Question

Consider the following statements regarding the discovery of Hampi:

I. The ruins at Hampi were brought to light in 1800 by an engineer and antiquarian named Colonel Colin Mackenzie.

II. As early as 1836 epigraphists began collecting several dozen inscriptions found at this and other temples at Hampi.

III. In an effort to reconstruct the history of the city and the empire, historians collated information from these sources with accounts of foreign travellers and other literature written in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Sanskrit.

Which of the following statement(s) is/are correct?

Options

• Only I

• I and II

• I and III

• All of the above

Answer 1

All of the above

Explanation:

Colonel Colin Mackenzie, an engineer and antiquarian, first discovered the ruins of Hampi around 1800. He drew the first survey map of the site as an employee of the English East India Company. Much of the early material he obtained was based on priests' memories of the Virupaksha temple and the Pampadevi shrine. Following that, beginning in 1856, photographers began to photograph the monuments, allowing experts to analyse them. Epigraphists began collecting several dozen inscriptions unearthed at this and other temples in Hampi as early as 1836.