Archaeological sites in Chandraketugarh (North Twenty Four Parganas)

134. Chandraketugarh:

The site situated at Berachampa, under the Deganga Police Station, is about 38 kms north-east of Kolkata. The river Vidyadhari flows about 10 kms away from the site. A number of palaeochannels are visible here. The landscape in and around this site consists of several low moderately high mounds, structural and non-structural (Pl.VI.A). Most of these mounds are presently occupied by modern habitational areas or villages of Deulia (Debalaya–Khana Mihirer Dhibi, Itkhola and Nungola), Singer Ati, Shanpukur, Hadipur, Jhikra, Ranakhola, Ghorapota, Dhanpota, Chuprijhara, Mathbari, Ghaziatala etc. All these villages have yielded habitational remains. The site covers an area of about 2/3 sq. miles. This site is partially encircled by a huge wall of mud or a continuous elevated mud tract generally referred to by archaeologists as “rampart wall” or “rampart” and it was on this elevated mud corridor that excavations were conducted. When we speak of Chandraketugarh we actually refer to the (i) structural remains found from the mound at Devalaya or Deulia also known as Khana Mihirer Dhibi, and (ii) the continuous elevated tract. I basically feel that this so-called rampart wall was and is used as an embankment formed in the course of time and it could function in two ways, initially to restrict the flow of tidal water or otherwise it could be a seasonal habitational area particularly during the floods and secondly as a fortification associated with a popular local folklore (carried for generations) of the existence of a garh of a king called Chandraketu.

The archaeological significance of the Chandraketugarh area attracted the attention of a local antiquarian Tarak Nath Ghosh in the early years of the last century when road-building activities exposed a brick structure. After receiving a petition from him A.H. Longhurst first visited the site in 1907. Despite the recovery of a large volume of bricks and potteries, Longhurst, unfortunately failed to evaluate its actual importance and reported that "the ruins were of little or no interest". During the same period some cast copper coins and terracottas were also discovered, which are kept in the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad, Kolkata. Rakhaldas Bandopadhyay visited the site in 1909 and collected some artefacts which he preferred to assign to the early historic period. R.D.Banerji first visited Chandraketugarh along with his Parsi teacher Maulvi Khayar-ulalam and his friend Hem Chandra Dasgupta. He traversed the site after getting down at Berachampa Railway Station and duly concentrated on the general character of an archaeological site. While mentioning about the abandoned old forts of Chandraketugarh, he was thoroughly confused. His first impression of the rampart was the bank of an old pond or tank. He identified a gateway near a large pipal tree and a huge mound scattered with structural remains. Kashinath Dikshit, Superintendent of the Eastern Circle of the ASI, published a report on the site in 1922-23 and designated it as one of the earliest settlements of Bengal (AR, ASI; 1922-23). He also mentioned about the extant remains of the rampart in the report.

Kalidas Dutta after understanding its magnitude, inspired Deva Prasad Ghosh, Kalyan Kumar Ganguly, and Kunja Govinda Goswami (Goswami 1966: 42) to scrutinize the assemblage of the site. It was due to their urge that the site was excavated by the Asutosh Museum of Indian Art, University of Calcutta from 1957 to 1967. Subsequently, at the initiative of Mr. Abdul Jabbar, a local antiquarian, the Balanda Pratna Sangrahalaya (Haroa Museum) was set up to house the varied collection of antiquities from this area. Similarly, mention may be made of Chandraketugarh Pratna Sangrahalaya at Berachampa established by Dilip Kumar Maite.

Excavations were conducted at the site under the supervisions of K.G. Goswami for the first six years (1956-57 to 1961-62) and C.R. Roychoudhury for the next six years (1962-63 to 1967-68). Additionally, D.P. Ghosh jointly supervised in 1964-65. Excavations were conducted at five different localities in the area. These were: i) Berachampa situated west of the BerachampaHaroa road which was perhaps very near to Itakhola locality. ii) Khana Mihirer Dhipi a 14 feet high mound north-east of Berachampa, north of Barasat-Bashirhat road, iii) Itakhola paddy field west of Berachampa-Haroa road, iv) Noongola, situated between Khana Mihirer Dhipi and Itakhola and v) Hadipur a village outside the mud fortification area in the southern quarter of Chandraketugarh. Their reports were published in the annual reviews of the ASI (IAR 1956-57: 29-30; 1957-58: 51-53; 1958-59: 55; 1959-60: 50-52; 1960-61: 39-40). Finally, again in 2000 a minor excavation at the site was undertaken by ASI which came to an abrupt end. A head less stone image of a Jain Tīrthaṅkara and terracotta Jain Tīrthaṅkara were reported from this site.