Walking near the confluence of the Varana and the Ganga, the area known as Rajghat plateau (Fig. 1.3), one can have a glimpse of the ancient site. Presently the area is occupied by grounds of the Annie Besant College, the Krishnamurti Foundation, and the Gandhian Institute. The older city was spread between the Varana and the Gomati, the latter meets the Ganga ca 20km north.
The archaeological findings and the C14 dating of some of the wares excavated from the earliest level (upper part of IA layer, sample No. TF-293) confirm the existence of urban settlements in the period during 800-500 BCE. Because of frequent use of clay and mud for building, human habitations were least resistant to the flooding of the river and as such physical and material evidence of earlier occupation appears to have vanished. Such evidence was unearthed at Kamauli village, lying 4km northeast from Rajghat across the Varana river. Here microlithic tools associated with a kind of Red Ware, datable to the 4th and 3rd millennium BCE were obtained underneath the sterile deposits of about 4m, just below the Sunga levels (200 BCE to the beginning of Christian era; Fig. 1.3).
The epic Mahabharata has a passing on reference to the city, but on the other hand the follow up Jataka tales, written after the Mahabharata, record vivid descriptions of the city. This is further supported by the literary description given in the Shatapatha Brahamana, dated ca 8th century BCE, which mentions the rich pastoral life and habitation in the Rajghat area. It was at this stage that Jainism was introduced as a reformation movement. In 8th century BCE Parshvanatha, the leading prophet of Jainism was already born in Varanasi and influence of Jainism was recorded. Later on, Mahavira (599-527 BCE), the last Thirthankara had also made his imprint on the cultural arena of the city. The Jataka tales, 6th to 5th century BCE, refer Banaras as the site of manifestation of previous Buddhas, the last one was the Gautama Buddha. The older city was spread between the Varana and the Gomati, the latter meets the Ganga about 20km north.
By the end of 5th century BCE for shorter period Shishunaga and Nandas also ruled over the kingdom of Kashi. However, by 4th century BCE the Mauryan dynasty took the rule. Ashoka (272-242 BCE), the great Mauryan king, had declared Buddhism a state religion and paid visit to Sarnath. Under his patronage developed a Buddhist township having many monasteries, stupas and shrines. After the downfall of Mauryas, the prosperity of the city has gone into darkness till the rule of Kushanas in the 1st century CE. The inscriptions of Kushana king Kanishka, dated 3rd century CE, refer the persistence of Buddhism together with animistic religion of Yaksha. During the Mauryan period this was the famous route and continued its importance; later in the Muslim rule this road was renovated and revived, and presently known as Grand Trunk Road, National Highway No. 2. The Buddha also walked on this great path. The city was a known centre of trade and commerce. The archaeological layout of the houses, lanes and drainage channels shows a developed pattern of planning, as it is visible even today in the old parts. The city of Banaras from the Kushana to the beginning of Gupta period was rich in artistic finds, as exemplified by the images of Bodhisattvas, Yakshas and Nagas.
The Gupta period (ca. 320-550 CE), marks the period of great religious vitality and transformations – known as India’s Golden Age. The Vaishnava tradition of Hindu religion was introduced, and cults like Skanda, Surya and folk and village guardians also revived and had given recognition. Architectural fragments of this period are scattered in and around the city, especially on the Panchakroshi road. The clay seals from this period show signs of business, educational institutions and importance of forests. Varanasi finally had been established and recognised as a great sacred place (tirtha). The association among the Shiva lingas, the Ganga river, and a few of the ghats has been given religious meaning. During the first half of the 7th century the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, Xuanzang (Hsüan-tsang, ca. 635 CE) arrived in the city and described it as thickly populated, prospering and important seat of learning and trade. The arrival and preaching of Adya Sankaracharya in the 8th century mark the revival of the Brahmanical thought, which finally uprooted Buddhism from this soil.
Medieval Period
In the early medieval period, Banaras had passed from one ruler to another, from Maukharis of Kannauj to Gurjara Pratiharas (9th century). Finally, in the early 11th century it went under Gangeyadeva, king of Kannauj. The greatest of the Gahadavalas, Govindachandra (1114-1154) is described by historians of the period as the greatest king and praised as an incarnation of Vishnu, who was commissioned to protect his favourite city of Varanasi. He had defeated the Muslim invaders two times during 1114-1118, and patronised the Hindu religion. Queen Kumaradevi, wife of Govindachandra, came of a Vajrayani (Tantric) Buddhist family. She restored several buildings at Sarnath and built a new vihara (hostel for the monks) there. His chief minister, Lakshmidhara is remembered as a great compiler of the most reputable and the most extensive digest (nibandha) of literature on dharma, composed in 14 volumes, known as Krityakalpataru.
Following the sack of the city by the forces of Muhammad Ghori, temples were destroyed again in 1300s under Firoz Shah Tughlaq (1351-1388). In the 1400s, the city came under the rule of Sharqi kings of Jaunpur, and temples were again destroyed, their blocks hauled away for the construction of a mosque in Jaunpur. During the moments of calm, the Hindus rebuilt temples and lingas but they were again destroyed by the next wave of invaders. After passage of time, city came under the rule of Lodis (1451-1526), who seized power from the Sharqis, and again Sikander Lodi destroyed a major part of the city. A great sigh of relief was surely heaved in the 1500s when Mughal Emperor Akbar (1556-1605) granted more religious freedom. The Rajputs Man Singh and Todarmal, the two senior ministers in the court of Akbar, participated actively in repairing, rebuilding and new construction of temples and Banaras ghats during this part of the Mughal period.
During the reign of Akbar’s grandson Shah Jahan (1628-1657), the imperial policy changed again. By his order, about seventy-six temples under construction were destroyed. His successor, Aurangzeb (1658-1707), was even more zealous and fundamentalist in his disdain for the temples and shrines of the Hindus. By his order in 1669-1673, once again around thousand temples, including city’s grand temples like Vishveshvara, Krittivasa, and Vindu Madhava, were razed and their sites were forever sealed from Hindu access by the construction of mosques. There is no major religious sanctuary in the city of Banaras that pre-dates the time of Aurangzeb in the 17th century. The only temple complex got saved by the destruction is at Kandwa (i.e. Kardameshvara) because of its location in the countryside and inaccessible during that period.
The city of Puranic glory and beauty as was known in 12th century had disappeared by the end of 17th century. The late medieval period in the history of Banaras saw the rise and spread of a new wave of popular bhakti devotionalism in North India. By this movement the classical Sanskrit literature yielded to a vibrant new poetic literature composed in the languages of the common masses. Despite its reputation as stronghold of Hindu orthodoxy and conservatism, Banaras participated in the vibrant devotional resurgence during 14th to early 17th centuries. Among such poets and reformers, the notables were Ramananda, Kabir, Raidas, Tulasi, Chaitanya and Guru Nanak.
The Modern and British Period
In the early 18th century with the decline of the government in Delhi, Banaras first came under the rule of the Nawabs of Oudh in 1722, and later became the seat of Mansaram (1730-1738), the initiator of the present state of Kashi. His successor Balwant Singh (1738-1770) gained cleverly from the Nawab in 1725 and established an independent state, which for about forty years remained the centre of attention and source of trouble for the rising East India Company. In 1763 he built a fort other side of the river Ganga at Ramanagar. The tension between the two powers reached its acme in 1781, when Chet Singh (1770-1781), son of Balwant Singh, had usurped the throne and put Lord Warren Hastings in serious trouble. However, in 1775 Banaras was ceded to the East India Company by the Nawabs of Oudh, and finally in 1794 Banaras came under British administration.
A fresh wave of cultural renaissance overtook Banaras during the 18th century under the influence of the Marathas (1734-1785) who substantially rebuilt the city. The city, which had sheltered the rebel Maratha hero, Shivaji, in his challenge to Mughal power, now became the recipient of the gratitude, the wealth, the skill and energy of the Marathas. Says a noted historian Altekar (1947, p. 24) that “Modern Banaras is largely a creation of the Marathas”. Bajirao Peshva I (1720-40) have patronised construction of Manikarnika and Dashashvamedha Ghats and nearby residential quarters. A number of ghats, water pools and noted temples of Vishvanatha, Trilochana, Annapurna, Sakshi Vinayaka and Kala Bhairava were rebuilt under Maratha patronage. Queen Ahilyabai of Indore built the present Vishvanatha temple in 1777-79. As one after the other the ghats were added, the temples rose, the city regained its gaiety, and its educational system was revitalised.
By the approval of the British Governor-General Warren Hastings in 1791, Jonathan Duncan, a British resident in Banaras, started a Sanskrit College, and in 1853 the present buildings of the college were built in Gothic style. The oldest local educational initiative goes back to Jay Narayan Ghosal, a rich landlord from Bengal, who with the British support founded a school in 1814. In 1904, the great pandit and reformer Madan Mohan Malaviya, began campaigning for a modern Hindu university which would provide a platform of good interaction between classical cultural traditions and the modern sciences. In 1916, the Viceroy of India, Lord Hardinge, laid the foundation stone of what would become one of the largest and most beautiful universities in Asia. In the passage of time, during late 19th and early 20th centuries many educational institutions had been established. Founded by Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya on 14th February 1916, the Banaras Hindu University is spread over an area of 1370 acres (554.5 ha) and is planned in a semi-circular and radial pattern, thus symbolising the ‘half-moon on the forehead of Shiva’. New Vishvanatha Temple in the campus, in a sense it replicates the old temple of Vishvanatha in the city. Built in 1962, this temple is made of marble mosaic and its tower has a height of 76.5m (252 ft). This tower is one among the tallest monuments in India.
Post-Independence Period
India received independence from the British rule on 15th August 1947, and declared a democratic republic state on 26th January 1950. Since 1947 no substantive change in the urban fabric and city morphology is recorded. In 1990s many star hotels, mostly in the Mall area, have been constructed to fulfil the need of increasing flux of foreign tourists. Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) was set up in 1961 with technical collaboration from USA; this is the only biggest heavy industry unit in the district.
In 1975 the Banaras Hindu University acquired the lease for an agricultural farm of 2760 acres (1113 ha) from the Bharat Maha Mandal Trust at Barkachha in Sonbhadra District, about 83 km southwest, with an aim of promoting agricultural innovations and indigenous techniques; this is known as Rajiv Gandhi Campus, where are running several vocational and applied courses.
In 1948 The Banaras Improvement Trust was constituted for making ‘Master Plan of Banaras’, and in 1951 the first such plan was prepared. In continuation again in 1973 and 1982 the revised plans were prepared. The latest plan has been approved on 10 July 2001, when for the first time the concept of heritage planning and preservation of heritage zones has been proposed. For this purpose, five cultural zones are identified. In lack of public awareness and active participation, the complex web of bureaucracy and increasing pace of individualism and consumerism there is little hope for the proper implementation of these plans. This has been further incorporated in the latest Master Plan of Varanasi 2011-2031. Currently the ongoing programmes are in process to get the city included under ‘Smart City Development Plan’, on the line of Kashi-Kyoto development initiative that was formalised and declared by the Hon’ble PM Narendra Modi on 30 August 2014. Additionally, these development plans are in process under GOI missions of HRIDAY (Heritage city Development and Augmentation Yojana) and PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual Augmentation Drive).
