This book encourages us to critically regard the ways in which ideologies of
cultural heritage and civilisational legacies are transformed into tangible and
visible things through archaeological scholarship.
Through little-known histories of the practices, governance and scholarship of
the archaeology of India, this book re-examines the manner in which the past is
recalled and historicized. It guides us to think afresh of the histories of
antiquarianism in South Asia, explore the impetus of collecting and curatorial
practices within the scholarship of pre-colonial India, and investigate the
diverse linkages within the histories of Indian archaeology. It encourages a
focus upon issues of historiography, methodology and notions of evidence and
looks