Reliving the work of pioneers in archaeology

Though much has been done, a proper historiography of Indian archaeology remains to be written

July 21, 2014 10:39 pm | Updated 10:39 pm IST

ESSAYS IN HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGY — Themes, Institutions and Personalities: K. Paddayya; Archaeological Survey of India, 11, Janpath, New Delhi-110011. Rs. 1,160.

ESSAYS IN HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGY — Themes, Institutions and Personalities: K. Paddayya; Archaeological Survey of India, 11, Janpath, New Delhi-110011. Rs. 1,160.

Elegantly produced by the Archaeological Survey of India, this is the fourth in the series of books by renowned authors brought out as part of the project to celebrate its 150 years of eventful existence. Eminently suitable, the author of this work Dr. K. Paddayya, who has done extensive research on the Palaeolithic and Neolithic cultures of the Shorapur Doab in the Deccan, and who has spent all his working life in matters connected with archaeology, has packed within the covers of this book in two sections, highly informative articles written during a period spanning 20 years, covering themes, institutions and personalities..

The author in his note pays rich tributes to Alexander Cunningham, who was instrumental in starting a department for Archaeological studies. A British Army engineer, Sir Alexander, was interested in India’s archaeological wealth, founded the department. In his note, the author traces the growth of the department, and contributions made to this science by stalwarts of the department. Though much has been done, he feels rightly that historiography of Indian Archaeology remains yet to be written.

His introduction has some brilliant points quoted from his earlier papers, and in one he says: “While [Edward] Said’s castigations of European writings about the Orient may hold good to some extent in the case of Arab-speaking world, I realised, and still believe so, the need to avoid a bandwagon approach and instead adopt a more positive attitude while judging Europe’s role in unravelling South Asia’s past.” According to him, the seminal work of Edward Said is no doubt the best, though the great work done by William Jones, Colin Mackinzie and other Western stalwarts have stood the test of time. He laments, and rightly so, that despite the introduction of changes, the general attitude of Indian archaeologists to theoretical debates continues to be one of indifference.

As one who has been long with the institution, he dwells on the subject of the early history of Deccan College, Pune, with special reference to Mountstuart Elphinstone, Governor of the then Bombay Presidency, who named the institution Hindoo College in 1821. While tracing the history of the institution he gives brief accounts of the scholars who went through the portals of this college. In this article he focuses his attention on the discussions and debates that took place between the Utilitarians and Orientalists, in early 19th century about education in India.

Madras school In the chapter dealing with the Madras School, the author praises Colin Mackenzie especially for his discovery of the Amaravati Stupa and his collection of vast number of manuscripts and quotes from the contemporary researchers like Trautmann, who coined the term Madras School of Orientalism. Though the Madras School followed the Calcutta school as introduced by Jones, it, “respected Calcutta’s lead, but felt itself free to criticise its practices and products.” The author agrees with Trautmann who asserts that that the Madras School provided an alternative view regarding India as a whole. Colin Mackenzie and Francis Whyte Ellis were the two who did massive work in collecting and cataloguing the information available. Ellis started the Madras Literary Society for establishing the Dravidian concept. The author explains the contribution of the two Indians who assisted Ellis, Venkatanarayanayya and Pattabhirama Sastri who were responsible for the extensive research done in locating and copying the manuscripts.

With their inputs, “Ellis, coupled with his intuitive notions with the empirical knowledge supplied by the South Indian teachers arrived at the Dravidian theory” says the author. Besides bringing out the concept of Dravidian family of languages, Ellis was responsible for introducing subjects of Hindu and Muslim law in the College of Fort St. George. Ellis’s Oriental scholarship led to his ideas on revenue matters as practised in South India which was helpful to the administration. More importantly, the author confirms that Ellis “opposed the Western doctrine of the Oriental Despotism which, in his opinion, was introduced only in the wake of Muslim rule” In addition, the author notes that the Madras School made important contribution to the religious history of South India. According to the study, it is seen that the South was very different from the North on account of the early presence of Jainism. There is also in the article a detailed description of the Mackenzie Archive, which will be useful to the students of this branch of history.

Need for further research In an article, that is a reproduction of the address by the author in an annual conference of the Shivaji Vidyapeeth, he talks about the need for fresh research. He elaborately quotes from various sources, starting from Kalhana, the chronicler of Kashmir, on the need to study the past.

The section dealing with personalities includes all great people involved in developing the science of archaeology in India. Apart from the foreigners who did great lot of work under trying circumstances, he shows the important contribution by some leading Indians such as H. D. Sankalia, S. B. Deo,and Z. D. Ansari. He has special place for Sankalia as one who founded the department of Ancient History and Archaeology in the Deccan College. Sankalia had undertaken with his colleagues excavations at twenty places and according to the author, “maintained a holistic attitude towards the discipline and made original contributions to (its) various branches”

The author dwells on the contribution of Frank Raymond Allchin, a specialist in South Asian Archaeology who took special interest in the lower part of Deccan for archaeological investigations. In fact the entire collection of essays gives importance to the Deccan, the author’s specialised area of work.

The added attraction of the book is the number of interesting pictures and copies of documents connected with the essays. Though written by the author at different times, the articles are arranged in such a manner as not to lose the continuity in reading both by time and space.

The book will be most useful to students of archaeology and therefore would be asset in the libraries of Universities and colleges.

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