Anant Sadashiv Altekar (24 September 1898 – 25 November 1960;
) was a historian,
archaeologist, and
numismatist
A numismatist is a specialist in numismatics ("of coins"; from Late Latin ''numismatis'', genitive of ''numisma''). Numismatists include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholars who use coins and other currency in object-based research. Altho ...
from
Maharashtra, India.
He was the
Manindra Chandra Nandy's Professor and Head of the Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture at
Banaras Hindu University in
Varanasi
Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.
*
*
*
* The city has a syncretic t ...
, India,
[. Reprint of 1946 edition.] and later the director of the Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute and University Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture at the
Patna University, both in
Patna
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
, India.
Early life
Anant Sadashiv Altekar was born into a
Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin
Deshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and northern area of the state of Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Bra ...
family on 24 September 1898 in
Mhakave, a village in
Kolhapur district,
Maharashtra.
Work in archeology
In 1936, at the invitation of the local government, he conducted an archaeological and historical survey of
Kotah
Kota (), previously known as ''Kotah'', is a city located in the southeast of northern Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located about south of the state capital, Jaipur, situated on the banks of Chambal River. With a population of over 1. ...
, and made many discoveries there, including the excavation of many old forts and temples; the most important of his discoveries from this expedition were three stone pillars dated to the year 295 of the
Vikrama Era (AD 238), the second-oldest Vikrama inscriptions known.
[.] From 1951 to 1955 he led another excavation at
Kumhrar, under the auspices of the Jayaswal Institute; his discoveries there confirmed the theories of
David Brainard Spooner
David Brainerd Spooner (February 7, 1879 - January 30, 1925) was an American archaeologist and linguist. He was born at Vernon, Vermont.
Spooner graduated from Stanford University in 1899. Spooner first went to Japan to the Prefectural Colleg ...
that the site, which Altekar described as "probably the earliest huge stone-pillared structure to be built by Indian architects", was a relic of the
Maurya Empire. On display at the
Patna Museum is a casket excavated by Altekar at a Buddhist monastery near
Vaishali in 1958, said to contain the ashes of the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in ...
.
Study of the history of education in India
Altekar corresponded in 1932 with
Gandhi concerning
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or ''dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global po ...
and the
untouchable
Untouchable or The Untouchable may refer to:
People
* Untouchability, the practice of socially ostracizing a minority group of very low social status
** A word for the Dalits or Scheduled Caste of India, a group that experiences untouchability
* ...
castes. His 1934 book ''Education in Ancient India'' provided a comprehensive review of all aspects of
education in India
Education in India is primarily managed by state-run public education system, which fall under the command of the government at three levels: central, state and local. Under various articles of the Indian Constitution and the Right of Ch ...
until around AD 1200, with some additional treatment of topics up to the start of the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Q ...
.
[Review by V. Raghavan]
, ''Triveni'', Nov.-Dec. 1933, retrieved 14 September 2009. In his book, Altekar collected extensive historical information on education in India from
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...
, Brahminic,
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist '' Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Bud ...
and
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
literature, along with inscriptions and accounts by foreign travellers. He also included defects in his study in the last chapter.
[ In the book, Altekar proposes a theory of steady decline in Indian literacy from an earlier golden age, which later scholars such as Hartmut Scharfe dismissed as "sheer phantasy".][.] Scharfe called Altekar an apologist, that his anti-British theory may have been influenced by his participation in the freedom struggle against British colonialism in 1930s when the book was first published. Scharfe acknowledges Altekar collected useful historical information.[
]
Other academic projects
Altekar's book ''The Position of Women in Hindu Civilization From Prehistoric Times to the Present Day'' (1938) was the first historical survey of the status of women in India
The status of women in India has been subject to many changes over the span of recorded Indian history. Their position in society deteriorated early in India's ancient period, especially in the Indo-Aryan speaking regions, and their subordinat ...
.[.]
Altekar's other books include
* ''The Vakataka-Gupta Age'',Gupta
Gupta () is a common surname or last name of Indian origin. It is based on the Sanskrit word गोप्तृ ''goptṛ'', which means 'guardian' or 'protector'. According to historian R. C. Majumdar, the surname ''Gupta'' was adopted by se ...
coin
A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in orde ...
age.
In 1947 Altekar was elected the first chairman of the Numismatic Society of India, and in 1960 the ''Journal of the Numismatic Society of India'' published a commemorative volume in his honour.[.] Altekar also chaired the All India Oriental Conference in 1958.[.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altekar, Anant Sadashiv
1898 births
1960 deaths
Marathi-language writers
20th-century Indian historians
Banaras Hindu University faculty
Scientists from Maharashtra