The recent excavation at country’s biggest fort city ‘Bitargarh’ under the Panchagarh district, has uncovered diversified material of archaeological significance from the period between the sixth to tenth centuries.
These materials will play a significant role in constructive preservation of history, said Archaeologist Dr Shahnaj Husne Jahan, who led a team of students from the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) in the excavation.
The discovery was brought to light Wednesday in a seminar organised by ULAB at the Department of Archaeology in capital’s Agargaon area.
Dr Ranjit Kumar Biswas, Secretary of Ministry of Cultural Affairs was the chief guest at the event while Dr Shahnaj Husne Jahan was the keynote speaker.
The team revealed that the site of Bhitargarh was an urban settlement enclosed within four concentric quadrangles made of earth and brick and discovered lower parts of eight forts that were constructed at the site.
Dr Jahan said the team had discovered ten ancient ponds of which ‘Maharajar Dighi’ was the largest.
“There used to be three embankments in three areas. The embankments were made of stone to retain water throughout the year for cultivation. Furthermore, some ancient pottery has been discovered as well,” she added.
Bitargarh is located in Amarkhana union under Panchagarh Police Station about 16km northeast of the Panchagarh district headquarters.
This was the first ever archaeological excavation carried out at the district.
Dr Ranjit Kumar Biswas said, “Now that the nation is more aware of its tradition, it can add these findings to museums.”
AKM Zakaria, archaeologist and former secretary to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs said, “The area was named as ‘Bhitargarh’ or ‘inner fort’ because of several forts located inside the area.”
Emphasising on the historical significance of the site Dr Jahan said, “The fort was built between the sixth and tenth centuries. However, no signs of Muslim settlements were found here.”
She also said, “The importance of Bhitargarh lay primarily in trade, due to its strategic location on the ancient overland and riverine routes connecting to Tibet, Sikkjm, Nepal, Bhutan, Assam, Koch Bihar and regions of the middle and lower Ganga valleys.”
“However, the archaeological site is on the verge of collapse as locals are building structures within the site violating the High Court’s order imposing a suspension on all kinds of constructional work at the area,” she said with despair.
The professor hoped that by realising the archaeological significance of the area, the government would protect it by constructing boundary walls around it and set an example by declaring the 25-sqkm area as ‘reserved antiquities’ under the Antiquities Act of 1968 (amended in 1976).”
Upon obtaining permission from the Department of Archaeology under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Dr Jahan started the archaeological exploration of Bhitargarh in 2003.
Ministry of Cultural Affairs allocated Tk500,000 in the 2012-13 financial year to implement the excavation work in Bhitargarh by ULAB.
The excavation work was carried by students of the course ‘Experiencing the Past’ of ULAB with assistance from locals.
Emeritus Prof Dr Rafiqul Islam, former Vice-Chancellor of ULAB presided over the seminar. He said ULAB has been running the excavation on its own funds with approval from the department of Archaeology.