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{{Short description|Indian archaeologist}}
{{distinguish|text = the first governor of Sikkim, [[B. B. Lal (politician)]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Braj Basi Lal
| image = The Minister of State for Culture (IC) and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma releasing the book by the former DG, ASI, Prof. B.B. Lal, on the occasion of Foundation Day of National Museum, in New Delhi (2).jpg
| alt =
| caption = The Minister of State for Culture (IC) and Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Dr. Mahesh Sharma releasing the book by the former DG, ASI, Prof. B.B. Lal, on the occasion of Foundation Day of National Museum, in New Delhi.
| birth_name = Braj Basi Lal
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1921|05|02}}
| birth_place = [[Jhansi]], [[United Provinces of British India|United Provinces]], [[British India]]
| death_date = 
| death_place =
| nationality = Indian
| other_names =
| occupation = Archaeologist, [[Archaeological Survey of India#Directors-General|Director-General]] [[Archaeological Survey of India]] (1968–1972)
| known_for = Work on [[Indus Valley Civilization]] sites, [[Mahabharat]] sites, [[Kalibangan]], [[Ramayana]] sites
}}
'''Braj Basi Lal''' (born 2 May 1921<ref>{{cite web|date=19 July 2017|title=Invitation to the fifth chapter of Sanskriti Samvaad Shrinkhla|url=http://ignca.nic.in/invitations/invite_20170719.pdf|access-date=30 April 2018|publisher=Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts}}</ref>), better known as '''B. B. Lal''', is an [[India]]n [[archaeologist]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-archaeologist-b-b-lal-padma-vibhushan-awardee-excavation-at-ramjanmabhoomi-site-7164054 | title=Explained: Who is B B Lal, the Padma Vibhushan awardee who led excavation at Ramjanmabhoomi site? | publisher=The Indian Express | work=Adrija Roychowdhury | date=28 January 2021 | access-date=29 January 2021}}</ref>

He was the Director General of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] (ASI) from 1968 to 1972 and has served as Director of the [[Indian Institute of Advanced Study|Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla]]. Lal also served on various [[UNESCO]] committees.<ref name="BBLalChair">[http://www.iitk.ac.in/drpg/chair/bblchair.htm B. B. Lal Chair at IIT Kanpur] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320054512/http://www.iitk.ac.in/drpg/chair/bblchair.htm |date=20 March 2012 }}, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur website.</ref>

His later publications have been noted and criticised for their [[historical revisionism]],{{sfn|Bhan|1997|p=11}}{{sfn|Witzel|2006|p=205}}{{sfn|Droogan|2012|p=67}}{{sfn|Hole|2016}} taking a controversial{{sfn|Coningham|Young|2015|p=84}}<ref name="Bernbeck_Pollock" />{{sfn|Hole|2016}}{{sfn|Romey|2006|p=105-106}} stance in the [[Ayodhya dispute]], claiming to have found the remains of a columned Hindu temple beneath the subsequently destroyed [[Babri Masjid]] mosque.<ref name="Bernbeck_Pollock" />{{sfn|Bhan|1997|p=11}}{{sfn|Romey|2006|p=105}}

He received the [[Padma Bhushan]] Award by the [[President of India]] in 2000,<ref name="BBLalChair" /> and was awarded India's second highest civilian award the [[Padma Vibhushan]] in 2021.<ref name="Padma">{{cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=57307 |title=PIB Press Release: This Year's Padma Awards announced |publisher=Pib.nic.in |access-date=2 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/shinzo-abe-tarun-gogoi-ram-vilas-paswan-among-padma-award-winners-complete-list/articleshow/80453596.cms |title=Shinzo Abe, Tarun Gogoi, Ram Vilas Paswan among Padma Award winners: Complete list |work=[[The Times of India]] |date=25 January 2021 |access-date=25 January 2021}}</ref>

==Biography==

===Personal life===
Born in [[Jhansi]], Uttar Pradesh, India,{{sfn|Coningham|Young|2015|p=83}} Lal lives in Delhi. He has three sons. The eldest, Rajesh Lal, is a retired Air Vice Marshal, Indian Air Force, His second son Vrajesh Lal and the third, Rakesh Lal, are businessmen based in Los Angeles, California.

===Career===
Lal obtained his master's degree in [[Sanskrit]] from [[Allahabad University]], India.<ref name="19thCenturyParadigms">B. B. Lal, [http://www.archaeologyonline.net/indology/2007/19th%20Century%20Paradimgs.pdf 'Let not the 19th century paradigms continue to haunt us!'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504165157/http://www.archaeologyonline.net/indology/2007/19th%20Century%20Paradimgs.pdf |date=4 May 2012 }}, 19th International Conference on South Asian Archaeology at University of Bologna, Ravenna, Italy on 2–6 July 2007, [http://www.archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/19th-century-paradigms.html online link], archaeologyonline.net</ref><ref name=today>{{cite web |title=Archaeologist B.B. Lal talks about his book 'The Saraswati Flows On' : Books |publisher=India Today |date=12 November 2001 |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/archaeologist-b.b.-lal-talks-about-his-book-the-saraswati-flows-on/1/231683.html}}</ref> After his studies, Lal developed interest in archaeology and in 1943, became a trainee in excavation under a veteran British archaeologist, [[Mortimer Wheeler]], starting with [[Taxila]],<ref name=today/> and later at sites such as [[Harappa]].<ref name=bookReview/> Lal went on to work as an archaeologist for more than fifty years. In 1968, he was appointed the Director General of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] where he would remain until 1972. Thereafter, Lal served as Director of the [[Indian Institute of Advanced Study|Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla]].<ref name="BBLalChair"/> The B. B. Lal Chair at [[Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur]] ([[IIT, Kanpur]]) has been established by his son Vrajesh Lal to encourage research in science and technology related to archaeological work.<ref name="BBLalChair"/>

===Archaeological work===
Between 1950 and 1952, Lal worked on the archaeology of sites accounted for in the Hindu epic ''[[Mahabharata]]'', including [[Hastinapura]], the capital city of [[the Kurus]]. He made discoveries of many [[Painted Grey Ware culture|Painted Grey Ware (PGW) sites]] in the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Indo‑Gangetic Divide]] and upper [[Yamuna]]‑[[Ganga]] [[doab]].<ref name=bookReview>[http://ifihhome.tripod.com/bookreviews/sarasvatiflowsonrv.html Book review by Dr. V. N. Misra], Book review of The Saraswati Flows on: the Continuity of Indian Culture, by Chairman of Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies journal Man and Environment; (vol. XXVI, No. 2, July–December 2001)</ref>

In [[Nubia]], the [[Archaeological Survey of India]], Lal and his team discovered [[Middle stone age|Middle]] and [[Late Stone Age]] tools in the terraces of the river [[Nile]] near Afyeh. The team excavated a few sites at Afyeh and cemetery of C-group people, where 109 graves would be located.<ref name=ASI2>[http://asi.nic.in/asi_abroad.asp Archaeological endeavours abroad], [[Archaeological Survey of India]] Official website.</ref><ref name=Egypt>{{cite journal| pmc=3385173 | pmid=22754242 | doi=10.4103/0971-6866.96686 | volume=18 | title=A comparison of Fulani and Nadar HLA | journal=Indian J Hum Genet | pages=137–8 | author=Winters C| issue=1 | year=2012 }}</ref> Lal worked on [[Mesolithic]] site of Birbhanpur (West Bengal), [[Chalcolithic]] site of [[Gilund]] (Rajasthan) and [[Indus Valley Civilization|Harappan]] site of [[Kalibangan]] (Rajasthan).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Humes|first=Cynthia Ann|date=2012|title=Hindutva, Mythistory, and Pseudoarchaeology|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23244958|journal=Numen|volume=59|issue=2/3|pages=193|doi=10.1163/156852712X630770|jstor=23244958|issn=0029-5973}}</ref>

In 1975–76, Lal worked on the "Archaeology of Ramayana Sites" project funded by the ASI, which excavated five sites mentioned in the Hindu epic ''[[Ramayana]]'' – [[Ayodhya]], Bharadwaj ''[[ashram]]'', [[Nandigram]], [[Chitrakoot district|Chitrakoot]] and [[Shringverpur|Shringaverapur]].

Prof. B. B. Lal has published over 20 books and over 150 research papers and articles in national and international scientific journals.<ref name="BBLalChair"/><ref name=bookReview/> The British archaeologists [[Stuart Piggott]] and D.H. Gordon, writing in the 1950s, describe ''Copper Hoards of the Gangetic Basin'' (1950) and the ''Hastinapura Excavation Report'' (1954–1955), two of Lal's works published in the ''Journal of the Archaeological Survey of India'', as "models of research and excavation reporting."<ref name=bookReview/>

In his later publications, Lal has taken a pro-[[Hindutva]] stance and engaged in [[historical revisionism]],{{sfn|Bhan|1997|p=11}}{{sfn|Witzel|2006|p=205}}{{sfn|Droogan|2012|p=67}}{{sfn|Hole|2016}} taking a controversial{{sfn|Coningham|Young|2015|p=84}}<ref name="Bernbeck_Pollock"/>{{sfn|Hole|2016}}{{sfn|Romey|2006|p=105-106}} stance in the [[Ayodhya dispute]], and arguing in favor of the discredited{{refn|group=note|name="no support"}} [[Indigenous Aryans]] point of view.{{refn|group=note|See:<br/>* {{cite book |title=The Homeland of the Aryans. Evidence of Rigvedic Flora and Fauna & Archaeology |author=B. B. Lal |publisher=Aryan Books |year=2005|isbn=8173052832 }}<br/>* {{cite book|author=Braj Basi Lal|title=The Rigvedic People: 'Invaders'?/'Immigrants'? or Indigenous?|year=2015|publisher=Aryan Books International|isbn=978-81-7305-535-5}}}} His later works have been characterized by [[D. N. Jha]] as "a systematic abuse of archaeology,"<ref>Dwijendra Narayan Jha (2014), ''Rethinking Hindu Identity'', Routledge, p.14</ref> while Julian Droogan writes that Lal "has used the term ''[[blut und boden]]'' [sic], a patriotic connection between one's blood and the soil of one's homeland, in connection with supposed religious continuity in the archaeological record of the subcontinent."{{sfn|Droogan|2012|p=67}} R.S.Sharma characterized Lal's later work as driven by communalism and irrationalism, disembedded from "objective and scientjfic criteria."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sharma|first=R. S.|title=India's Ancient Past|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|isbn=019568785X|location=Delhi|pages="Communal approach"}}</ref>

==== Ayodhya dispute ====
{{Main|Ayodhya dispute|Archaeology of Ayodhya}}

Lal took a controversial{{sfn|Coningham|Young|2015|p=84}}<ref name="Bernbeck_Pollock"/>{{sfn|Hole|2016}}{{sfn|Romey|2006|p=105-106}} stance in the Ayodhya dispute. Between 1975 and 1980 excavations took place at Ayodhya, with Lal writing in 1977, in the official ASI-journal, that finds were "devoid of any special interest."{{sfn|Romey|2006|p=105}} In a seven-page preliminary report submitted to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1989, Lal "only mentioned" that his team found "pillar bases," immediately south of the [[Babri mosque]] structure in Ayodhya.<ref>{{cite web | title = I found pillar bases back in mid-seventies: Prof Lal | date =6 March 2003| url =http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/19644/|publisher=Indian Express | access-date = 9 August 2013 }}</ref> In 1990, after his retirement, he wrote in a [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh|RSS]] magazine that he had found the remains of a columned temple under the mosque,<ref name="Bernbeck_Pollock">Reinhard Bernbeck, Susan Pollock (1996), ''Ayodhya, Archaeology, and Identity''. Current Anthropology, Volume37, Supplement, February 1996, p.S139</ref>{{sfn|Bhan|1997|p=11}}{{sfn|Romey|2006|p=105}} and "embarked on a spree of lectures all over the country propagating th[is] evidence from Ayodhya."{{sfn|Bhan|1997|p=11}} In Lal's 2008 book, ''Rāma, His Historicity, Mandir and Setu: Evidence of Literature, Archaeology and Other Sciences'', he writes (that):
{{Quote|Attached to the piers of the Babri Masjid, there were twelve stone pillars, which carried not only typical Hindu motifs and mouldings, but also figures of Hindu deities. It was self-evident that these pillars were not an integral part of the Masjid, but were foreign to it.<ref>{{cite web | title = Ayodhya: High Court relies on ASI's 2003 report|publisher=Economic Times | url = http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-10-01/news/27573745_1_hindu-temple-b-b-lal-asi|date=Oct 1, 2010| access-date = 9 August 2013 }}</ref>}}
Lal's conclusions have been contested by multiple scholars, questioning both the stratigraphic information, and the kind of structure envisioned by Lal.<ref name="Bernbeck_Pollock"/>{{sfn|Romey|2006|p=105}} According to Hole,
{{Quote|Later independent analysis of photographs of the trench in which Lal claimed to have found the pillar bases found that they were actually the remains of various walls of different, non-centemporaneous structural phases, and could not have been load-bearing structures (Mandal 2003) [...] other than one photograph, Lal has never made the notebooks and sketches of his excavations available to other scholars so that his interpretation could be tested."{{sfn|Hole|2016}}}}
Hole concludes that "the structural elements he had previously thought insignificant suddenly became temple foundations only in order to manufacture support for the nationalists' cause."{{sfn|Hole|2016}}{{refn|group=note|In 2003 another excavation took place, in which, according to the ASI report, 50 pillars of a huge structure were found, "indicative" of a temple.<ref>David Rohde (27 August 2003, [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/27/world/excavation-s-finding-at-mosque-site-in-india-could-fuel-dispute.html ''Excavation's Finding at Mosque Site in India Could Fuel Dispute''], New York Times</ref> K. K. Muhammad, member of the 1976–1977 excavation team, "maintains that there is enough archaeological proof of a grand temple below the Babri Mosque," stating that "more than 50 pillar bases in 17 rows were exposed," according to him remains of "a temple below the Babri Mosque and dated back to the 12th century AD."<ref>{{Cite news |title=Ram temple existed before Babri mosque in Ayodhya: Archaeologist KK Muhammed |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ram-temple-existed-before-babri-mosque-in-ayodhya-archaeologist-kk-muhammed/articleshow/71391712.cms|last=Shekhar|first=Kulmar Shakti |date=1 October 2019|work=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=25 August 2020}}</ref> Yet, according to archaeologists Supriya Verma and Menon Shiv Sunni, who observed the excavations on behalf of the Sunni Waqf Board, "the ASI was operating with a preconceived notion of discovering the remains of a temple beneath the demolished mosque, even selectively altering the evidence to suit its hypothesis."<ref>Supriya Verma, Menon Shiv Sunni (2010), [https://www.epw.in/journal/2010/50/verdict-ayodhya-special-issues/was-there-temple-under-babri-masjid-reading ''Was There a Temple under the Babri Masjid? Reading the Archaeological 'Evidence'''], Economic & Political Weekly</ref> According to Varma, "there is no archeological evidence that there was a temple under the Babri Masjid," stating that "Underneath the Babri Masjid, there are actually older mosques."<ref>[https://m.thewire.in/article/history/babri-masjid-asi-excavation-ayodhya-ram-temple ''Archeologist Who Observed Dig Says No Evidence of Temple Under Babri Masjid'']</ref> According to archaeologist D. Mandal, who was also critical of Lal's stance, although the "pillar bases" appear to be aligned, they are not "pillar bases," and belong to different periods. That is, they had never existed together at any point of time; they were not really in alignment with one another; they were not even pillar bases, but junctions of walls, bases of the load-bearing columns at the intersections of walls.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20030602&fname=Cover+Story+%28F%29&sid=1 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120910124725/http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20030602&fname=Cover+Story+(F)&sid=1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 September 2012 |title=Secrets of the Shrine | Sandipan Deb |publisher=Outlookindia.com |access-date=11 June 2012 }}</ref>}}

====Indigenous Aryanism====
{{Main|Indigenous Aryanism|Sarasvati river}}

In his 2002 book, ''The Saraswati Flows On'', Lal rejected the widely accepted {{refn|group=note|Roni Jacobson (1 March 2018): "Five thousand years ago nomadic horseback riders from the Ukrainian steppe charged through Europe and parts of Asia. They brought with them a language that is the root of many of those spoken today—including English, Spanish, Hindi, Russian and Persian. That is the most widely accepted explanation for the origin of this ancient tongue, termed Proto-Indo-European (PIE). Recent genetic findings confirm this hypothesis."<ref>Roni Jacobson (1 March 2018), [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-evidence-fuels-debate-over-the-origin-of-modern-languages/ ''New Evidence Fuels Debate over the Origin of Modern Languages''], Scientific American]</ref>}} [[Indo-Aryan migration|Aryan invasion/migration theory]], arguing that the [[Rig Veda|Rig Vedic]] description of the [[Sarasvati River]]{{refn|group=note|Identified with the Gagghar-Hakra river, which had dried up by 2000 BCE; see [[Sarasvati river#Objections]].}} as "overflowing" contradicts the mainstream view that the Indo-Aryan migration started at ca. 1500 BCE, after the Sarasvati River had dried up.{{refn|group=note|According to Lal, in the mainstream view the Indo-Aryan migrations led to the end of the [[Indus Valley Civilization]]; this is not what mainstrem scholarship says.}} In his book ‘''The Rigvedic People: ‘Invaders’? ‘Immigrants’? or Indigenous?''’ Lal argues that the Rigvedic People and the authors of the Harappan civilisation were the same,<ref name=today/> a view outside mainstream scholarship.{{refn|group=note|name="no support"|No support in mainstream scholarship:
* Romila Thapar (2006): "there is no scholar at this time seriously arguing for the indigenous origin of Aryans".{{sfn|Thapar|2006}}
* Wendy Doniger (2017): "The opposing argument, that speakers of Indo-European languages were indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, is not supported by any reliable scholarship. It is now championed primarily by Hindu nationalists, whose religious sentiments have led them to regard the theory of Aryan migration with some asperity."<ref group=web name="Doniger_2017">Wendy Doniger (2017), [https://inference-review.com/article/another-great-story "Another Great Story"]", review of Asko Parpola's ''The Roots of Hinduism''; in: ''Inference, International Review of Science'', Volume 3, Issue 2</ref>
* Girish Shahane (14 September 2019), in response to Narasimhan et al. (2019): "Hindutva activists, however, have kept the Aryan Invasion Theory alive, because it offers them the perfect strawman, 'an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument' ... The Out of India hypothesis is a desperate attempt to reconcile linguistic, archaeological and genetic evidence with Hindutva sentiment and nationalistic pride, but it cannot reverse time's arrow ... The evidence keeps crushing Hindutva ideas of history."<ref group=web name="Shahane_2019">Girish Shahane (14 September 2019), [https://scroll.in/article/937043/why-hindutva-supporters-love-to-hate-the-discredited-aryan-invasion-theory ''Why Hindutva supporters love to hate the discredited Aryan Invasion Theory''], Scroll.in</ref>
* Koenraad Elst (10 May 2016): "Of course it is a fringe theory, at least internationally, where the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT) is still the official paradigm. In India, though, it has the support of most archaeologists, who fail to find a trace of this Aryan influx and instead find cultural continuity."<ref name="Elst_2016">Koenraad Elst (10 May 2016), Koenraad Elst: "I am not aware of any governmental interest in correcting distorted history", ''Swarajya Magazine''</ref>
* [[Michael Witzel]], the "indigenous Aryans" position is not scholarship in the usual sense, but an "apologetic, ultimately religious undertaking."{{sfn|Witzel|2001|p=95}}}}

==List of publications==
*{{cite book|author=B.B. Lal|title=New Light on the "dark Age" of Indian History: Recent Excavations at the Hastinapura Site, Near Delhi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x4SyPgAACAAJ|year=1952|publisher=Illustrated London news}}
* {{cite book|author=Braj Basi Lal|title=Excavations at Hastinapura and Other Explorations [in the Upper Gangā and Sutlej Basins], 1950–52|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kh7mGwAACAAJ|year=1955}}
* Braj Basi Lal. (1956). Paleoliths from Beas and Banganga Valleys. Ancient India. No.12. pp58-92.
* Braj Basi Lal. (1958). Birbhanpur: Microlith site in Damodar Valley., West Bengal. Ancient India. No..14. pp 4–40.
* Braj Basi Lal. (1960). From the Megalith to the Harappan: Tracing Back the Graffiti on Pottery, Ancient India. No. 16. Pp 4–24
* Braj Basi Lal. (1962) Indian Archaeological Expedition to Qasr Ibrim (Nubia) 1961–62.
*{{cite book|author=B. B. Lal|title=The Only Asian Expedition in Threatened Nubia: Work by an Indian Mission at Afyeh and Tumas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=14jiSAAACAAJ|year=1963}}.<ref name=Egypt/>
* {{cite book|author=Braj Basi Lal|title=Indian Archaeology Since Independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lNc9AAAAMAAJ|year=1964|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass}}
* Braj Basi Lal. (1966). The Direction of Writing in the Harappan Script. Antiquity. Vol. .XL. No.175. pp 52–56.
* Braj Basi Lal. (1968). A Deluge? Which Deluge? Yet Another Facet of Copper Hoard Culture. American Anthropologist. Vol. 70. Pp 857–73.
*{{cite book|author=B.B. Lal|title=The Copper Hoard Culture of the Ganga Valley|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Ve0PgAACAAJ|year=1972|publisher=Heffer}}
*{{cite book|author=B. B. Lal|title=On the Most Frequently Used Sign in the Indus Script|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YGUxtwAACAAJ|year=1977}}
* {{cite book|author=B. B. Lal|title=Weathering and Preservation of Stone Monuments Under Tropical Conditions: Some Case Histories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jMgrQwAACAAJ|year=1978}}
*{{cite book|author=B.B. Lal|title=Scientific Examination of Works of Art and History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yIOFGwAACAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Indian Association for the Study of Conservation of Cultural Property}}
*''Special survey reports on selected towns: Dumka'', 1981.
* Braj Basi Lal. (1982). The Giant Tank of Śṛiṅgaverapura. Illustrated London News. January. P59
* {{cite book|author=Braj Basi Lal|title=Has the Indus Script Been Deciphered?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vsYNPwAACAAJ|year=1982|publisher=Indian Inst. of Advanced Study}}
*''Frontiers of the Indus Civilization'', 1984.
*{{cite book|author=B. B. Lal|title=Excavation at Śṛiṅgaverapura: (1977–86)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9WjvNAEACAAJ|year=1993|publisher=Director General, Archaeological Survey of India}}<ref name=ASI1>[http://asi.nic.in/asi_publ_memoirs.asp Memoirs], On Excavations, Indus Seals, Art, Structural and Chemical Conservation of Monumets, Archaeological Survey of India Official website.</ref>
*{{cite book|author=Braj Basi Lal|title=The Earliest civilization of South Asia: rise, maturity, and decline|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3_1tAAAAMAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Aryan Books International|isbn=978-81-7305-107-4}}
* {{cite book|title=Facets of Indian Civilization: Prehistory and rock-art, protohistory: Essays in Honour of Prof. B.B. Lal (Vol. 1)|author=Jagat Pati Joshi|author2=D. K. Sinha |author3=Braj Basi Lal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QzkenAEACAAJ|access-date=9 August 2013|year=1997|publisher=Aryan Books International|isbn=9788173050879}}
*{{cite book |title=India 1947-1997: New Light on the Indus Civilization |author=B. B. Lal |publisher=Aryan Books International |year=1998|isbn=978-81-7305-129-6 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uultAAAAMAAJ}}
*{{cite book|author=Braj Basi Lal|title=The Sarasvatī flows on: the continuity of Indian culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ultAAAAMAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Aryan Books International|isbn=978-81-7305-202-6}}
* {{cite book|author=Braj Basi Lal|title=Excavations at Kalibangan: The Early Harappans, 1960-1969|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9dtAAAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Director General, Archaeological Survey of India}}<ref name=ASI1/>
* Braj Basi Lal. (2003). Should One Give up All Ethics for Promoting One's Theory? East and West. Vol. 53. . Nos. 1–4. pp285–88.
*{{cite book|author1=A. S. Bisht|author2=Surinder Pal Singh|author3=B. B. Lal|title=Studies in Art and Archaeological Conservation: Dr. B.B. Lal Commemoration Volume|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rL2fAAAAMAAJ|year=2004|publisher=Agam Kala Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7320-059-5}}
*{{cite book |title=The Homeland of the Aryans. Evidence of Rigvedic Flora and Fauna & Archaeology |author=B. B. Lal |publisher=Aryan Books |year=2005|isbn=8173052832 }}
* {{cite book|author1=Braj Basi Lal|author2=R. Sengupta|title=A Report on the Preservation of Buddhist Monuments at Bamiyan in Afghanistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=py_3PgAACAAJ|year=2008|publisher=Islamic Wonders Bureau|isbn=978-81-87763-66-6}}
* {{cite book |title=Rāma, His Historicity, Mandir, and Setu: Evidence of Literature, Archaeology, and Other Sciences|author=B. B. Lal |publisher=Aryan Books |year=2008|isbn=978-81-7305-345-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vYBwPgAACAAJ }}
* {{cite book |title=How Deep Are the Roots of Indian Civilization?: Archaeology Answers |author=B. B. Lal |publisher=Aryan Books |year=2009|isbn=978-8173053764 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQwwAQAAIAAJ }}
* {{cite book|author=Braj Basi Lal|title=Excavations at Bharadwaja Ashram: with a note on the exploration at Chitrakuta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8sEmwEACAAJ|year=2011|publisher=Archaeological Survey of India}}
*{{cite book|author=Braj Basi Lal|title=Piecing Together: Memoirs of an Archaeologist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0jp3uAAACAAJ|year=2011|publisher=Aryan Books International|isbn=978-81-7305-417-4}}
* Braj Basi Lal. (2013) Historicity of the Mahabharata: Evidence of Art, Literature and Archaeology. Aryan Books International. {{ISBN|978-81-7305-458-7}} (HB), 978-81-7305-459-4 (PB)
*{{cite book|author=Braj Basi Lal|title=The Rigvedic People: 'Invaders'?/'Immigrants'? or Indigenous?|year=2015|publisher=Aryan Books International|isbn=978-81-7305-535-5}}
* Braj Basi Lal. ( 2015) Excavations at Kalibangan (1961–69): The Harappans. Archaeological Survey of India.
* Braj Basi Lal. ( 2017a) Kauśāmbī Revisited Aryan Books International
* Braj Basi Lal. ( 2017b) Testing Ancient Traditions on the Touchstone of Archaeology. Aryan Books International
* Braj Basi Lal. ( 2019) Agony of an Archaeologist. Aryan Books International.
* BR Mani; Rajesh Lal; Neera Misra; Vinay Kumar (2019) Felicitating a Legendary Archaeology Prof B.B. Lal. Vols. III. BR Publishing Corporation. {{ISBN|9789387587458}} (Set of 3 Vols.)
* Braj Basi Lal. (2019). From the Mesolithic to the Mahājanapadas: The Rise of Civilisation in the Ganga Valley. Aryan Books International.

==Honors==
* Awarded the title of Vidyā Vāridhi by the Nava Nālandā Mahāvihāra, Nālandā University in 1979.
* Awarded the title of Mahāhopādhyāya by Mithila Vishwavidyalaya in 1982
* Honorary Fellowship for Life, Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1991
* D. Litt. (Honoris Causa) by St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, Russia, 1994
* Awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India in 2000
* D. Litt. (Honoris Causa) by the [[Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute|Deccan college]], 2014
* [[Padma Vibhushan]] in 2021.<ref name="Padma"/>

==See also==
* [[Archaeology of Ayodhya]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note|35em}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Sources==
===Printed sources===
{{Refbegin}}

* {{Citation | last =Ahmed | first =Mukhtar | year =2014 | title =Ancient Pakistan – An Archaeological History: Volume IV: Harappan Civilization – Theoretical and the Abstract | publisher =Foursome Group}}

* {{Citation | last =Bhan | first=Suraj | year =1997 | title =Recent Trends in Indian Archaeology | journal =Social Scientist. V 25, No. 284-285 (Jan–Feb 1997) | volume=25 | issue=1/2 | pages=3–15 | url =https://dsal.uchicago.edu/books/socialscientist/text.html?objectid=HN681.S597_284-285_013.gif |jstor=3517757}}

* {{Citation | last1 =Coningham | first1 =Robin | last2=Young | first2 =Ruth | year =2015 | title =The Archaeology of South Asia: From the Indus to Asoka, c.6500 BCE–200 CE |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hB5TCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA83|access-date=30 April 2018 | publisher =Cambridge University Press| isbn =9780521846974 }}

* {{Citation | last =Droogan | first =Julian | year =2012 | title =Religion, Material Culture and Archaeology | publisher =A&C Black}}

* {{Citation | last =Hole | first =Brian | year =2016 | chapter =A Many-Cornered Thing: The Role of Heritage in Indian Nation-Building | editor-last =Jenkins | editor-first =Tiffany | title =Political Culture, Soft Interventions and Nation Building | publisher =Routledge}}

*{{Citation | last =Romey | first = Kristin M. | year=2006 |chapter =Flashpoint Ayodhya | editor-last1 =Vitelli | editor-first1 =Karen D. | editor-last2 = Colwell-Chanthaphonh | editor-first2 =Chip | title =Archaeological Ethics | publisher =Rowman Altamira}}

* {{cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |date=2006 |title=India: Historical Beginnings and the Concept of the Aryan |publisher=National Book Trust |isbn=9788123747798 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sDBuAAAAMAAJ&q=indigenous+aryans}}

* {{cite journal |last=Witzel |first=Michael E. J. |author-link=Michael E. J. Witzel |title=Autochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts |journal=Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=1–115 |date=2001 |url= http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/EJVS-7-3.pdf}}
* {{Citation | last =Witzel | first =Michael | year =2006 | chapter = Rama's realm. Indocentric rewritings of early South Asian archaeology and history | editor-last =Fagan | editor-first =Garrett G| title =Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public | publisher =Routledge}}
{{Refend}}

===Web-sources===
{{Reflist|group=web}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|author=Dhaneshwar Mandal|title=Ayodhya, Archaeology After Demolition: A Critique of the "new" and "fresh" Discoveries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FvTBfbfxAukC&pg=PA1|year=2003|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-250-2344-9|ref=Ma}}
* {{cite web
| title = Mahabharata Historicity by Prof. B B Lal
| date = 24 June 2012
| url = http://www.slideshare.net/sfih108/mahabharata-historicity-prof-b-b-lal
}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
*[http://www.hvk.org/2002/0302/200.html The Homeland of Indo-European Languages and Culture: Some Thoughts] By Archaeologist B.B. Lal
*[http://www.archaeologyonline.net/artifacts/19th-century-paradigms.html Let not the 19th century paradigms continue to haunt us!] Inaugural Address, by Prof. Lal, delivered at the 19th International Conference on South Asian Archaeology, 2007
*[http://www.worldcat.org/wcidentities/lccn-n84-86428 List of publications] at worldcat.org
* Romila Thapar (2019), [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/17/opinion/india-elections-modi-history.html ''They Peddle Myths and Call It History'']

{{s-start}}
{{succession box|title=Director General of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]]|before=[[Amalananda Ghosh]]|after=[[M. N. Deshpande]]|years=1968–1972}}
{{s-end}}
{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 2000–09}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lal, B. B.}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian archaeologists]]
[[Category:Directors General of the Archaeological Survey of India]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering]]
[[Category:People from Jhansi]]
[[Category:University of Allahabad alumni]]
[[Category:Indian Indologists]]
[[Category:Analysts of Ayodhya dispute]]
[[Category:Indigenous Aryanists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:People associated with the Indus Valley Civilisation]]
[[Category:Indian institute directors]]

B. B. Lal - Revision history

imported>Jkaharper at 11:16, 19 August 2021