Within the south-eastern excessive of the Sunderbans, the place the island meets the ocean, stands the village of Buraburir Tat. What separates this tiny, picturesque hamlet comprising farmers and fishermen is an unassuming little home fabricated from brick and dust with out even correct flooring. It serves as a museum of the historical past of the Sunderbans. Registered below the title “Gobardhanpur Sunderban Pratna Sangraha Sala”, the museum has on show historic artefacts and supplies painstakingly collected over 35 years from the encircling coastal area by Biswajit Sahu. A fisherman, Sahu has made it his life’s goal to unearth and produce to the fore the historic and cultural heritage of the land he lives in. On show are greater than 10,000 objects that embody pottery, beads, seals, inscriptions, cash, terracotta figures, bone instruments, small toys, semi-precious stones, and outdated animal stays and fossils. Archaeologists who’ve examined the gathering are of the opinion that most of the artefacts belong to the “early historic interval” (third century BCE to fourth century CE).

Contained in the museum, among the pottery Sahu has discovered. 
| Picture Credit score: Debasish Bhaduri

Shack of antiquities

To succeed in this distant village from Kolkata, one must journey practically 4 hours by automotive, one and half hours by ferry, then one other hour by motorised van. But, it’s turning into a impossible vacationer vacation spot in Bengal. An increasing number of individuals are being pushed by curiosity to undertake the strenuous journey to see this distinctive shack of antiquities in the course of nowhere. Earlier, the museum can be visited three or 4 instances a 12 months by a handful of teachers and researchers, however now, the visitor register that Sahu maintains exhibits a mean of greater than 30 visits a 12 months, not simply from students but additionally from vacationers and folks from all walks of life.

Following within the footsteps of the good beginner archaeologist Kalidas Datta (1885-1968)—whose discovery of antiquities within the Sunderbans within the Nineteen Twenties put paid to the colonial declare that it was the British who first made the Sunderbans liveable—Sahu has been instrumental in throwing better mild on an in any other case uncared for chapter within the historical past of Bengal. Whereas Datta was a wealthy landowner and had the assets to hold out his archaeological venture, Sahu has needed to work with virtually nothing however his intuition and his indomitable curiosity concerning the area.

A pattern of among the newest artefacts Sahu has unearthed.
| Picture Credit score: Debasish Bhaduri

Barely educated, having studied solely till class 4, Sahu has no common technique of livelihood and suffers from a power lung drawback. But he ventures out every single day, strolling nice distances and travelling by boat, to seek for the antiquities that lie buried within the mud and sand of the estuary. It isn’t only a collector’s obsession that goads him; his museum is testomony to a easy, uneducated man’s seek for his identification and his resolve to archive and protect his heritage. “I’ve neither coaching nor training, however my work helps folks doing their PhD,” he advised Frontline proudly.

Subha Majumder, Superintending Archaeologist of the Archaeological Survey of India, Kolkata Circle, who visited Sahu’s Museum and explored among the areas from the place the artefacts had been collected, believes the enterprise has the potential to turn into an necessary supply of educational analysis. “Though different components of South Paraganas have been explored, the Sunderbans, primarily due to its topography, has been missed. Biswajit Sahu’s museum is great in its range and necessary as a result of it’s not doable for most people to discover the realm from the place he collects his artefacts; solely fishermen and locals will be capable of attain these locations. Finding out his assortment can provide us an concept of the historical past of the land. Scientific excavations haven’t but taken place within the coastal excessive of the State,” stated Majumder. Based on him, the various nature of Sahu’s assortment signifies that “there was some connection between the area and south-west Asia”. He stated: “A few of the antiquities don’t appear like they’ve their origin in India.”

A pattern of among the newest artefacts Sahu has unearthed. Subha Majumder, Superintending Archaeologist of the ASI, Kolkata Circle, stated that the various nature of Sahu’s assortment indicated that “there was some connection between the area and south-west Asia”.
| Picture Credit score: Debasish Bhaduri

What began off as a interest 35 years in the past—accumulating outdated artefacts buried within the mud whereas returning residence after a day’s fishing—turned an all-consuming ardour for Sahu. Lots of the issues he has uncovered are but to be carbon-dated or examined by archaeologists. However each new discovery presents a special approach to the historical past of the area. Finding out the pictures of among the new objects in Sahu’s assortment, which embody seals, inscriptions, and figures, Rajat Sanyal, a professor of archaeology on the College of Calcutta, identified two uncommon items: a Surya picture and a picture of a two-armed Vishnu. “These are fascinating and uncommon finds. They’re lesser recognized proof of typical art-in-stone of the pre-Pala and post-Gupta interval, between the sixth and eighth centuries. This era is a nebulous time-frame so far as information of the historical past of japanese Indian artwork actions is anxious; and these figures counsel that there have been post-Gupta settlements within the area,” Sanyal advised Frontline.

(Above and beneath) Seals with inscriptions.  Rajat Sanyal, a professor of archaeology on the College of Calcutta: “Some [of the seals] could also be related to a neighborhood cult, however principally they’re private seals of merchants who carried out enterprise in that space….” 
| Picture Credit score: Debasish Bhaduri

Some inscriptions are additionally fascinating. “They’re in late Brahmi and Sanskrit scripts and are principally private seals of people that had been engaged in buying and selling actions. Some could also be related to a neighborhood cult, however principally they’re private seals of merchants who carried out enterprise in that space. And we all know that this was a fertile buying and selling zone within the early historic interval,” stated Sanyal.

Animal bones and fossils

Additionally on show, outdated animal stays. Sahu: “Of the three,000 animal stays I’ve gathered, the ZSI documented 100 objects.”.
| Picture Credit score: Debasish Bhaduri

Additionally on show are outdated animal stays and fossils. “Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India [ZSI] got here and studied these, stating that there was a time when rhinos and elephants roamed this area. Of the three,000 animal stays I’ve gathered, the ZSI documented 100 objects,” stated Sahu. When contacted, the ZSI was reluctant to touch upon the matter. Nevertheless, a zoologist connected with a authorities establishment advised Frontline that it was time scientists explored the Sunderbans coastal area extra intently. “The type of forest tract that existed earlier to assist totally different sorts of animals might not exist anymore. As a result of rise within the sea stage, loads has additionally gone below water. These stays can inform us extra. It is rather commendable that he [Sahu] has collected animal stays. As zoologists, we could also be desirous about these items, however most individuals usually are not, and but he realised their significance although he has no information of the topic,” stated the scientist. She believes an “interdisciplinary exploration” of the area would give an all-round image of the life and wildlife previously.

A troublesome dream

For Sahu, fulfilling his dream of making a museum and sustaining it has been a tough journey. Ten years in the past, he had advised this reporter that it was his ardent want {that a} museum can be constructed within the Sunderbanswhere his assortment could possibly be placed on show. When Sahu realised that it was not prone to occur within the foreseeable future, he took it upon himself to construct one. Initially, it was a mud hut adjoining to his home in Gobardhanpur village, which is now being slowly consumed by the ocean. 5 years in the past, he was pressured to maneuver additional inland to Buraburir Tat along with his meagre belongings and his beloved assortment. Immediately, the museum is part of his home and of his on a regular basis life.

“Folks come to generate profits from doing analysis from my assortment, however I get nothing. On prime of that, most of the artefacts have additionally been filched whereas I used to be not wanting. This place turned well-known after somebody talked about it on Fb. Now many individuals aside from teachers are coming to see my assortment. I’m now asking for donations from guests to assist me keep this,” stated Sahu.

Archaeologists imagine Sahu doesn’t have the mandatory gear to protect his assortment, and plenty of, together with Subha Majumder, have requested him to permit an establishment to maintain them. Furthermore, it is just a matter of time earlier than the ocean encroaches additional and threatens his new home too. However Sahu refuses to half along with his valuable finds. “I don’t need to give it up. I need to construct a museum within the Sunderbans and I need folks to return to the Sunderbans and do their analysis [here] reasonably than sit and do it from Kolkata,” he stated.

The Crux

• Biswajit Sahu is a fisherman who lives within the village of Buraburir Tat, on the south-eastern excessive of the Sunderbans in West Bengal. Gathering outdated artefacts buried within the mud whereas returning residence after a day’s fishing began out as a interest for him some 35 years in the past however has now turn into an all-consuming ardour.
• His unassuming little home, fabricated from brick and dust with out even correct flooring, serves as a museum.
• Registered below the title “Gobardhanpur Sunderban Pratna Sangraha Sala”, it has on show the traditional artefacts and supplies that Sahu has painstakingly collected.
• On show are greater than 10,000 objects that embody pottery, beads, seals, inscriptions, cash, terracotta figures, bone instruments, small toys, semi-precious stones, and outdated animal stays and fossils. Archaeologists who’ve examined the gathering are of the opinion that most of the artefacts belong to the “early historic interval” (third century BCE to fourth century CE).
• To get to this museum from Kolkata, one must make a protracted journey, however it has turn into a impossible vacationer vacation spot in Bengal.
• Subha Majumder, Superintending Archaeologist of the Archaeological Survey of India, Kolkata Circle believes the museum has the potential to turn into an necessary supply of educational analysis.
• He stated that the various nature of the gathering indicated that “there was some connection between the area and south-west Asia”.
• Sustaining the museum is just not a straightforward activity. He doesn’t have the mandatory gear to protect his assortment, and he will get no cash for the work he does. Sadly, some individuals who come to view his assortment have stolen artefacts.