Alexander Cunningham

Sir Alexander Cunningham (1814-1893) był brytyjskim inżynierem wojskowym i archeologiem, który założył i kierował Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Przydzielony do Bengal Engineers w 1833 roku, spędził dwadzieścia osiem lat w aktywnej służbie w Indiach i Birmie, zanim przeszedł na emeryturę w stopniu generała majora w 1861 roku. W tym samym roku zaproponował i został wyznaczony do kierowania ASI (1861-1885), inaugurując systematyczne badania, epigrafię i mapowanie starożytnych miejsc w Indiach.

Kierując się częściowo relacjami chińskiego pielgrzyma Xuanzanga, Cunningham wykopał lub zbadał Sarnath, Sanchi, Mahasthan (Pundranagarh), świątynię Mahabodhi w Bodh Gaya i wiele innych buddyjskich i wczesnohistorycznych pozostałości, kontynuując pracę Jeana-Baptiste Ventury w stupie Mankiala. Jego Inskrypcje Aśoki (1877) zapoczątkowały serię Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, podczas gdy jego obszerna kolekcja rzadkich indo-greckich i innych indyjskich monet jest obecnie przechowywana w British Museum. Cunningham został pasowany na rycerza w 1867 roku i spędził swoje ostatnie lata w Londynie, gdzie zmarł 28 listopada 1893 roku.

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Sir Alexander Cunningham (1814-1893) was a British military engineer and archaeologist who founded and directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Commissioned into the Bengal Engineers in 1833, he spent twenty-eight years on active service in India and Burma before retiring as a major-general in 1861. That same year he proposed, and was appointed to lead, the ASI (1861-1885), inaugurating systematic exploration, epigraphy, and mapping of India's ancient sites.

Guided in part by the accounts of the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, Cunningham excavated or surveyed Sarnath, Sanchi, Mahasthan (Pundranagarh), Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi Temple, and numerous other Buddhist and early historic remains, continuing Jean-Baptiste Ventura's work at the Mankiala stupa. His Inscriptions of Ashoka (1877) launched the Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum series, while his extensive collection of rare Indo-Greek and other Indian coins are now preserved in the British Museum. Cunningham was knighted in 1867 and spent his final years in London, where he died on 28 November 1893.

See also: Wikidata (Q455430), Wikipedia

Authored books

• 1843
  The Ancient Coinage of Kashmir
• 1894
  Coins of mediæval India

Articles

1843
• “The Ancient Coinage of Kashmir. With Chronological and Historical Notes, From the Commencement of the Christian Era to the Conquest of the Country by the Moguls”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Volume 6, pages 1-38.
1845
• “An Attempt to Explain Some of the Monograms Found Upon the Grecian Coins of Ariana and India”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Volume 8, pages 175-197.
1866
• “Coin of the Indian Prince Sophytes, a Contemporary of Alexander the Great”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 2, Volume 6, pages 220-231.
1868
• “Coins of Alexander's Successors in the East, the Greeks and Indo-Scythians. Part I.—the Greeks of Bactriana, Ariana, and India”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 2, Volume 8, pages 93-136.
• “Coins of Alexander's Successors in the East (Continued)”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 2, Volume 8, pages 181-213.
• “Coins of Alexander's Successors in the East. Part I.—Greeks of Bactriana, Ariana, and India. (Continued)”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 2, Volume 8, pages 257-283.
1869
• “Coins of Alexander's Successors in the East”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 2, Volume 9, pages 217-246.
• “Coins of Alexander's Successors in the East (Continued)”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 2, Volume 9, pages 28-46.
• “Coins of Alexander's Successors in the East (Continued)”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 2, Volume 9, pages 121-153.
• “Coins of Alexander's Successors in the East (Continued)”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 2, Volume 9, pages 293-318.
1870
• “Coins of Alexander's Successors in the East (Continued)”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 2, Volume 10, pages 65-90.
• “Coins of Alexander's Successors in the East (Continued)”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 2, Volume 10, pages 205-236.
1872
• “Coins of Alexander's Successors in the East”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 2, Volume 12, pages 157-185.
1873
• “Coins of Alexander's Successors in the East (Conclusion)”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 2, Volume 13, pages 187-219.
1888
• “Coins of the Indo-Scythian King Miaüs, or Heraüs”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 3, Volume 8, pages 47-58.
• “Coins of the Indo-Scythians”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 3, Volume 8, pages 199-248.
1889
• “Coins of the Tochari, Kushâns, or Yue-Ti”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 3, Volume 9, pages 268-311.
1892
• “Coins of the Kushâns, or Great Yue-Ti”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 3, Volume 12, pages 98-159.
• “Coins of the Kushâns, or Great Yue-Ti. Class C”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 3, Volume 12, pages 40-82.
1893
• “Later Indo-Scythians”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 3, Volume 13, pages 93-128.
• “Later Indo-Scythians. Scytho-Sassanians”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 3, Volume 13, pages 166-183.
• “Later Indo-Scythians: Little Kushâns”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 3, Volume 13, pages 184-202.
1894
• “Later Indo-Scythians. "Ephthalites, or White Huns"”, The Numismatic Chronicle, Series 3, Volume 14, pages 243-293.

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