Archaeology has become implicated in the Ayodhya controversy. It has been claimed that archaeological evidence provides irrefutable proof of the existence of a Rama Temple at the site of Babri Masjid, and of the destruction of this temple by Babur. The author uses standard archaeological procedures to question the claim. He examines the structural and artefactual evidence and analyses the stratigraphic information of B. B. Lal s excavations. Exploring possible alternative interpretations of the available data, he concludes that there was no temple of stone or brick lying below the mosque, and that there is no evidence of any act of destruction. The book is a defence of archaeology against its political misuse. A cautious examination of the archaeological evidence reveals a great deal about the working of communal politics. The archaeological discoveries which are supposed to prove the demolition of a Rama temple by Babur actually show no more than the logic of a politics which destroyed the Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992.
Historical Archaeology demonstrates the potential of adopting a flexible, encompassing definition of historical archaeology which involves the study of all societies with documentary evidence. It encourages research that goes beyond the boundaries between prehistory and history. Ranging in subject matter from Roman Britain and Classical Greece, to colonial Africa, Brazil and the United States, the contributors present a much broader range of perspectives than is currently the trend.
This book raises questions about cultural interventions, an area of investigation somewhat overlooked in place of developing a critique of political interventions. Whilst political interventions are more explicit, coercive, and have a wide-reaching impact, it is important also to examine the way culture is used in attempts to reconstruct society and peoples - the ‘soft’ side of statebuilding, where heritage is utilised to play a role in the construction of the nation and the people, in memory and identity. For it can play a role in legitimizing myths and identifying symbolic, historic events, and implicitly informs the construction of infrastructure, institutions, and other aspects of civic life. Contributors from the fields of politics, anthropology, archaeology, and sociology examine interventions in state and nation building through cultural methods, the ‘soft’ side of statebuilding, including the preservation and promotion of certain heritage, the politics of remembrance and monument building, and the repatriation of human remains and artefacts to communities in the name of making reparations for past atrocities. These are timely contributions. Heritage and cultural is too often considered in terms of how tourism might contribute to the economy post-conflict, neglecting the construction of meaning and memory through decisions about is what is preserved or not. It will be of special interest to those in the field of cultural studies, archaeology, and politics as well as international relations. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding.
Illustrated throughout with over 80 full colour images, Empowering Visions explores the role of images and mass media in Hindutva, the cultural-nationalist movement that moved to the forefront of politics in India in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The author investigates when, why and in what way the moving image, and videos in particular, came to play a central role in the process of self-representation and self-constitution of Hindu nationalist groups and organizations in the overlapping domains of politics, religion and economics.The videos analysed here have been included in massive public political spectacles such as election rallies and patriotic pilgrimages. They have also been employed for in-house indoctrination and emotive mobilization of militant cadres for temporary, often violent, agitation. With the help of these media, different political and cultural-religious organizations, subsumed under the umbrella of Hindutva, have attempted to constitute notions of 'Indianness' as 'Hinduness', to challenge and provoke both the government in power and specific minority groups such as the Muslims in India. How this was done, who stood behind the making of the videos and how they were made up and distributed, are questions that lie at the heart of this study. At a time when public attention is focused on transnational, and mostly Islamicist movements, "Empowering Visions" argues that both transnationalism and nationalism have to be treated with equal attention, and to some extent ought to be seen as intertwined processes. This book is unique in its presentation and discussion of profound ethnographic data through interviews with a variety of spokesmen for the Hindutva movement. It also offers an in-depth analysis of visual and audio-visual material that has so far been unrecognized and unexplored in scholarly works.
The contributors to this volume—themselves from six continents and many representing indigenous and minority communities and disadvantaged countries—suggest strategies to strip archaeological theory and practice of its colonial heritage and create a discipline sensitive to its inherent inequalities.
The controversy over the history of a small site in the city of Ayodhya has been a blot on the recent history of India, not least because it has led to the deaths of hundreds of people. Was there indeed a temple commemorating the birth of the god Ram under the Mosque built by a general of Babur? For many who were not drawn into one or other position, this began to look like a matter of ideology rather than fact. This, until the time when the High Court of Allahabad directed the Archeological Survey of India to open up the ground under the Mosque, by then broken down by the vandals of 1992, to search for temple remains. The Archaeological Survey excavated the site of six months in 2003, and submitted its Report the same year. The Report gave the suggestion that there are traces of a pillared temple in strata under the Mosque. While this book places on record the reasons why two scholars conclude that claims about the temple are not credible, in the broader sense it also indicates why attempts to restore holy places to their original owners can be self-defeating projects.In this book two archaeologists discuss the excavated data and the presentation and interpretation of these data by the Archaeological Survey. They critique the methodology that was followed, show that certain excavated objects are not compatible with temples, question the existence of the foundations of temple pillars in strata beneath the Mosque, and observe that there are very few architectural features that can point to the remains of a temple at the site. What is the evidence that can point to the destruction of a public building at a particular site? In explaining this and the problems of the relative dating of floors and walls, it has been the endeavour of the authors to make stratigraphic archaeology intelligible to the lay reader.The authors have written this book not because they claim to have the last word, but because they are convinced that thinking people should peruse the evidence for themselves and make up their own minds. Such issues cannot be left to the specialists in the mistaken notion that archeology is the realm of the technical or the esoteric.D. Mandal has been involved in the excavation of a wide range of archeological sites over the last several decades. He is the author of Radiocarbon Dates and Indian Archaeology (1972) and Ayodhya: Archaeology after Demolition (1993), and has co-authored Excavations at Mahagara (1980), Beginnings of Agriculture (1980) and History to Prehistory (1980). He taught in the Department of Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology, University of Allahabad.Trained in Indian and Western Asiatic archaeology, Sherren Ratnagar is the author of several books and academic papers on the Indus civilization, and on pastoralism and urbanism. She has also been investigating the sources of certain assumptions behind current archaeological interpretations, and has made interventions concerning the political abuse of archaeology. She taught for many years at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
The Companion to Social Archaeology is the first scholarly work to explore the encounter of social theory and archaeology over the past two decades. Grouped into four sections - Knowledges, Identities, Places, and Politics - each of which is prefaced with a review essay that contextualizes the history and developments in social archaeology and related fields. Draws together newer trends that are challenging established ways of understanding the past. Includes contributions by leading scholars who instigated major theoretical trends.
The second edition of Archaeological Ethics is an invitation to an ongoing and lively discussion on ethics. In addition to topics such as looting, reburial and repatriation, relations with native peoples, and professional conduct, Vitelli and Colwell-Chanthaphonh have responded to current events and news stories. Twenty-one new articles expand this ongoing discussion into the realm of intellectual property, public outreach, archaeotourism, academic freedom, archaeological concerns in times of war, and conflicting values. These compelling articles, from Archaeology Magazine, American Archaeology, and Expedition are written for a general audience and provide a fascinating introduction to the issues faced every day in archaeological practice. The article summaries, discussion and research questions, and suggestions for further reading_particularly helpful given the vast increase in related literature over the last decade_serve as excellent teaching aids and make this volume ideal for classroom use.
