ASI And The Babri Masjid Excavation: A Timeline

Last year, on 22 January 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the grand Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya. It was built at the site of the 16th-century Babri Mosque which was razed to the ground in 1992 by Hindu mobs 🎉who believed it was built on the ruins of a temple marking the birthplace of Lord Ram. What paved the way for the building of the new Ram Mandir was a Supreme Court verdict in 2019 that the disputed site in Ayodhya should be given to Hindus who wanted a t𓆉emple built there, while Muslims would receive another plot of land to construct a mosque.

In the Supreme Court’s verdict, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report, released in 2003, played a key role. The Supreme Court referred to the ASI report to observe that the Babri Masjid, which stood on the disputed site until its demolition in 1992, was not built on vacant land. The report indicated evidence of a temple-like structure having existed oꦏn the land before the mosque was built. However, the Supreme Court also stated that the ASI had not established whether a temple was demolished to build the mosque.

The ASI report of August 2003 was the fifth on the historical topography of Ayodhya, a temple town in Faizabad district. Below is a timeline of ASI reports related to th🦄e transition from Babri Mosque to Ram Temple.

First ASI Survey By Cunningham (1862-63)

In 1862–63, Alexander Cunningham, founder of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), conducted the first survey of Ayodhya. His primary interest was identifying places linked to Buddhism, as mentioned in the records of Chinese Buddhist monks Fa Xian and Xuan Zang. According to him, Gautama Buddha spentꦉ six years at this place. Although Ayodhya is mentioned in several ancient Hindu texts, Cunningham found no ancient structures in the city.

Second ASI Survey By Alois Anton Führer (1889–91)

In 1889-91, an ASI team led by Alois Anton Führer conducted another survey. Führer did not find any ancient statues, sculptures, or pi🍸llars marking the sites of other ancient cities. He described "a low irregular mass of rubbish heaps," from which materials had been used to build the neighbouring Muslim city of Faizabad. The only ancient structures he found were three earthen mounds to the south of the city: Maniparbat, Kuberparbat, and Sugribparbat. He noted that the existing Brahmanical and Jain temples in the city were modern, though they occupied sites of ancient temples believed to have been destroyed by Muslims.

British-Era Dispute And Fencing (1853-1859)

The first recorded violence over the site occurred during the reign of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh in 1853. Nirmohis, a Hindu sect, claimed that a Hindu temple had been destroyed during Babur's time to build the mosque. In 1859, the British colonial administration erected a fence at the site to separate the places of worship. Muslims were allowed to use the inner court, while H🦄indus were permitted to w🌟orship in the outer court.

Idols Appear Inside Mosque (1949)

Lord Ram's idols appeared inside the mosque in 1949, allegedly placed by Hindu groups. Both sides filed suits, and the government declared the area dis🍎puted, locking the gates to the premises.

Third ASI Survey By Professor A.K. Narain (1969-70)

The first excavation after independence took place in 1969–70 when A.K. Narain of Banaras Hindu University excavated three places outside the immediate vicinity of Babri Masjid. He dated Ayodhya’s establishment to the early 17th century 🐈BCE and observed that there was strong evidence of Jain presence in the area.

Fourth ASI Survey By B.B. Lal (1975-76)

Braj Basi Lal, a former Director General of ASI, led excavations in Ayodhya from 1975 to 1980. He has seemingly given the first hint of archaeological evidence of a temple below Babri Masjid. In 1990, amid the rising Ram Janmabhoomi movement, and more than 10 years after he had excavated Ayodhya, Lal, in an article, announced that he had recovered Hindu temple pillar-bases during the excavation. The article was published in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) magazine Manthan.

Babri Mosque Demolition (1992)

On December 6, 1992, a mob of thousands of right-wing Hindu youths, armed with shovels, hammers, iron rods, and pickaxes, charged toward the outer police cordon protecting the mosque. They climbed the mosque’s central dome and began hacking at the mortar. Soon, the entire structure was reduced to rubble. With the demolition of the mosque, the site, which had long been a religious flashpoint for the two communities, Hindu-Muslim riots broke out across ꧑the country that killed 2,000 people, mostly Muslims.

Allahabad High Court Orders Excavations By ASI (2002)

On 1 August 2002, the Allahabad High Court ordered excavations by the ASI to determine whether a temಞple had existed at the site before the 16th-century Babri Masjid. The court’s decis🥀ion was the first time archaeological knowledge was formally requisitioned as evidence in a legal title dispute.

ASI Report Submitted To Court (2003)

The Ayodhya excavation concluded on August 12, 2003, and the report was submitted to the High Court on August 22, 2003. The 574-page, two-volume report was prepared in 10 days. It found features of a 12th-century temple beneath the mosque’s site. Critics argued that the repor♏t was biased and failed to provide adequate evidence.

Allahabad High Court Verdict (2010)

On September 30, 2010, a three-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court attempted to resolve the six-decade-old dispute by ruling that the disputed religious site in Ayodhya should be shared by both communities. Citing the ASI’s 2003 report, the court divided the land among Hindu and Muslim gღroups. Two-thirds of the land was awarded to Hindu parties, while the remaining portion was given to the Wakf Board. Each side was required to provide entry and exit rights to the other. However, neither party was satisfied with the verdict. All filed an appeal to the Supreme Court. The decision was stayed by the Supreme Court in 2011.

Supreme Court’s Final Judgement (2019)

On 9 November 2019, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of a Hindu temple and ordered alternative land be provided for Muslims to build a mosque. The judges said that the demolition of the mosque in 1992 was “in violation of the status quo orders of tဣhis court.” 

The court referenced the ASI report, which found remains of a structure beneath the Babri mosque that was "not Islamic." The judgement noted that the identified structure dated back to the 12th century, four centuries before Babur arrived in India. Moreover, it also acknow💛ledged that there was no evidence to show that the 12th-century structure has anything to do with the mosque itself.