Sir John Hubert Marshall (19 March 1876, Chester, England – 17 August 1958, Guildford, England) was an English archaeologist who was Director-General of the
Archaeological Survey of India
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...
from 1902 to 1928. He oversaw the excavations of Harappa and
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
, where in 1898 he won the
Porson Prize
The Porson Prize is an award for Greek verse composition at the University of Cambridge. It was founded in honor of classical scholar Richard Porson and was first awarded in 1817. Winners are known as "Porson prizemen".
Winners of the Porson Pr ...
. He then trained in
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...
at
Knossos
Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city.
Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
n administration. Marshall modernised the approach to archaeology on that continent, introducing a programme of cataloguing and conservation of ancient monuments and artefacts.
Marshall began the practice of allowing Indians to participate in
excavation
Excavation may refer to:
* Excavation (archaeology)
* Excavation (medicine)
* ''Excavation'' (The Haxan Cloak album), 2013
* ''Excavation'' (Ben Monder album), 2000
* ''Excavation'' (novel), a 2000 novel by James Rollins
* '' Excavation: A Mem ...
s in their own country. Most of his students were Indian, and so, Marshall gained a reputation for being very sympathetic to Indian nationalism. Marshall agreed with Indian civic leaders and protesters who wanted more self-government for India or even independence for India. Marshall was highly admired by Indians during the time he worked in India. In 1913, he began the excavations at Taxila, which lasted for 21 years. In 1918, he laid the foundation stone for the
Taxila Museum
Taxila Museum ( ur, ) is located at Taxila, Punjab, Pakistan. The museum is home to a significant and comprehensive collection of Gandharan art dating from the 1st to the 7th centuries CE. Most objects in the collection were excavated from th ...
, which today hosts many artifacts and one of Marshall's few portraits. He then moved on to other sites, including the
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
Daya Ram Sahni
Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni CIE (16 December 1879 – 7 March 1939) was an Indian archaeologist who supervised the excavation of the Indus valley site at Harappa in 1920 to 1921 But the first report of Harappan excavations came out in 1921 ...
as director. Mohenjodaro was discovered by RD Banerjee in 1921 later that In 1922, work began at Mohenjo-Daro. The results of these efforts, which revealed an ancient culture with its own writing system, were published in the '' Illustrated London News'' on 20 September 1924. Scholars linked the artifacts with the ancient civilisation of
Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of ...
in Mesopotamia. Subsequent excavation showed Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro to be sophisticated planned cities with
plumbing
Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications. Plumbing uses pipes, valves, plumbing fixtures, tanks, and other apparatuses to convey fluids. Heating and cooling (HVAC), waste removal, and potable water delive ...
and baths. But Marshall ignored stratigraphy of the site, and excavated along regular horizontal lines. This mixed up the artefacts from different stratigraphic layers, causing much of valuable information about the context of his findings lost forever. This mistake was corrected by R.E.M. Wheeler, who recognised that it was necessary to follow the stratigraphy of the mound rather than dig mechanically along uniform horizontal lines. Also a military precision was brought to archeology by Wheeler.
Marshall also led excavations at the prehistoric
Sohr Damb
Sohr Damb ('Red Mound'), c. 3800–2300 BC, is an archaeological site, located near Nal, in central Balochistan, Pakistan that begins before the Indus Valley civilization featuring Togau, Kili Ghul Mohammad, and Kechi Beg pottery styles. It has a ...
mound near Nal in Baluchistan; a small representative collection of pottery vessels from the site is now in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
. He is also known for his important part in excavations at
Knossos
Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city.
Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...
and various other sites on
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
between 1898 and 1901. He was awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Philosophy, by Calcutta University in 1921.
Marshall was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire(CIE) in June 1910 and
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
ed in January 1914.
Marshall retired from his post in 1934 and then departed India. He died on 17 August 1958, at his home in Guildford, Surrey, some 28 miles southwest of London.
Friends of Taxila
Marshall's love to Taxila revealed from his close friend AD Siddque who was assistance to Sir John Marshall, he remember Taxila while writing letter to AD Siddique.
AD Siddiqui Khan Sahib (Ahmed din Siddiqui (5 May 1892, Sailkot – 5 May 1963, Taxila) was a Pakistani archaeologist and provided assistant to Sir John Marshall who was Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1902 to 1928. He oversaw the excavations of Harappa and Mohenjodaro, and Taxila three of the main cities that comprise the Indus Valley civilization.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=973000060223920&set=pb.100025418053839.-2207520000..&type=3
For More Information about Sir John Marshall Interest in Taxila and Original letter correspondence please visit to Front office of Gandhara Cultural Center at Taxila is a project of Center for Culture and Development (C2D) www.c2d.org.pk
https://www.facebook.com/GandharaResourceCenter
In British Academy and After 100 years Marshall photographs published
Sir John Marshall was elected as a Fellow of the
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars s ...
in 1936 .
Durham University’s Oriental Museum is home to nearly 5000 images from the personal archives of Sir John Hubert Marshall CIE, FBA (1876-1958).
While Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India between 1902 and 1931, Marshall collected photographs and technical drawings of many significant sites and monuments across the modern nation states of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and Pakistan.
https://stories.durham.ac.uk/TaxilaInFocus/
See also
* Indus Valley civilization
* R. D. Banerji
Gandhara Cultural Center at Taxila is a project of Center for Culture and Development (C2D) www.c2d.org.pk https://www.facebook.com/GandharaResourceCenter