A Pioneer in Orientalism

At a time when the Archaeological Survey of India has just concluded its 150th anniversary celebrations, we are thankful to Virchand Dharamsey for his path breaking study of a pioneer archaeologist who lived and worked outside the State supported institution. The contribution of scholars such as Bhagwanlal Indraji (1839-88) to the development of knowledge of the past in the nineteenth century is crucial to an understanding of our own historical consciousness as it has matured over the last two hundred years. This is also a subject that is far more difficult to engage with, since it is harder to get access to archival and other sources, which are often scattered and in languages other than English. The most important material that Dharamsey has used are Bhagwanlal’s notebooks and diaries in Gujarati. In addition he has consulted Bhagwanlal’s field notes, which require knowledge of archaeology; letters written to and by him; his contribution to the Bombay Gazetteers; and the close reading of papers by people with whom Bhagwanlal worked, such as Bhau Daji and James Burgess, the then Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). By comparing different readings of inscriptions, Dharamsey has been able to fine tune Bhagwanlal’s enormous span of knowledge and contribution to the study of the past.