Bulandi Bagh is an area of the archaeological site of

Pataliputra Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, was a city in ancient India, originally built by Magadha ruler Ajatashatru in 490 BCE as a small fort () near the Ganges river.. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of Pataliputra at the ...

(north of railway station of the modern city of

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

). It is mainly known for the discovery of the monumental

Pataliputra capital The Pataliputra capital is a monumental rectangular capital with volutes and Classical Greek designs, that was discovered in the palace ruins of the ancient Mauryan Empire capital city of Pataliputra (modern Patna, northeastern India). It is dat ...

, unearthed in 1895 by

L.A. Waddell Lieutenant Colonel Laurence Austine Waddell, CB, CIE, F.L.S., L.L.D, M.Ch., I.M.S. RAI, F.R.A.S (29 May 1854 – 19 September 1938) was a Scottish explorer, Professor of Tibetan, Professor of Chemistry and Pathology, Indian Army surgeon ...

, as well as the excavation of wooden palissades thought to have formed the protective walls of ancient Pataliputra. Bulandhi Bagh is thought to have been part of the

Maurya dynasty The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

royal palace in Pataliputra. Pataliputra patna Bulandi Bagh location

Other excavations in 1912-1913 took place in the area of Bulandi Bagh under American archaeologist

David Brainard Spooner David Brainerd Spooner (February 7, 1879 - January 30, 1925) was an American archaeologist and linguist. He was born at Vernon, Vermont. Spooner graduated from Stanford University in 1899. Spooner first went to Japan to the Prefectural Colleg ...

, working for the British Archaeological Survey of India. Spooner devoted most of his resources to the site of

Kumrahar Kumhrar or Kumrahar is the area of Patna where remains of the ancient city of Pataliputra were excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India starting from 1913. It is located 5 km east of Patna Railway Station. Archaeological remains of ...

to the south, but in Bulandi Bagh, he found a wooden palissade,

punch-marked coins Punch-marked coins, also known as ''Aahat coins'', are a type of early coinage of India, dating to between about the 6th and 2nd centuries BC. It was of irregular shape. History The study of the relative chronology of these coins has successful ...

and

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

figures (head of smiling boy and dancing figure), and various beads and seals. In 1926–1927, J.A. Page and M. Ghosh for the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...

excavated the area again leading to the discovery of large wooden palisades (137 meters were excavated), also thought to be of the Mauryan period. It is thought that it is the palissade seen by

Megasthenes Megasthenes ( ; grc, Μεγασθένης, c. 350 BCE– c. 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, diplomat and Indian ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book '' Indica'', which is now lost, but has ...

during his visit to Pataliputra.Archaeological Survey of India report

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

in his

Geographia The ''Geography'' ( grc-gre, Γεωγραφικὴ Ὑφήγησις, ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis'', "Geographical Guidance"), also known by its Latin names as the ' and the ', is a gazetteer, an atlas, and a treatise on cartography, com ...

, quoting Megasthenes: According to

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

, also quoting Megasthenes: File:Pataliputra Palace capital by L A Waddell 1895.jpg, The

was excavated in Bulandi Bagh. File:Mauryan remains of wooden palissade at Bulandi Bagh site of Pataliputra ASIEC 1912-13.jpg, Mauryan remains of wooden palissade at the Bulandi Bagh site, 1912–13. File:Mauryan remains of a wooden palissade at Bulandi Bagh site of Pataliputra ASI 1926-27.jpg, Mauryan remains of a wooden palissade at Bulandi Bagh site, 1926–27. File:Bulandi Bagh female figure Sunga period.jpg, Female figure found at Bulandi Bagh,

Sunga The Shunga Empire (IAST: ') was an ancient Indian dynasty from Magadha that controlled areas of the most of the northern Indian subcontinent from around 185 to 73 BCE. The dynasty was established by Pushyamitra, after taking the throne of the ...

period.

References

Maurya Empire Patna Archaeological sites in Bihar {{Bihar-geo-stub