Our Bureau

It’s nice to hear that  some history lovers from a reputed platform are all set to go for a joint venture with a UK-based University to trace out the  places having archaeological importance and also the antiquities  which once acknowledged by  the noted Chinese monk-turned traveler Xuanzang, commonly known as Hiuen Tsang during his visit to ancient Bihar.

But it feels really bad to hear it this way when it is said that the ancient Anga Pradesh (Bhagalpur along with some eastern Bihar districts) has been kept aloof from such proposed expedition! Hiuen Tsang visited most parts of Bihar which early were toured by Gautam Buddha and in this context Anga Pradesh along with its ancient capital Champa has its glorious history. But Patna based organizers perhaps be unable to remember the ancient history of this providence and initially  forgot to add Anga Pradesh in the roadmap of their proposed exploration.

HiuenTsang

A media report recently revealed  that Bihar Heritage Development Society ( BHDS), , a wing of the state art, culture and youth department along with UK-based Cardiff University has devised a new innovation, first time in the history of Bihar, to discover archaeological remains and antiquities with the help of Hiuen Tsang’s travelogue. Taking a cue  from the notebook of former British army engineer-cum- the  founder director of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Alexander Cunningham, BHDS has started exploring the sites mostly in Patna, Gaya, Jehanabad, Nawada and Nalanda districts. Hiuen Tsang visited Bihar sometime between 630 AD and 642 AD. The media report on account of the sources from BHDS didn’t mention anything about Anga which equally holds an important chapter in  Tsang’s Bihar travelogue.

Some energetic history lovers from Anga raised high objections on that media report. They apprehended that the injustice that had been inflicted on Anga from the past were about to be repeated. They started protesting intellectually; raised objections on social media platforms. The dispute was settled for the time being.

The mounts of Champa at the outskirt of Bhagalpur city.

But thanks goes to Bijoy Kumar Choudhary, the executive director of BHDS who acknowledge the importance of Anga and included the region in the next phase of their expedition . “My team and I plan to explore the northern Bihar and Anga region in the next leg of our work,” he assured.

As per Choudhary who along with his team members already started the expedition in south Bihar, found several important evidences of the ancient time there. According to him like Cunningham, they also use the English translation of Tsang’s travelogue as a guide during expedition. He further claimed that Prof. Max Deeg of Cardiff University, UK, who is also an eminent expert on Buddhist history along with having profound knowledge of the Chinese, Japanese and Sanskrit languages gave more accuracy on the translation of Tsang’s travelogue. “This is really very helpful for us to follow the footsteps of Tsnang and also discovering many new things in Bihar,” Choudhary pointed out.

There has been a special feeling of rejoice among the residents , especially among the history lovers for this endeavor by BHDS. “This is really a matter of pride for Bihar where people have started recalling the great Chinese monk-turned-traveler, Hiuen Tsang to research the ancient history,” said Dr Dinesh , a faculty of history  at Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University. Dr Dinesh was more excited in anticipating the arrival of the BHDS team in Anga region.

The broken part of Teliagarhi fort.

Former deputy director in state information and  public relation department, Shiv Shanker Singh Parijat who also happens to be an expert in regional history,  however expressed his great concerned on the media report that failed to mention Anga Pradesh in the context of Hiuen Tsang’s visits to the ancient Bihar. “A new trend of distorting history has just begun. But such dirty game with Anga Pradesh has been going on for long time, while this region has a glorious past which was superior than Magadha in pre-6 th century BC in all contexts,” he claimed.

Vikramshila Buddha Mahavihara.

Parijat pointed out that Champa, the capital of Anga was a flourishing city among few in the world dated back before the birth of Gautam Buddha. Bimbisar conquered Anga for fulfilling some of his  major political ambitions as well as to promote imperialism. The conquer of Anga was the classic example of such act in the world. Bimbisar wanted to capture Greater Bengal mainly for strategic point of view both the military operations on water ways and also for having the port like Tamralipti to approach the markets abroad for the traders inside his kingdom.

He said Udayabhadra the son of Ajatasattu shifted capital Champa to Patliputra after making it full-fledged capital of Magadha. Gautam Buddha visited Anga and his visits at Anga had much significances as it created many classic instances in Buddhism. Seven year-old Bishakha, the famous Buddhist Nun-turned- preacher, Kagangala and the queen Gaggara of Champa were some female characters who not only influenced Gautam Buddha but also they had left their marks on Buddhism. Hiuen Tsang also mentioned all about the great female characters. Besides, he also depicted the glory of Champa.

“Teliagari fort at Sahebganj in Jharkhand which was known as ‘gateway or key to Bengal’, Kajangol (present Rajmahal in Sahebganaj) and Hironyo Parvath (the branch of Rajmahal series of hills, Sultanganj along with other places  falling under the territory of Anga were also mentioned by Hiuen Tsang. Later Cunningham acknowledged all the places,” Parijat mentioned.

Raman Sinha, principal of Sunwati Mahila college here pointed out Cunninghum’s description about Anga and its capital Champa. “Vikramshila along with several places at Anga region having influence with Buddhism were also mentioned in Tsang’s travelogue. So it would be a foolish act of any tempering with Anga in this context,” he said.

Mandar Hills at Banka.

Several residents of this region who strongly opposed the missing of Anga in that media report said they apprehended a wide conspiracy which has become common phenomena here. “ Anga’s legacy was excellent, it  had everything from art and culture, architecture, excellent trade activities with foreign markets with products like silk cloths, world level educational institution like Vikramshila. But since Magadha had politically powerful, the splendor of Anga was erased at some point in the past. Unfortunately, Anga still has to face this fate,” lamented Sashi Shanker, a Bhagalpur based media person.

However, many like Parijat, Prof Sinha and others welcome the decision of Choudhary who assured the team of BHDS will tour Anga while following the footsteps of the ancient Chinese traveler, Hiuen Tsang.