# Baliraajgadh

Baliraajgadh is an archaeological site located at Balirajpur village of Babubarhi block in Madhubani district of Mithila region of Bihar state in India. The site is locally known as Raja Bali ka Garh ( The fort of King Bali ) . The site was first sighted and identified by George Grierson, the then subdivisional officer of Darbhanga in 1884 AD. It is among the three important archeological sites Balirajgarh fort, Telhara and Nalanda in the state of Bihar in India. The site of Balirajgarh is greater than the site of Vikramshila and Vaishali but it has not yet been developed as a tourist place. Balirajgarh Fort is located on the territory of Mithila, 7 kilometers east of Kamlabalan River and 35 kilometers west of Kosi River. It has been claimed by some scholars to be the location of the ancient city of Mithila. The headquarter of the Ancient Mithila University was at the court of King Janaka in Mithila. Therefore, Balirajgadh is also the possible site of the Ancient Mithila University. It is the place from where most of the schools of the ancient Indian philosophy emerged. Nyaya Shastra, Logical sciences, Samkhya Shastra, Mimansa Shastra and many more Indian philosophy emerged from the Ancient Mithila University.
In Xuanzang's record, two clans were linked with Vajji/Mithila by 646: Vaishali and Vrijji. Vaishali was both Buddhist and Hindu while Vrijji was predominantly Hindu and the capital of it Zhanshuna (占戍挐, possibly from Sanskrit "Cemśoṇa/Cansuna").

## Excavations

In 1938 Archeological Survey of India declared the ancient site of Balirajgadh as a site of national importance under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904. In the excavations done here in five phases, three thousand years old material was found. 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. 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. 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.

## Archeological remains

Archeologists have found many archeological remains from the site by excavations conducted by them. They excavated 2300 years old iron nail from the site. Similarly an Indian iron blade fragment of period 300 BCE was excavated. More than 400 antiquities were excavated from the site including human & animal figurines and beads of terracotta, bangle fragments and ceiling. The sizes of the bricks found at the ruins of the site are double compared with the sizes of the modern times bricks. The size of the bricks found here are generally 1 Feet × 1.5 Feet × 4 Inch in dimension. During the excavations, antiquities of five phases of cultural periods, namely Northern Black Soil ( Uttari Kale Mridmand ), Shunga, Kushan, Gupta and later Pala period, were discovered.

## Religious significance

According to regional legend, this was the capital of mythological asura king Bali. The son of Virochana and grandson of Prahlada, King Bali is believed to have been popular for his donations to the poor, Brahmins, scholars, and all those who came to his kingdom in expectation of financial help.
Many scholars identify the site with the capital of King Janaka in Mithila. According to the Ramayana, Rama, Lakshmana and their guru, Vishvamitra, went to the Kingdom of Mithila from the Gautam Ashram in north-east direction. In the Ramayana, the capital of the Kingdom of Mithila is also known as Mithilapuri, which is also regionally identified with this site.
According to some scholars, the fort was built by the last King of the Janaka Dynasty in Mithila. After that the Janaka Dynasty was divided into many dynasties. One of the King of the Janaka Dynasty named the fort as Baligarh.

## History

According to the historian Sahadev Jha, it was the capital of the Kingdom of Shakaditya in the 1st Century BC. Shakaditya was the younger brother of King Vikramaditya. In the 11th century AD, it was the capital of King Ballāla Sena of Sen dynasty. Some of the remains of Maurya period were also found here. So some scholars believe that some of the parts of this site may be built during Maurya period