Bindeshwari Prasad Sinha (1919-2002) was an Indian archaeologist and historian specialising in ancient Indian history. Sinha was a professor and head of the Department of History and Archaeology at

Patna University Patna University is a public state university in Patna, Bihar, India. It was established on 1 October 1917 during the British Raj. It is the first university in Bihar and the seventh oldest university in the Indian subcontinent in the modern e ...

. He was the founder of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

state's Directorate of Archaeology and Museums. He was also the director of the K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute in Patna. B. P. Sinha was born in

Bihar Sharif Bihar Sharif is the headquarters of Nalanda district and the fifth-largest sub-metropolitan area in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. Its name is a combination of two words: ''Bihar'', derived from '' vihara'' (meaning monastery), also the nam ...

in 1919. He obtained an M.A. degree from the

. He obtained a Ph.D. from

SOAS, University of London SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

in 1948. His guide was Lionel Barnett, and his thesis was on the topic ''Decline of the Kingdom of

Magadh Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled ...

''. After returning to India, he taught at the

Patna College Patna College is a constituent state aided College of Patna University which is established in 1863 during the British Raj, is one of the oldest colleges in the state of Bihar, India. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in science, ...

, and later Patna University. He became the University's Head of Department in 1958, and a professor in 1959. He also taught as a visiting professor in Bulgaria, the United States and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. Sinha is known for having carried out the first excavations at

Vikramashila Vikramashila (Sanskrit: विक्रमशिला, IAST: , Bengali:- বিক্রমশিলা, Romanisation:- Bikrômôśilā ) was one of the three most important Buddhist monasteries in India during the Pala Empire, along wit ...

, the site of an ancient

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

established in the 8th century CE. He also carried out excavations at

Chirand Chirand is an archaeological site in the Saran district of Bihar, India, situated on the northern bank of the Ganga River. It has a large pre-historic mound which is known for its continuous archaeological record from the Neolithic age (about ...

. Sinha was among other scholars and academicians to support the

Vishva Hindu Parishad The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organization based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is ...

(VHP, World Hindu Council) in their negotiations with the

Babri Masjid Action Committee Babri Masjid (IAST: Bābarī Masjid; meaning ''Mosque of Babur'') was a mosque in Ayodhya, India, at a site believed by many Hindus to be the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communi ...

during the

Ayodhya dispute The Ayodhya dispute is a political, historical, and socio-religious debate in India, centred on a plot of land in the city of Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The issues revolve around the control of a site traditionally regarded among Hindus to be the ...

. He authored a document that presented archaeological evidence in support of Ayodhya as

Ram Janmabhoomi Ram Janmabhoomi (literally, "Rama's birthplace") is the site that is hypothesized to be the birthplace of Rama, believed to be the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu. The Ramayana states that the location of Rama's birthplace is on the ...

(or Lord Rama's birthplace), which the VHP later presented to the Government of India in December 1990.B. P. Sinha
''Archaeological Evidences of Ram Janmabhoomi''
Text: Evidence For The Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir; Presented to the Government of India; 23 December 1990; Hindu Vivek Kendra; retrieved 2015-05-03. Sinha died on 3 May 2002.
article; 4 May 2002; The Hindu; retrieved October 2015.

Works

*
Potteries in Ancient India
', (edited), University of Patna, 1969. *
Vaiśālī Excavations, 1958-1962
', (with Sita Ram Roy), Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, 1969. *
Sonpur Excavations, 1956 and 1959-1962
', (with Bhagwati Sharan Verma), Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, 1977. *
Dynastic History of Magadha, Cir. 450-1200 A.D.
', Abhinav Publications, 1977. *
Readings in history and culture
', Sandeep Prakashan, 1978. *
Archaeology & Art of India
', Sundeep Prakashan, 1979. *
Comprehensive History of Bihar
' (two volumes, with Syed Hasan Askari and Kalikinkar Datta), K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute, 1983.

References

1919 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Indian archaeologists Historians of India Analysts of Ayodhya dispute Scientists from Bihar Indian social sciences writers Indian expatriates in the United Kingdom {{India-academic-bio-stub