Alexander Cunningham thought that Indian history began with the first cities in the Ganga valley. Identify the correct statements among the following:
A. Cunningham only preferred to use the written word (texts and inscriptions) as a guide to investigations.
B. Cunningham used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited the subcontinent between the fourth and seventh-centuries CE to locate early settlements.
C. Cunningham’s main interest was in the archaeology of the Gupta Dynasty and later periods.
D. Some of the Harappan artifacts reached Cunningham, he did not realize how old these were.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → B and D only
A. Cunningham only preferred to use the written word (texts and inscriptions) as a guide to investigations. Incorrect. Archaeologists of that time did prefer the written word as a guide, but Cunningham did not work from texts alone: when he excavated sites he also recovered artefacts that he thought had cultural value. The word ‘only’ makes the statement wrong.
B. Cunningham used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited the subcontinent between the fourth and seventh-centuries CE to locate early settlements. Correct. He followed the routes of the Chinese pilgrims to find early settlements. Harappa was not on their itinerary, so it fell outside his search.
C. Cunningham’s main interest was in the archaeology of the Gupta Dynasty and later periods. Incorrect. His main interest was in the archaeology of the Early Historic period (c. sixth century BCE-fourth century CE) and later periods, not the Gupta dynasty.
D. Some of the Harappan artifacts reached Cunningham, he did not realize how old these were. Correct. A Harappan seal was even given to him by an Englishman. He noted it but could not place it in the right time-frame, because he thought Indian history began with the first cities of the Ganga valley.
NCERT (2025-26): “10.1 Cunningham’s confusion … When Cunningham, the first Director-General of the ASI, began archaeological excavations in the mid-nineteenth century, archaeologists preferred to use the written word (texts and inscriptions) as a guide to investigations. In fact, Cunningham’s main interest was in the archaeology of the Early Historic (c. sixth century BCE-fourth century CE) and later periods. He used the accounts left by Chinese Buddhist pilgrims who had visited the subcontinent between the fourth and seventh centuries CE to locate early settlements. Cunningham also collected, documented and translated inscriptions found during his surveys. When he excavated sites he tended to recover artefacts that he thought had cultural value. A site like Harappa, which was not part of the itinerary of the Chinese pilgrims and was not known as an Early Historic city, did not fit very neatly within his framework of investigation. So, although Harappan artefacts were found fairly often during the nineteenth century and some of these reached Cunningham, he did not realise how old these were.…” |