Baliraajgadh is an archaeological site located at Balirajpur village of Babubarhi block in

Madhubani district Madhubani district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar, India, and is a part of Darbhanga division. Its administrative headquarters are located in Madhubani. The district has an area of and has a population of 4,487,379 (as of 20 ...

Mithila region Mithila (), also known as Tirhut, Tirabhukti and Mithilanchal, is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothil ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

state in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The site is locally known as ''Raja Bali ka Garh'' (The fort of King Bali ). The site was first sighted and identified by George Grierson, the then subdivisional officer of Darbhanga in 1884 AD. It is among the three important archeological sites Balirajgarh fort, Telhara and

Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...

in the state of Bihar in India. The site of Balirajgarh is greater than the site of Vikramshila and Vaishali but it has not yet been developed as a tourist place. Balirajgarh Fort is located on the territory of

Mithila Mithila may refer to: Places * Mithilā, a synonym for the ancient Videha state ** Mithilā (ancient city), the ancient capital city of Videha * Mithila (region), a cultural region (historical and contemporary), now divided between India and Nepa ...

, 7 kilometers east of Kamlabalan River and 35 kilometers west of

Kosi KOSI (101.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Denver, Colorado. KOSI is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International and airs an adult contemporary music format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. ...

River. It has been claimed by some scholars to be the location of the ancient city of

. The headquarter of the

Ancient Mithila University Sanskrit and Vedic learning, also called Vedic studies, started in Mithila (region), Mithila with the expansion of Vedic period, Vedic and Brahmanic culture eastwards along the Ganges plain. From the 12th/13th to 15th century CE, Mithila was an im ...

was at the court of King

Janaka Janaka (, IAST: ''Janaka'') is the King of Videha who ruled from Mithila (region), Mithila, in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Janaka was married to Sunayana (Ramayana), Sunayana. He is the father of Sita and Urmila in the epic. The term Janaka ...

. Therefore, Balirajgadh is also the possible site of the

. It is the place from where most of the schools of the ancient Indian philosophy emerged. Nyaya Shastra, Logical sciences, Samkhya Shastra, Mimansa Shastra and many more

Indian philosophy Indian philosophy consists of philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The philosophies are often called darśana meaning, "to see" or "looking at." Ānvīkṣikī means “critical inquiry” or “investigation." Unlike darśan ...

emerged from the Ancient Mithila University. In

Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...

's record, two clans were linked with Vajji/Mithila by 646: Vaishali and Vrijji. Vaishali was both Buddhist and Hindu while Vrijji was predominantly Hindu and the capital of it ''Zhanshuna'' (占戍挐, possibly from Sanskrit "Cemśoṇa/Cansuna").

Excavations

In 1938 Archeological Survey of India declared the ancient site of Balirajgadh as a site of national importance under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904. In the excavations done here in five phases, three thousand years old material was found. The first excavation of the site was conducted in 1962-1963 by the Archeological Survey of India. The second and third excavations was conducted by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Bihar, in 1972-73 and 1974-75. In 2013-2014, Archeological Survey of India, Bihar circle again started the excavation of the site but due to the negligence of the government no proper results were there. In 2015 Chief Minister

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...

Bihar Government The chief minister of Bihar serves as the head of the Government of Bihar, overseeing its administration and governance within the constitutional framework of India. While the Governor of Bihar holds the ceremonial role of the constitutional ...

criticized ASI ( Archeological Survey of India) for slow and neglected attitude towards the Balirajgarh fort excavation.

Archeological remains

Archeologists have found many archeological remains from the site by excavations conducted by them. They excavated 2300 years old iron nail from the site. Similarly an Indian iron blade fragment of period 300 BCE was excavated. More than 400 antiquities were excavated from the site including human & animal figurines and beads of terracotta, bangle fragments and ceiling. The sizes of the bricks found at the ruins of the site are double compared with the sizes of the modern times bricks. The size of the bricks found here are generally 1 Feet × 1.5 Feet × 4 Inch in dimension. During the excavations, antiquities of five phases of cultural periods, namely Northern Black Soil (''Uttari Kale Mridmand'' ),

Shunga is a type of Japanese erotic art typically executed as a kind of ukiyo-e, often in Woodcut, woodblock print format. While rare, there are also extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate ukiyo-e. Translated literally, the Japanese word '' ...

Kushan ''Kushan'' or Kushana may refer to: * Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan ...

, Gupta and later Pala period, were discovered.

Religious significance

According to regional legend, this was the capital of mythological

asura Asuras () are a class of beings in Indian religions, and later Persian and Turkic mythology. They are described as power-seeking beings related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the wor ...

king

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

. The son of

Virochana Virochana () is an asura king in Hinduism. He is the grandson of Hiranyakashipu, the son of Prahlada (according to the Atharvaveda The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" ...

and grandson of

Prahlada Prahlada () is an asura king in Hindu scriptures. He is known for his staunch devotion to the preserver deity, Vishnu. He appears in the narrative of Narasimha, the lion avatara of Vishnu, who rescues Prahlada by disimboweling and killing hi ...

, King Bali is believed to have been popular for his donations to the poor,

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

s, scholars, and all those who came to his kingdom in expectation of financial help. Many scholars identify the site with the capital of King

. According to the

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

Lakshmana Lakshmana (, ), also known as Laxmana, Lakhan, Saumitra, and Ramanuja, is the younger brother of Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of Shesha, the lord of serpents. Lakshmana was married to Urmila, and i ...

and their guru,

Vishvamitra Vishvamitra (, ) is one of the most venerated rishis or sages of ancient India. Vishvamitra is one of the seven Brahmarshi. According to Hindu tradition, he is stated to have written most of the Mandala 3 of the Rigveda, including the Gay ...

, went to the Kingdom of Mithila from the

Gautam Ashram Gautam Ashram () was a gurukul of the ancient Indian philosopher Gautama. It is located at the west bank of Khiroi river in Brahmpur village of Jale block of Darbhanga district in Bihar. It is only at a seven kilometres distance from Kamtaul rail ...

in north-east direction. In the Ramayana, the capital of the Kingdom of Mithila is also known as Mithilapuri, which is also regionally identified with this site. According to some scholars, the fort was built by the last King of the

Dynasty in

. After that the Janaka Dynasty was divided into many dynasties. One of the King of the

Dynasty named the fort as Baligarh.

History

According to the historian Sahadev Jha, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Shakaditya in the 1st Century BC. Shakaditya was the younger brother of King

Vikramaditya Vikramaditya (Sanskrit: विक्रमादित्य IAST: ') was a legendary king as mentioned in ancient Indian literature, featuring in traditional stories including those in ''Baital Pachisi, Vetala Panchavimshati'' and ''Singhasan ...

. In the 11th century AD, it was the capital of King Ballāla Sena of Sen dynasty. Some of the remains of

Maurya The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary sourc ...

period were also found here. So some scholars believe that some of the parts of this site may be built during

period

References

{{reflist Archaeological sites in Bihar Mithila Ramayana