Rai Bahadur RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy), Ministry of Eco ...

Daya Ram Sahni CIE (16 December 1879 – 7 March 1939) was an Indian archaeologist who supervised the excavation of the Indus valley site at Harappa in 1920 to 1921 But the first report of Harappan excavations came out in 1921, 29 March by John Marshall. Due to which various historians have chosen 1921 AD as the time of Harappan excavation. A protege of John Marshall, in 1931, Sahni became the first Indian to be appointed Director-General of the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...

(ASI), a position in which he served till 1935.

Early life and education

Daya Ram Sahni hailed from the city of

Bhera Bhera ( pa, ; ur, ) is a city and tehsil of Sargodha District, Punjab province of Pakistan. The city is known for wood-carved items, textiles (such as quilts and khussas), and certain desserts (such as pheonian and pateesa). The city i ...

Shahpur district Shahpur District was a district in current day Pakistan from 1893, during the British Raj, till 1960. From 1893 to 1914 Shahpur was the district headquarters. In 1914 the district headquarters were moved from Shahpur to Sargodha, although the dis ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

where he was born on 16 December 1879. Sahni graduated in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

from the Punjab University with a gold medal. He also topped the M. A. examination from the Oriental College in 1903. As a result of this accomplishments, Sahni won the Sanskrit scholarship sponsored by the Archaeological Survey of India and recruited by the survey on completion of his education.

As archaeologist

In 1903, Sahni was posted to the Punjab and United Provinces circle where he worked under J. Ph. Vogel. Sahni was involved in the excavation of Kasia in 1905 and

Rajgir Rajgir, meaning "The City of Kings," is a historic town in the district of Nalanda in Bihar, India. As the ancient seat and capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty and the Mauryan Empire, as well as the d ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

under John Marshall in January–February 1906. In September 1907, Sahni assisted Marshall in the excavation of a '' stupa'' at

Rampurva The Rampurva capitals are the capitals of a pair of Ashoka Pillars discovered in by A. C. L. Carlleyle. The archaeological site is called Rampurva, and is located in the West Champaran district of the Indian state of Bihar, situated very close ...

in Champaran district. He also prepared a catalogue of archaeological ruins at

Sarnath Sarnath (Hindustani pronunciation: aːɾnaːtʰ also referred to as Sarangnath, Isipatana, Rishipattana, Migadaya, or Mrigadava) is a place located northeast of Varanasi, near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers in Uttar Pr ...

. Sahni worked as

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

Lucknow Museum State Museum, Lucknow is a prominent museum located in the capital city of Uttar Pradesh, India. The museum is currently located in the Nawab Wajid Ali Shah Zoological Gardens, Banarasi Bagh, Lucknow. The museum was established in 1863 from t ...

from 1911 to 1912, when he was transferred to the archaeology department of Kashmir state. Sahni returned to Lahore in 1917 and was made incharge of United Provinces and Punjab. While working as Assistant Superintendent, Sahni excavated the Indus Valley site at Harappa, the first of the Indus Valley sites to be excavated. In the 1920 ASI Reports, Daya Ram Sahni describes his explorations from 1917 as he conducted preliminary investigations from ancient site near Harappa in the Montgomery District. In 1925, Sahni was transferred to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

as Deputy Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India and in July 1931, he succeeded Hargeaves as the Director-General of the ASI. Sahni was the first native Indian to be appointed to the post.

Honours

Sahni was awarded a "Rai Bahadur" medal in March 1920 by the Governor of Punjab at a durbar in Rawalpindi. Soon after his retirement from the ASI in 1935, Sahni was made a

Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

. archaeologist

References

* {{authority control 1879 births 1939 deaths Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire 20th-century Indian archaeologists Directors General of the Archaeological Survey of India 19th-century Indian archaeologists Scientists from Punjab, India People associated with the Indus Valley civilisation Indian institute directors Archaeologists in British India