After 13 years of rigorous archaeological field work in eastern and western UP and Bihar the author has decided to compile them in a single book which not only throws light on the archaeological findings of those regions but also added some new information in the Indian archaeology. The book comprises all the archaeological findings mentioned above in detail. This is an original work done by the author and his team within a time span of about 12 years.

Dr. G. K. Lama, Professor, Department of AIHC & Ar- chaeology, Centre of Advanced Study, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, having specialization in the field of Archaeology, Buddhism and Asian Studies, has 31 books in his credit namely Tibet Men Bauddha Dharma Ka Itihas-2004; Samyak Darshan -2004; Cultural Heritage of South-East Asia-2009; Indus to Ganges-2009; Pakkakot: Some New Archaeological Dimensions of Mid-Ganga Plain- 2012; Buddhist Cave Temples of Ancient India- 2013; A Buddhist Universe-2016; An Archaeological Journey of Nalanda-2018; Art Heritage of Nalanda-2018; India: A Journey from Lithic to Iron-2019; Footprints of the Buddha on the Roof of the World-2020, Glimpses of North- East India-2021, Indian Culture through the Ages-2021, Revealing India's Past-2021, Buddhism on the Silk Route-2022, Mysterious World of Siddhas-2022, The Cult of Adamantine Path-2022, Buddhism A Living Spiritual Force- 2022, Indian Archaeology Some New Perspectives-2022, Glimpses of Asian Art Heritage-2023, Indian History A Multidisciplinary Approach-2023, Fusion of Indian Culture on Asia-2023, Unique Features of Buddhist Monasteries-2023, Mahayana Sutra Samgraha-2023, Cultural Heritage of Nepal- 2023, India in Chinese Travelogues-2023, Trans Himalayan Buddhism-2023, The Sacred Ganga- 2024, Prajna-Jyoti-2024, Yantra-Mantra- Tantra in Buddhism-2024 and Archaeological Excavations at Rukhegarh, Nalanda-2024. He has presented 89 research papers in various National and International seminars and 113 research papers have been published in various reputed journals, edited books, conference proceedings and felicitation vol- umes. He has completed a Major Research Project entitled Archaeological Investigation in and around Nalanda, granted by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, which was submitted in 2014. The author has also completed 16 projects regarding archaeological investigations in Sikkim, Eastern and Western UP and Bihar with the kind permission of Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi. He has invited twice to Sri Lanka and once to Thailand to deliver special lectures.

AIthough a number of archaeological expeditions were done in upper and mid-Ganga plain to reveal the shrouded mysteries of the region and fill up the cultural gaps, but still more work Lis needed to understand the archaeology of the Ganga plain and extension of the Harappan culture. A long gap is noticed after excavations at Chirand and Senuwar in the field of pre-history of the Vindhya-Ganga region. Some more Neolithic sites should be discovered in the Vindhyan region. Varanasi is famous as a religious, historical and trade centre since time immemorial. Excavations at Sarnath, Rajghat, Aktha and Ramnagar were carried out by the ASI and Banaras Hindu University from time to time but documentation of archaeological sites in Varanasi region is still left. A lot of archaeological investigations were done in the lower Ganga plain, especially in the state of Bihar, the ancient Magadha, which has a glorious past but still not only some areas are untouched but a cultural gap is noticed in those areas where archaeological investigations were carried out in last two decades. For example, attention was made to the world famous Buddhist centre Nalanda and its peripheral area and the findings of recent excavations are pushing back the antiquity of the area up to the Chalcolithic period which was previously recorded up to the NBPW period. But still a village to village survey is needed for the documentation of the sites having archaeological importance and excavations on a broad level which will reveal not only the shrouded mysteries of the area but also help to fulfill the cultural gaps. A deep study is also needed on the artistic features of the region which will be helpful to establish Nalanda as a centre of art.

So to solve the aforesaid problems the author has done explorations and excavations with his team from 2005-2017 and tried his best to fulfill all the gaps. Hence, this book is compiled which may answer a number of unsolved questions and add some new chapters in the archaeology of aforesaid regions. Although the author has actively participated as a team-member in a number of explorations and excavations conducted by his department, such as explorations along the River Gomati in district- Jaunpur, Eastern UP: 2005-06 and in the same area including Nindaur, Bhabhua, Bihar:2008-09 and excavations at Agiabir, district-Mirzapur, Eastern UP: 2006-07 and 2007-08 and Hariharpur, Eastern UP: 2007-08 and Sarepur, Eastern UP: 2008-09, but he had felt that he is not the authorized person to write on those expeditions. Brief report of these archaeological investigations had been already published in various volumes of Bharati, the departmental journal of AIHC & Archaeology, BHU.

After 13 years of rigorous archaeological field work in Eastern and Western UP and Bihar the author has decided to compile them in a single book which not only throws light on the Larchaeological findings of those regions but also add some new information in the Indian archaeology. An exploration work was done by the author and his team along the rivers Yamuna and Hindon in western UP. A village to village survey was done in District-Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur and a number of sites were discovered having archaeological importance. Findings of this region suggest that the spread of Harappan culture may not be limited up to Meerut but it may extend and cover more areas. There is a great desideratum to compare Black Painted Red Ware, which occurs in profusion in the explored sites, with already reported Harappan sites in neighboring area. During 2010-11 the author has explored a number of sites in eastern UP along the River Chhoti Saryu (Tons) in the districts of Azamgarh, Ballia, Ghazipur and Mau. Findings of this region enable to the archaeologists to understand the various cultures of this region. In 2010-11 exploration work was done at Pakkakot, Ballia, UP by the author and his team to understand the cultural sequence of the site because previously archaeologists have suggested that it is a NBPW or Chalcolithic site but having seen the findings of the site the team has observed that the first settlers of the site were Neolithic people.

After a number of explorations the author and his team has decided to excavate the site of Pakkakot which was carried out in two seasons i.e 2010-11 and 2011-12 and the findings has proved the site as a Neolithic settlement. A five fold cultural sequence was noticed at the site without any break in between them: Neolithic, Chalcolithic, NBPW, Sunga-Kushan and Gupta and Post Gupta. Pakkakot lies on the ancient trade route from Pataliputra to Lumbini via Masarh>Buxur>Tika Deor i>Khairadih>Sohgaura>Kopia>Kapilvastu and Lumbini. A careful analysis of the ceramic assemblage and other artifactual data of Pakkakot show the transition from rural to urban settlement at the site. The cultural relics obtained from the site are ascribable from Neolithic culture to Gupta and post- Gupta period (5000 BCE-700 CE). We have recovered one sealing of baked clay of Period-V having the legends "Chetak Vihare" and "Matibharadhikaranasya" from Mound-4. To find out Buddhist site in surrounding area the team has explored neighbouring area and found a site named "Matahi" which is located about 2 kms west from Pakkakot. The name Matahi is well comparable with Matibhar.