About Society

The Indian Archaeological Society was founded way back in 1967 at the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi with the efforts of Prof. A.K. Narain, the Head of the Department alongwith his colleagues in the Banaras Hindu University for promoting and spreading knowledge about archaeology in its all aspects including a dedicated academic forum for discussion of archaeological problems and to promote and guide the studies of archaeology. He organised the first conference at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi which was attended by Prof. B.P. Sinha, Head of the Ancient Indian History and Archaeology Department, Patna University and some promising young archaeologists where journal of the Society Puratattva No. 1 was released on 4th February, 1968. On this occasion the Department organised a seminar on ‘Problem of Megaliths in India’ and Prof. H.D. Sankalia, Director, Deccan College, Pune gave the Presidential Address. Afterwards, A. Ghosh, Director General, Archaeological Survey of India and his colleagues in the Survey joined it. Slowly and gradually it grew in membership by leaps and bounds. In 1970, the Society moved to New Delhi. It has its own building and campus at B-17, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi-110016 from where it is now operating.

For the last 50 years, the Society has been engaged in archaeological and historical research and publications, including the prestigious annual journal ‘Puratattva’. It regularly holds annual conferences and seminars, workshops and symposia in which scholars from India and abroad actively participates. The Society also organizes memorial lectures from time to time and undertakes the project work and publications related to archaeological studies.

In due course of time, Society has also started publishing other journals such as Indian Ocean Archaeology (2004) and Purapravaha (2016) (Hindi), a push for the Hindi belt, and History Today (2000), annual journal of the History and Culture Society, a body sponsored by the Indian Archaeological Society.

The Society is committed to reveal the true nature of ancient civilization and perfect understanding of the past since it belongs to all of us and must be fully understood and properly preserved for the future.

The Society firmly believes that the discipline of archaeology is highly scientific and in the Indian context it can solve many historical problems.