Anant Sadashiv Altekar (24 September 1898 – 25 November 1960; ) was a historian,

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

, and

numismatist A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics, numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coi ...

from

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, India. He was the Manindra Chandra Nandy's Professor and Head of the Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture at

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or 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 tradition of I ...

, 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 Patna University is a public state university in Patna, Bihar, India. It was established on 1 October 1917 during the British Raj. It is the first university in Bihar and the seventh oldest university in the Indian subcontinent in the modern e ...

, both in

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

, India.

Early life

Anant Sadashiv Altekar was born into a Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin family on 24 September 1898 in Mhakave, a village in Kolhapur district,

Work in archeology

In 1936, at the invitation of the local government, he conducted an archaeological and historical survey of Kotah, 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 Vikram Samvat (ISO: ''Vikrama Saṁvata''; abbreviated VS), also known as the Vikrami calendar is a Hindu calendar historically used in the Indian subcontinent and still also used in several Indian states and Nepal. It is a lunisolar calendar, ...

(AD 238), the second-oldest Vikrama inscriptions known.. From 1951 to 1955 he led another excavation at

Kumhrar Kumhrar or Kumrahar is the area of Patna where remains of the ancient city of Pataliputra were excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India starting from 1913. It is located 5 km east of Patna Railway Station. Archaeological remains ...

, under the auspices of the Jayaswal Institute; his discoveries there confirmed the theories of David Brainard Spooner 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 The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...

. On display at the

Patna Museum Patna Museum is the state museum of the Indian state of Bihar. Founded on 3 April 1917 during the British Raj to house the historical artefacts found in the vicinity of Patna, it is constructed in the style of Mughal and Rajput architecture, a ...

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 legends, he was ...

Study of the history of education in India

Altekar corresponded in 1932 with

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

concerning

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

and the untouchable 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 the state-run public education system, which falls under the command of the government at three levels: Government of India, central, States and Territories of India, state and Local government in In ...

until around AD 1200, with some additional treatment of topics up to the start of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

.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 (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, Brahminic,

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

and

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

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 time of recorded India's history. Their position in society underwent significant changes during India's ancient period, particularly in the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan ...

.. Altekar's other books include * ''The Vakataka-Gupta Age'', * ''State and Government in Ancient India'', * '' Rāshṭrakūṭas and their times'', * ''History of Benares'', * and several books on Gupta

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

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 Academic staff of Banaras Hindu University Scientists from Maharashtra