Preface vii 1. The Background, 1941-62 1 The First Eleven Years 1 Agartala 7 Chakdaha 9 Chinsurah 14 Opting for the Study of History and Archaeology 18 The Ancient Historical Research Tradition among the Bengalis and in Calcutta University 26 The MA Syllabus in Archaeology in Calcutta University 37 The Field-work Component of the MA Syllabus, 1960-62 44 Indian Archaeological Research from 1947 to the Early 1960s 52 2. Kolkata, 1963-77 58 Personal Notes 58 Finding an Academic Focus: Early Urban Centres in India, an Archaeological Perspective c. 2500 BC-c. AD 300 67 Some Theoretical Dimensions of Indian Archaeology in the Early 1960s 73 Explorations and Excavations in the 1960s and the 1970s 84 Some Publications of the Period 92 The Change in the World of Indian Historical Research (1972) 111 The Widening of the Academic Focus: India and West Asia before the Achaemenids, the Beginning of Iron in India, and the History of Indian Archaeology 118 Churchill College, Cambridge (October 1973- September 1974) Institute of Advanced Study in the Humanities, Edinburgh University (October 1974-March 1975) 120 128 The British Institute of Persian Studies, Tehran, April-June 1975 130 Wolfson College, Cambridge, July 1975-June 1976 132 A Study Tour of Some Universities in the United States, July-September 1976 133 3. Delhi, 1977-1990 135 Personal Notes 135 The General Trends of Discoveries and Writings in the Late 1970s and 1980s 155 My Research Themes, Publications and Field Research, 1977-90 164 A Geographical Approach to the Study of India: West Asia Contact 164 The External Trade during the Harappan Period: Evidence and Hypotheses 166 History of the Use of Metals 167 History of Indian Archaeology 168 Trade Routes of the Historic Periods 169 Survey of the Kangra Valley 169 Chhotanagpur Survey, 1981-87 174 The Survey of the Prehistory of the Union Territory of Delhi and Haryana 184 A Survey of the Preindustrial Mines of Rajasthan 184 The Writing of ?Theoretical Issues in Indian Archaeology?, 1986 186 The Writing of ?A History of Indian Archaeology from the Beginning to 1947?, 1987 187 Bangladesh 189 4. Cambridge, 1990-2011 193 Personal Notes 193 Cambridge in the Ancient Indian Historical and Archaeological Studies 195 My Publications, 1990-1995 204 Selecting a Field Area: The Ganga Plain, 1991-2001, 2003-2005 205 My Publications, 1996-2003 227 Field-work outside the Ganga Plain, 1999-2008 230 The Routes from the Ganga Plain to the Deccan, 1999-2002 230 The Archaeology of European Expansion in India, Gujarat, c. 16th-18th Centuries 237 The Ancient Routes of the Deccan and the Southern Peninsula, 2004-2006 238 Haryana and Indian Panjab 243 My Publications 2005-2011 250 Some Major Happenings Involving Indian Archaeology Since 1990 257 Ayodhya, 1992 and World Archaeological Congress, 1994 257 Selection of a Professional Director General, 2010 259 Flouting of the Government of India Rules by Some Foreign Archaeologists and Their Indian Collaborators 265 Comments on the Developments in Indian Archaeology, 1990-2011 266 5. Epilogue 279 Some Basic Issues and Developments 280 Possible Areas of Discontent 297 Religious Susceptibilities 297 Increasing Presence of Foreign Archaeologists 298 Current Archaeological and Museum Set-up 304 Concluding Remarks 314 References 315 Index 325
