Arrange the following Director Generals of Archaeological Survey of India sequentially.
(A) John Marshall
(B) Alexander Cunningham
(C) R.E.M. Wheeler
(D) B.B. Lal
Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (B), (A), (C), (D)
(B) Alexander Cunningham — the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), often called the father of Indian archaeology. As early as 1875 he noted the destruction of Harappa by brick robbers.
(A) John Marshall — as Director-General of the ASI, in 1924, he announced the discovery of a new civilisation in the Indus valley to the world.
(C) R.E.M. Wheeler — he took over as Director-General of the ASI in 1944 and brought the method of following the stratigraphy of the mound.
(D) B.B. Lal — he belongs to a later generation of archaeologists; with B.K. Thapar he began excavations at Kalibangan in 1960, long after Wheeler had taken charge.
Note: The NCERT book (2026-27) names Cunningham, Marshall and Wheeler as Directors-General of the ASI but mentions B.B. Lal only for his excavations at Kalibangan in 1960; that he too became Director-General of the ASI later (1968-72) is not in NCERT. The order of the first three settles the answer, since only Option (2) begins (B), (A), (C).
NCERT (2026-27): “A Planned Urban Centre … As early as 1875, Alexander Cunningham, the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), often called the father of Indian archaeology, noted that the amount of brick taken from the ancient site was enough to lay bricks for ‘about 100 miles’ of the railway line between Lahore and Multan.… 10.2 A new old civilisation … Based on these finds, in 1924, John Marshall, Director-General of the ASI, announced the discovery of a new civilisation in the Indus valley to the world.… 10.3 New techniques and questions … It was R.E.M. Wheeler, after he took over as Director-General of the ASI in 1944, who rectified this problem.…”
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