The Archaeological Survey of India was founded in 1861, with which British army engineer and archaeologist as its first Archaeological Surveyor?

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was founded in 1861, during the time of Lord Canning, with Alexander Cunningham as its first Archaeological Surveyor; he later became its first Director-General.

About Alexander Cunningham:

• He was born on 23 January 1814 in London.
• He came to India in 1833 as an officer of the Bengal Engineers, a unit of the East India Company's army.
• He became a close friend of James Prinsep, who deciphered the Brahmi script, and developed a strong interest in Indian history and archaeology.
• He excavated the Dhamek Stupa at Sarnath (1837) and studied many other Buddhist sites.
• He retired from the army in 1861, and was appointed the Archaeological Surveyor.

Work of the ASI under Cunningham:

• He used the accounts of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims Faxian and Xuanzang to identify ancient Buddhist sites.
• He surveyed sites across north India, such as Sankisa, Shravasti, Kaushambi and Taxila.
• He discovered the Bharhut stupa (1873).
• He published 23 volumes of reports on his surveys.
• He wrote "The Ancient Geography of India" and the "Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum" (volume on the inscriptions of Ashoka).
• The ASI was discontinued for some time, but was revived in 1871, with Cunningham as the Director-General; he retired in 1885.
• He is known as the "Father of Indian Archaeology".
• He died on 28 November 1893 in London.

Later Directors-General:

• John Marshall (1902-1928), under whom the Indus Valley sites of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro were excavated.
• Mortimer Wheeler (1944-1948), who introduced scientific methods of excavation.

The ASI today:

It is an attached office of the Ministry of Culture, with its headquarters in New Delhi.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Prinsep deciphered Brahmi; Marshall and Wheeler were later Directors-General.