SSC
Who was the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India when the Indus Valley sites were excavated in the 1920s?
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Answer: Option B — John Marshall
Detailed Solution
Sir John Hubert Marshall was the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) from 1902 to 1928, when the first major Harappan sites were excavated.
His role in the discovery:
- Excavations at the first two great Harappan cities were carried out in the early 1920s by officers working under him.
- In September 1924, Marshall announced the discovery of a new, previously unknown civilisation in the magazine "The Illustrated London News".
- He pointed out that the finds at the two cities, several hundred kilometres apart, were very similar, and that they belonged to the same culture.
- He himself directed large-scale excavations at Mohenjo-daro from 1925.
- He published the results in "Mohenjo-daro and the Indus Civilization" (1931), in three volumes.
- NCERT points out that he dug in uniform horizontal units across the mound, ignoring the different layers (stratigraphy), so that objects from different periods were sometimes mixed up.
His other work:
- He was appointed Director-General at the age of 26, by Viceroy Lord Curzon, who wanted to revive the ASI.
- He carried out excavations at Taxila, Sanchi, Sarnath and other sites.
- He introduced modern methods of conservation and the protection of monuments; the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act was passed in 1904 during this period.
- He was knighted in 1914.
About the Archaeological Survey of India:
- It was founded in 1861, with Alexander Cunningham as its first head.
- It now works under the Ministry of Culture, with its headquarters in New Delhi.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Alexander Cunningham was the first Director-General of the ASI.
- ✗Madho Swarup Vats was an ASI officer who excavated at a Harappan site.
- ✗James Prinsep was a scholar of ancient inscriptions.
Quick tip
Remember: John Marshall = ASI Director-General 1902-1928; announced the Indus civilisation in 1924; ASI founded 1861 (first head Cunningham).
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Indus Valley Civilisation — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Indus Valley Civilisation, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
The Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilisation was one of the world's earliest urban civilisations, flourishing around 2500-1900 BCE. This topic covers its major sites, town planning, drainage, seals, script, trade, crafts, religious beliefs and the theories about its decline. Questions mostly link a site to its feature or its present-day location: the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro, the dockyard at Lothal (Gujarat), the ploughed field at Kalibangan (Rajasthan) and the water reservoirs at Dholavira. Remember that Harappa was the first site excavated, by Daya Ram Sahni in 1921, and that the Harappan script has still not been deciphered. Practise the Indus Valley Civilisation questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.