Prof Nayanjot Lahiri, Department of History, Delhi University (DU), was here recently to deliver the Infosys Science Foundation Lectures on Ashoka in Ancient India: Archaeology and Biography and Indus Civilisation: New Perspectives. The Prof who joined the field in 1993 is a winner of the Infosys Prize 2013 in Humanities — Archaeology, for her pioneering contribution to the understanding of proto-historic and early India. Edex caught up with her to speak about the dwindling job prospects in the field, its scope in India and research potential.
What are the available courses in Archaeology in DU where you teach?
DU has a strong UG History course, a course where, in both the teaching of ancient India and of the ancient world, Archeology is an integral part. For example, when you talk about pre-historic cultures, evolution of humans, the beginning of agriculture, the urban revolution and the Bronze Age culture, all this becomes a part of the familiar world view of the DU students at the UG level.
At the Master’s level, there are courses that have been designed in a way that Archaeology figures importantly. I teach Historical Archaeology in comparative perspective where you give a sense about post-classical cultures, classical Greece and Rome to students but alongside you also give them a sense of how Archaeology can be very useful in modern societies. The idea is to show them that Archaeology has a meaning which is beyond just the ancient.
Your research interests include Indian Archaeology, Archaeological Theory, Heritage Studies and Ancient India. Do you see students you teach at DU pursuing such research as well?
At the MA final-level, they have to opt for Ancient, Medieval or Modern Indian History. In the ancient, there are four courses which are primarily Archaeology-based. I think we have made the course sensitive to those who may be interested in research. PhD students, for instance, work on the mega fauna of ancient India and there are students who do field work on historical archaeology of Kashmir, on Berat in Rajasthan, among others.
How does Archaeology help students of other subjects like Sociology,
Geography and Geology?
Geology is central to Archaeology because a lot of dating of pre-historic cultures is done and its evidence comes in sections where there is geological material. So Geology and Archaeology, at least for pre-history go hand in hand.
As far as Sociology is concerned, I think Sociologists do study a lot of things which historians do study as well, but the time dimension is absent. They don’t pay attention to chronology — for us the ‘when’ aspect is very important. But even if you look at art or architecture, the way in which it is studied, I think Archaeology becomes an important part of it. Even for texts, the text is after all an artefact, so in many parts of the world what was the kind of material on which the document was written, how was that produced — questions like that are sought to be answered.
Archaeology serves as a compensatory mechanism for the lack of textual detail and context. How can we attract more students to pursue the subject?
Archaeology is not a substitute; it is a different way of looking at the past. The Indus civilisation for instance is entirely based on Archaeology. I think the State has to be very pro-active in making Archaeology a part of the mainstream. It must be taught in schools and colleges as a subject in its own right, especially at the UG level.Only in some places at the PG level it is a separate subject. In most places, it is a part of History. Until that is done, there will be far fewer jobs and opportunities and therefore fewer bright students being attracted to the subject.
Is there enough funding and support for Archaeological research in India?
There is no shortage of money. If you look at the Archaeological Survey of India, they’ve done so many excavations but they need to publish reports on them. That’s true not only for the ASI but for many State departments. Take the State Department of Archaeology of Rajasthan — in its entire life it has not published one full-length excavation report. I think it is a question of accountability and that’s true for all parts of Indian life; people are just not so accountable.
What are the best colleges for studying Archaeology in India and which States offer research potential?
The archaeological universe is singularly rich in different parts of India. The Deccan College, Pune; Department of Archaeology, the Allahabad University and Banaras Hindu University are good bets apart from DU, where it is not a Department of Archaeology but we do a lot of Archaeology-teaching in our History Master’s. But the point is that in a place like India; we should by now have 50 first-rate departments of Archaeology in different regions, which is not the reality. Forget Archaeology, even Ancient India is not seriously taught in many varsities now.
Owing to these drawbacks, is there a lack of interest in the students towards this field?
A lot of people find History and Archaeology interesting. There is no lack of interest, but a student also needs a job. Unless the State is proactive and creates opportunities, even finding teachers will be a problem. As far as job opportunities are concerned, there are State departments, museums, departments of archaeology in colleges and some websites that require people for research (Not to forget ASI, for which you need to get in via UPSC or the State Public Service Commission).
— suraksha@newindianexpress.com