain of each of the monasteries are described. Buddhist images were recovered in moderate quantities from the surroundings of the great monastic site. They are listed and preserved in the archaeological museum. A fairly detailed account of them has been produced in this work. Finally it also makes a survey of the ancient inscriptions and seals. So the work serves like a store of information for the tourists and preliminary researchers.^[16]

C. Mani’s The heritage of Nalanda is a collection of essays that analyse specific events or issues related to the university. Of them two were of particular help for our purpose. B.R. Mani offers some fresh views on the excavation of the stūpa site number 3. In this paper he discussed about some very recent discoveries of antiquities in this site that actually point to a very early beginning of this place. Another article by Archana Sharma explains the nature, purpose and effect of the celebrated Nālandā Copper Plate of Devapaladeva. Such articles helped us to shed latest and fresh ideas and views on different aspects.^[17]

In this context A.S. Altekar’sEducation in Ancient India^[18] and R. K. Mookerji’sAncient Indian Education^[19] discuss the general environment of education in ancient India. Both books capture a broad time frame from prehistoric to early medieval time. They show that monastic education of Nālandā had a much older tradition. Since the early Vedic days students collectively stayed in their teachers’ house and left it only after the completion of education. General curriculum, different ancient universities, qualities and qualifications of students and teachers are described in them. Discussions of these books offered a general backdrop for the emergence of monastic educational spots like Nālandā and the likes.

In our second select zone of Vārāṇasī-Sārnāth, archaeological, literary and overall studies are more numerous than that of our zone one.Archaeological investigations started here in 1861-62 with Alexander Cunningham. His preliminary investigation focused on the area where the Gaṅgā meets the Varuṇā. He searched for the river Asi but even in the most detailed map he did not find the course of Asi. His survey could not locate the remains of the ancient settlement of Vārāṇasī. He rather viewed Vārāṇasī as a corollary to the Buddhist settlement of Sārnāth. The centre of his survey was the monastic complex where he located the Dhamekstūpa that attracts the attention of an onlooker first as one enters the complex. He carriedon an introspective survey of the tower and started a work of restoration. His work is actually of the nature of an overall survey of the site and a set of suggestions for the maintenance and management of the holy site. He laid bare a portion of the complex, where the Dharmarajika Stūpa also an Aśokan creation was located. His work remained so much at a primary level that identification and naming were not done. A probable date of these remains could also not being fixed.^[20]

Discovery and identification of the archaeological site of Rajghat took place rather coincidentally. In course of an extension and remodeling of Kashi Railway Station a contractor of East Indian Railways found some very old structures underneath and informed the Archaeological Survey of India. It was under Krishna Deva’s supervision an all -round excavation programme of the site started. In course of this primary excavation in 1940, three ancient mounds were unearthed. Of them mound 1 was the principal one. The significance of this work is the discovery and finding out the correct location of the ancient city of Vārāṇasī. Except a brief note of the excavator, the full report did not come to hands. He located five cultural layers indicating continuous occupation from the Maurya to Gahadvala period. He found out eight brick structures separated by lanes and alleys. He also mentioned a house with a lime plastered rectangular bathing place.^[21]

Systematic and extensive archaeological excavation took shape in a long time span from 1957- 58 and 1960-65 with the effort of A. K. Narain and T. N. Roy of Banaras Hindu University. Their voluminous work may be called an exhaustive one coming in four volumes. Of them the first one is the most important that may be treated as the excavation report of the site. The work starts with the location, a short geographical setting of the old city and a summary of results. The team has identified six cultural phases starting from the pre-NBPW times around 8^th century BCE to 16^th century. All three mounds of Rajghat were excavated and trial trenches were dug in this direction.^[22] Part II deals with the pottery or ceramic assemblage collected from the field. Based on the peculiarities of potteries found in the site cultural periods were divided into sub periods. It helps to know the ceramic traditions, cultural and technological practices of the age.^[23] Part III of the work is on the small finds that formed the antiquarian collection. Specimens of glass bangles, spindle whorls and terracotta discs with single perforation, unperforated carnelian bead and barrel zonal bands, pestles and many more finds made up the miscellaneous artefacts collected from the site.^[24] The last and the fourth part deals with the terracotta human figurines obtained from the site.^[25] The work covers all the major and minor aspects of life in Vārāṇasī over a long period. It will be an indispensible text for anyone making a study on ancient Vārāṇasī.

A very useful text on Vārāṇasī based on both archaeological data is Birendra Pratap Singh’s Life in Ancient Varanasi of 1985. The scope of the book is vast and touches almost all the aspects of human life. Geological and geographical setting of the site, earlier archaeological works, characteristics of each archaeological phase, urban features and structural remains, changes and additions with each age were discussed thoroughly in the book. Economic aspects comprising agriculture, varied type of artisanal, craftsmen’s work and trade. Though the major thrust of the book is on archaeological evidences, intelligent use of literary data, particularly the Jātakas made it a compact reading necessary for knowing the History of Vārāṇasī.^[26]

Works on the neighbourhood of ancient Vārāṇasī come under the ambit of our research project. Two major works in this direction is Vidula Jayaswal’s work on Ᾱktha, which is considered the earliest colonized site of Vārāṇasī and Vibha Tripathi and Prabhakar Upadhyay’s Excavations at Anai. In her survey of Ᾱktha, Vidula Jayaswal has noted that the culture zone of ancient Vārāṇasī was much bigger than the archaeological site. Settlements grew in this culture zone in the east-west axis along the west bank of the Gaṅgā at the confluence with Varuṇā suitable for riverine trade activities. The north-south axis between Kāśī-Rajghat and Sārnāth is located far from the Gaṅgā and many lakes and numerous small religious or craft based rural settlements sprang up in this region. Ᾱktha is one of such settlements with prominent religious bias. Jayaswal has noted five cultural periods. Beginning of settlements started in the later Vedic period and was continuously occupied till the late Kuṣāṇa period. The study represents one of the numerous rural settlements located in the culture zone of Vārāṇasī, with distinct functions and supporting the main settlement. Ᾱktha had a special significance for being the first colonized area of Vārāṇasī. Plenty of ceramic and other antiquities of different periods were recovered from the site.^[27]

Vibha Tripathi and Prabhakar Upadhyay have done an excellent survey on another rural site of Vārāṇasī’s suburb. An extensive archaeological research programme has been done on Anai, situated 35 km north-west of district headquarters of Varanasi, Anai is a village in Bragaon mandala. Three broad cultural phases have been located here. It was first occupied by Black Slipped Ware using people in around 1100- 700 BCE. The next phase was NBPW phase ranging from 700-400/300 BCE. In this phase Agiabir, Ramnagar, Aktha and Anai located close to each other formed a cluster of similar settlements. Anai was suddenly deserted and next occupied in the early medieval times. Huge pottery, terracotta and miscellaneous objects were recovered from the excavation. The exploration revealed the material culture of rural Vārāṇasī. The culture zone of Vārāṇasī was quite vast and comprised of many rural sites as second order settlements. Anai is representative of such type of growth and function. So the work is very pertinent for our research work.^[28]

Vidula Jayaswal’s another regional study has also been useful for our purpose. Her study entitled “From Stone Quarry to Sculpting Workshop” is an archaeological study on the network of exchange of Chunar sandstone that grew in this zone around Vārāṇasī, Sārnāth and Chunar from the prehistoric times. She located a number of rural sites in this whole area that were engaged in quarrying, cutting or sculpting sites. Vārāṇasī was the main client area and large blocks of sandstones were procured for the monastic establishment of Sārnāth that is evident from the monolithic rail or Aśokan pillar in the complex. She also pointed out a very peculiar system of transportation of these heavy stone blocks. They were rolled down from the Chunar hills and sent to their destinations through the river course.^[29]

Under the general editorship of Vibha Tripathi and Prabhakar Upadhyay a number of scholarly essays mostly discussing the material milieu created in the Gaṅgā basin in the prehistoric times that promoted the growth of settlements have been compiled in a book entitled “Archaeology of the Ganga Basin: Paradigm Shift”coming in a set of two volumes. A number of essays in volume I, discussedthe condition of agriculture in the trans Vindhyan-Middle Gaṅgā region. From Mesolithic or even Palaeolithic times settlements in the form of seasonal camps sprang up in this region with hunting-foraging as the mainstay of economy. Reliance on agriculture led to the rise of sedentary life and growth of permanent settlements. This provides us the earliest phase of settlement growth in this region. Some other essays also discuss other economic pursuits.^[30] This volume has provided better insight on factors and phases for the growth of settlement in this area.

Among the old literature based works mention must be made of M. A. Sherring’s “The Sacred City of the Hindus, An Account of Benares in Ancient to Modern Times”. The chief merit of the work is that it consulted a wide range of literature represented different views. For the earliest period the author has emphasized on Puranic references but also represented the Buddha’s and the Buddhist connection. Pilgrimage spots of Benares and its place in the map of Hindu pilgrimage spots. A whole chapter was devoted on the Buddhist spot Sārnāth at the borders of Benares. Scanty architectural remains of Sārnāth, known till his time, were mentioned. Sherring also highlighted that a major source of Vārāṇasī’s wealth was its participation in trade taken up later by scholars like Dilip K. Chakrabarti and like.^[31]

Anant Sadashiv Altekar’s “History of Benares” of 1937 was another account based on literature, covering the history from ancient to modern times. For the prehistoric times, he depended largely on Purāṇik traditions. His study demonstrated that Vārāṇasī was a powerful royal seat much before the age of the mahājanapadas and it was always engaged some kind of rivalry with neighbouring states and odds that it faced later on. Political history was discussed in detail in this work and other economic and cultural pursuits were also mentioned in it.^[32]

Alexander Cunningham’s field investigation at Sārnāth set the trend of further archaeological investigations at the site. Consistent excavations have brought to notice the layout of the monastic area and identification of monastery or structure with their probable time set. Continuous explorations have helped to identify chronological layers in the structures. Annual Reports of Archaeological Survey of India of 1904-05, 1906-07, 1907-08, 1914-15, 1919-20,1921-22 and 1927-28 have gradually laid bare most of the Sārnāth remains and publication of reports has mademuch documents available for future research.

Monographs published by Archaeological Survey of India are also of great help. In case of Sārnāth we have a number of monographs available for reference. Of them Dayaram Sahni’s “Guide to the Buddhist Ruins of Sarnath with a plan of Excavation”of 1926,^[33] followed by B. Majumdar’s “A Guide to Sarnath” of 1947,^[34] V. S. Agrawala’s “Sarnath” of 1992^[35] are of great help. These monographs mainly contain general information and history of the place, record and outcomes of archaeological excavations, epigraphs, brief accounts of sculptural and other antiquities collected from the site. The latest in this series was B. R. Mani’s “Sarnath, Archaeology, Art and Architecture” of 2012^[36] of almost same nature, only with the latest information.

The archaeological details provide us with the most important frame of the context and some of the rationale for the history it contains. However, our study of settlements demanded more than the physical frame. The research tries to analyze the socio-cultural interfaces of the select sites vis-a-vis their hinterland and satellites which can be gleaned to an extent from the literary sources as well as from architectural and sculptural remnants. We are concerned with the settlement growth and pattern at and around the two nodal points of Vārāṇasī and Sārnāth. They had a physical closeness and a direct relation. Two articles are of particular help in this regard. One is Meera Sharma’s “Ancient Varanasi Versus Sarnath: A Study in Interrelationship” notes that both archaeological and literary sources suggest Vārāṇasī’s rise may be traced back from the mid second millennium BCE and Sārnāth was a rural settlement near it. Gradually Vārāṇasī had an all-round development and grew as a vibrant economic and political place and even was a centre of different faiths. Sārnāth, however always borrowed its settlement logic from Vārāṇasī. By the Gupta period the two had separate characters but Sārnāth’s dependence on Vārāṇasī remained as before.^[37] The second article is by Dr. Anuradha Singh, “Development of Buddhist Religion and Sarnath” takes up the issue of Sārnāth’s pre-Buddhist identity, how it was turned to be a Buddhist spot utilizing the closeness to Vārāṇasī and how it was promoted by Aśoka and later rulers and even ordinary folks. The archaeological exploration of Sārnāth also started on Vārāṇasī’s behalf. So the utter dependence of Sārnāth on Vārāṇasī never changed. She emphasized on the point that Sārnāth’s position as a highly esteemed Buddhist spot remained unaltered and it continued to receive enormous donations and aids for its growth. It still evokes the same reverence and admiration from the world.^[38]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Journal of Francis Buchanan kept during the survey of the districts Patna and Gaya in 1811-12, Patna, published by the Superintendent, Government of printing, Bihar and Orissa, 1925.

[2]:

Alexander Cunningham, Archaeological Report,1861-62, Archaeological Survey of India in Four Reports Made During the Years 1862-63-64-65, Rahul Publishing House, 1994, pp.20-36

[3]:

John Marshall, Rājagriha and its Remains, in Annual Report, 1905- 06, Archaeological Survey of India

[4]:

V. H. Jackson’s Notes on Old Rajagriha, Annual Report, 1913-14, Archaeological Survey of India, Delhi.

[5]:

Bimala Churn Law, Rājagṛiha in Ancient Literature, in the Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India, no.58, Delhi, 1938

[6]:

Mohammad Hamid Quraishi, Revised by A. Ghosh, Rajgir, Published by the Director General, Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi, 1987

[7]:

Excavations at Vanganga, Nalanda, Indian Archaeology 1999- 2000: A Review, New Delhi, Published by Director General, Archaeological Survey of India, 2005.

[8]:

Bimala Churn Law, The Magadhas in Ancient India, London, Royal Asiatic Society, 1946.

[9]:

Amulya Chandra Sen, Rajagriha and Nalanda, Calcutta, Indian Publicity Society, 1954.

[10]:

Mithila Sharan Pandey, Historical Geography and Topography of Bihar, Delhi, Motilal Banarasidass Publishers pvt. Ltd., 1963.

[11]:

Arun Kumar Singh, Archaeology of the Magadha Region, Delhi, Ramanand Vidya Bhavan, 1991

[12]:

Hirananda Sastri,Nalanda and its Epigraphic Material, Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India, no.66, Government of India Press, Calcutta, 1942

[13]:

Radha Kumud Mookerji, The University of Nalanda, from the Journal of Bihar Research Society, Vol. XXX, part II, 1944

[14]:

H. D. Sankalia, University of Nalanda, Delhi, Oriental Publishers, 1972

[15]:

B. N. Misra, Nalanda, 3 volumes, New Delhi, B. R. Publishing Corporation,, 1998

[16]:

Kedarnath Sastri translated and originally written by Amalananda Ghosh, Nalanda, New Delhi, Archaeological Survey of India, 2006, first published in 1963.

[17]:

C. Mani, The Heritage of Nalanda, New Delhi, Aryan Books International, 2008

[18]:

Anant Sadashiv Altekar, Education in Ancient India, Benaras, Nand Kishore & Bros. 1944

[19]:

Radha Kumud Mookerji, Ancient Indian Education, Bramanical and Buddhist, Delhi, Motilal Banarasidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1989

[20]:

Alexander Cunningham, Banaras, Sarnath, Archaeological Report, 1861-62, Archaeological Survey of India in Four Reports Made During the Years 1862-63-64-65, Rahul Publishing House, 1994, pp.103-130

[21]:

Krishna Deva, Excavations at Rajghat Near Beanares, Annual Bibliography of Indian History and Indology, Vol.III

[22]:

A. K. Narain and T. N. Roy, Exacavtions at Rajghat, Part I, The cuttings, Stratifications and Structures, Varanasi, Banaras Hindu University, 1976.

[23]:

A. K. Narain and T. N. Roy, Excavations at Rajghat, Part II, The Pottery, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 1977

[24]:

A. K. Narain and Purusottam Singh, Excavations at Rajghat, Part I III, Small Finds, Varanasi, Banaras Hindu University, 1977.

[25]:

A. K. Narain and Prithvi Kumar Agrawala, Excavations at Rajghat, Part IV, Terracotta Human Figurines, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 1978

[26]:

Birendra Pratap Singh, Life in Ancient Varanasi (An Account Based on Archaeological Evidence), Delhi, Sundeep Prakashan, 1985

[27]:

Vidula Jayaswal, Ancient Varanasi, An Archaeological perspective, (Excavations at Ᾱktha), New Delhi, Aryan Books International, 2009

[28]:

Vibha Tripathi and Prabhakar Upadhyaya, A Rural Settlement of Ancient Varanasi (Excavations at Anai), Delhi, Sharada Publishing House, 2013

[29]:

Vidula Jayaswal, From stone Quarry to Sculpting Workshop, Agam Kala Prakashan, New Delhi, 1998

[30]:

Vibha Tripathi and Prabhakar Upadhyay ed. Archaeology of the Ganga Basin: Paradigm Shift, Delhi, Sharada Publishing House, 2010

[31]:

M. A. Sherring, The Sacred City of the Hindus, An Account of Benares in Ancient to Modern Times, Trübner&Co, 1868

[32]:

Anant Sadashiv Altekar,History of Benares, Benares Hindu University, 1937

[33]:

Daya Ram Sahni, Guide to the Buddhist Ruins of Sarnath with a plan of Excavation, Government of India Central Publication Branch, Calcutta, 1926,

[34]:

B. Majumdar, A Guide to Sarnath, Printed in India for the Manager of publications, Delhi, By the Manager, Government of India press, Simla, 1947,

[35]:

V. S. Agrawala, Sarnath, Archaeological Survey of India, 1992,

[36]:

B.R. Mani, Sarnath, archaeology, Art and Architecture, Published by the Director General, A.S.I., New Delhi, 2012

[37]:

Meera Sharma, Ancient Varanasi Versus Sarnath: A Study in Interrelationship in Prāgdhārā, no.8, 1997- 98, Ed. by Rakesh Tewari, Lucknow, 1998

[38]:

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