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Who was the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1944?
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Answer: Option A — Mortimer Wheeler
Detailed Solution
Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler (R. E. M. Wheeler), a British archaeologist, was appointed Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1944, and served until 1948.
About Mortimer Wheeler:
- He was born in 1890 in Glasgow, Scotland, and died in 1976.
- He had served as an army officer in both World Wars.
- He was known for his scientific methods of excavation and recording.
His contribution to Indian archaeology:
- He introduced the "stratigraphic" method, in which archaeologists dig carefully layer by layer, and record which objects come from which layer.
- He developed the "Wheeler box-grid" method of excavation.
- He trained many young Indian archaeologists, who later led excavations in independent India.
- He excavated at Harappa in 1946, where he exposed the fortification walls of the citadel.
- He also excavated at Brahmagiri (Karnataka), finding megalithic burials and Neolithic remains.
His views on the end of the Harappan civilisation:
- He suggested that the Harappan cities were destroyed by invading Aryans, based on the discovery of skeletons at Mohenjo-daro and a reference in the Rigveda to Indra as a destroyer of forts.
- This theory is no longer accepted; later scholars showed that the skeletons belonged to different periods and that there was no evidence of a massacre.
Later life:
- After leaving India, he became the first archaeological adviser to the Government of Pakistan.
- He became well known in Britain for presenting archaeology on television.
- His books include "The Indus Civilization" and "Still Digging".
Why not the other options?
- ✗N. Dikshit was Director-General just before Wheeler (1937-1944).
- ✗P. Chakravarti succeeded Wheeler in 1948.
- ✗Amalananda Ghosh was Director-General from 1953 to 1968.
Quick tip
Remember: Mortimer Wheeler = ASI Director-General 1944-1948 (stratigraphy; Wheeler box-grid; Harappa 1946; "Aryan invasion" theory of the Harappan end, now rejected).
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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.