Balirajgarh

Balirajgarh is an archaeological site within Madhubani district of Bihar, India. The site is 1 square km and houses an ancient fortification dating back to c. 200 BCE during the period of the Shunga Empire.^[1][2] It is possible the site is pre-Mauryan in origin^[3] and the Cambridge University archaeologist, Dilip Kumar Chakrabarti, believes Balirajgarh to be the site of Mithila, the capital of the Iron Age Videha tribe.^[4]

Balirajgarh

Region	Madhubani district, Bihar, India
Coordinates	26.4594651°N 86.3230140°E / 26.4594651; 86.3230140
Type	Fortification
History
Founded	c. 2nd century BCE and possibly earlier
Cultures	Iron Age India
Site notes
Condition	In ruins

Excavations

Following excavations of the site in 1962/63, the defensive walls were described as:^[5]

consisting of a mudbrick core with brick encasement, the outer one being four times the width of the inner. The wall was battered and measured 5.18m at the base and 3.65m at the top. Three phases of construction including repairs were recognized. The earlies phase consisted of mudbrick core with battered brick revetments, of which the outer had approximately three times the width of the inner. In the second phase, a brick-concrete ramp was built against the inner face. The third phase witnessed further reinforcement of the ramp in the shape of a 3m high platform of earth mixed with potsherds, built against the inner face of the fortifications.

In 1938, the Archeological Survey of India declared the ancient site of Balirajgarh as a site of national importance under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1904. In the excavations done here in five phases, three thousand years old material was found.^[6] The first excavation of the site was conducted in 1962-1963 by the Archeological Survey of India. The second and third excavations was conducted by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Bihar, in 1972-73 and 1974-75.^[7] In 2013-2014, Archeological Survey of India, Bihar circle again started the excavation of the site but due to the negligence of the government no proper results were there.^[8][9] In 2015 Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of Bihar Government criticized ASI (Archeological Survey of India) for slow and neglected attitude towards the Balirajgarh fort excavation.^[10]