The Personality of India: Pre- and Proto-historic Foundation of India and Pakistan c15.s5.4

c15.s5.4

Finally, a word of caution and an appeal may not be superfluous. In the picture depicted above, one could vaguely see the shadows of men and women, who were the prime agencies in making and transporting the few indestructible elements of their material life, with which the archaeologist and the historian reconstruct the past. It is very tempting to identify the authors from their shadows. But with the material at the disposal of the archaeologist in India today, he cannot designate them. Guesses at truth may be made, but the certainties call forth greater patience. The situation is certainly ripe for an attempt at reconciling the literary (particularly geographical) and archaeological data, since the approximate chronological horizons, in between which we have to sandwhich our literary and traditional material, are becoming clearer in the wider perspective of Eurasia. The first sure but faltering steps have been attempted⁷ (Appendix 1). But I would end with an appeal for a little more patience, till the names of some of our legendary kings enshrined in our literature, appear from under the earth, as A-anni-padda, son of Mes-anni-padda of the first Dynasty of Ur enlivened the whole Mesopotamian tradition and archaeology with the discovery of his temple. In 1946, alluding to the classic work of Sir Cyril Fox⁸, Sir Mortimer very significantly asked "Where is the Personality of India?"⁹ Here is its first glimpse and given a chance, Archaeology can reconstruct it.