Editing Mortimer Wheeler (section)

===Archaeological Survey of India: 1944–48===

[[File:ArikameduRomanCeramic.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|It was Wheeler who discovered evidence for Roman trade links at [[Arikamedu]] in southern India, as evidenced by ceramics such as this.]]

Wheeler arrived in Bombay in the spring of 1944. There, he was welcomed by the city's governor, [[John Colville, 1st Baron Clydesmuir|John Colville]], before heading by train to [[Delhi]] and then [[Shimla]], where the headquarters of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] were located.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=232–233}} Wheeler had been suggested for the job by [[Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|Archibald Wavell]], the [[Governor-General of India|Viceroy of India]], who had been acting on the recommendations of the archaeologist [[Leonard Woolley]], who had written a report lamenting the state of the archaeological establishment in the British-controlled subcontinent.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1pp=635–636|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=230–231|3a1=Guha|3y=2003a|3pp=4–5}} Wheeler recognised this state of affairs, in a letter to a friend complaining about the lack of finances and equipment, commenting that "We're back in 1850".{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=234}} He initially found much to dislike in India, and in his letters to friends in Britain expressed derogatory and [[racism|racist]] sentiments toward Indians: he stated that "they feed wrongly and think wrongly and live wrongly&nbsp;... I already find myself regarding them as ill-made clockwork toys rather than as human beings, and I find myself bullying them most brutally."{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=234}} He expelled those staff members whom he deemed too idle, and physically beat others in an attempt to motivate them.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=234}}

From the beginning of his tenure, he sought to distance himself from previous Directors-General and their administrations by criticising them in print and attempting to introduce new staff who had no loyalty to his predecessors.{{sfn|Guha|2003a|pp=6–7}} Assigned a four-year contract, Wheeler attempted to recruit two archaeologists from Britain, [[Glyn Daniel]] and Stuart Piggott, to aid him in reforming the Archaeological Survey, although they declined the offer.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=233}} He then toured the subcontinent, seeking to meet all of the Survey's staff members.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=235}} He had drawn up a prospectus containing research questions that he wanted the Survey to focus on; these included understanding the period between the Bronze Age [[Indus Valley civilization]] and the [[Achaemenid Empire]], discerning the socio-cultural background to the [[Vedas]], dating the [[Indo-Aryan migration hypothesis|Aryan invasion]], and establishing a dating system for southern India before the 6th century CE.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=636|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=235}} During his time in office he also achieved a 25 per cent budget increase for the Archaeological Survey,{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=245}} and convinced the government to agree to the construction of a [[National Museum, New Delhi|National Museum of Archaeology]], to be built in New Delhi.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=252}}

In October 1944, he opened his six-month archaeological field school in [[Taxila]], where he instructed various students from across India in the methodologies of the discipline.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=637|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=240}} Wheeler became very fond of his students, with one of them, [[B. B. Lal (archaeologist)|B. B. Lal]], later commenting that "behind the gruff exterior, Sir Mortimer had a very kind and sympathetic heart".{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=241}} Throughout his period in India, his students were some of the only individuals to whom Wheeler warmed; more widely, he was annoyed by what he saw as the idleness, incompetence and corruption of Indian society.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=254}} Initially focusing on the northwest of the subcontinent, Wheeler was particularly fascinated by the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilization. On his initial inspection of the Indus Valley sites of [[Mohenjo-daro]] and [[Harappa]], he organised a very brief excavation which revealed fortifications around both settlements.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=236–237}} He later led a more detailed excavation at Harappa, where he exposed further fortifications and established a [[Stratigraphy (archaeology)|stratigraphy]] for the settlement.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=637|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=250–251}}

Turning his attention to southern India, Wheeler discovered remnants of a Roman [[amphora]] in a museum, and began excavations at [[Arikamedu]], revealing a port from the 1st century CE that had traded in goods from the Roman Empire. The excavation had been plagued by severe rains and tropical heat, although it was during the excavation that World War II ended; in celebration, Wheeler gave all his workers an extra [[rupee]] for the day.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=637|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=238–244}} It has since been alleged that while Wheeler took credit for discovering the significance of this site, it had previously been established by [[A. Aiyappan]], the Superintendent of the Government Museum in Madras, and the French archaeologist Jouveau Dubreuil, with Wheeler intentionally ignoring their contribution.{{sfn|Srivathsan|2011}} He later undertook excavations of six megalithic tombs in [[Brahmagiri archaeological site|Brahmagiri]], [[Mysore]], which enabled him to gain a chronology for the archaeology of much of southern India.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=255–256}}

[[File:Mohenjo-daro.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|Wheeler was fascinated by the Indus Valley civilisation, and excavated at [[Mohenjo-daro]]]]

Wheeler established a new archaeological journal, ''[[Ancient India (journal)|Ancient India]]'', planning for it to be published twice a year. He had trouble securing printing paper and faced various delays; the first issue was released in January 1946, and he would release three further volumes during his stay.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=637|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2pp=245–246}} Wheeler married Kim Collingridge in Simla,{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=247}} before he and his wife took part in an Indian Cultural Mission to Iran. The Indian government had deemed Wheeler ideal to lead the group, which departed via train to [[Zahidan]] before visiting [[Persepolis]], [[Tehran]], [[Isfahan]], [[Shiraz]], [[Pasargadae]], and [[Kashan]]. Wheeler enjoyed the trip, and was envious of Tehran's archaeological museum and library, which was far in advance of anything then found in India. Crossing into Iraq, in [[Baghdad]] the team caught a flight back to Delhi.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=247–249}} In 1946, he was involved in a second cultural mission, this time to Afghanistan, where he expressed a particular interest in the kingdom of ancient [[Bactria]] and visited the archaeology of [[Balkh]].{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=252–254}}

Wheeler was present during the 1947 [[Partition of India]] into the [[Dominion of Pakistan]] and the [[Dominion of India|Union of India]] and the accompanying ethnic violence between Hindu and Muslim communities.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=257}} He was unhappy with how these events had affected the Archaeological Survey, complaining that some of his finest students and staff were now citizens of Pakistan and no longer able to work for him.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=257}} He was based in New Delhi when the city was rocked by sectarian violence, and attempted to help many of his Muslim staff members escape from the Hindu-majority city unharmed. He further helped smuggle Muslim families out of the city hospital, where they had taken refuge from a violent Hindu mob.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=257–258}} As India neared independence from the [[British Empire]], the political situation had changed significantly; by October 1947 he was one of the last British individuals in a senior position in the country's governing establishment, and recognised that many Indian nationalists wanted him to leave as well.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=258}} For his work in India, Wheeler was appointed a Companion of the [[Order of the Indian Empire]] (CIE) in the final imperial honours list issued the day before Indian independence (gazetted in the [[1948 New Year Honours]]).<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=38161|date=30 December 1947 |page=9 |supp=y|nolink=y}}</ref>

As their relationship had become increasingly strained, his wife had left and returned to Britain.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|p=259}} Although hoping to leave his post in India several months early, he was concerned for his economic prospects, and desperately searched for a new position. Through friends in the British archaeological community, he was offered a job as the Secretary of the [[Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales]], although he was upset that this would mean a drop in his professional status and income and decided to turn it down.{{sfn|Hawkes|1982|pp=259–260}} Instead, he agreed to take up a chair in the Archaeology of the Roman Provinces at the Institute of Archaeology.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=638|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=260}} In addition, the Pakistani Minister of Education invited him to become the Archaeological Adviser to the [[Government of Pakistan|Pakistani government]]; he agreed also to take up this position, on the condition that he would only spend several months in the country each year over the next three.{{sfnm|1a1=Piggott|1y=1977|1p=638|2a1=Hawkes|2y=1982|2p=261}} On 1 September 1948, having exceeded the age limit, he relinquished his Territorial Army commission, ending his military service as a war-substantive lieutenant-colonel (honorary brigadier).<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=39162|date=2 March 1951 |page=1162 |supp=y|nolink=y}}</ref> He was awarded the [[Territorial Decoration]] (TD) in September 1956.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=40877|date=11 September 1956 |page=5212 |supp=y|nolink=y}}</ref>