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Custodians of the Past Rf y\'T H HI 150 Years of the Archaeological Survey of India Custodians of the Past 150 \ears of the Archaeological Survey of India edited by Gautam Sengupta and Abba Narain Lambab This commemorative volume celebrates 150 years of the establishment of the Archaeological Survey of India, the country’s premier organization committed to the preservation and care of its national monuments. The book offers a brief narrative of the foundation and history of the ASI, lavishly illustrated with images selected from the Surveys vast photographic and drawing archives. The early photographic images from the 19th and beginning of the 20th century printed here include some never before published photographs of India’s monuments as well as rare photographs showing archaeological excavations and conservation works in progress, and provide a visual overview of the subcontinent’s greatest monuments. Custodians of the Past 150 Years of the Archaeological Survey of India s\4 Zu/m , 1 j ■ i ' Wr i ‘ Custodians of the Past 150 Years of the Archaeological Survey of India edited by Gautam Sengupta and Abha Narain Lambah ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA Ministry of Culture, Government of India Published by The Director General Archaeological Survey of India Ministry of Culture Janpath, New Delhi 110 011 www.asi.nic.in © Archaeological Survey of India, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of ASI, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with appropriate reprographic rights organization. Price: ? 2500.00 ISBN: 978-93-5086-199-8 Editing, Design, Processing and Production by The Marg Foundation Army & Navy Building, 3rd Floor 148, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Mumbai 400 001 www.marg-art.org Text Editor: Rivka Israel Editorial Team: Savita Chandiramani, Arnavaz K. Bhansali and Rahul D’souza Designer: Naju Hirani Production: Gautam V. Jadhav Printed at Silverpoint Press Pvt. Ltd., Navi Mumbai Contents 6 Message from the Minister of Culture and Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India 7 Preface 9 Milestones in the ASI’s History 16 Early Explorations in Indian Archaeology and the Foundation of the ASI Gctutam Sengupta and Abba Narain Lambah 40 Mapping India’s Monuments: Early Documentation, Architectural Casts and Photography Abba Narain Lambah 70 The First Hundred Years of the ASI Gautam Sengupta and Arundhati Banerji 92 Revealing India’s Past: Excavations and Epigraphy, Museums and Monuments B.R. Mani 120 Conservation of Monuments in India: A 150-Year Perspective Janhwij Sbarma ma-re OTcfTft 3?k Tfijk M-Osft dMVUH k5ft ^TTTrf TTT^tTT TTRkt f^rft-110115 Minister of Culture and Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Government of India Shastri Bhawan New Delhi-110115 0 1 AUC 2012 MESSAGE Archaeological Survey of India is celebrating its 150lh year of establishment. Founded by an indomitable military engineer. Sir Alexander Cunningham in 1861, the Archaeological Survey of India has travelled a long way. What began as an exciting journey unveiling the mystique of ancient India, evolved into a multi-disciplinary exercise straddling an amazingly wide range of domains - pre-history, proto-history, early and late historical archaeology, epigraphy and numismatics, preservation and conservation, archaeological science and environmental upgradation. Indeed, over the last 150 years, while conserving the ‘ruins and remains’ Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has contributed substantially to our understanding of India’s past by revealing unknown facets which have become part of our history. This amazing journey was carefully recorded by surveyors, draughtsmen and photographers - both European and Indian. Much of the early visuals were shifted outside India during colonial period But what remains, at the ASI headquarters and in its Circle offices, unfold an astonishingly rich visual treasure. There are images dating back to early 20lh century occasionally even late 19lh century. We felt it an inescapable necessity to make this rich treasure of visuals available to the discerning readers. I am happy that The MARG Foundation has brought out a finely produced volume encapsulating a judicious selection of the visual wealth from ASI archives and other important collections. A number of accompanying essays capture the narratives between 1861 and 2011. 1 am indeed very happy in being able to present this volume for wider readership. 1 congratulate MARG and Archaeological Survey of India for making it possible. (Kumari Selja)