The Sanchi Stupa complex has survived due to:

(A) The decisions of Shahjahan Begum and Sultan Jehan Begum
(B) The good luck in escaping the eyes of railway contractors and builders
(C) The good luck in escaping the eyes of those looking for finds to carry away to the museums of Europe
(D) The steps taken by the British government to conserve the Stupa
(E) The steps taken to demarcate it as a residential building.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

(A), (B), (C) only

The correct answer is Option (4) → (A), (B), (C) only

Given statements:

The Sanchi Stupa complex has survived due to:

(A) The decisions of Shahjahan Begum and Sultan Jehan Begum (Correct)
(B) The good luck in escaping the eyes of railway contractors and builders (Correct)
(C) The good luck in escaping the eyes of those looking for finds to carry away to the museums of Europe (Correct)
(D) The steps taken by the British government to conserve the Stupa (Incorrect)
(E) The steps taken to demarcate it as a residential building (Incorrect)

Explanation:

Nineteenth-century Europeans were very interested in the stupa at Sanchi. In fact, the French sought Shahjehan Begum’s permission to take away the eastern gateway, which was the best preserved, to be displayed in a museum in France. For a while some Englishmen also wanted to do the same, but fortunately both the French and the English were satisfied with carefully prepared plaster-cast copies and the original remained at the site, part of the Bhopal state. The rulers of Bhopal, Shahjehan Begum and her successor Sultan Jehan Begum, provided money for the preservation of the ancient site. No wonder then that John Marshall dedicated his important volumes on Sanchi to Sultan Jehan. She funded the museum that was built there as well as the guesthouse where he lived and wrote the volumes. She also funded the publication of the volumes. So if the stupa complex has survived, it is in no small measure due to wise decisions, and to good luck in escaping the eyes of railway contractors, builders, and those looking for finds to carry away to the museums of Europe. One of the most important Buddhist centres, the discovery of Sanchi has vastly transformed our understanding of early Buddhism. Today it stands testimony to the successful restoration and preservation of a key archaeological site by the Archaeological Survey of India.