Question

Identify the correct statements:
• [A.] The ruins at Hampi were brought to light in 1800.
• [B.] Colonel Colin prepared the first survey map of the Hampi.
• [C.] Much of the initial information Colin received was based on the memories of priests of the Virupaksha temple and the shrine of Pampadevi.
• [D.] From 1900, photographers began to record the monuments which enabled scholars to study them.
• [E.] As early as 1936 epigraphists began collecting several dozen inscriptions. Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

• A. A, B, C only
• B. B, C, D only
• C. A, B, D only
• D. A, B, C, D, E only

Hint:

Remember the "Three Pillars" of Hampi's rediscovery: Colin Mackenzie (1800), Oral Traditions (Priests), and Photography/Epigraphy (Mid-19th Century). Most errors in this topic revolve around these specific dates!

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Concept: The rediscovery of Hampi (the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire) is a major chapter in Indian archaeology. The process involved early surveying, oral traditions, and later, systematic documentation. Key historical timeline:
• 1800: Colonel Colin Mackenzie, an engineer and antiquarian, visited the site.
• Oral History: Mackenzie relied on the local knowledge of priests at the active religious centers of the site.
• Photography: Documentation by photographers actually began in the 1850s (not 1900).
• Epigraphy: The collection of inscriptions by epigraphists started much earlier, around the 1830s (not 1936).

Step 1: Verifying Statements A, B, and C.

• (A) is correct: The ruins were indeed brought to light in 1800 by Colin Mackenzie.
• (B) is correct: Colin Mackenzie, as an employee of the English East India Company, prepared the first survey map of the site.
• (C) is correct: To supplement his maps, he interviewed priests of the Virupaksha and Pampadevi temples to reconstruct the city's history.

Step 2: Evaluating the Timeline in Statements D and E.

• (D) is incorrect: Photography became a tool for recording Hampi's monuments starting in 1856 (Alexander Greenlaw is a notable early photographer of the site), not 1900.
• (E) is incorrect: Epigraphists began collecting inscriptions at Hampi in the 1830s. By 1936, the site was already well-documented and undergoing major conservation efforts.