Why in the news
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) handed over skeletal remains dug up at Rakhigarhi to the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) for detailed scientific work. The Ministry of Culture announced the move on 22 June 2026, after an MoU between the two bodies.
Key facts
- From and to: ASI to AnSI; both work under the Ministry of Culture.
- Instrument: a recently signed MoU.
- Finds: eight burials at Mound No. 7 (a known cemetery), uncovered in 2025-26 by ASI’s Excavation Branch-II, Greater Noida.
- Moved: three complete skeletons and fragments from other burials, to AnSI’s ancient human skeletal repository and laboratory in Kolkata.
- Research partners: Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (Lucknow), University College London and Banaras Hindu University.
- Methods: ancient DNA, stable isotopes, osteological and palaeopathological studies, environmental reconstruction.
About Rakhigarhi
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|
| Location | Hisar district, Haryana, about 150 km from Delhi |
| Area | About 550 hectares |
| Status | Largest known Indus-Saraswati (Harappan) site |
| Occupation | Early Harappan (about 5500-2600 BCE) to Mature Harappan (about 2600-1900 BCE) |
| Mounds | Nine, labelled RGR-1 to RGR-9; RGR-7 is the cemetery |
| Features | Planned settlement, drains, craft centres, trade links, burial grounds |
The Aryan migration debate
- The 2019 study found that the Rakhigarhi woman lacked steppe pastoralist ancestry, reigniting the debate.
- Aryan Invasion Theory: a colonial-era idea (Max Müller, Mortimer Wheeler) that Aryans invaded around 1500 BCE and destroyed the Indus cities.
- Aryan Migration Theory: a modern revision in which steppe pastoralists migrated into South Asia around 2000-1000 BCE with Indo-European languages.
- Lead archaeologist Vasant Shinde said the findings “completely reject” both ideas, while geneticists Narasimhan and Reich hold that steppe ancestry arrived later, supporting some migration.
- “Indo-Aryan” is preferred over “Aryan” to avoid racial overtones.
The two organisations
| Point | ASI | AnSI |
|---|
| Founded | 1861 by Alexander Cunningham (under Lord Canning) | 1945, carved out of the Zoological Survey of India |
| Headquarters | New Delhi | Kolkata |
| Head | Director General Yadubir Singh Rawat (as of 2025) | Director Prof. B.V. Sharma |
| Role | Archaeological research and conservation of monuments, sites and antiquities; six excavation branches; works under the AMASR Act, 1958 | Biological and cultural anthropology, palaeoanthropology, ethnography, human genetics and osteology; eight regional centres |
Harappan civilisation snapshot
- Discovery: Harappa in 1921 by Dayaram Sahni; Mohenjo-daro in 1922 by R.D. Banerji.
- Indian sites: Rakhigarhi, Dholavira, Lothal, Kalibangan, Banawali, Surkotada, Daimabad; in Pakistan: Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Chanhudaro.
- More than 2,000 sites are known, most of them in India after Partition.
- Phases: Early Harappan (5500-2600 BCE), Mature (2600-1900 BCE, peak urban phase with planned cities and script), Late (1900-1300 BCE, decline and regionalisation).
Exam angle
- Parent ministry of both ASI and AnSI: Ministry of Culture.
- Rakhigarhi: Hisar, Haryana; about 550 hectares; Mound 7 is the cemetery.
- Related terms: aDNA, steppe ancestry, AMASR Act 1958.