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Jaya Menon
COLONIAL ARCHAEOLOGY IN SOUTH ASIA: THE LEGACY OF SIR MORTIMER WHEELER by Himanshu Prabha Ray Oxford University Press, 2008, 291 pp., 650
March 2008, volume 32, No 3

This is the third in a spate of books dealing with colonial archaeologists, following on the heels of those which concentrated on Alexander Cunningham and John Marshall. The protagonist of this book, Sir R.E. Mortimer Wheeler is well known for having trained Indian archaeologists of the 1940s and 50s and who established the Taxila School for the purpose. In fact, the practice of archaeology in the subcontinent as undertaken now by Indian archaeologists is largely the legacy of Wheeler. Wheeler is also a familiar figure for students of archaeology. Picturesque in both form and speech, his military demeanour, no-holds barred approach to and candid comments on the practice of archaeology in India prior to his appointment are legendary. There are interesting nuggets of information, such as the discussion of the Archaeological Survey of India at the time of the partition of the country, particularly regarding concerns about the well being of the staff. There are also short discussions on the role of Indians, such as Ghulam Yazdani and M.H. Krishna, in archaeology.

One wishes that scholars would investigate further the role of Indians, rather than concentrating only on the colonial archaeologists. In the context of an expanded role for the Archaeological Survey of India in Asia, Ray mentions John Marshall’s idea of ‘Further India’. One would, in fact, also have liked to know when the concept of ‘Greater India’, still current in certain university departments, came in as well as its politics.

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