Pande who earned his Ph.D from the Benares Hindu University, is a retired professor of Geography from KB Postgraduate College, Mirzapur.
Presentation
In a startling presentation that found support among some of his learned peers, 74-year-old Shayam Narain Pande from Mirzapur told the just-concluded 58th Indian History Congress here, that ancient Ayodhya was in fact situated near modern-day Herat in neighbouring Afghanistan.
His paper titled ``Historical Rama distinguished from God Rama'' held that the historical Rama was older than present Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, which had no history beyond 800 B.C. The ancient Ayodhya of historical Rama was situated on the bank of Hari Rud (Sarayu or Haryu) river near Herat city in Afghanistan. The city was destroyed after the disappearance of of Rama.
The Kashi tribe or Kushilavas rebuilt the second city as Kushak, which was known after the tribe of Kashi, later known by the name of Kusha, the son of Rama. Thus Ayodhya and Kashi were synonymous in those days, Shyam Narain Pande pointed out.
http://goddessearth.blogspot.com/2013/01/city-named-after-lava-son-of-sita-ram.html
Based on the evidence provided by Panini, along with inferences from Avesta, Rig Veda and from the views of B C Law, A S Altekar, P V Kane, A L Basham and K S Kulish, Pande emphasised that ``Rama as a historical person existed in Afghanistan''.
``So if you are searching for the Ayodhya of historical Rama, it should be conducted a little north towards the north of Hari Rud, around Herat,'' he stated.
Pande's presentation found support from the delegates participating in the Congress.
Eminent historian and former professor of Delhi University R S Sharma who spoke in support of Pande said, ``Dr Pande's view was correct.
Agreeing with Pande's views that Rig Vedic Rama moved on the banks of river Hari Rud, identified as vedic Sarayu, Sharma said the expansion of people towards the East may have taken the names of Sarayu, Ayodhya and Kashi towards Gujarat, Rajasthan, Prayag or Allahabad.
Exhilarated by the response to his presentation, Pande later told this newspaper that his search for the land of historical Rama was prompted by the objective view of scholars B B Lal and K M Dixit, published in a magazine `Puratatva' in 1989, that the history of Ayodhya (UP) was not older than 800 B.C.
But there is a subjective view that Rama is older than that.
``Rama is important as a superman, king and a god in this country. Moreover, historical instances like Buddha declaring himself that he was Rama in his 16th previous life and the Bible of Protestants placing Rama in the list of forefathers of Jesus Christ, makes it impossible to accept that Rama, as he is made out to be, lived in Ayodhya in U.P.,'' said Pande.
How Such Variety is Possible
http://completepersonality.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-many-hanumans.html
