Local Communities, National Interests and the Practice of Indian Archaeology
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Behind the frontline: local communities, national interests and the practice of Indian archaeology Neha Gupta Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal August, 2012 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Neha Gupta, 2012 Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ v Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 Approaches in the practice and history of archaeology ....................................... 3 Methods and sources .......................................................................................... 11 Review of the history of Indian archaeology ..................................................... 19 Organization of the dissertation ......................................................................... 33 References .......................................................................................................... 39 Chapter 1: In Babri’s shadow: change and continuity in the practice of Indian archaeology .............................................................................................. 49 Characterizing the practice of Indian archaeology ............................................. 53 Organization of the archaeological community ................................................. 59 Preservation of cultural heritage ........................................................................ 73 Recent trends in the practice of Indian archaeology .......................................... 78 Indian archaeology in a globalized world .......................................................... 89 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 93 References .......................................................................................................... 96 Chapter 2: Cultural continuity, identity and archaeological practice in the Indian context ..................................................................................................... 112 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 129 References ........................................................................................................ 131 Chapter 3: Before Creation: the Indus Valley civilization in Indian archaeology ......................................................................................................... 141 The study of ancient India and the East India Company .................................. 146 Antiquarians and Indian historiography in Crown-administered India ............ 147 Vedic origins of Hindu civilization .............................................................. 150 Prehistoric research in India ......................................................................... 154 Imperial reorganization and the recovery of ancient India............................... 157 Preservation of cultural heritage ................................................................... 160 Survey-financed archaeology ....................................................................... 162 Relative dating at Mohenjodaro ................................................................... 163 The First World War and the ‘prehistoric civilization’ .................................... 167 Introducing Mohenjodaro ............................................................................. 169 Archaeology for the public ........................................................................... 171 Indus = Indo-Sumerian? ................................................................................... 173 Complete independence and the Indian civilization......................................... 175 An indigenous origin for the Indus civilization ............................................ 176 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 181 References ........................................................................................................ 184 Chapter 4: Why does Sanghol matter? Political crisis and national archaeology in postwar India ............................................................................ 194 Indian prestige in Crown-administrated India ................................................. 201 Independence and ‘national’ archaeology ........................................................ 208 Writing a ‘national’ narrative ....................................................................... 212 Preservation of cultural heritage in ‘New’ India .......................................... 219 Organization of the archaeological community ........................................... 220 National archaeology in postwar India ......................................................... 224 Political crisis and the practice of Indian archaeology ..................................... 237 Iron Age, society and the ‘second urbanization’ .......................................... 239 Social unrest in Punjab and the recovery of ancient India ............................... 245 Archaeology in an anxious Punjab: investigations at Sanghol ..................... 247 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 256 References ........................................................................................................ 259 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 278 References ........................................................................................................ 295 Abstract This study is concerned with change and continuity in the practice of Indian archaeology. Its characterization as a national tradition is examined in light of relations between local communities and the national government, and in terms of archaeological practices that developed in colonial India. The research employed geographic information systems and historical methods to highlight the importance of changes in the social and political organization of societyfor the study of the history of archaeology.It is argued that the questions archaeologists asked, the methods they employed and the evidence they deemed credible, served the interests of the colonial government, and that these understandings were reinterpreted as Indian or nationalistic ones. Moreover, in Independent India, archaeologists often served the social and political aims of the national government by justifying the displacement of local communities and by obscuring their interests in the preservation of cultural heritage and in the interpretation of archaeological data. In the Republic of India, a nationally-oriented framework has taken a castebased- view of prehistory. This perspective justified economic, social, cultural and political marginalization ofaborig inal peoples. This view of the Indian past has excluded India’s ethnic and linguistic minorities from social dynamics and social history. This, in turn, has influenced the potential and aims of Indian archaeology. Précis Cette étude porte sur les changements et la continuité des pratiques de l'archéologie indienne. Le fait qu'elle soit considérée comme tradition nationale est examiné en fonction des relations entre les communautés locales et le gouvernement national, et en fonction des pratiques archéologiques développées à l'époque coloniale. Cette recherche a été menée en ayant recours au système d'information géographique ainsi qu'à des méthodes historiques afin de souligner l'importance, pour l'histoire de l'archéologie, de changements dans l'organisation sociale et politique de la société. On y comprend que les questions archéologiques posées, les méthodes employées, ainsi que les preuves jugées crédibles ont servi les intérêts du gouvernement colonial, et ont souvent été réinterprétées en tant qu'indiennes ou nationalistes. On y comprend aussi que, en Inde indépendante, les archéologues ont souvent servi les visées sociales et politiques du gouvernement national en justifiant le déplacement de communautés locales et en négligeant leurs intérêts dans la préservation du patrimoine culturel et dans l'interprétation de données archéologiques. Au sein de la République indienne, une approche orientée sur la nation a mené au développement d'une compréhension de la préhistoire basée sur les castes. Cette perspective a permis de justifier la marginalisation économique, sociale, culturelle et politique de peuples autochtones. Cette vision de l'histoire indienne a exclu les minorités ethniques et linguistiques indiennes des dynamiques sociales et de l'histoire sociale. Ceci a exercé une influence sur le potentiel ainsi quesur les visées de l'archéologique indienne. Acknowledgments I have benefitted from discussions on the present research since its beginnings in Professor Bruce Trigger’s graduate seminar on archaeological thought. Professor Trigger’s intellectual interest in Indian archaeology stimulated the questions I have investigated and the methods which I have employed in the present research. I deeply regret that I had only just begun