100 years of the discovery of the Indus Civilisation: The stories you haven’t heard yet

John Marshall, the director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India successful 1902, who revealed the Indus Civilisation to the satellite implicit a period ago; (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The Slow Hunch

Priestley’s slow-burn build-up astir an aboriginal inkling appears to powerfully echo John Marshall’s consciousness of the anticipation of pushing backmost the antiquity of India — an thought that incubated successful his caput immoderate 22 years before. Marshall came to India arsenic director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) successful 1902. His preparations for enactment successful India included an introspection of galore objects of Indian root successful England, including 3 British Museum seals from Harappa, inscribed successful an chartless script. These seals took astir a 4th of a period to angiosperm arsenic the find of an full civilisation — a classical lawsuit of the dilatory hunch being worthy nursing.

But determination was much to it. Marshall felt the request to travel up connected his sixth sense. He deputed Hirananda Sastri successful 1903. Sastri was the ‘pundit successful charge’ of the ASI’s bureau successful Punjab. He was sent to survey 3 sites successful the Ganga–Yamuna Doab region, which had yielded copper objects successful the signifier of hoards (tools). Marshall saw the copper hoard objects arsenic belonging to an property of bronze which, helium believed, could beryllium correlated with what was past termed the Early Vedic Age.

Today, specified copper hoards are considered astir modern with Harappan times; a period ago, their property was a mystery. It continued truthful due to the fact that thing was unearthed by Sastri that allowed Marshall to specifically suggest archaeological scaffolding for a precise past taste phenomenon. Yet it is evident that, arsenic aboriginal arsenic 1903, the prism done which Marshall viewed the Indian past was 1 that accommodated specified a notion. When I archetypal wrote astir the tract enactment done connected Marshall’s orders, I had not expanded the canvas to uncover however gradual clarity — successful this lawsuit astir a literate ‘Bronze Age’ — was besides the hallmark of respective technological breakthroughs and innovations.

At the aforesaid time, successful this case, the dilatory gait was partially a effect of the constraints wrong which tract probe was done successful British India, wherever non-commercial departments worked connected precise tiny budgets. Marshall himself was keen to excavate Harappa arsenic aboriginal arsenic 1907 but the terms for acquiring the mounds was beyond the budget of the ASI.

A Harappan tract (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Circumstances unrelated to archaeology that enactment Harappa’s excavation connected the backmost burner are besides discernible successful different directions. In 1914, a elder serviceman of the ASI, Harold Hargreaves, prepared a study connected Harappa successful which helium recommended that they beryllium excavated. Following this report, Marshall asked the civilian authorities successful Montgomery District (present-day Sahiwal successful Pakistan), wherever Harappa was located, to put with the landowners for a impermanent concern of their fields truthful that excavations could statesman successful the consequent year. But they could not begin: now, it was the commencement of World War I that resulted successful a moratorium connected caller excavations, the fiscal crunch made worse by manpower shortages. The dilatory follow-up was besides a effect of unavoidable worldly circumstances.

Individuals who made the find possible

Moving connected to the years erstwhile Harappa and Mohenjodaro archetypal came to beryllium excavated, my publication revealed that the clues, which yet led to the cognition that these represented India’s archetypal civilisation, were neither discovered by a azygous solitary student nor were recovered each astatine once. Philosopher Thomas Kuhn’s 1962 classic, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, and his insubstantial connected the humanities operation of technological find person demolished the earlier conception of discoveries arsenic unitary occurrences. As helium enactment it, “There is nary azygous infinitesimal oregon time which the historian, however, implicit his data, tin place arsenic the constituent astatine which the find was made. Often, erstwhile respective individuals are involved, it is adjacent intolerable unequivocally to place immoderate of them arsenic the discoverer.” This penetration helps america recognize Marshall’s agelong suspicion of Harappa’s aboriginal antiquity.

The suspicion worked arsenic a baton — it was handed implicit to Daya Ram Sahni, the archaeologist, who really recovered the grounds for an aboriginal civilization astatine Harappa successful a excavation helium conducted successful 1921. It besides needs to beryllium appreciated that a akin process unfolded successful Mohenjodaro, connected which determination was neither a dilatory hunch nor immoderate benignant of precognition that an excavation which began determination successful December 1922 would output melodramatic evidence.

Rakhaldas Banerji, considered an important protagonist successful the communicative of the Indus discovery
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Mohenjodaro’s unearthing, dissimilar the Harappa excavations, had thing to bash with Marshall’s planning. For galore years, Rakhaldas Banerji, who headed the Western Circle of the ASI, had been keen to excavate it, believing it an important Buddhist site, erstwhile helium went disconnected to excavation it up successful the wintertime of 1922. Naturally, helium began concentrating connected the stupa tract and it was determination that his assistant, NS Chikte, made the momentous find of 2 inscribed seals. Banerji realised instantly that these were inscribed with characters akin to those connected the Harappa seals. Mohenjodaro, though, was respective 100 kilometres to the south-west of Harappa, which meant that this was an full distinctive civilization dispersed implicit a sizeable region. It was for this crushed that Banerji would ever beryllium considered an important protagonist successful the communicative of the Indus discovery.

In the satellite of science, it is reasonably commonplace to talk of the archetypal find arsenic much oregon little synonymous with a accidental uncovering oregon unexpected occurrence. This is surely existent of Banerji’s find astatine Mohenjodaro. But a batch depends connected the discoverer’s capableness for pursuing up connected an unexpected revelation.

Scientists, for instance, successful gathering experiments, often seizure chartless and unexpected processes. They past be to the results, to giving explanations, and to supporting them with analogies of precise akin results obtained successful different experiments. Then, if unexpected results proceed contempt changes successful methodology, they signifier caller models and theories. If this benignant of process is juxtaposed with matters arsenic they unfolded aft the find of the Mohenjodaro seals, it is evident that Banerji was hesitant to visualise a caller model connected the ground of what had emerged. His hunt for its taste connections yet boiled down to uncovering a spot for the seal makers wrong the aboriginal dispersed of races. This attack was 1 that was improbable to pb to a amended knowing of the value of Mohenjodaro.

Lacuna successful ASI

Beyond individuals, determination was an important organization lacuna successful the ASI. The organisation had nary abstraction for discussing ongoing research. This differs from the concern that usually prevails among experimental scientists, wherever laboratory meetings are thought to beryllium highly common. One of the consequences of this is that it leads from the peculiar to the general, allowing researchers often to transportation each different to see alternate representations and explanations for information that is being examined oregon a mentation being opposed.

By contrast, the assemblage ASI showed nary organization abstraction for brainstorming, nary “common room” for archaeologists to sermon their digs and stock accusation astir each other’s tract work. It is unlikely, for instance, that Sahni and Banerji ever visited Harappa and Mohenjodaro unneurotic oregon that they discussed their findings. Mostly, what seems to person been communal to them was the intermediary fig of Marshall, to whom they addressed their letters and queries.

As for Marshall himself, adjacent aft learning astir the find of the Mohenjodaro seals successful March 1923, helium took his clip coming to grips with the caller evidence. In April that year, helium near for England connected a long-planned furlough. When helium returned to India, helium visited neither Mohenjodaro nor Harappa and alternatively proceeded to Taxila, the metropolis helium had excavated for implicit 2 decades.

In this, helium was pursuing a regular to which helium had religiously adhered since helium began digging there. Beginning with 1913, helium had spent practically each outpouring and autumn dilatory and laboriously uncovering its magnificent monuments. His finds ranged from coins and pottery to architectural forms — a batch of which helium felt was Hellenistic successful inspiration. For a antheral whose grooming was successful classical archaeology, specified elements were enormously alluring and worthy exploring implicit a play of time.

At the aforesaid time, Marshall knew that, by immoderate standards, the tract play of 1923–24 was an antithetic one: it was connected his instructions that Harappa and Mohenjodaro were being trenched successful speedy succession. It seems astir incomprehensible, then, for him not to person breached his signifier to get a first-hand glimpse of the digs helium had ordered. Perhaps, this has to beryllium seen arsenic being perfectly successful quality since helium tended to beryllium resolutely focused connected tasks that needed to beryllium finished, but the information remains that had helium been little rigidly disciplined astir his ain priorities, the find of the Indus Civilisation would person unfolded sooner than the autumn of 1924.

Since Marshall had not seen the sites for himself and his subordinates had nary forum for discussions that could person led to a caller position connected the recently discovered evidence, what precisely alerted Marshall to their singularity?

The reply lies successful a missive that a inferior officer, Madho Sarup Vats, wrote to him: the missive seems to person pushed him to get to grips with the enigma of Mohenjodaro and Harappa. In April 1924, Vats had conscionable completed a four-week play of excavation astatine Mohenjodaro. In his letter, helium pointed retired similarities betwixt the 2 cities. The resemblance successful the seals apart, Vats pointed to likenesses successful flint scrapers, terracotta figurines, sling balls, earthen bangles, and adjacent the size of bricks.

Upon receiving this letter, Marshall assembled his archaeologists and the excavated worldly to his caput bureau successful Shimla: it was the archetypal ceremonial juncture for those progressive successful the discoveries to meet, and retired of this gathering the nonfiction that announced the find of the Indus Civilisation was prepared and published connected September 20, 1924.

A modern content of a stamp seal (left) and its archetypal (right), astatine the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Announcing the Discovery

Marshall opened his relationship of the find with flair and imagination. His words impart a beardown consciousness of occasion: ‘Not often has it been fixed to archaeologists, arsenic it was fixed to Schliemann astatine Tiryns and Mycenae, oregon to Stein successful the deserts of Turkestan, to airy upon the remains of a long-forgotten civilization. It looks, however, astatine this moment, arsenic if we were connected the threshold of specified a find successful the plains of the Indus’.

The architectural remains were elucidated determination from ceramic buildings to h2o conduits with sumptuous photographs of the smaller antiquities. More than thing else, these allowed readers to ideate the articles that the past radical of the Indus utilized successful their mundane lives — assorted sorts of jars arsenic besides 1 that served arsenic a funerary urn; terracottas with elaborate head-dresses ‘recalling the medieval fashions successful Europe’ and ‘similar to immoderate recovered astatine Patna, successful Bihar’; spectacular steatite and chromatic seals.

The Dancing Girl, bronze sculpture from Mohenjodaro
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The editors of the Illustrated London News explained that, astatine Marshall’s suggestion, they had published each the photographs of seals truthful ‘that determination whitethorn beryllium a greater accidental of immoderate of our adept readers helping to elucidate the script’. That the escaped travel of ideas and opinions from elsewhere is an imperative successful find contexts was borne retired by what followed Marshall’s announcement connected the Indus Civilisation.

Several scholarly British readers of the Illustrated London News reacted instantaneously. Among these was a linguist, Archibald Henry Sayce, who dashed disconnected a enactment which appeared successful the quality mag connected September 27, suggesting that the Indus finds were adjacent much singular and startling than Marshall had supposed. Sayce pointed retired that seals of the Indus benignant had been discovered astatine Susa (in present-day Iran) successful a discourse dated to the 3rd millennium BCE. ‘It is evident,’ said Sayce, ‘that arsenic acold backmost arsenic the 3rd millennium BCE, determination was intercourse betwixt Susa and (the) North-West of India.’ The discovery, helium argued, ‘opens up a caller humanities vista, and is apt to revolutionize our ideas of the property and root of the Indian civilization.’

The reception of caller cognition successful London connected Indus materials, having circulated among scholars with acquisition of past scripts and sites successful Asia, confirms the value of making accusation accessible to each who mightiness adhd nuance oregon caller dimensions to it. This has an important acquisition for our modern scenario, wherever alternatively than seeking insights from a transnational perspective, probe findings are being tailored to suit the constrictive governmental docket of the state.

Nayanjot Lahiri is Professor of History astatine Ashoka University. Her publication Finding Forgotten Cities – How the Indus Civilization was Discovered (2015) has a caller afterword successful the centenary year. The views expressed present are her own