Vārāṇasī (also known as Kashi or Benares) is an ancient city located on the banks of the River Ganga in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. Its historical significance has been shaped by its associations with the Ganga, religious traditions and continuous interaction between the city and its surrounding landscape. Rather than viewing Vārāṇasī only as a religious or cultural centre, it is necessary to situate it within its broader historical development. The historical and religious significance of Vārāṇasī provided an important impetus for the development and dissemination of Buddhism in the Middle Ganga Plain. Vārāṇasī’ is often seen as the spiritual capital of India, imbued with religious beliefs and myths it can be regarded as sacred geography. Since the sixth century BCE, Vārāṇasī has been an important centre of Buddhism and of Brahmanical thought, religious practices and intellectual discourses. Also, during the sixth century BCE political volatility surrounded Vārāṇasī, shaped by the rivalry between the kingdoms of Kośala and Magadha, who fought over the control of the city. Despite recurrent political contestation, Vārāṇasī flourished as a vibrant confluence of religious traditions and stone-carving production. The city is at the core of Indian antiquity and has produced a multitude of carvings and sculptures.
Aspects of early history of India elucidates these multiple dimensions of Vārāṇasī in combination with biographical sketches of some prominent archaeologists. Vidula Jayaswal departs from conventional academic framing by opening with anecdotes from her own life, before offering a reflective tribute to diverse archaeologists such as K.P. Jayaswal, B.B. Lal, V.S. Wakankar, G.C. Pandey and H.D. Sankalia. This narrative strategy does more than personalise the text, it situates historical inquiry within the context of lived experience and intellectual lineage. The author’s encounters with leading archaeologists shaped her interpretation of the past. The 10 chapters of the book constitute a logically structured, well-arranged text that demonstrates convincingly how geography and cultural practices have shaped the historical development of Vārāṇasī.
The book adopts a broad chronological perspective, beginning with the prehistoric landscapes of the Middle Ganga Plain. The narrative opens with prehistoric sites, including the Acheulean site of Paisra and Mesolithic sites such as Adamgarh, drawing attention to the early phases of human occupation and interaction with the landscape. Paisra, dating to the seventh millennium BCE, is a region of considerable historical significance. The author moves beyond typological description to reconstruct an integrated Acheulean habitat, where proximity to raw-material sources and water systems were determining factors in habitat selection. Jayaswal dismisses a purely geomorphological explanation for the spatial distribution of artefacts and reorients the discussion towards an explanatory framework from natural processes to cultural logic. If natural agencies such as rain had been solely responsible for the displacement, a concentration of lithic material in a lower depression would be expected. However, the consistent presence of tools along higher contours suggests deliberate selection of elevated terrain. This pattern indicates a specific habitat preference, reflecting strategic settlement behaviour rather than random deposition.
While discussing the archaeological evidence for tribal traditions in Central India, the text turns to the notion of a ‘stage of conservatism’. This perspective allows the author to consider how certain traditions, such as use of microlithics, persisted despite broader changes in the surrounding cultural landscape. The author challenges an acculturation-based interpretation of the archaeological evidence. Microlithic technology continued to be used from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic, Chalcolithic to Iron Age cultures. Sites such as Bhimbetka and Adamgarh show microlithic continuity. It is argued here that this continuity may link prehistoric groups to Mesolithic communities of Central India.
The narrative then moves toward ancient Vārāṇasī, marking a transition from prehistoric forms of habitation to a multifaceted Vārāṇasī. The presented settlement pattern of Vārāṇasī, with an urban core within a wider network of non-urban and satellite settlements, challenges the conventional image of the city as an isolated sacred centre. Jayaswal demonstrates that the vitality of an urban centre is inseparable from the rural world that surrounds and supports it. The discussed sites include Aktha, Kotwa, Aspur, Ramnagar and Kashi-Rajghat. Rather than presenting abrupt breaks, a gradual course of habitation is introduced, from later Vedic settlements (tenth–sixth centuries BCE) through to Janapada consolidation (sixth century BCE) marked by NBPW (Northern Black Polished Ware) culture, to the more developed urban form of the Maurya-Sunga period (fourth–first centuries BCE, Narain & Roy Reference Narain and Roy1976). The city reached its zenith during Kuṣāṇa times (first–third centuries CE) and stone carving emerged as one of the principal crafts of Vārāṇasī. The book highlights the archaeological findings that demonstrate an evolving pattern of craft organisation, particularly in stone carving. By and large, Vārāṇasī was a dynamic centre shaped by economic networks with a distinguished tradition of sculptural craftsmanship and religious pluralism.
Nearby Sarnath functioned as an important Buddhist religious centre where such sandstone sculptures were installed (first century CE, Sahni Reference Sahni1914). As the site of Gautama Buddha’s first sermon following his enlightenment (sixth century BCE), Sarnath developed into a prominent centre of Buddhist pilgrimage as Buddhism became firmly rooted in society. The author vividly describes a transitional phase after the Kuṣāṇa period when there was growing demand for religious images during the Gupta period (fourth–sixth centuries CE) which encouraged the expansion of stone-carving workshops at Sarnath. In the ensuing period, there was a stark rise of shilpi-gram (villages of artisans) in the Vārāṇasī-Sarnath region. While the latter is primarily associated with Buddhist monastic architecture, the structural sophistication of the Bhitargaon temple demonstrates the parallel development of early Hindu temple architecture in the Middle Ganga plain. This comparison highlights the architectural diversity of the wider cultural region. The Gupta period marked a phase in which not only the sacred nucleus of Vārāṇasī-Sarnath enlarged, but its broader landscape also extended southward towards the River Ganga. The Vārāṇasī-Sarnath region evidence challenges the presumed post-Ashokan hiatus in image-making. While it may not prove an uninterrupted sculptural tradition, Sarnath’s emergence as a major centre of image-making points to a renewed momentum. Archaeology, therefore, allows the history of image-making to be understood as a more dynamic process rather than the conventional hiatus model.
Archaeological claims can be retested through renewed excavation, improved dating techniques or fresh material analysis and Jayaswal engages with these concerns incisively, demonstrating how archaeology in the Vārāṇasī-Sarnath region cannot remain detached from the concept of sacred geography. Rather than treating Vārāṇasī as an isolated historical phenomenon, Jayaswal situates it within the broader history of human occupation in the Middle Ganga Plain—from prehistoric times (broadly from c. 2 million BCE) to later settlements (sixth century CE). While many settlements languished, Vārāṇasī endured and prospers to this day.
The book is Jayaswal’s personal journey of archaeology as well as an apt reference work for an audience in general academia, researchers and philanthropists with an interest in India’s earliest history and the lesser-known prehistoric roots of the spiritual centre of Vārāṇasī. At the same time, it opens new possibilities for understanding Vārāṇasī through approaches that foreground orality and multidimensionality, thereby presenting the city as a dynamic and lived cultural landscape.
