In the year 1950, the then Maharaja of Mysore, Shri 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 ex-officio Director of Archaeology of Mysore State. Dr. M. Seshadri, Professor of History, succeeded him in 1956. In the year 1958, a full-fledged, independent Department was formed.
The under-graduate and post-graduate departments of Indology were composite and housed in the campus of the Maharaja’s College since inception. In 1963, the postgraduate department was shifted to the new campus at Manasagangotri with other P.G. Departments. In the year 1968, to bring uniformity with the sister departments, the name of the department was changed from the Department of Indology to Department of Ancient History and Archaeology.
The Department has conducted excavations at Banavasi, Koppa, Belgola, Talakad, Krishnapura and Rajaghatta. The results of this excavation have attracted the attention of scholars in archaeology all over the Country. Our Department has been maintaining good 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.
Excavations conducted by the Department:
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 season - prehistoric, early historic and historic sand dune site
Rajaghatta Excavated for two seasons- Buddhist site
Anuvanahalli-Early historic site-one season
The department is located at Manasagangotri postgraduate campus of the university. Click on the image below for a detailed map of the campus and the city.
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