A Brief History of Varanasi

As per recorded history, the foundation of modern Varanasi was laid by a man called Mansa Ram.

Mansa Ram worked for Meer Rustam Ali till 1738, who had bought the rights for the control and administration of the Varanasi(or Benaras) region from the then Nawab of Awadh. The Varanasi region was part of the kingdom of the Nawab of Audh who resided in Lucknow.Meer Rustam Ali had paid the Nawab of Audh, a sum of 8 lakh rupees or 8 hundred thousand rupees for the control over the region.Mansa Ram, it is believed, bought the rights for the Varanasi region from the Nawab by paying a astronomical sum of 12 lakh rupees. However, Mansa Ram passed away very soon and his son Balwant Singh came to occupy his position. Balwant Singh administered the Banaras region from 1738-39 to 1770. And it was during his rule that in 1754, the majestic fort at Ramnagar near Varanasi was built. The roal family of Varanasi still stays at the Ramnagar fort.

After the death of Balwant Singh in 1770, Maharaja Chet Singh took over the reign in Benaras.On the 18th of Aug in 1781, Warren Hastings, a British governor general plotted against Chet Singh and forced him to give up his Kingship replacing him instead with his nephew, a very young Mahip Narayan Singh who was made the king. Later Vibhuti Narayan Singh became the King of Varanasi.IN 1916, King Vibhuti Narayan Singh donated many acres of land at the behest of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya to set up the world famous Banaras Hindu University.

During the sepoy mutiny of 1857 against the british rule, the dissent of soldiers at Banaras was soon suppressed. However, the short lived agitation had served a warning to the britishers and they converted the Banaras military post in to a full fledged military headquarters and they monitored the security of the GT road from this post and troops to the north and western fronts were always sent from Banaras.

After the independence of India in 1947, Banaras(Varanasi) became part of the state of Uttar Pradesh of the republic of India.

The present King of Kashi(or Varanasi) is Kunwar Anant Narayan Singh who resides at the Ramnagar Fort. He actively presides over the major cultural fests of Varanasi like the Ramlila and Naag Nathaiya. Although a ceremonial figure, he is respected by the people of Varanasi.

Raj Ghat in Varanasi - Excavated remains revealed the connection of Varanasi with the Western World

Rajghat , one of the many ghats in Varanasi used to be a important ferry ghat in the 19th century.Archaelogical excavations carried out near Raj Ghat revealed a variety of terracotta human and animal figurines which hed light on the cultural and political history of Varanasi from the Sunga to the Gahadaval times. The finds include 300 seals and tokens and numerous earthenware pots, besides some coins, beads, ornaments and other objects of domestic use made of pottery, stone, metal, shell, ivory, glass,etc.
The most remarkable finds from the archaelogical excavations consists of tokens of terracotta, impressed with the well-known obverse designs of the Imperial Gupta coins. Several heads from Rajghat which, though not exactly identical, show unmistakable similarity with the heads on the Roman coins. The modelling of the head,the proportion of the parts, the delineation of the nose, eyes and the chin and the treatment of hair betray classical features which are typical of the secular and divine heads occurring on the Greek and Roman gems and coins.These findings hint of a steady commercial and cultural exchange between India and the western world and reveal the importance of Varanasi as an international centre of trade and commerce on the one hand and culture and art on the other. This is considered valuable as so far the evidence regarding India's intercourse with the West as mainly based on the literary notices of the classical authors.The findings at Raj Ghat emerged as a more concrete evidence of the rich past of Varanasi. The collection unearthed during the excavations at Raj Ghat are carefully preserved and can be seen in the Bharat Kala Bhavan in BHU, Varanasi.

Raj Ghat lies south of the Dashaswamedha ghat and is on the road from Varanasi to Mughal Sarai Railway junction.The distance is approximately 8 kms from Varanasi rail head and is a unique place to visit while in Varanasi.