Why is an NGO excavating the
site of Bangladesh’s ‘most
ancient civilisation’?
Robab Rosan explores the serious questions and allegations that are dogging the excavation of the ancient Wari-Bateshwar site in Narsingdi district
The sleepy little villages of Wari and Bateshwar in Narsingdi district, 62km from Dhaka, are the postcard perfect vision of rural Bangladesh. Bullock-cart scarred roads run snake through paddy fields that stretch into a horizon interrupted by thatched roof homesteads. In the evenings there is the occasional hum of the radio, and of children reciting their schoolwork. But buried about 20-feet under the earth are treasures that could turn our knowledge of our own pre-history on its head.
Archaeological excavations in Wari-Bateshwar by a run down ancient brick road that was believed to belong to an ancient era has revealed startling results. Buried in the reddish soil are treasures that could belong to a civilisation that thrived in 450BC, nearly two-and-half-thousand years old. And as the findings percolate through the academic establishment that deals with the Indian subcontinent’s prehistory, the realisation is dawning that this civilisation could have been the contemporary of the ancient Mohenjodaro-Harappa civilisations.
Professor Sufi Mostafizur Rahman, chairperson of the department of archaeology of Jahangirnagar University is the man who can be singularly credited for taking the initiative to excavate this site. In their recent excavation, they discovered ancient roads, bylanes and also unearthed a portion of a large brick structure. He thinks, ‘the architecture of these structures can be compared to those of Greek and Roman civilisations from that era.’
This information comes to light decades since the Wari-Bateshwar site was first discovered in the early 1900’s. Mohammad Hanif Pathan, a local schoolteacher, first brought the archaeological importance of the relics farmers would find when they were tilling the land to light in 1933. Later his son Mohammad Habibullah Pathan, who has become an amateur collector of these relics, has continued his father’s work of publicising the finds.
But for decades since they first came to light, it was more a lack of initiative and interest among the academic establishment in Dhaka which resulted in the Wari-Bateshwar relics being ignored.
In 2000 however, archaeologist Dr Enamul Haque—the former director general of the Bangladesh National Museum—first initiated an excavation at the site and discovered some beads and tools that clearly belonged to an ancient era. But as the funds were exhausted, the excavations were discontinued. Later some other non-government teams carried out scale trial excavations at the site, which is believed to be on the Pleistocene flat surface of the eastern Madhupur tract. It was in 2006, that one of Dr Haque’s team members from the 2000 excavation, took up the initiative to excavate the site once more.
A 2001 carbon dating—a system of calculating the age of a very old object by measuring the amount of radioactive carbon it contains—of some of specimens found at the site jolted the entire establishment into a newfound interest. Carried out by Dr J Hather at the Institute of Archaeology in the UK, the tests revealed that these articles were aged “2400 (plus minus) BP” an abbreviation for ‘before present’.
Now, Professor Rahman has made a claim that is even more fantastic.
He believes the antiquities found at the site bear testimony that the Wari-Batehswar ruins are the relics of an ancient civilisation, as opposed to an outpost of the a contemporary civilisation of Bengal from that time.
The landscape of the area suggests that during the era in question the old Brahmaputra river used to flow quite close to where the Wari-Bateshwar villages are now located. Now, the river has now shifted a few kilometres eastward, with the Meghna flowing only a few kilo metres to the south. A narrow dried-up river, called Kayra, flows in an east west direction along the northern side of the villages and the river Arial Khan also flows into it. The location of the two villages on a comparatively high, flood-free ground; their proximity to the old Brahmaputra, and access to the Meghna, add significance to the site, say archaeologists.
In the book ‘Excavation at Wari-Bateshwar: A Preliminary Study’ edited by Enamul Haque and published by The International Centre for Study of Bengal Art, the researchers mentioned ‘Wari-Bateshwar region is a find place of numerous semi-precious stone beads, glass beads, iron artefacts and punch-marked coins. A few numbers of prehistoric tools and art objects have also been reported from the region. Unfortunately, all the artefacts came from surface. Reasonably, there were limitations in fixing the chronology and settle other issues of Wari-Bateshwar archaeology.’
Among the discoveries at the site are patterned earthenware and ceramics that could have been kitchen utensils, as well as beads made from semi-precious stones, melted pieces of iron, as well as innumerable coins with motifs on them.
But many unanswered questions remain about Wari-Bateshwar that cast doubts over the veracity of the findings and the claims made by the excavators, including Dr Rahman.
Many archaeologists find it extremely inappropriate that the Wari-Bateshwar site is effectively being excavated by an NGO called ‘Oitihya Onneswan’ which is headed by Dr Rahman. It is also a matter of concern for them that Dr Rahman is the only senior academic in his team, with most of the excavations being carried out by his students at Jahangirnagar University.
‘If we accept Dr Rahman’s claims that these are indeed the most ancient ruins yet to be found in all of Bengal, why has the excavation been handed over to an NGO instead of a high-powered national excavation committee?’ one top archaeologist asked of New Age this week. ‘And why are novices and students who study under Dr Rahman being allowed to learn their craft on Bangladesh’s most ancient ruins?’ he further asked.
Professor Rahman’s answer is not very convincing. ‘As an expert, I am working at the site following the methods of archaeology and involving my students as volunteers. They are doing the main job at the site. They are not experts, but as an expert I am leading them.’
Dr Rahman, this week shared all the relevant documents that prove that the government, in effect, gave his NGO a permit to excavate at the site.
Questions have also been raised about how effectively the excavated materials—which are claimed to be more ancient than the Mahasthangarh relics in Bogra—are being protected from theft.
This week, officials of the Archaeology Department under the Culture Ministry were unable to show New Age a list of the excavated materials. Students who have worked at the site say a large number of the unearthed relics are in private hands.
The research assistant of the government’s department of archaeology Ahmed Abdullah, who was assigned to supervise the site during the excavation from the government’s side, said that he has no listing of the artefacts and antiquities found in the last excavation by Oitihya Onneswan. ‘Professor Sufi Mostafizur Rahman took away the list of this year and he did not submit the list to the government,’ he added.
He also expressed his ignorance about whether the relics discovered are being submitted to the government. ‘Ignoring the strictly specified government rules many of the excavators have kept the antiquities in their possession,’ at least one official of the department told New Age.
Professor Rahman claims he is preparing a ‘proper catalogue’ of the excavated materials and they are all stored at his university’s campus for more research.
As the mystery of the artefacts unravels, serious misgivings are also arising over Dr Rahman’s claims that the site he is excavating is part of a new civilisation rather than an outpost of one of the recognised civilisations that are known to have flourished in this region during that era.
‘I am willing to risk my reputation in this field and say that Professor Rahman cannot show proof in favour of his claims that this is a new civilisation,’ says Dr Mozammel Huq, who also teaches at the archaeology department of Jahangirnagar university. ‘As per our evidence, the site shows some artefacts that date back to between100-300 AD. I don’t know on what basis he claims this is a new civilisation that flourished in the region of 450 BC.’
The confusion arises in spite of the carbon dating results because Dr Rahman’s detractors claim that he did not follow due process in sending his artefacts for the dating process.
Dr Syed Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan, also professor of same department at JU says: ‘As a geo archaeologist, I will compare the site with other spots. It is archaeologically not ethical to claim anything without getting scientific proof about a site.’
Professor Ahsan was involved in the exaction work at the site in 2000. They worked on the site condition and scientific documentation. According to him, the radio carbon dating of some of the samples show the site is contemporary to Mahasthangarh.
Many archaeologists also doubt the claim that Wari-Bateshwar is an ancient civilisation. According to them, the word ‘civilisation’ carries a tremendous implication and must satisfy certain criteria which this site has not yet been proven to satisfy. The artefacts found at the site show that there was human habitation there during that era but they ask whether that could be enough to claim it as a different civilisation. ‘Depending on the antiquities at the site some one can say it was perhaps an inland port or a business centre but for it to be a civilisation just a few prehistoric stone tools are not enough,’ one top archaeologist observed.
Giving the example of the excavations at Pandurajar Dhibi in Burdwan district of India’s West Bengal state in the 1970’s, the archaeologists further said that some of the materials found at the site were estimated to be as old as 1000 -1200 BC by the excavators.
Now, archaeologists are terming the site an ‘ancient rural settlement’ not a ‘civilisation’ and they say the site merits further research.
‘Many significant artefacts have been found at the site but the real question is in which strata of the earth’s surface are we finding these materials?’ asks Dr Enamul Haque. ‘If you found a million-year old fossil only a few feet under the ground, the fossil will be significant, the place will not necessarily carry the same significance.’
Dr Haque sees his former colleague’s claims of the discovery of a new civilisation as exaggeration. ‘The claim that the site belongs to an ancient civilisation is exaggeration. The persons, who are claiming this, are not giving any report on the excavation to the nation,’ he added.
Dr Rahman argues that research is a continuous process and his colleagues in the field have no right to counter any of his claims. ‘My articles are also a part of my report on the site. I have submitted a preliminary report on my works in 2006 to the government,’ he says. ‘Who are they to prescribe what I will say about Wari-Bateshwar?’ he asked.
Dr Rahman also defended his decision to set up an NGO to excavate the site. ‘To get continuous funding we established an organisation ‘Oitihya Onneswan’ last year. I don’t think there are any legal problems with this,’ he added.
‘This is a national heritage and the government should involve experts on archaeology and to follow proper scientific methodology in excavation works,’ says one archaeologist who seriously doubts Dr Rahman’s claims.
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