Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C. c8.12

c8.12

After these initial recognitions of prehistoric India – Foote in the south establishing the existence of the Old Stone Age, Cunningham in the north showing the probable presence of ancient civilizations outside the range of recorded history – nineteenth-century antiquarian investigation in India turned more to the elucidation of the very complex problems of the allegedly historic eras. Although by the beginning of the present century communications within India had become very good and the political situation peaceful, archaeological field-work declined rather than increased, and men of the calibre and range of interests of Sir William Jones or General Cunningham were not to be found among the British in India. It was as if the archaeological pursuits of the pioneers of a century or more before had become as outmoded and reprehensible as an Englishman smoking a hookah or keeping a native mistress. Archaeological activity was canalized into an inadequately-financed State department, in which workers were comparatively few and their technique was out of touch with European developments.