Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c11.s2.8

c11.s2.8

Thus by the early 1860s the study of Indian inscriptions was poised at the edge of maturity. And although the rest of that decade did not see any major breakthroughs, a steady flow of papers continued to appear, for the most part in the same journals as mentioned in connection with the previous period. The JBBRAS in particular continued to be the predominant vehicle for inscriptional studies, publishing, among others, a large number of articles by Bhau Daji; others who made important contributions through the Bombay Society include J. F. Fleet, Bhagvānlāl Indrajī,¹¹² and R. G. Bhandarkar. But the most important development in this decade, which was to have far-reaching consequences for epigraphic studies even to the present day, was the establishment by the British government of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) under Alexander Cunningham as archaeological surveyor to the government of India and, after 1870, as Director General of the Survey. Between 1861 and 1885 Cunningham and his assistants (J. D. Beglar, A. C. Carlleyle, and H. R. W. Garrick) undertook a series of archaeological surveys of northern and central India which were published in the form of twenty-three Reports (Old Series) (ASIR) between 1871 and 1887.¹¹³ These reports included a very large number of inscriptions, some previously known but subjected to new examination, and many entirely new. The inscriptions were illustrated in facsimile form and described, in varying degrees of detail and accuracy, in the text. While the accounts of the inscriptions in the volumes of the ASIR do not constitute anything like authoritative editions, they did make available to epigraphists a vast body of material which was to occupy their attention for many years to come.¹¹⁴ Moreover, the foundation of the ASI marked a commitment (albeit a grudging and sporadic one, in the early years) by the government of India to pursue and support archaeological and epigraphic research, which were thereby established as permanent and recognized fields. From this time onward, most Indian epigraphic studies have been carried out, directly or indirectly, under the auspices of the ASI.