Hasmukh Dhirajlal Sankalia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1908-12-10)10 December 1908 |
| Died | 28 January 1989(1989-01-28) (aged 80) |
| Alma mater | University of Bombay London University[2] |
| Known for | Prehistoric discoveries in India |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Archaeology |
Hasmukh Dhirajlal Sankalia (10 December 1908 – 28 January 1989) was an IndianSanskrit scholar andarchaeologist specialising in proto- and ancient Indian history. He is considered to have pioneered archaeological excavation techniques in India, with several significant discoveries from theprehistoric period to his credit. Sankalia received theRanjitram Suvarna Chandrak award in 1966.And also received Padma Bhushan in the year 1974.
Sankalia was born inMumbai into a family of lawyers hailing fromGujarat. A frail infant, he was not expected to survive.
At fifteen, Sankalia read theGujarati translation ofLokmanya Tilak'sThe Arctic Home in the Vedas. Although he understood little of the book (p. 6), he was determined to "do something to know about the Aryans in India" (ibid.).[This quote needs a citation] To this end, Sankalia decided to emulate Tilak and studySanskrit andmathematics. He received a B.A. degree in Sanskrit, and received the Chimanlal Ranglal Prize. Sankalia made Indian prehistory his life's work, and never lost sight of the origin of theIndo-Aryan peoples.[3] (1962c: 125; 1963a: 279–281; 1974: 553–559; 1978a: 79, etc.). He studied English, which introduced him to textual criticism (p. 7), and wrote an article on Kundamala and theUttararamacarita in which he convincingly proved that Dinnaga (author of the former) influenced Bhavabhuti (author of the latter).[4] Bengali scholar K. K. Dutt arrived at similar conclusion independently of Sankalia.[5]
Sankalia studied ancient Indian history for his M. A. degree at the new Indian Historical Research Institute (now the Heras Institute),[citation needed] and worked on the ancient university atNalanda for his M.A.dissertation. His dissertation included chapters on history, art and architecture, iconography and the influence of the Nalanda school of art onGreater India (particularlyJava).[6] Sankalia visited a number of sites, and studiedBuddhism with B. Bhattacharya (p. 10). These studies led to his later study of Gujarat. He passed theLLB examinations at the request of his father and uncle (who were both lawyers), and was expected to follow them (cf. pp. 10, 13, 28). However, Sankalia decided to go to England for his doctoral degree. He wrote an essay, "Caitya caves in the Bombay Presidency", which earned theBhagwan Lal Indraji prize.[citation needed]
Sankalia captained a cricket team on College Day.[7] He also enjoyed kite-flying[8] and gardening.
Sankalia left for England, and enrolled at theUniversity of London for hisPhD on the archaeology of Gujarat. He studied underBernard Ashmole (Romanclassical archaeology), Sidney Smith (Sumerian language), K. de B. Codrington (museology), F. J. Richards (Indian archaeology) and R. E. M. Wheeler (field archaeology) (p. 18).
From Richards, Sankalia learnt geography, geology, anthropology, ethnography andtoponymy. He focused on the latter, applying it to inscriptions in Gujarat[9] and elsewhere (Sankalia 1942a; 1984). Sankalia encouraged his students to pursue toponymy, opening a new field in Indian archaeology.
Wheeler, who was excavating at the site ofMaiden Castle, Dorset and had perfected his field techniques (begun in 1921), was a significant influence.[10] He lectured on field techniques, in addition to providing practical training. Sankalia said about Wheeler's training, "The training was brief, lasting just about a month or so, but it was of immense importance for my future career. I learnt here, not only what was stratigraphical digging and drawing a section and three-dimensional recording of finds [...] but was also made aware of the necessity of minute-to-minute supervision of the trench under one's charge for [...] at any moment the layer might change and [which should] be noted as early as possible" (pp. 26–27). Sankalia (cf. pp. 112 ff.; 1938; and his popular articles), influenced by Wheeler, was a proponent of popular archaeology.
After returning to India, Sankalia joinedDeccan College in 1939 as a professor of proto- and ancient Indian history and began systematic surveys of the monuments in and aroundPune with his students. These yielded papers on the megaliths of Bhavsari[11] and theYadava-period Temple of Pur.[12] At the request ofArchaeological Survey of India director general K. N. Dikshit, Sankalia undertook explorations in Gujarat to test Bruce Foote's hypothesis of a hiatus between the Lower Palaeolithic and Neolithic phases;[13] this made him into a prehistorian.
He also conducted other expeditions in Gujarat. During his second expedition, Sankalia found the first human Stone Age skeleton.[citation needed] TheMesolithic site of Langhnaj, "the first Stone Age site to have been excavated scientifically",[This quote needs a citation] was excavatedstratigraphically.F. E. Zeuner, an authority on environmental archaeology, was invited by Wheeler to interpret thepalaeoclimate of Gujarat. Sankalia was profoundly influenced by Zeuner,[14] from whom he learntgeochronology, geology, the stratigraphy of geological deposits andpluvial and inter-pluvial mechanics.[15]
Sankalia excavated theKolhapur site in 1945–46 with M. G. Dikshit (Sankalia and Dikshit 1952). Before the excavation, his detailed surveys of the banks of theGodavari River and its tributaries revealed aflake-tool industry.[16][17] These findings were also observed in a stratigraphical deposit at Gangapur (Gangawadi), nearNasik, where flakes, cleavers and hand axes[18] were discovered. This developed industry, as later research proved, was part of theMiddle Palaeolithic. Sankalia's explorations in thePravara River valley (at Nevasa) yielded palaeolithic industries and animalfossils.[19]
The occurrence ofNorthern Black Polished Ware at Nasik (mentioned in the Puranas and traditional tales), reported to Sankalia by M. N. Deshpande, made him anxious to unearth evidence correlating to the Early Historical Period and (if possible) unearth pre- andproto-historic cultures.[20] The excavation was successfully carried out.[21]
Sankalia's success at Nasik–Jorwe inspired him to excavate the site atMaheshwar (the Mahishmati of the Haihayas, as described in the Puranas) to prove the tradition's historicity. The excavation was carried out at the site and atNavdatoli in 1952–53 in a joint expedition with theMaharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. This revealed a developedchalcolithic culture dating to between the decline of theHarappan civilisation and the beginning of the Early Historical Period, largely explaining the hiatus between the periods. The culture was interpreted by Sankalia, mainly on the basis of resemblance of its pottery to that ofIran, as of Aryan origin.[22] The horizontal excavation at Navdatoli was made in 1957–59 to reveal the settlement pattern, reconstruct the socioeconomic life of the chalcolithic people, and corroborate Sankalia's Aryan hypothesis.[23]
Sankalia's excavation atNevasa, intended to prove (or disprove) the legend of its association with Jnaneshvara, revealed human occupation from the Lower Palaeolithic era to the Muslim-Maratha period.[24]
Sankalia went toKashmir to study its geological deposits, which had been investigated by De Terra, Paterson, and Wadia without finding early human evidence. When Sankalia was examining a deposit he saw a worked flake with a prominent bulb of percussion, establishing the existence of early humans in Kashmir. He also discovered a hand axe in the same deposit, dating to theice age or slightly later.[25]
After establishing the cultural sequence of the Chalcolithic cultures in Deccan and Central India, Sankalia wanted to reconstruct the lives of the Chalcolithic people with large-scale horizontal excavations at Nevasa and Navdatoli. The former site was found to be highly disturbed and the deposits overlying the Chalcolithic layers were too thick to be thoroughly removed, and the plan was abandoned. The site ofInamgaon was well-preserved, however, and was excavated over a 12-year period. After Sankalia's retirement in 1973 the excavation was completed by Z. D. Ansari and M. K. Dhavalikar, and its report was published in three volumes.[26]
After his retirement, Sankalia lived on campus and was appointed professor emeritus of the department. At his home, he discovered what he believed were palaeolithic implements.[27][28][29] After publishing his studies on theRamayana,[30][31] new archaeology[32] and prehistoric art,[33] he died at age 80 on 28 January 1989.
Sankalia received theNarmad Suvarna Chandrak.
