Rajghat

Rajghat, on the northern edge of Varanasi beside the Malviya Bridge, is where the Varuna joins the Ganga and is regarded as the oldest part of the city. Its mounds hold the remains of a settlement that thrived before Mauryan times. Old material turned up by chance during work to extend Kashi railway station, and the Archaeological Survey of India dug the site under Krishna Deva in 1940; A.K. Narain and a Banaras Hindu University team explored it further.

Finds include terracotta human and animal figures, seals, pottery, metal objects and a brick structure dated to the 9th century BC, with other pieces ranging from the Sunga-Kushan period to early medieval times. The name comes from raj, or rule: medieval kings lived here, with the Gahadavala fort above and a ferry landing below, busy until the 12th century. The same complex holds the ornate tomb of Lal Khan, a minister under King Balwant Singh, set to face the royal palace gateway as he wished.