An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s18.21

v1.c9.s18.21

Except Buddhist sites like ŚRĀVASTĪ, Dts Gonda-Bahraich, and SARNATH near Varanasi and the town site of BHITA, Dt Allahabad, there had been practically no excavations in the region prior to 1940, when the first major excavation of a site unconnected with Buddhism began at AHICCHATRĀ, Dt Bareilly, the traditional capital of the N. Pāñcālas, and continued for the next four years. The results of this important excavation, inadequately published in separate articles, provided the basis for planning extensive investigations into the archaeology of this region. Excavations at KAUŚĀMBĪ, Dt Allahabad, in 1949 and onwards and at HASTINĀPURA, Dt Meerut, in 1950-2 mark the beginning of a new era in the archaeology of the region. In the following years small to large excavations have been carried out at several sites. Though not all of them were initially planned for the investigation of early historical remains most of them have yielded rich remains of the period. Among the major excavations in the region mention may be made of ROPAR, Dt Ambala, PURANA QILA (Delhi), MATHURA, ATRANJIKHERA, Dt Etah, KAUŚĀMBĪ and RAJGHAT (Varanasi). Some other sites that contain remains of the period are SANGHOL, Dt Ludhiana, SUGH, Dt Ambala, ALLAHAPUR, Dt Meerut, KHALAUA, Dt Agra, AYODHYA, Dt Faizabad, ŚRĀVASTĪ, MASAON, Dt Ghazipur, and SOHGAURA, Dt Gorakhpur.