Ancient History and Archaeology
Brief History of Department
In the year 1950, the then Maharaja of Mysore Sri Jayachamaraja Wodeyar created an endowment chair in Indology and appointed Prof.H.N.Raghavendra Char, the retired Professor of Philosophy and also the ‘Dharmaadhikari’ of the Mysore Professor and Head of the Department of Indology.
In the year 1952, Professor K.A.Neelakanta Sastry was invited as head of the department and the ex-officio Director of Archaeology of Mysore State, served uptoMarch 1956 and Dr.M.Sheshadri, Professor of History, succeeded him. In the year 1958, a fullfledged independent Department was formed.
The under-graduate and post-graduate departments of Indology combined at Maharaja’s College since their inception upto the year 1963. A separate department at Manasagangotri with other P.G.Departments our department also shifted to the new campus.
In the year 1968, to bring the uniformity with the sister departments, the name of the department was changed from the Department of Indology to Department of Ancient History and Archeology.
This department is the only department of Archaeology in South India, which has been doing archaeological excavation regularly. Appreciating our work the UGC sanctioned technical posts like antiquity Assistant, Draftsman, Photographer and they all have been utilized all these years of excavation work.
The Department has conducted excavation at Talakad, Krishnapura and Rajaghatta. The results of this excavation have already attracted the attention of the scholars in archaeology. Thus, we have made a deep impact in the circles of archaeology in India by our excavation.
Our Department has been maintaining good and active interaction with auxiliary departments like Anthropology, Geology etc., both at the University level and at the Governmental level. The collaboration with Archaeological Survey of India, Anthropological Survey of India, Geological Survey of India and other institutions has been continued whenever necessary.
Departmental research activities: Conducting regular Archaeological Excavations and Explorations.
- Koppa Excavated for two seasons-Megalithic site
- T.Narasipura Excavated for two seasons –Neolithic site
- Banavasi Excavated for two seasons-Early Historic site
- Belgol Excavated for one season- Neolithic site
- Krishnapura Excavated for one season-Disturbed Neolithic and Megalithic site.
- Talakad Jointly Excavated with State Archaeology Department for five seasons - prehistoric, early historic and historic sand dune site
- Rajaghatta Excavated for two seasons- Buddhist site.
Best Practices
- Inviting Experts for Guest Lectures
- Teaching Foreign Students under SATA Prog
- Taking Students for Study Tour to Excavated sites and
temple sites
- Helping state of Karnataka in the development of Tourism
and heritage protection
Individual teachers’ on-going research projects:
| Sl. No. | Name | Research Project Title | Funding Agency | Amount sanctioned | Date of commence-ment | Expected date of completion |
| 1. |
Dr. N.S. Rangaraju |
Archaeological Explorations in the Cauvery River Basin at Madikeri, Mysore and Mandya
|
UGC-MRP |
Rs. 4,09,560.00 |
|
|
| 2. |
Dr. N.S. Rangaraju |
Archaeological Explorations in Mysore, Mandya, Hassan and Chamarajanagar Districts |
UGC-MRP |
Rs. 3,27,560.00 |
|
|
Other Information: Dr.N.S.Rangarajuhas been nominated as member to the Archaeological Survey of India’s 150th year celebration committee by the Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor
