Who is known as the 'Father of Indian Archaeology'?

Sir Alexander Cunningham (1814-1893) was a British army engineer who became deeply interested in Indian history and archaeology. He is called the "Father of Indian Archaeology" because he founded the systematic study of India's ancient monuments and sites.

In 1861, the British government, under Viceroy Lord Canning, created the post of Archaeological Surveyor, and Cunningham was appointed to it. This was the beginning of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). He became the first Director-General of the ASI when it was formally organised in 1871, and he served until 1885.

Cunningham's major contributions include:

• Surveying and documenting a vast number of ancient sites across North India, publishing the results in 23 volumes of the ASI reports.
• Identifying many places mentioned by the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang, such as Sankissa, Shravasti and Kaushambi.
• Excavating the Buddhist sites of Sarnath (including the Dhamek Stupa), Sanchi and Bharhut, and studying the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya.
• Publishing "The Ancient Geography of India" (1871) and the first volume of the "Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum" (1877) on the inscriptions of Ashoka.
• Visiting Harappa in the 1850s and 1870s and publishing a Harappan seal in 1875, though he did not realise that it belonged to a very ancient civilisation.

Other important figures:

• James Prinsep deciphered the Brahmi script and read the Ashokan edicts in 1837.
• John Marshall was Director-General of the ASI (1902-1928), under whom Harappa and Mohenjo-daro were excavated and the Indus Valley Civilisation was announced in 1924.
• Mortimer Wheeler was Director-General (1944-48) and introduced scientific stratigraphic excavation methods.

Why not the other options?

• ✗John Marshall announced the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
• ✗Mortimer Wheeler introduced scientific excavation methods.
• ✗James Prinsep deciphered the Brahmi script.