investigations of this period was the exploration of the ancient city of Pataliputra, modern Patna, by L.A. Waddel of the Indian Medical Service. In the course of a hurried visit to Patna in 1892 he was surprised to find that not only was the ancient city practically intact but that “most of the leading landmarks of Asoka’s palaces, monasteries and other monuments remained so very obvious” as to enable him “in the short space of one day to identify many of them beyond all doubt” (Waddel 1903). Excavations began at this site under the Public Works Department in 1894 and the general identifications, proposed by Waddel on the basis of his keen eye for the details on the ground and a close familiarity with the literary data on the topography of the place, were confirmed.

The John Marshall Era (1902–1944)

The fortunes of archaeological research in India changed considerably during the Viceroyalty of Lord Curzon, who took personal interest in such a non-revenue-earning matter as archaeology. Curzon imported the 26-year-old john marshall, an alumnus of King’s College, Cambridge, with some archaeological experience in greece and turkey, and appointed him the director general of archaeology. As subsequent developments proved, he could not have chosen better. To begin with, various aspects of archaeology in India—explorations, excavations, conservation of ancient monuments, and epigraphy—were consolidated within the aegis of the Archaeological Survey of India. Archaeological research and the task of conservation came to be considered as permanent government responsibilities, which in itself was a very big step forward. The director general could now lay down clearly defined policies for his officers in various regions. Moreover, a system of publishing annual reports containing detailed accounts of the manifold activities of the survey was introduced right from the first year of Marshall’s office (1902–1903). These volumes, the publication of which continued up to 1937, were substantial scholarly and administrative endeavors. Finally, there was a system of awarding annual research scholarships, one for Sanskrit and another for Persian and Arabic, to two students at Indian universities, enabling the induction of Indians at a superior level in the survey, which fostered over many years a strong core of primary scholarship. Epigraphical studies received much-needed impetus with the regular publication of Epigraphia Indica. On the whole archaeology was put on an even keel right from the early days of Marshall’s director generalship.

In field archaeology the first great achievement of the Marshall era (notwithstanding his personal retirement in 1928–1929) lay in the excavations of major historical sites in virtually all areas of the subcontinent, which continued until 1944. It is true that many of them were mapped out by Cunningham but the details still needed working out with the help of physical excavation. From the Indian perspective, throughout the nineteenth century there was a constant discussion in vernacular literature on the theme of India’s past, especially India’s ancient past. This was primarily based on literature and partly on the study of standing monuments, but there was a need for the knowledge of archaeological details. Marshall’s own early works were at Charsada in the northwest and Bhita and Rajagriha in the Gangetic valley, but after these he was mostly busy with excavations at Taxila, where the landscape reminded him of Greece and where there were numerous finds to illustrate the subcontinent’s link with the West Asian and Mediterranean world. Marshall’s personal report on Taxila (Marshall 1951) came out in three volumes in 1951, its earlier publication being reputedly prevented by the destruction of his notes during the London blitz. The people he recruited were busy at other sites, many of which enjoyed great reputation in the annals of early historic India—Pataliputra, Vaisali, Purushapura or Peshawar, Amaravati, Nalanda, Sravasti, Kusinara, and others. In each case, as in the case of Marshall’s own work at Bhita, which arrived at stratigraphy based on floor levels, the work was largely horizontal and successful in offering a visual image of the famous cities and monuments of ancient India.

The second great field achievement of the period was the discovery of the Indus Civilization, the first formal announcement on which was made in the Illustrated London News on 20