M. C. Joshi (archaeologist)

Munish Chandra Joshi (30 March 1935 – 1 January 2007) was an Indian archaeologist who served as Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) from 1990 to 1993. He was the head of the ASI when the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992. Quotes It is clear from what has been discussed above that Indian tradition, Vedic or Puranic, is not likely to help much in the interpretation of archaeological data. The theories proposed by reputed archaeolo­gists are laboured ones and based on preconceived notions. Most scholars have twisted the traditional accounts or invented their own legends to suit their interpretations because it is utterly difficult to apply the tradition as a whole to the field of pure archaeology involving one or more material cultures ... [the] majority of Indian traditions are unhistoric and coloured and therefore none of their archaeological interpretations would prove to be free from subjectivity. The Rämäyana and the Mahäbhärata were not written for the simple aim of recording past happenings, but these were composed with the specific purpose of expounding the message of dharma through the stories, in the tradition of the A£okan dharma which itself was the outcome of the problems growing out of the Iron Age urbanisation. Even the later and secular Indian tradition connected with Vikramaditya or Alha-Udal cannot be explained in archaeological terms. Hence tradition and archaeology cannot be mixed together in any form at least as far as Indian protohistory is concerned. M.C. Joshi (1975-1976: 102) in Kenneth A. R. Kennedy, “Have Aryans been identified in the prehistoric skeletal record from South Asia?” in The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia, ed. George Erdosy,.,p. 61. M. C. Joshi. Archaeology and Indian tradition - some observations. (Joshi 1978, page 102). Puratattva 8. 98-102. Quoted in Chakrabarti, D. K. (1984). Archaeology and the literary tradition: An examination of the Indian context, page 34 External links Category:1935 births Category:2007 deaths Category:Archaeologists from India