Author: B.B.Lal
Profile: Braj Basi Lal, also well known as B.B.Lal is an Indian archaeologist and is an authority on ancient archaeological excavations. He has been the Director General of Archaeological Survey from 1968 to 1972. He has served on a number of UNESCO committees. B.B. Lal completed his education at the University of Allahabad. His work on the Ramayana sites, Mahabharat sites and Indus Valley Civilization sites has been his well known archaeological excavations. He is born in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.
After completing studies he developed great interest in archaeology and underwent excavation training in 1943 under Mortimer Wheeler a veteran British archaeologist. His career in excavation began with Taxila and other sites like Harappa, later on. He has worked as an archaeologist for more than 5 decades.
Writing style: Archaeological excavation is the main subject on which B.B. Lal has written extensively.
Published Texts:
1952 – New Light on the ‘dark Age’ of Indian History: Recent Excavations at the Hastinapura Site, Near Delhi
1955 – Excavations at Hastinapura and Other Explorations (in the Upper Ganga and Sutlej Basins)
1956 – Paleoliths from Beas and Banganga Valleys
1958 – Birbhanpur: Microlith site in Damodar Valley, West Bengal
1960 – From the Megalith to the Harappan: Tracing Back the Graffiti on Pottery, Ancient India
1962 – Indian Archaeological Expedition to Qasr Ibrim
1963 – The Only Asian Expedition in Threatened Nubia: Work by an Indian Mission at Afyeh and Tumas
1964 – Indian Archaeology Since Independence
1966 – The Direction of Writing in the Harappan Script. Antiquity
1968 – A Deluge? Which Deluge? Yet Another Facet of Copper Hoard Culture
1972 – The Copper Hoard Culture of the Ganga Valley
1977 – On the Most Frequently Used Sign in the Indus Script
1978 – Weathering and Preservation of Stone Monuments Under Tropical Conditions: Some Case Histories
1978: Scientific Examination of Works of Art and History
1982 – The Giant Tank of Sringaverapura
1982 – Has the Indus Script Been Deciphered?
1984 – Frontiers of the Indus Civilization
1993 – Excavation at Sringaverapura
1997 – The Earliest civilization of South Asia: rise, maturity and decline
1997 – Facets of Indian Civilization: Prehistory and rock-art, protohistory: Essays in Honour of Prof. B.B. Lal
1947-1997 – New Light on the Indus Civilization
2002 – The Sarasvati flows on: the continuity of Indian culture
2003 – Excavations at Kalibangal: The Early Harappans, 1960-1969
2003 – Should One Give up All Ethics for Promoting One’s Theory? East and West
2004 – Studies in Art and Archaeological Conservation: Dr. B.B. Lal Commemoration Volume.
2005 – The Homeland of the Aryans. Evidence of Rigvedic Flora and Fauna & Archaeology
2008 – A Report on the Preservation of Buddhist Monuments at Bamiyan in Afghanistan
2008 – Rāma, His Historicity, Mandir, and Setu: Evidence of Literature, Archaeology, and Other Sciences
2009 – How Deep Are the Roots of Indian Civilization?: Archaeology Answers
2011 – Excavations at Bharadwaja Ashram: with a note on the exploration at Chitrakuta
2013 – Historicity of the Mahabharata: Evidence of Art, Literature and Archaeology
2015 – The Rigvedic People: ‘Invaders’?/’Immigrants’? or Indigenous?
2015 – Excavations at Kalibangan (1961-69): The Harappans
2017a – Kauśāmbī Revisited ( 2017b) Testing Ancient Traditions on the Touchstone of Archaeology
2019 – Agony of an Archaeologist
2019 – From the Mesolithic to the Mahājanapadas: The Rise of Civilisation in the Ganga Valley
Awards and Acknowledgements:
1979 – Vidyā Vāridhi by the Nava Nālandā Mahāvihāra, Nālandā University
1982 – Mahāhopādhyāya by Mithila Vishwavidyalaya
1991 – Honorary Fellowship for Life, Asiatic Society of Bengal
1994 – D. Litt. (Honoris Causa) by St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, Russia
2000 – Padma Bhushan by the President of India
2014 – D. Litt. (Honoris Causa) by the Deccan college, Deemed-to-be-University
