Module: | Archaeological Discovery & Civilization Decline
Q46: Consider the following statements regarding Alexander Cunningham and his early archaeological investigations in India:
1. Alexander Cunningham, the first Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India, primarily relied on the accounts of Chinese Buddhist pilgrims to guide his early excavations.
2. When presented with an engraved Harappan seal by an Englishman, Cunningham successfully identified it as belonging to a civilization far older than the early historic cities of the Ganga valley.
3. Cunningham's main chronological confusion stemmed from his rigid belief that Indian history began exclusively with the emergence of the first cities in the Ganga valley.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
2. When presented with an engraved Harappan seal by an Englishman, Cunningham successfully identified it as belonging to a civilization far older than the early historic cities of the Ganga valley.
3. Cunningham's main chronological confusion stemmed from his rigid belief that Indian history began exclusively with the emergence of the first cities in the Ganga valley.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
✅ Correct Answer: C
🎯 Quick Answer:
Option C is the correct answer because statement 2 is factually incorrect regarding Cunningham's assessment of the seal.Structural Breakdown: Cunningham used the written itineraries of Chinese pilgrims (who visited between the fourth and seventh centuries CE) to locate ancient sites.
When he excavated Harappa, he found artifacts but could not place them in the correct historical timeline.
Historical/Related Context: Cunningham was given a Harappan seal by an Englishman named Alexander Seal.
He noted the seal but unsuccessfully tried to place it within the time frame he was familiar with.
Causal Reasoning: Statement 2 is false.
Cunningham failed to realize the antiquity of Harappa because he, like many scholars of his time, operated under the strict paradigm that Indian history only began with the development of cities in the Ganga valley (around the 6th century BCE). Because Harappa was not part of that specific textual geography or timeline, its true significance completely eluded him.