Wari-Bateshwar a significant archaeological site in Bangladesh.

Located three kilometres west of Belabo thana of Narshingdi district, Wari (Wari) and Bateshwar (Bateshvar) are two contiguous villages long known for being the find-spot of silver punch-marked coins in Bengal. he villages are situated on the !leistocene flat surface of the eastern "adhupur tract. # small dried-up river, called $a%ra, flows in an east west direction on the northern side of the villages. he landscape of the area suggests that during an earl% historic period the old Brahmaputra river used to flow near the village. he river has now shifted a few kilometres eastward. he "eghna flows onl% a few kms to the south of this area and the #rial $han flows into it . he location of the two villages on a comparativel% high, flood-free ground& their pro'imit% to the old Brahmaputra, and access to the "eghna add significance to the site. "d (anif !athan, a schoolteacher, first brought the archaeological importance of the villages to light in )*++. Later his son "d (abibullah !athan, an amateur archaeologist took initiative to collect anti,uities and stud% them.

Bronze and iron objects Wari-Bateshwar

-poradic e'plorations had revealed that the ma.or part of Wari and Bateshwar villages was occupied in the ancient period. -igns of ancient settlements are noticed in the surrounding villages namel%, /aingertek, -onarutala, $andua, "on.al, 0handipara, !atuli, 1a%mangal, (arisangan, 1essore, $undapara, 2otashia, and #bdullanagar. (undreds and thousands of semi-precious stone beads, glass beads, 3ron artifacts, silver punch-marked coins and man% minor artifacts have been reported from the region from time to time. 4nfortunatel%, all the artifacts were chance finds. he% came out during ploughing of fields, digging ponds and other domestic activities and during rain% season when rainwater washes awa% the topsoil. /ecentl% important discoveries were made during a small-scale e'cavation at Wari. #mong the discoveries a sherd of /ouletted Ware, a piece of $nobbed Ware, good number of Northern Black !olish Ware, Black-slipped Ware, common ceramics, a few semi-precious stone beads, chips, flakes and cores of semi- precious stone beads, melted pieces of iron, sign of fallen mud-wall and signs of some sort of burning activit% are ver% significant. he discover% of tin% parts like chips and flakes of semi-precious stones clearl% prove the e'istence of semi-precious stone bead manufacturing centre at Wari. he flakes are produced out of primar% chipping or dressing cores. he e'otic beads at Wari -Bateshwar region are ob.ects of a b%e-gone art and bear silent but elo,uent testimon% to the

marvelous artistic skill attained b% the Wari-Bateshwar people. he raw materials are not available within present Bangladesh& possibl% it had to be collected from outside. # large number of iron artifacts, eg iron blooms5 handa'es (6), spearheads, knives, nails and slugs were reported earlier. /ecentl% nails, slugs, melted tin% missing parts and unidentified iron ob.ects were discovered from the e'cavation. #lthough furnace has not been encountered in the small-scale e'cavation but some signs of firing activit% could be noticed. Burnt bricks like cla% lumps, result of a high temperature burning, were discovered. 3t is likel% that there was an iron smelting industr% in and around the site. 3ron ob.ects were found at Wari in NB!W level also. he time bracket of NB!W from different sites of the subcontinent varies from c 788 to )88 B0 or 98 #:. # part of fallen mud-wall has been found in NB!W level. he discover% is ver% significant because it reveals the long tradition of mud-wall architecture in the region in particular and in Bengal in general. his mud-wall is possibl% the earliest evidence of architecture in Bangladesh. (owever, brick structures (brick si;e, +< ' +8 ' = cm) are also found in the region. he religious nature of Wari-Bateshwar habitation is not ver% clear. he discover% of a $nobbed Ware at Wari hints at the e'istence of Buddhist practice in the region. 0onsidering the geographical location of Wari-Bateshwar, :ilip $umar 0hakrabarti predicted that the region had -outheast #siatic and /oman contacts. he discover% of /ouletted Ware and $nobbed Ware from e'cavation and the chance finds of high-tin Bron;e $nobbed Ware, sandwiched glass beads, gold-foil glass beads and 3ndo-!acific monochrome glass beads provide support in favour of 0hakrabarti>s assumption. 0hakrabarti went one step further and tried to identif% Wari-Bateshwar with !tolem%>s Sounagoura. !eter ?rancis 1r reports 3ndo-!acific "onochrome glass beads from #rikamedu (3ndia), "antai (-ri Lanka), $ion hom ( ailand) and @c-Ao (Bietnam) each of these sites was the first urban centre in their respective regions. he% were each ma.or ports, all have been identified as emporia listed in !tolem%> Geugraphia. he location of Wari-Bateshwar carries all the characteristics of !tolem%>s sites. 3ndo !acific "onochrome glass beads were found here, it was possibl% the first urban centre in the region, it was a port cit% and it might have had trade relations with man% other cities. 3t has been inferred that Wani-Bateshwar was the eastern most limit of the "aur%an Ampire. he recent discover% of NB!W from e'cavation has provided positive support in favour of this h%pothesis. 3t has been argued b% scholars that the wide distribution of NB!W is concomitant with "aur%an imperialism. he discover% of NB!W is significant for the understanding of Buddhism and trade routes also. he e'cavation has placed Wari-Bateshwar in the earl% historic period. he 0 )C dates have pushed back the chronolog% of Wari to C98 B0. he Northern Black !olished Ware, /ouletted Ware and $nobbed Ware are chronolog% markers of the Aarl% (istoric period. he numerous NB!W sites of the -ubcontinent are placed between circa 788 to )88 B0 or 98 #:, /ouletted Wares to circa +rd centur% B0 to <nd centur% #: and $nobbed Ware to <nd centur% B0 to <nd centur% #:.