Rajghat Artefacts: New Insights into Varanasi’s Ancient Past

07 Sep 2026

Tags: Indian Heritage & Culture   Architecture   Ancient temple styles

Source: The Indian Express

Context: Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has begun systematically documenting more than 10,000 artefacts excavated from Rajghat, one of the oldest known settlements in the Varanasi region. The artefacts, some nearly 3,000 years old, are providing fresh evidence about the emergence of urban settlements and political life in ancient Kashi.

Rajghat: An Important Archaeological Site

-Rajghat archaeological site lies on the northeastern outskirts of present-day Varanasi, near the confluence of the Ganga and Varana rivers.

• It is distinct from the modern Rajghat neighbourhood and represents an ancient settlement that developed into an important urban centre.
• The wider Kashi region contains several ancient settlements, including Aktha, Ramnagar, Sarnath and Rajghat.
• Archaeologist Vidula Jaiswal suggests that while Sarnath developed primarily as a pilgrimage centre, Rajghat developed as the major urban centre of the region.

Excavations at Rajghat

• Rajghat first attracted archaeological attention in 1940, when a railway contractor discovered archaeological remains while obtaining earth for the extension and remodelling of Kashi Railway Station.
• Archaeologist Krishna Deva subsequently conducted trial excavations on behalf of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
• In 1957, archaeologist A.K. Narain and colleagues from BHU's Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology excavated three mounds at the site.
• The excavation was conducted in four phases over 12 years, from 1957 to 1969, and yielded numerous archaeological artefacts.

Evidence for an Early Settlement

• The lowest and therefore oldest archaeological layer contained pre-Northern Black Polished Ware (pre-NBPW) pottery, associated with an earlier phase of the Iron Age.
• Based on this evidence, the origins of the Rajghat settlement were initially dated to around 800 BCE.
• In the early 2000s, Vidula Jaiswal and B.R. Mani re-excavated the lower levels to verify the dating of the oldest settlement layer.
• They excavated downward from the Kushana-period levels (1st century BCE–3rd century CE) to examine the earlier layers.
• Subsequent scientific analysis of the artefacts confirmed the oldest layer to be approximately 800 BCE.

Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW)

• NBPW is a distinctive, highly polished pottery tradition associated with the early historic period of the Indian subcontinent.
• Pre-NBPW material represents an earlier cultural phase and is useful for tracing the transition from Iron Age settlements towards more complex urban societies.

Major Artefacts Discovered

• The excavations yielded painted black pottery, believed to be around 3,000 years old.
  -Hundreds of seals and sealings have been recovered and are considered among the most significant finds from Rajghat.
• Some seals reportedly contain Greek inscriptions, while others mention administrative units and officials, providing evidence about political and administrative organisation.
• Other discoveries include ivory and iron objects, punch-marked coins and terracotta figurines.
• Storage vessels from later periods, including the Gupta period, have also been recovered.

Rajghat and the Ancient Kashi Region

• Rajghat is associated with the development of Kashi as an important urban and political centre.
• Kashi was one of the janapadas of ancient India and later emerged as one of the 16 Mahajanapadas mentioned in early Buddhist and Jain texts.
• The archaeological evidence from Rajghat helps trace the transformation of settlements in the Indo-Gangetic plain from early Iron Age communities to larger and more complex urban centres.

Janapadas and Mahajanapadas

• Janapadas were territorial political units or kingdoms that emerged during the later Vedic period.
• By around the 6th century BCE, several janapadas developed into larger and more powerful states known as Mahajanapadas.
• Early Buddhist and Jain literature identifies Kashi as one of the 16 Mahajanapadas.
• Archaeological sites such as Rajghat provide material evidence that complements literary sources on the emergence of urbanisation and state formation in ancient India.

Rediscovery and Documentation of the Artefacts

• BHU recently examined 22 storage boxes that had remained stored for nearly 70 years, containing more than 10,000 artefacts from the Rajghat excavations.
• Documentation of these artefacts began in January, with around 4,000 objects already catalogued.
• Researchers estimate that the Rajghat collection alone may contain nearly 10,000 objects.
• Although excavation reports have long been publicly available and individual artefacts have been studied by researchers, this is the first organised effort to systematically document the entire collection.
• The initiative forms part of the centenary celebrations of the relevant BHU department, with the aim of preserving a century of archaeological research and making it accessible to future researchers.
• BHU also plans to develop a museum to display the archaeological material.

Human Skeleton: New Possibilities Through Modern Science

• In August, experts opened a box containing a human skeleton recovered from Rajghat, which had remained preserved since the original excavation.
• When the skeleton was excavated in the 1960s, available technology did not permit detailed analysis of human remains.
• Modern techniques such as DNA sampling and analysis could now provide information about the individual's age, ancestry and lifestyle.
• Such analysis can potentially offer new insights into the biological and social characteristics of people living in the Varanasi region in antiquity.

Significance of the Rajghat Discoveries

• The artefacts provide material evidence for tracing the long-term evolution of human civilisation, settlement and urbanisation in the Indian subcontinent.
• Seals, coins and administrative references can shed light on economic activity, political organisation and governance.
• Pottery, tools, figurines and other objects help reconstruct aspects of technology, material culture and everyday life.
• The combination of archaeological evidence with modern scientific techniques can provide a more comprehensive understanding of ancient Kashi and the emergence of early urban societies in the Indo-Gangetic region.