Varanasi has unique distinction of being known as the oldest city in the world. No other city in India has attracted the attention of scholars in the manner Varanasi has. It is thus not surprising that this city has been the main focus of study by a number of authors, almost all of these must include portions on the past history and traditions of city. These mainly rely on the knowledge about ancient Varanasi as preserved in religious texts and scriptures. The present volume on ancient Varanasi is substantially different from the previous attempts. Here the author has for the first time traced the cultural history of ancient Varanasi is substantially different from the previous attempts. Here the author has for the first time traced the cultural history of ancient Varanasi from archaeological sources. This is thus not a story of the kings and princes who ruled the city. Instead one gets a glimpses how the people lived, what kind of dwellings they built in the city, what was the status of the crafts and the trade connected with them. What were the utensils being used by the commoner or the elite of the ancient city. In the course of the present volume, the reader is able to get information about these aspects of life and also about their food habits, kitchen equipments, costumes, jewellery and other means of embellishments. Besides, a full chapter is devoted to town planning, where one reads about the city wall, moats, roads, lanes and other public building through the ages. The author makes a fascinating study of the material unearthed from the excavations at Rajghat the site of ancient Varanasi. Not only he has made a detailed study of the published accounts of the excavations, but has also included for the first time findings of the small scale excavation conducted by the author in the year 1977-78. Although relying mainly on the archaeological evidence, the author has taken note of the corresponding literary evidence at several places. In doing so he has shown commendable balance of judgement in the use of the two types of evidence-literary and archaeological, not always in agreement with each other. One of the noteworthy feature of this volume is the reference to the present day tradition and usage, to explain certain features of life in the past. Perhaps in no other city the past is so much enshrined in the present as in Varanasi and this is thus a recurrent theme in this volume. The present work broadly includes a Ph.D. thesis awarded by the Banaras Hindu University.
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