Karingamannu Kuzhiyil Muhammed (born 1 July 1952) is an Indian
archaeologist
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 landscap ...
. He was the Regional Director (North) 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 Alexande ...
(ASI).
He was honored with India's fourth highest civilian honor
Padma Shri
Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
in 2019 by President
Ram Nath Kovind
Ram Nath Kovind (; born 1 October 1945) is an Indian politician who served as the 14th President of India from 2017 to 2022. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the second person after K. R. Narayanan, from the Dalit community ...
.
Biography
Early life and education
KK Muhammed was born in
Koduvally
Koduvally is a major municipal town in Kozhikode district. It is located on the Calicut-Mysuru National Highway 766 (NH 766) and is about 21 km northeast of Kozhikode (Calicut) city. koduvally is known as the city of gold for its gold tra ...
Calicut
Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...
,
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
in a middle-class family to Beeran Kutty Haji and Mariyam. Muhammed is second amongst five siblings. After completing his schooling from Government Higher Secondary School, Koduvally, he obtained his master's degree in history (1973–75) from
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...
and his postgraduate diploma in archaeology (1976–77) from the School of Archaeology,
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 Alexande ...
,
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
, India.
Career
Muhammed served as a technical assistant and then as an assistant archaeologist in the Department of History at
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...
, before being selected as deputy superintendent archaeologist for 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 Alexande ...
.
Muhammed was initially posted at
Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
in 1988 and then at
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
in 1991. He was promoted to superintendent archaeologist in 1997 and subsequently served in many states in India, including
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
,
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
,
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...
,
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...
and
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
. During this period, he also served as a tour guide for prominent foreign guests such as
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
and
Pervez Musharraf
General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...
. In 2012, Muhammed was made regional director (North) of the Archaeological Survey of India, and he retired in the same year.
Major projects
Ibadat Khana
Ibadat Khana was a complex established by
Mughal
Mughal or Moghul may refer to:
Related to the Mughal Empire
* Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries
* Mughal dynasty
* Mughal emperors
* Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia
* Mughal architecture
* Mug ...
Emperor
Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
in 1575 for hosting religious debates and discussions among theologians and professors of different religions.
It was also the structure where
Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
first proclaimed the formation of the composite religion known as
Din-e Ilahi
The Dīn-i-Ilāhī ( fa, , ), known during its time as Tawḥīd-i-Ilāhī ("Divine Monotheism", ) or Divine Faith, was a new syncretic religion or spiritual leadership program propounded by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1582, intending to merge ...
.
In the 80s, Muhammed, was a member of a team from 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 Alexande ...
and
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...
visiting Fatehpur Sikri. With the help of a painting from
Akbarnama, he convinced the others to excavate the mound, and they found more proof, including paintings of Christian missionaries from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
(Fathers Monserrate and
Rudolf Acquaviva).
For centuries, the location of the complex had been controversial among archaeologists and historians, although it is generally accepted to be the place Muhammad discovered.
Excavations of the Ram Mandir
KK Muhammed was a part of the 1976 excavation of the Babri Masjid, led by
B. B. Lal. He stated in a rediff interview that they had found remains of a temple on the western side of the mosque. This temple was built between 10th and 11th century during the
Gurjara-Pratihara Dynasty. However, his findings were suppressed by Marxist historian
Irfan Habib
Irfan Habib (born August 10, 1931) is an Indian historian of ancient and medieval India, following the methodology of Marxist historiography in his contributions to economic history. He identifies as a Marxist and is well known for his strong ...
, who he says were very powerful and influential towards the
Indian Council of Historical Research
The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is a captive body of the Ministry of Education, Government of India established by an Administrative Order. The body has provided financial assistance to historians and scholars through fellowshi ...
and many leading newspapers.
Muhammed also said they found 12 pillars in the excavations which were constructed with Hindu symbolism, including
Ashtamangala
The Ashtamangala is a sacred suite of ''Eight Auspicious Signs'' endemic to a number of religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. The symbols or "symbolic attributes" () are yidam and teaching tools. Not only do these attributes (or e ...
signs. They had also found terracotta figurines of humans and animals, which Muhammad uses to hypothesize that a temple existed before the mosque.
KK Muhammed further tells that he being the only Muslim involved in the excavations, had to come up by publishing his opinion in
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...
newspaper on 15 December 1990 to defend
Prof. B. B. Lal who was constantly being attacked by the left for not confirming to their views.
Dantewada temples
KK Muhammed restored the Barsoor and Samlur Temples in
Dantewada District near
Jagdalpur
Jagdalpur is a city in Bastar district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Jagdalpur is the administrative headquarters of Bastar District and Bastar Division. It was earlier the capital of the former princely state of Bastar. It is the fo ...
,
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...
. This area is known to be the seat of Naxal activities in the region. In 2003, KK Muhammed was able to convince
Naxal activists and with their co-operation, conserved the Temples to its present-day state.
Bateshwar Complex restoration
Bateshwar, Morena, a complex of 200 ancient Shiva & Vishnu temples situated 40 km away from
Gwalior
Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...
. These temples were built between the 9th and 11th centuries during the
Gurjara-Pratihara Dynasty, 200 years before
Khajuraho
Khajuraho () is a city, near Chhatarpur in Chhatarpur district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. One of the most popular tourist destinations in India, Khajuraho has the country's largest group of medieval Hindu and Jain temples, famous f ...
. The area was under the control of
Nirbhay Singh Gujjar
Nirbhay Singh Gurjar (1957 – 7 November 2005)
was an Indian criminal and one of the last dacoits of the Chambal and known as the "Last Lion of Chambal". He terrorized the Chambal ravines in India, the lawless zone at the cusp of two states U ...
KK Muhammed was successful in convincing the dacoits to let him do the restoration. He was able to restore 60 temples during his tenure. After the dacoits were eliminated by the police, the area has been under encroachment from illegal mining, as the tremors from the usage of explosives can damage the structure.
In his autobiography, Muhammed alleged that a powerful mining lobby did not allow temple restoration work to go on and he himself made several attempts to get the mining work stopped.
Facelifting of Delhi's monuments
KK Muhammed was appointed as the Superintending Archaeologist of Delhi Circle,
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 Alexande ...
in 2008. His primary task was to carry out a major facelift and preservation activity at 46 monuments for the
Commonwealth Games of 2010.
Other prominent tasks
* Discovered the first Christian Chapel of North India built by Akbar at
Fatehpur Sikri
Fatehpur Sikri () is a town in the Agra District of Uttar Pradesh, India. Situated 35.7 kilometres from the district headquarters of Agra, Fatehpur Sikri itself was founded as the capital of Mughal Empire in 1571 by Emperor Akbar, serving th ...
.
* Excavated the Buddhist Stupa of
Kesaria built by Emperor
Ashoka.
* Discovered and excavated Buddhist Stupa in
Rajgir
Rajgir, meaning "The City of Kings," is a historic town in the district of Nalanda in Bihar, India. As the ancient seat and capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty and the Mauryan Empire, as well as the d ...
.
* Excavated the Buddhist archaeological site in
Kolhua,
Vaishali.
* Located and excavated a number of rock cut caves, Umbrella Stones, Cists and
Dolmens in
Calicut
Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...
and
Malapuram
Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of including the surrounding suburban areas. The first municipality in the district formed in 1970, Malappuram serves as the administrative headquarter ...
districts of
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
.
* Muhammed conceived and executed the idea of building a Museum that showcases replicas of Indian statues and stone-carved sculptures. The museum, called the Replica Museum, is situated outside the
Siri Fort Sports Complex
The DDA Siri Fort Sport Complex is a sports stadium in New Delhi, India. It was built for the 1982 Asian Games, next to the Asian Games village by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which also runs the facility now. Also close by is the Siri ...
, behind
Siri Fort Auditorium in
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
.
Autobiography
In 2016, KK Muhammad's
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
-language autobiography ''Njan Enna Bharatiyan'' ("I, the Indian") was released. The book attracted controversy due to his claim that the
Marxist historians
Marxist historiography, or historical materialist historiography, is an influential school of historiography. The chief tenets of Marxist historiography include the centrality of social class, social relations of production in class-divided so ...
like
Irfan Habib
Irfan Habib (born August 10, 1931) is an Indian historian of ancient and medieval India, following the methodology of Marxist historiography in his contributions to economic history. He identifies as a Marxist and is well known for his strong ...
sided with the extremist Muslim groups and derailed attempts to find an amicable solution to the
Ayodhya dispute. According to him,
archaeological excavations at Ayodhya clearly indicated the presence of a temple below the mosque, but the leftist historians like Irfan Habib, dismissed these, and even tried to mislead the
Allahabad High Court
Allahabad High Court, also known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad is the high court based in Prayagraj that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 17 March 1866, making it one of the oldest high ...
.
References
External links
Digger of truth: K. K. Muhammadby A.J. Philio
Young Indians
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammed, KK
1952 births
Living people
20th-century Indian archaeologists
Aligarh Muslim University alumni
Scientists from Kozhikode
Scientists from Kerala
Recipients of the Padma Shri in other fields