Art and Archaeology of Eastern India

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It is a matter of immense pleasure to present this volume containing the papers of National Seminar on The Art and Archaeology of Eastern India organised by the Directorate of Me Gout of Bihar at Patna Museum, Patna from Bihar to 10th March, 1997. Eastern India in general and North east India in particular has remained terra incognita for a pretty long time for the reason best known to the historians and archaeologists of India It was late B. Subba Rao, in the year 1962, who pointed out that archaeological field work in India is more oriented towards the west. We have not locked adequately to, for the eastern influences which our anthropologists and linguists point out It must be confessed that the attention of the archaeologists in India has been more confined and biased towards the west and we have been looking to the western focus for all our elements. It is high time that we change our attitude and devote ourselves to the archaeology of Eastern and North Eastern India for a balanced growth of archaeological knowledge of the sub-continent in recent years, some excavations and explorations have been carried out but are far from sufficient to provide a complete picture of art and archaeology of this region.

Excavations at Chaand, Taradh, Oriup, Chechar, Sonpur, Senuar, Manjhi, Paisia, Champa, Maner in Bihar, Kuchai, Golbaisasan, Ratnagiri, Sisupalgarh in Orissa, Pandurajar Dhibi, Bibhanpur, Dihar, Mahindal, Jagajivanpur in Bengal, Selbelgiri in Garohills, Daojali Hading in Cachar hills, Ambari in Assam, Salta in Manipur, Vegogokogin in Meghalaya has provided new materials for the archaeologists and a comprehensive study of these materials is necessary for presenting a complete picture of the archaeology of this area.

The purpose of organising this seminar was to highlight little known materials of these sites and provide a broader base for the study of archaeology of Eastern India and exchange of ideas among the scholars on different aspects of art and archaeology.

As North-Eastern Indian archaeology is very little known, we invited many archaeologists and art historians who have worked in that area, so that we may have more information about the archaeological activities in North-Eastern India.

The seminar was inaugurated by Sri B. P. Singh, the then Secretary, Culture, Govt. of India. The keynote address on the archaeology of eastern India was delivered by Sri Jagat Pati Joshi, former Director General, Archaeological Survey of India and Prof. Anand Krishna of Bharat Kala Bhawan, Varanasi delivered the key note address on the art aspect Dr B. P Sinha, eminent historian and archaeologist, presided over the function.

Janab Abdul Bari Siddiqui, the then Hon'ble Minister, Art, Culture and Youth, Bihar, patronised and constantly guided the Seminar for which I am very much indebted to him. I am also thankful to Sri KD Sinha, IAS, the then Secretary, and Sri Anjani Kumar Singh, IAS, the then Special Secretary Art, Culture and Youth for their constant encouragement.