From Alliance to Dissonance: Two Centuries of Local Archaeology and Conservation in Indian Cities. The Case of Lucknow, India.

The Indian subcontinent has a long and ancient history that has been meticulously developed through several centuries of concerted archaeological and conservation efforts, and methodically documented for nearly two centuries. The evolution of the fields of archeology and conservation into a formal and bureaucratic enterprise was first through the Asiatic Society, and then the Government of India under the East India Company (1757-1857), and the British Crown (1857-1947). This pre-Independence archeology and conservation most often involved alliances and cooperation between central, provincial, and local governments. Post-Independence, as the country began to focus on development and progress, the older administrative systems gradually led to disassociated approaches to archeology and conservation at the central and state levels, with little to no involvement by local agencies. The repercussions of this disconnection are seen increasingly across Indian cities today, most commonly through the damage to, and destruction of archaeological and historical resources during construction and development activity. Using the city of Lucknow as an example, this chapter traces how these adverse impacts on archaeological and historical resources are rooted in the evolution of particular bureaucratic and administrative processes spanning nearly two centuries, and therefore need to be re-examined in the contemporary context.

Ashima Krishna, Assistant Professor
Department of Urban and Regional Planning

​Sherene Baugher
Douglas R. Appler
William Moss

Cham: Springer International Publishing

2017