Telhara Hinterland Survey: integration of Legacy Data and Remote Sensing Techniques in Understanding Historic Settlement Dynamics in Middle Ganga Plains

Sayantani Neogi1* and Amit Ranjan2

This paper presents the scope of the Telhara Hinterland Survey, which is working in the Son-Ganga Doab region of the Middle Ganga Plains. This study intends to integrate multi-source geospatial datasets in a two-fold remote approach: 1) Automated site detection methods using machine-learning implementations. We combine archaeological and geospatial legacy data and multispectral and radar satellite data from distinct Earth Observation data missions; 2) Historical morphodynamics, to reveal past hydro-geomorphological landforms and short to long-term land use and land cover trends. The site of Telhara, which lies in close proximity to the famous Nalanda Mahavihara, was previously excavated by the Directorate of Archaeology, Bihar (2009-2014) and more recently by the same Directorate and Bihar Heritage Development Society (2020-2022). The site, also goes by the monastic name Sri Pratham Shivpur Mahavihara, had revealed the ruins of Tiladhak Mahavihara, mentions of which are very much evident in the travelogue of Hsüen Tsang, a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. A focused, desk-based mapping survey has been conducted around this great tantric seat, shedding light on the dynamics of settlement in this region during the protohistoric period. This paper presents initial results from our assessment of how the region now offers an optimal setting for investigating endangered cultural landscapes by accurately detecting, mapping, and predicting the locations of vulnerable archaeological mounds and landforms.