Sankalia was born in Mumbai into a family of lawyers hailing from Gujarat. A frail infant, he was not expected to survive. At age fifteen, Sankalia read the Gujarati translation of Lokmanya Tilak's The Arctic Home in the Vedas. Although he understood little of the book, he was determined to "do something to know about the Aryans in India". To this end, Sankalia decided to emulate Tilak and study Sanskrit and mathematics. He received a B.A. degree in Sanskrit, and received the Chimanlal Ranglal Prize. Sankalia made Indian prehistory his life's work, and never lost sight of the origin of the Indo-Aryan peoples.. He studied English, which introduced him to textual criticism, and wrote an article on Kundamala and the Uttararamacarita in which he convincingly proved that Dinnaga influenced Bhavabhuti. Bengali scholar K. K. Dutt arrived at similar conclusion independently of Sankalia. Sankalia studied ancient Indian history for his M. A. degree at the new Indian Historical Research Institute, and worked on the ancient university at Nalanda for his M.A. dissertation. His dissertation included chapters on history, art and architecture, iconography and the influence of the Nalanda school of art on Greater India. Sankalia visited a number of sites, and studied Buddhism with B. Bhattacharya. These studies led to his later study of Gujarat. He passed the LLB examinations at the request of his father and uncle, and was expected to follow them. However, Sankalia decided to go to England for his doctoral degree. He wrote an essay, "Caitya caves in the Bombay Presidency", which earned the Bhagwan Lal Indraji prize.
In London
Sankalia left for England, and enrolled at the University of London for his PhD on the archaeology of Gujarat. He studied under Bernard Ashmole, Sidney Smith, K. de B. Codrington, F. J. Richards and R. E. M. Wheeler . From Richards, Sankalia learnt geography, geology, anthropology, ethnography and toponymy. He focused on the latter, applying it to inscriptions in Gujarat and elsewhere. Sankalia encouraged his students to pursue toponymy, opening a new field in Indian archaeology. Wheeler, who was excavating at the site of Maiden Castle, Dorset and had perfected his field techniques, was a significant influence. He lectured on field techniques, in addition to providing practical training. Sankalia said about Wheeler's training, "The training was brief, lasting just about a month or so, but it was of immense importance for my future career. I learnt here, not only what was stratigraphical digging and drawing a section and three-dimensional recording of finds but was also made aware of the necessity of minute-to-minute supervision of the trench under one’s charge for at any moment the layer might change and be noted as early as possible". Sankalia, influenced by Wheeler, was a proponent of popular archaeology.
After returning to India, Sankalia joined Deccan College in 1939 as a professor of proto- and ancient Indian history and began systematic surveys of the monuments in and around Pune with his students. These yielded papers on the megaliths of Bhavsari and the Yadava-period Temple of Pur. At the request of Archaeological Survey of India director general K. N. Dikshit, Sankalia undertook explorations in Gujarat to test Bruce Foote's hypothesis of a hiatus between the Lower Palaeolithic and Neolithic phases; this made him into a prehistorian. He also conducted other expeditions in Gujarat. During his second expedition, Sankalia found the first human Stone Age skeleton. The Mesolithic site of Langhnaj, "the first Stone Age site to have been excavated scientifically", was excavated stratigraphically. F. E. Zeuner, an authority on environmental archaeology, was invited by Wheeler to interpret the palaeoclimate of Gujarat. Sankalia was profoundly influenced by Zeuner, from whom he learnt geochronology, geology, the stratigraphy of geological deposits and pluvial and inter-pluvial mechanics.
Sankalia excavated the Kolhapur site in 1945-46 with M. G. Dikshit. Before the excavation, his detailed surveys of the banks of the Godavari River and its tributaries revealed a flake-tool industry. These findings were also observed in a stratigraphical deposit at Gangapur, near Nasik, where flakes, cleavers and hand axes were discovered. This developed industry, as later research proved, was part of the Middle Palaeolithic. Sankalia's explorations in the Pravara River valley yielded palaeolithic industries and animal fossils.
Nasik–Jorwe
The occurrence of Northern Black Polished Ware at Nasik, reported to Sankalia by M. N. Deshpande, made him anxious to unearth evidence correlating to the Early Historical Period and unearth pre- and proto-historic cultures. The excavation was successfully carried out.
Maheshwar–Navdatoli
Sankalia's success at Nasik–Jorwe inspired him to excavate the site at Maheshwar to prove the tradition's historicity. The excavation was carried out at the site and at Navdatoli in 1952-53 in a joint expedition with the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. This revealed a developed chalcolithic culture dating to between the decline of the Harappan Civilisation and the beginning of the Early Historical Period, largely explaining the hiatus between the periods. The culture was interpreted by Sankalia, mainly on the basis of resemblance of its pottery to that of Iran, as of Aryan origin. The horizontal excavation at Navdatoli was made in 1957-59 to reveal the settlement pattern, reconstruct the socioeconomic life of the chalcolithic people, and corroborate Sankalia's Aryan hypothesis.
Sankalia's excavation at Nevasa, intended to prove the legend of its association with Jnaneshvara, revealed human occupation from the Lower Palaeolithic era to the Muslim-Maratha period.
Sankalia went to Kashmir to study its geological deposits, which had been investigated by De Terra, Paterson, and Wadia without finding early human evidence. When Sankalia was examining a deposit he saw a worked flake with a prominent bulb of percussion, establishing the existence of early humans in Kashmir. He also discovered a hand axe in the same deposit, dating to the ice age or slightly later.
After establishing the cultural sequence of the Chalcolithic cultures in Deccan and Central India, Sankalia wanted to reconstruct the lives of the Chalcolithic people with large-scale horizontal excavations at Nevasa and Navdatoli. The former site was found to be highly disturbed and the deposits overlying the Chalcolithic layers were too thick to be thoroughly removed, and the plan was abandoned. The site of Inamgaon was well-preserved, however, and was excavated over a 12-year period. After Sankalia’s retirement in 1973 the excavation was completed by Z. D. Ansari and M. K. Dhavalikar, and its report was published in three volumes.
Early humans in Sachchidananda
After his retirement, Sankalia lived on campus and was appointed professor emeritus of the department. At his home, he discovered what he believed were palaeolithic implements. After publishing his studies on the Ramayana, new archaeology and prehistoric art, he died at age 80 on 28 January 1989.
Other activities
Sankalia captained a cricket team on College Day. He also enjoyed kite-flying and gardening.
Awards
Sankalia received the Narmad Suvarna Chandrak in 1976 for his book, Akhand Bharatma Sanskrutino Ushakal.
