In search of a 1300-year old city

dum dum: if the archeological survey of india's excavation at dum dum's clive house is successful, it may unearth a 1300-year old city beneath kolkata. the focus of the asi is a house about a kilometre away from nager bazar where lord clive is said to have put up after the battle of plassey. "an excavation, three metres deep starting from june 2001, have revealed inscriptions of the kind that prevailed in bengal, bihar and orissa in the 8th and 9th century ad. beads of semi-precious stones and floor structures have been found," said b. bandyopadhyay, an asi archeologist. "there is ample proof that an advanced civilisation once flourished in these areas before present-day kolkata came up," he said. about 35 kilometres from this place lies chandraketugarh, a famous archeological site, where the findings can be traced to 5th and the 6th century ad. punch mark and cast copper coins, found there, have been attributed to the maurya period. there is some similarity between the findings at chandraketugarh and dum dum. locals say the clive house is linked by an underground passage to another old building in the vicinity, known as the house of mir zafar. it had been renovated and converted to the head office of aluminium manufacturing company. after amco closed down in 1984, the house wore a haunted look with creepers twining around the old and new architecture. it is said that the treaty between lord clive and mir zafar, that led to the defeat of sirajudaulla in plassey, was signed here. the passage extends to a canal connected to the famous moti jheel of dumdum. the mound beside the clive house indeed raises curiosity. locals assume that an underground passage runs below the mound. the asi has asked the geological survey of india to tap any underground structures. the attention of the government was drawn to this site only after bbc conducted a survey of heritage sites around kolkata last year. a camp was set up by the asi in june 2001 and excavations started. a trench of 10m x 10m has revealed ample evidence of residence in the area - pottery, charred rice, numerous tortoise shells (suggesting they were in the habit of consuming tortoises), balls and beads of terracotta. the asi is trying to take over the dilapidated clive house, renovate it and convert it into a museum. but 22 families, who reside in it, have refused to move. "this is a problem which the municipality is trying to solve,"said an asi official.