"I belong to the land and am connected to the land. As an archaeologist my job is to dig the earth"and thefore  my bond with land is stronger."These poetic expressions are of the well-known Archaeologist K K Muhammed, whose testimony in the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid case was the clinching evidence for the Supreme Court’s verdict. A humble man from Kozhikode, Kerala, Muhammed says his profession makes his bond with the soil even stronger. He spoke about his life and profession to Malik Asghar Hashmi, Editor, Awaz the Voice, Hindi. Excerpts from the interview:

What is the secret of you soft-spoken-ness? After rising to such a top position many people become arrogant.

Hashmiji, my soft nature is because I belong to the land and am linked to the land. I am an archaeologist. My job is to dig. The meaning of digging is that you should get connected to the land; those who are attached to the land are often poor people. I used to keep in touch with such people and also have sympathy for them. Not just sympathy, I also work for them as the elders in my family did. I have retained the family tradition. I have worked to get permanent jobs in the government for many poor people. I started this trend from Goa and continued it in Agra, Patna and Madhya Pradesh. I have very good relation with poor people, due to which these people are always ready to help me.

You said that you come from a family which is connected to the land. What is your family background?

I am from a middle-class family. My father faced many difficulties in his life. However, when his financial position improved, he helped people. My family used to feed 100 children in the month of Rabi-ul Awwal. Let me tell you, for one month in the decade of sixties, the whole city (Kozhikode) used to feed the orphans on Fridays. I also used to help children in other ways. When I was in Delhi I used to run five schools in the tents for slum children. They were given food and uniform free of cost. For this, I was honoured by television channel CNN-IBN. Amitabh Bachchanji gave me the award and with this the school became famous; even the American President Barrack Obama came to meet the children.

Did the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) work on your initiative or you followed its mandate?

This is not the work of the Archaeological Survey of India. It’s my personal job. Some people also opposed me. In fact, it’s my personal habit; wherever I go, I do something different there. An officer can do a lot for the society. I always used to do so; I guess it’s in my blood and I can’t take it out.

Sir, you did a master's degree from Aligarh and also started your career from the city. What was the journey of AMU for five years like?

I did my MA from Aligarh and after that I wanted to do research. I was the second topper of my class and on merit I should have got admission in Ph.D. and also given a scholarship. However, the University denied it to me and gave it to someone who had scored 12 marks less than me. After this I left Aligarh. Since archeology was my first preference, I got the admission somewhere else. Coincidently, my first appointment as an archeologist was also in Aligarh. Within a year, I had become an Assistant Archeologist. In Aligarh, I made two key discoveries. One was the discovery of Akbar'sIbadat dinner. It’s the place that one can call the nursery of secular India. He used to call people of all religions for debates to this place.

After that Akbar started Din-e-Ilahi (a philosophy encompassing all religions). He also built a church there. I also found that church through excavation and also proved its authenticity. There was no photography at that time, but usually the rulers commissioned a painting of all the major incidents and happenings of their time. When the church was made, its painting was also made. The painting is in some Western Country and is also published. Comparing it with my discovery confirmed that it was the same church. This was my biggest contribution in those days.

Excavation and conservation are your fields. Please explain to our readers what is digging and what do you dig for?

This is a very interesting subject, because the more you go inside it, the more you will enjoy. Earlier, we did not know much about the history of India till six century B.C. What happened before us; nobody quite knew. Like no one knew about Harappa Mohenjo-Daro.  Even the historians did not know much about the era before the Sixth Century B.C that is also the period before the Buddha. The discovery of Harappa-Mohenjo-Daro gave an idea about that period.

The things we found in excavation there were close to those found in Sumerian and Mesopotamian cultures. The latter’s discoveries have been dated because archeologists had found an inscription in three languages there. All these discoveries made the historians relaize that the Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro civilization that we believed were dated 2,600 B.C were actually 2,000 years older than that. This was a great discovery and you can call it the Eureka moment of the Indian history. This was all due to the work of archeologists.

Similarly, the Hastinapur excavations were done by B P Lal; Fatehpur Sikri was excavated in the similar manner. It was dug out and then compared with the paintings of that era found in the books, and these matched. In this way, we created a new history and it was authentic. In history you can give interpretation, but in archaeology, the evidence has to be there and is dug out. Then after excavation comes the conservation; that is a different field.

What are the ways to protect the excavated sites? Also, why is there a need for protection?

There is a great need to protect the archaeological sites. You will find many places of archeological sites are in a bad shape. I have led the mission in Fatehpur Sikri for 10 years. We should conserve the things you get from under the ground after the excavation. Of course, the excavated sites are not water tight compartments and are prone to get affected by rain and weather etc. You will have to try to protect these. For example, we were able to find the mansions of Akbar’s courtiers and also the stables. Their authenticity was settled, all we have to do is to protect these and promote their conservation. I will give you an example: Bateshwar temple was inside Chambal Valley of Agra. Nirbhay Singh Gujjar was the most notorious name among the dacoits of Chambal those days. At that time, he cooperated with us in erecting the now famous temple – an archeological site of Bateshwar- in Chambal. Likewise, when I was working on Taj Mahal conservation project, we worked on Fatehpur Sikri.

You have done a lot of work in the Taj Mahal. Explain his experience. You mentioned Chambal, in the same way, tell us about your experience of conserving other places of worship.

When I was in Delhi in 2008, I was looking after 45 monuments. We had to spruce up all places before the Commonwealth Games in 2010. We were expecting a lot of foreign tourists and we had to make all places look attractive. I had completed all work well in time. I found a lot of land belonging to the Archaeological Survey of India had been encroached. You will be surprised to know that in four years, I managed to rescue 40 acres of ASI’s land from the encroachers. Right in front of Humayun's mausoleum a 12-acre of land; Siri Fort comprises two parts - Mahmodi Mosque, the Panchsheel. We removed all encroachments on it and then built a garden over it. In the same way, the encroachment was removed from Rai Pithora Fort (South Delhi).

Three acres of land in Red Fort in front of the ticket counters was also encroached upon. The encroachers were removed and area was barricaded. Later, the MCD claimed it. However, it’s now with ASI. I also built a replica museum in which the visitors get to see Qutub Minar followed by Humayun's tomb and Red Fort.

Thereafter they are taken to Agra, Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri which are all Mughal monuments. Then the museum takes them to Jaipur to see a Rajput monument. But in reality, the jJaipur monuments are have a touch of Mughal style. In the Hindu-Buddhist culture of our civilization we have many precious frescoes. I have created a replica museum behind Siri Fort in which I have showcased Ajanta Ellora and Mahabalipuram etc. we got that land of the DDA club because of the PIL filed by Ajit Kaur and Arpana Kaur, well-known social activist and painters. After the court gave it to us, we turned it into a replica museum. You can see entire India there in replicas of all the monuments. It also has the statues of Akbar and Shah Jahan that are not found anywhere else.

You mentioned Fatehpur Sikri’s authenticity was established through a painting of that era. Which painting was that?

In Akbar's Ibadat Khana, people from different walks would come to discuss things. Two frequent visitors were Father Rudolph Pastor of Italy and Father Manzar of Spain. The painting that we referred to has the name of Father Rudolf on it. However, his name is written as Afraj Bood Padri Radlaf in Persian language in the painting. I went down excavating and it turned out to be a big fort. You can find the description of the fort in Akbarnama and also in Tawarikh, written by Badauni. After a lot of discussion, we had identified him. In fact, before me, one of Rizvi Sahib had also identified it. Shahid Ahmad Mararvi had identified it way back in 1906. However, both of them had no proof about this. I too identified it; they asked for proof and I showed them the painting.

I am sure Atar Abbas Rizvi must have seen it too. Since he was not an archaeologist, he could not do the excavation of find the connection. I saw a painting of a fort in Maulana Azad Library. Its three arches were visible in the painting. On the site, the arches looked the same; one pavilion of the fort had fallen. There was a wall in the painting that had fallen on the site. I could connect the painting with the Fort. I gave myself 2 years on this. It has to be done slowly, sometimes with a surgical knife and sometimes with a fine brush. I found the structure exactly as it was seen in the painting; I got an idea of the structure and my discovery was officially approved. It was splashed in national newspapers.

(Cont’d)