A prominent banyan tree located in the Munger district of Bihar has been scientifically verified as the oldest accurately dated specimen of its kind globally, with an estimated chronological age of 700 years. This landmark discovery, published in the journal Quaternary Research, offers an innovative methodology for evaluating tropical heritage trees, significantly advancing international efforts in ecological conservation and climate history mapping.
Traditional dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) frequently encounters roadblocks when applied to tropical broadleaf species because they lack distinct, annual growth rings. To bypass this limitation, an expert research team extracted alpha-cellulose from the core of an ancient primary branch and secondary trunk. They subsequently deployed high-precision Accelerator Mass Spectrometry radiocarbon dating, calibrating their metrics via modern OxCal software.
Headed by Dr. Trina Bose, alongside Dr. Mayank Shekhar and Dr. Akhilesh K. Yadava from Lucknow’s Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, the study disproved previous local theories that the specimen was planted roughly 300 years ago alongside the historic Burra Bungalow. Instead, analytical evidence shows the tree predates the colonial structural complex, existing as a surviving remnant of the region’s original native forest. The Ministry of Science & Technology highlighted that this framework replaces speculative folklore with verifiable molecular data.
