Name : Prof. B.B. Lal
Web Bio : Professor Braj Basi Lal, internationally known as B B Lal, is a renowned and leading archeologist of India.
His interest in archeology started way back in 1943, while he was working as a trainee in an excavation site under senior British archeologist Mortimer Wheeler at Taxila and later at Harappa and Sisupalgharh, Odisha. From these beginnings, as a scientist, he has taken giant strides where his work extended for more than 50 years. He was appointed as Director General of Archeological survey of India ((1968-1972). He moved to the Indian institute of Advanced studies, Shimla as its Director. He is also associated with Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He was invited to serve on various committees at UNESCO. His work was recognized nationally, by an award of Padmabhushan, by President of India in 2000.
His pioneering work comprises of a series of wide ranging and outstanding research in archeology. Besides his early work at Harappa and Taxila, he has immensely contributed in the following areas. Buddhas of Bamiyan, Archeology of Mahabharata including Hastinapur, discovery of painted greyware (PGW) sites in the Indo Gangetic divide.
Profesor Lal and his team has been credited with the discovery of middle and late stone age, this time on the River Nile and Mesolithic site in west Bengal, Chalcolithic site of Gilund (Rajasthan) and Harappan+ site of Kalibangan+ (Rajasthan). Professor Lal was one of the scientists who contributed significantly to the refutation of Aryna invasion theory on the basis of evidence on Sarasvati river. He has written several books and many acclaimed scientific papers including historicity of Ramayana based on studies of excavations at Ayodhya, Nandigrama nd Chitrakoot. Finally he has received tributes from such recognized archeologists as Stuart Piggott and D H Gordon, internationally reputed British archeologist, who described two of works of B B Lal published in Archeological survey of India, ”Copper Hoards of the Gangetic Basin” and the ”Hastinapura Excavation Report”, as ”models of research and excavation reporting”.
