HistoryMedieval India: An Imperial Capital: Vijayanagara

In the early 1980s, a project was launched to document the material r…

In the early 1980s, a project was launched to document the material remains at Vijayanagara in detail. How did it go about this work?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → Through extensive and intensive surveys, using a variety of recording techniques

Option (1) Through extensive and intensive surveys, using a variety of recording techniques — Correct. The project recorded the remains through wide and detailed surveys, using many recording methods; mapping was one part of it.

Option (2) Through excavating the royal centre layer by layer — Incorrect. Digging the royal centre layer by layer is excavation; the project worked by surveying and recording what was on the ground.

Option (3) Through collecting oral traditions in nearby villages — Incorrect. Oral traditions are memories passed by word of mouth; they do not record material remains.

Option (4) Through copying the inscriptions on temple walls — Incorrect. Copying inscriptions records written sources.

NCERT (2026-27): “6. Plotting Palaces, Temples and Bazaars
We have been examining a wealth of information on Vijayanagara – photographs, plans, elevations of structures and sculpture. How was all of this produced? After the initial surveys by Mackenzie, information was pieced together from travellers’ accounts and inscriptions. Through the twentieth century, the site was preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India and the Karnataka Department of Archaeology and Museums. In 1976, Hampi was recognised as a site of national importance. Then, in the early 1980s, an important project was launched to document the material remains at Vijayanagara in detail, through extensive and intensive surveys, using a variety of recording techniques. Over nearly twenty years, dozens of scholars from all over the world worked to compile and preserve this information. …”