CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday unveiled the statue of Sir John Hubert Marshall -- who announced the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilisation to the world on September 20, 1924 -- on the occasion of his (Marshall) 148th birth anniversary.
The statue has been installed at a cost of Rs 50 lakh by the Tamil Nadu government in the Chennai Egmore Museum complex.
Highlighting that the discovery of Indus Valley Civilisation opened a new chapter in Indian archaeology, Stalin, in a post on X, said, “Marshall’s discovery dismantled the false notion that Sanskrit is the foundation of everything and led to the Dravidian hypothesis, reshaping our understanding of the ancient Indian subcontinent forever. We will continue to strengthen and advance the path he paved for uncovering the true history of our land.”
An official release here said Marshall, born on March 19, 1876, in Cheshire (England) was appointed the Director General of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1902 when he was only 26.
The release also highlighted that it was during Marshall’s tenure as Director-General of ASI that archaeological excavations in Adichanallur (in present-day Thoothukudi district) happened between 1903 and 1904 through British archaeologist Alexander Rea.
Marshall died on August 17, 1958. During the unveiling of the statue, Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, Information Minister MP Saminathan, Health Minister Ma Subramanian, HR and CE Minister PK Sekarbabu, Chief Secretary N Muruganandam, Finance Secretary T Udhayachandran and senior officials were present.