Jagjivanpur - 1996-2005 Excavation Report

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The year 1987 is the landmark in the history of Bengal as well as of North India due to the chance discovery of an extremely important copper plate charter of Sri Mahendrapaladeva, son of Devapala of the Pala dynasty, from the modern settlement unit Tulabhita within the village Jagjivanpur. After discovery of the copper plate with its decipherement, the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of West Bengal, declared the site protected and took initiatives for archaeological excavation for retrieval of the hidden heritage under the earth. The Site was excavated extensively by the Directorate from 1996 to 2005 under the direction of Amal Roy, after shifting and rehabilitation of the local inhabitants, residing on the mound. The excavation has yielded a brick built monastery of 9th century AD. with its structural components. The terracotta seals and sealings, yielded through excavation, helped to identify the name of the monastery Nandadirghi Vihara. A large number of terracotta plaques with the images of gods and goddesses, semi divine figures, human figures, warriors, animals, birds and reptiles, etc. have been unearthed through excavations, representing the mature terracotta art of the Palas. The materialistic remains unearthed through excavation and the scientific dating of the charcoal samples, evidently proved that the site was a flourishing Buddhist Centre from circa 9th to 11th century AD. This monograph, written by Amal Roy, the Director of excavation project, contains a detail report on the excavations and explorations at Jagjivanpur with inclusion of a good number of figures and photographs which will help to understand the site properly.

It is also to be noted that a separate gallery on "Nandadirghi Vihara: Jagjivanpur" has been laid in the State Archaeological museum, Kolkata, with the display of a replica of the monastery and the antiquities for better understanding of the site for those who are not able to visit the site. In near future a site museum will also be opened at Jagjivanpur. The major conservation work of the excavated monastery-structure has already been completed.

The village Jagjivanpur has already got its importance and fame due to the excavation, conducted by this Directorate. Gradually, the site is becoming a major tourist spot in Malda. The Govt. of West Bengal is taking active care to protect and preserve the site with further schemes for development.

The long term archaeological excavation at Jagjivanpur has been considered as the major field project of the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of West Bengal. The excavation was started in 1992 in a sporadic manner and exploratory in nature due to non-availability of digging, area. The real horizontal excavation was started in 1996 under my guidance as Director of the excavation after my joining as Superintendent of Archaeology in this Directorate, leaving from Archaeological Survey of India. Immediately after joining in the new office, I was assigned to undertake the excavation and the work was executed with the accumulated field experience in the excavations of the major Buddhist site at Lalitagiri and explorations of other Buddhist sites at Udaygiri, Ratnagiri, Langudi hill, Aragarh in Orissa and Sirpur in Chhattisgarh. The initial excavations at Tulabhita from 1992 to 1995 could not be undertaken properly due to occupancy of the site with 29 families by the local villagers. The shifting of the inhabitants to other place for vacating the mound was a challenging task and this is for the first time in West Bengal and rare in the country that a village has been shifted completely after rehabilitation for conducting the archaeological excavation.

The excavation at Jagjivanpur has led this non-descript village at the eastern fringe of Malda district in West Bengal, adjacent to Indo-Bangladesh border, to find an important place on the archaeological map of both Bengal and India. The archaeological activities at Jagjivanpur began under the aegis of the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Govt. of West Bengal followed by the chance discovery of an extremely important copper plate charter in 1987, which not only revealed the name of a hitherto unknown ruler Mahendrapaladeva, a scion of the imperial Pala dynasty, ruled over Bengal and Bihar during circa 8th to 12th century A.D., but also helped historians to rewrite the political history of Bengal and of North India. King Mahendrapala (c. A.D. 545-860), who is described as the son and successor of Devapala (c. A.D. 810-845), granted a piece of land in Nandadirghik-udrange in favour of Mahasenapati Vajradeva, who had caused to be built a monastery at that place for increase of religious merits of his parents, of himself and of all beings.

The discovery of the Copper Plate Charter has forced archaeologists to explore the village Jagjivanpur and consequently five major archaeological mounds viz. Tulabhita, Akhridanga, Nimdanga, Maibhita and Lakshmidhibi have been identified with full of antiquarian remains. Of these, the mound Tulabhita is the biggest and most impressive and was selected for excavation after declaring the site as a State Protected Site under the purview of the "The West Bengal Preservation of Historical Monuments and Objects and excavation of Archaeological Sites Act 1957 (West Bengal Act XXXI of 1957). This high mound with full of habitation, not only yielded the Copper Plate Inscription of Mahendrapala, but also yeilded a small bronze image of seated Buddha in Bhumisparsa-mudra with Buddhist creed at the back of the halo and a stone image of Buddha, prior to the commencement of the excavation.

Since 1996 extensive digging work was carried out after the shifting of the inhabitants. Through vertical digging in some trenches it has been recorded that there are six layers of distinct deposits from surface to the natural soil and there is reason to believe evidently that the site was not occupied prior to the Pala period and hence it has been identified as a mono cultural site. In course of excavations, the brick built monastery, evidently the one mentioned in the copper plate, with its essential components like sanctum with circumbulatory pathway, cells, varandah, courtyard with staircases, entrance complex, etc. has been exposed fully. The structural remains indicate atleast two phases of construction-activities.

Among important antiquities, a metal image of Buddhist goddess Marichi, terracotta seals and sealings, myriads of exquisite terracotta plaques, beads of terracotta and semiprecious stones, ornamental bricks, terracotta balls, dabbers, lamps and various iron objects are noteworthy. The legend on the terracotta seals helped to identify the monastery as Nandadirghi Vihara.

Apart from the five principal mounds as referred, an extensive exploration has been carried out in and around Jagjivanpur and several other sites of archaeological importance have also been identified within the vicinity. This gives an indication that the area had been a flourishing Buddhist centre and has tremendous potentialities for long term archaeological activities and research.

Ten Chapters have been included in the Excavation Report. The Section 1 of the monograph contains the location of the site, geomorphology of the site, rivers, flora, legend, background, Buddhist rulers and Buddhism in North Bengal, for better understanding of the site and its environ. The Section 2 contains the documented sites and antiquities (pre-excavation) like Copper Plate Charter of Sri Mahendrapaladeva, bronze image of Buddha, stone image of Buddha and archaeological sites and mounds in Jagjivanpur mouza. The Section 3 contains the excavation method, trial diggings, cuttings, stratigraphy, date and chronology of the site and the monastery with usual structural components. The Section 4 contains the detail discussion on the excavated antiquities like seals & sealings, image of Marichi, ornamental bricks, beads and other miscellaneous objects of daily use. The Section 5 contains the detail list of the antiquities recovered through excavation from 1996 to 2005. All the antiquities as recorded in the Field Accession Register are included with initial accession nos., though some recorded artefacts are coming under pottery group and some have not been considered subsequently as real antiquities. Most of the antiquities are now having the Museum accession no. The Section 6 deals with the terracotta plaques, unearthed in course of digging through layer no. 3 mainly frora the collapsed debris of the monastery walls. The plaques have been dealt exclusively in separate chapter due to its quantity, exquisite depiction of various figures and representation of terracotta art of early mediaeval period. All the plaques have been classified into several groups. The salient features of the plaques with figurative arts and archaeological value have also been dealt. The Section 7 deals with the pottery with six sub sections for discussions about mode of collection, typology, manufacturing technique, common pottery types and designs on pottery. The Section 8 contains the scientific analysis and research on various aspects like palaeobotanical remains with charcoal dating, archaeometallurgical studies of iron nail and archaeotechnical studies on metal image of Marichi. These scientific reports have enriched the monograph and also made it more technical. The Section 9 contains the resume or the conclusion part of the excavation report on the basis of the preceeding discussions. This new site deserves special mention as this is the only excavated Buddhist monastery in West Bengal with all essential components in a regular manner like sanctum with pradakshinapatha, courtyard, entrance, verandah, cells, etc., like other monastertes of eastern India. Not a single Buddhist site in the state produced such myraids of exquisitely carved terracotta plaques with three dimensional figures. The Copper Plate Inscription of Mahendrapaladeva is a remarkable historical evidence of Bengal as well as of Eastern India. The site with remarkable material evidence will provide primary source materials for long term study and research. A large number of photographs of the site and ongoing excavation and recovered antiquities with drawings, maps, figures, etc. have been incorporated in the report for clear understanding of the site. It has been planned that a catalogue of the terracotta plaques and the pottery, recovered through excavation at Jagjivanpur will be published within a few months. Hope, this report will help the students and scholars towards further studies and research on the history and archaeology of the eastern India during the early mediaeval period. The Section 10 contains the references, list of consulted books and periodicals for further studies and consultation.