Early Archaeology in a “Native State”: Khans, Officers, and Archaeologists in Swat (1895–1939), with a Digression on the 1950s
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Luca Maria Olivieri
Abstract
In the aftermath of the British conquest of Malakand, the Swat valley became a sort of “quarry area” from which to extract sculptures earmarked for different destinations: military messes and private collections, museums in India and Great Britain, auction houses and the antiquary market in Europe, etc. All these activities were partially curbed and/or regulated thanks to a very advanced law, the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act (VII, 1904). Nonetheless, the legal situation in Swat remained unclear. Despite the efforts made by the legislators in British India to place the archaeological heritage under legal protection, in Native States, like Swat, there were no clear rules, and the procedures remained a matter directly discussed with the court. A recently discovered archival fonds illustrates that situation in detail. When in 1956, nine years after the end of British India, Giuseppe Tucci secured a Pakistani excavation licence for Swat, the situation was still unchanged. According to other documents, it was Tucci who convinced the wali to introduce the Act VII, 1904 in Swat. As a natural consequence, legal fieldwork started, and a museum with a Pakistani curator was established in Swat.
Abstract
In the aftermath of the British conquest of Malakand, the Swat valley became a sort of “quarry area” from which to extract sculptures earmarked for different destinations: military messes and private collections, museums in India and Great Britain, auction houses and the antiquary market in Europe, etc. All these activities were partially curbed and/or regulated thanks to a very advanced law, the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act (VII, 1904). Nonetheless, the legal situation in Swat remained unclear. Despite the efforts made by the legislators in British India to place the archaeological heritage under legal protection, in Native States, like Swat, there were no clear rules, and the procedures remained a matter directly discussed with the court. A recently discovered archival fonds illustrates that situation in detail. When in 1956, nine years after the end of British India, Giuseppe Tucci secured a Pakistani excavation licence for Swat, the situation was still unchanged. According to other documents, it was Tucci who convinced the wali to introduce the Act VII, 1904 in Swat. As a natural consequence, legal fieldwork started, and a museum with a Pakistani curator was established in Swat.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Note on Transliteration XI
- Preface 1
- Introduction 5
-
Archaeology in the Time of Empires: Unequal Negotiations and Scientific Competition
- “Masters” Against “Natives”: Edward Daniel Clarke and the “Theft” of the Eleusinian “Goddess” 19
- Russian Archaeologists, Colonial Administrators, and the “Natives” of Turkestan: Revisiting the History of Archaeology in Central Asia 31
- The “Maîtres” of Archaeology in Eastern Turkestan: Divide et Impera 87
-
“Master” / “Native”: Are There Winners? A Micro-History of Reciprocal and Non-Linear Relations
- Subverting the “Master”–“Native” Relationship: Dragomans and Their Clients in the Fin-de-Siècle Middle East 107
- In the Service of the Colonizer: Leon Barszczewski, Polish Officer in the Tsarist Army 121
- “The General and his Army”: Metropolitans and Locals on the Khorezmian Expedition 137
-
Taming the Other’s Past: The Eurocentric Scientific Tools
- From the Emic to the Etic and Back Again: Archaeology, Orientalism, and Religion from Colonial Sri Lanka to Switzerland 177
- Legislation and the Study of the Past: The Archaeological Survey of India and Challenges of the Present 197
- Early Archaeology in a “Native State”: Khans, Officers, and Archaeologists in Swat (1895–1939), with a Digression on the 1950s 213
-
The Forging of Myths: Heroic Clichés and the (Re-)Distribution of Roles
- Archaeologists in Soviet Literature 239
- Archaeology and the Archaeologist on Screen 255
-
Reversal of Roles in Postcolonial and Neocolonial Contexts: From a Relation between “Masters” and “Subordinates” to “Partnership”?
- From Supervision to Independence in Archaeology: The Comparison of the Iranian and the Afghan Strategy 291
- The Postcolonial Rewriting of the Past in North and South Korea Following Independence (1950s–1960s) 307
- Excavating in Iran and Central Asia: Cooperation or Competition? 323
- Publishing an Archaeological Discovery astride the “North”–“South” Divide (On an Example from Central Asia) 343
- Role Reversal: Hindu “Ethno-Expertise” of Western Archaeological Materials 367
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Note on Transliteration XI
- Preface 1
- Introduction 5
-
Archaeology in the Time of Empires: Unequal Negotiations and Scientific Competition
- “Masters” Against “Natives”: Edward Daniel Clarke and the “Theft” of the Eleusinian “Goddess” 19
- Russian Archaeologists, Colonial Administrators, and the “Natives” of Turkestan: Revisiting the History of Archaeology in Central Asia 31
- The “Maîtres” of Archaeology in Eastern Turkestan: Divide et Impera 87
-
“Master” / “Native”: Are There Winners? A Micro-History of Reciprocal and Non-Linear Relations
- Subverting the “Master”–“Native” Relationship: Dragomans and Their Clients in the Fin-de-Siècle Middle East 107
- In the Service of the Colonizer: Leon Barszczewski, Polish Officer in the Tsarist Army 121
- “The General and his Army”: Metropolitans and Locals on the Khorezmian Expedition 137
-
Taming the Other’s Past: The Eurocentric Scientific Tools
- From the Emic to the Etic and Back Again: Archaeology, Orientalism, and Religion from Colonial Sri Lanka to Switzerland 177
- Legislation and the Study of the Past: The Archaeological Survey of India and Challenges of the Present 197
- Early Archaeology in a “Native State”: Khans, Officers, and Archaeologists in Swat (1895–1939), with a Digression on the 1950s 213
-
The Forging of Myths: Heroic Clichés and the (Re-)Distribution of Roles
- Archaeologists in Soviet Literature 239
- Archaeology and the Archaeologist on Screen 255
-
Reversal of Roles in Postcolonial and Neocolonial Contexts: From a Relation between “Masters” and “Subordinates” to “Partnership”?
- From Supervision to Independence in Archaeology: The Comparison of the Iranian and the Afghan Strategy 291
- The Postcolonial Rewriting of the Past in North and South Korea Following Independence (1950s–1960s) 307
- Excavating in Iran and Central Asia: Cooperation or Competition? 323
- Publishing an Archaeological Discovery astride the “North”–“South” Divide (On an Example from Central Asia) 343
- Role Reversal: Hindu “Ethno-Expertise” of Western Archaeological Materials 367
