Save Ancient Indian Sites: 6. Discovery of Medieval Brick Structures inside a Pond near Dhaiya-Abhayrajpur Villages, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India

In July 2012, a report was published in the local Hindi newspapers on an accidental discovery of brick walls and long wooden beams inside a dried pond near Khanpur, Bareilly. The villagers had discovered the walls while quarrying for sand inside the pond. The pond (28°31'51.45" N: 79°24'37.97" E) is located between three villages—Abhayrajpur on the east, Dhaiya on the south and Khanpur on the west across a small rivulet that discharges into the River Ramganga near Bareilly city. The pond spreads over an area of 140m NS x 150m EW at present. With the help of a few villagers, from the large crowd gathered around us, we cleared the soil from the surface of a place with mud bricks in the section. A wall running roughly east-west and north-south was traced in patches. The size of the bricks was approximately 11.5 x 10 x 2.75 inches (length x width x thickness), which may date back to medieval period. The bricks were not well baked and due to the swampy condition of the pond had become very fragile. Two long beams (about 11 feet long), charred on the surface, quite thick and heavy, were unearthed by the villagers. Interestingly, the prima facie evidence suggests that the wooden beams were running under the walls, a purpose unknown so far. There was no pottery or any other associated material recovered from the digging. At the first sight, it was evident from the circumstance that the pond was an oxbow lake, which was later confirmed from the satellite pictures. That is the reason for which sand deposit is present in the bed of the pond. The purpose of structures with wooden beams underneath near riverbank has remained a mystery till today. We have to look for further evidence. In the mean time, we have requested the villagers to not to destroy the walls and wait for further investigations that may unravel the mystery of these walls.

A number of satellite images of the pond taken in different periods of time in the last decade have been given below along with the rivulet. The palaeo-channels and the villages surrounding the pond can also be seen in the pictures.

The major questions:

How long can this site survive to draw the attention of archaeologists or historians?
How can small sites like this be protected from the impending destructions?

Acknowledgement: Thanks to Dr. Deepak Singh for helping in carrying out this investigation.