Sir Marc Aurel Stein, (; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British

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, ...

, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at Indian universities. Stein was also an ethnographer, geographer, linguist and surveyor. His collection of books and manuscripts bought from Dunhuang caves is important for the study of the history of

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

and the art and literature of

Buddhism 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 ...

. He wrote several volumes on his expeditions and discoveries which include ''Ancient Khotan'', ''Serindia'' and ''Innermost Asia''.

Early life

Stein was born to Náthán Stein and Anna Hirschler, a Jewish couple residing in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. His parents and his sister retained their Jewish faith but Stein and his brother, Ernst Eduard, were baptised as

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

s. At home the family spoke German and Hungarian, Stein graduated from a secondary school in Budapest before going on for advanced study at Universities of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

. He graduated in

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 ...

and Persian and received his PhD from Tübingen in 1883. In 1884, he went to England to study oriental languages and archaeology. In 1886, Stein met the Indologist and philologist Rudolf Hoernlé in Vienna at a conference of Orientalists, learning about an ancient mathematical manuscript discovered in Bakhshali (

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

). In 1887 Stein went to India, where he joined the University of the Punjab as Registrar. Later, between 1888 and 1899, he was the Principal of Oriental College, Lahore. During this time, under his supervision Raghunath Temple Sanskrit Manuscript Library at Jammu was established which treasures 5000 rare manuscripts.

Expeditions

Genesis

Stein was influenced by Sven Hedin's 1898 work ''Through Asia''. In June 1898, he sought the help of Hoernle and a collaboration to find and study Central Asian antiquities. Hoernle was enthusiastic as he had already deciphered the Bower Manuscript and Weber Manuscript by then, found these to be respectively the oldest known birch bark and paper manuscripts of ancient India at the time, had received more artefacts and manuscripts but was concerned about the circumstances of their discovery and their authenticity. He recommended that Stein prepare an expedition proposal and submit it to the Governments of Punjab and India. Stein sent a draft proposal to Hoernle within a month. Hoernle discussed it with Lt Governor of Punjab (British India), who expressed enthusiasm. Stein then submitted a full proposal to explore, map and study the antiquities of Central Asia as per the recommendations of Hoernle, who personally petitioned both the Government of Punjab and Government of India, lobbying for a quick approval. Within weeks, Stein's proposal was informally approved. In January 1899, Stein received the formal approval and funds for his first expedition. Stein thereafter received approval and support for additional expeditions to Chinese Turkestan, other parts of Tibet and Central Asia where the Russians and Germans were already taking interest. He made his famous expeditions with the financial support of Punjab government and the British India government.

The four expeditions

Stein made four major expeditions to

—in 1900–1901, 1906–1908, 1913–1916 and 1930. He brought to light the hidden treasure of a great civilization which by then was practically lost to the world. One of his significant finds during his first journey during 1900–1901 was the Taklamakan Desert oasis of Dandan Oilik where he was able to uncover a number of relics. During his third expedition in 1913–1916, he excavated at Khara-Khoto. Later he explored in the Pamirs, seeking the site of the now-lost Stone Tower which the 2nd century polymath Claudius Ptolemy had noted as the half-way mark of the

Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

in his famous treatise ''

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

''. The

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

's Stein collection of Chinese, Tibetan and Tangut manuscripts, Prakrit wooden tablets, and documents in Khotanese, Uyghur, Sogdian and Eastern Turkic is the result of his travels through central Asia during the 1920s and 1930s. Stein discovered manuscripts in the previously lost

Tocharian languages The Tocharian (sometimes ''Tokharian'') languages ( ; ), also known as the ''Arśi-Kuči'', Agnean-Kuchean or Kuchean-Agnean languages, are an extinct branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken by inhabitants o ...

of the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...

at Miran and other oasis towns, and recorded numerous archaeological sites, especially in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and Balochistan. When Stein visited Khotan he was able to render in Persian a portion of the Shahnama after he came across a local reading the Shahnama in Turki. During 1901, Stein was responsible for exposing forgeries of Islam Akhun, as well as establishing the details and the authenticity of manuscripts that had been discovered before 1896 in northwest China. Stein's greatest discovery was made at the Mogao Caves, also known as "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas", near Dunhuang in 1907. It was there that he discovered a printed copy of the ''

Diamond Sutra The ''Diamond Sutra'' (Sanskrit: ) is a Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism, Buddhist sutra from the genre of ('perfection of wisdom') sutras. Translated into a variety of languages over a broad geographic range, the ''Diamond Sūtra'' is one of th ...

'' which is the world's oldest printed text, dating to AD 868, along with 40,000 other scrolls (all removed by gradually winning the confidence and bribing the

Taoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

caretaker). He took 24 cases of manuscripts and 4 cases of paintings, decorated textiles (such as the '' Miraculous Image of Liangzhou'') and relics. He was knighted for his efforts, but Chinese nationalists dubbed him a burglar and staged protests against him, although most others have seen his actions as at least advancing scholarship. His discovery inspired other French, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese treasure hunters and explorers who also took their toll on the collection. Aurel Stein discovered 5 letters written in Sogdian known as the "Ancient Letters" in an abandoned watchtower near Dunhuang in 1907, dating to the end of the Western Jin dynasty. During his expedition of 1906–1908 while surveying south of the Johnson Line in the Kunlun Mountains, Stein suffered frostbite and lost several toes on his right foot. When he was resting from his extended journeys into Central Asia, he spent most of his time living in a tent in the alpine meadow called Mohand Marg which lies at the mouth atop the Sind Valley. Years earlier, working from this idyllic spot he translated '' Rajatarangini '' from

into English, which had then been published in 1900. A memorial stone was erected in Mohand Marg on 14 September 2017 where Stein used to pitch his tent. The fourth expedition to Central Asia, however, ended in failure. Stein did not publish any account, but others have written of the frustrations and rivalries between British and American interests in China, between Harvard's Fogg Museum and the British Museum, and finally, between Paul J. Sachs and Langdon Warner, the two Harvard sponsors of the expedition. Between 1940 and 1943, Aurel Stein undertook 2 expeditions to along the

Ghaggar-Hakra River The Ghaggar-Hakra River () is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season. The river is known as Ghaggar before the Ottu barrage at , and as Hakra downstream of the barrage in the Thar Desert. In pre-Ha ...

to find physical evidence of the Saraswati River described in the

Rig Veda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...

. While he didn't definitively establish the region's chronological archaeological sequence, his work significantly advanced Indian archaeology. Surveying from Hanumangarh to Bahawalpur, he identified approximately 100 prehistoric and historical sites, conducting exploratory excavations at some. His observations on the geographical spread of these sites proved valuable to later researchers, including Amalananda Ghosh (3 March 1910 – 1981) and Katy Dalal. Notably, he documented sites such as Munda, Bhadrakali Temple, and Derwar.From Kashmir to China—Aurel Stein’s expeditions helped unlock secrets of ancient civilisations
The Print, 24 Feb 2024.

Personal life

Stein was a lifelong bachelor, but was always accompanied by a dog named "Dash" (of which there were seven). He became a British citizen in 1904. He died in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

on 26 October 1943 and is buried there in the Sherpur Cantonment.

Great Game

Stein, as well as his rivals Sven Hedin, Sir Francis Younghusband and Nikolai Przhevalsky, were active players in the British-Russian struggle for influence in Central Asia, the so-called Great Game. Their explorations were supported by the British and Russian Empires as they filled in the remaining "blank spots" on the maps, providing valuable information and creating "

spheres of influence In the field of international relations, a sphere of influence (SOI) is a spatial region or concept division over which a state or organization has a level of cultural, economic, military, or political exclusivity. While there may be a formal a ...

" for archaeological exploration as they did for political influence. Textile fragment from Loulan Xinjiang China

The art objects he collected are divided between the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, the

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

Museum, and the National Museum, New Delhi.

Honours

Stein received a number of honours during his career. In 1909, he was awarded the Founder's Medal by the Royal Geographical Society 'for his extensive explorations in Central Asia, and in particular his archaeological work'. In 1909, he was awarded the first Campbell Memorial Gold Medal by the Royal Asiatic Society of Bombay. He was awarded a number of other gold medals: the Gold Medal of the Société de Géographie in 1923; the ''Grande Médaille d'or'' of the

Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society, was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encourag ...

in 1932; and the Gold Medal of the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

in 1935. In 1934, he was awarded the Huxley Memorial Medal of Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. In the 1910 King's Birthday Honours, he was appointed Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) for his service as Inspector-General of Education and Archaeological Surveyor in the North-West Frontier Province. Two years later, in the 1912 Birthday Honours, he was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) for his service as Superintendent of the Archaeological Department, North-West Frontier Circle. He was made an honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

(DLitt) by the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1909. He was made an honorary

Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

(DSc) by the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1910. He was made an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) by the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

in 1939. In 1919, Stein became a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1921, he was elected

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

(FBA). He was elected an International Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1930 and an International Member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1939.

Publications

* 1896. "Notes on the Ancient Topography of the Pīr Pantsāl Route." ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'', Vol. LXIV, Part I, No. 4, 1895. Calcutta 1896. * 1896. ''Notes on Ou-k'ong's account of Kaçmir.'' Wien: Gerold, 1896. Published in both English and German in Vienna. * 1898. ''Detailed Report on an Archaeological Tour with the Buner Field Force'', Lahore, Punjab Government Press. * 1900. '' – A Chronicle of the Kings of '', 2 vols. London, A. Constable & Co. Ltd. Reprint, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1979.
1904 ''Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan'', London, Hurst and Blackett, Ltd.
Reprint Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, Madras, 200
Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan: vol.1
* 1905. ''Report of Archaeological Survey Work in the North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan'', Peshawar, Government Press, N.W. Frontier Province.
1907. ''Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan'', 2 vols. Clarendon Press. Oxford.

at dsr.nii.ac.jpAncient Khotan: vol.1Ancient Khotan: vol.2

1912. ''Ruins of Desert Cathay: Personal Narrative of Explorations in Central Asia and Westernmost China'', 2 vols. London, Macmillan & Co.
Reprint: Delhi. Low Price Publications. 1990
Ruins of Desert Cathay: vol.1Ruins of Desert Cathay: vol.2
* 1918. "Routes from the Panjab to Turkestan and China Recorded by William Finch (1611)." ''The Geographical Journal'', Vol. 51, No. 3 (Mar., 1918), pp. 172–175. * 1921a. ''Serindia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China'', 5 vols. London & Oxford, Clarendon Press. Reprint: Delhi. Motilal Banarsidass. 1980.Serindia: vol.1Serindia: vol.2Serindia: vol.3Serindia: vol.4Serindia: vol.5
* 1921b. ''The Thousand Buddhas: ancient Buddhist paintings from the cave-temples of Tung-huang on the western frontier of China.''The Thousand Buddhas: vol.1
* 1921c. "A Chinese expedition across the Pamirs and Hindukush, A.D. 747". ''Indian Antiquary'' 1923.http://www.pears2.lib.ohio-state.edu/FULLTEXT/TR-ENG/aurel.htm
1923 Memoir On Maps Of Chinese Turkistan
* 1923
Memoir on Maps of Chinese Turkistan and Kansu: vol.1
'' * 1925 ''Innermost Asia: its geography as a factor in history''. London: Royal Geographical Society. Geographical Journal, Vol. 65, nos. 5–6 (May- June 1925) * 192
''Alexander's Campaign On The Indian North-west Frontier''. The Geographic Journal, (Nov/Dec 1927)
* 1928. ''Innermost Asia: Detailed Report of Explorations in Central Asia, Kan-su and Eastern Iran'', 5 vols. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Reprint: New Delhi. Cosmo Publications. 1981.Innermost Asia: vol.1Innermost Asia: vol.2Innermost Asia: vol.3Innermost Asia: vol.4
* 1929. ''On Alexander's Track to the Indus: Personal Narrative of Explorations on the North-West Frontier of India''. London, Macmillan & Co. Reprint: New York, Benjamin Blom, 1972. * 1932 ''On Ancient Central Asian Tracks: Brief Narrative of Three Expeditions in Innermost Asia and Northwestern China''. Reprinted with Introduction by Jeannette Mirsky. Book Faith India, Delhi. 1999. * 1933
On Ancient Central-Asian Tracks: vol.1
'' * 1937
Archaeological Reconnaissances in North-Western India and South-Eastern Īrān: vol.1
'' * 1940 ''Old Routes of Western Iran: Narrative of an Archaeological Journey Carried out and Recorded'', MacMillan and co., limited. St. Martin's Street, London. * 1944. "Archaeological Notes from the Hindukush Region". ''J.R.A.S.'', pp. 1–24 + fold-out. A more detailed list of Stein's publications is available in ''Handbook to the Stein Collections in the UK'', pp. 49–61.

Footnotes

References and further reading

* Baumer, Christoph. 2000. ''Southern Silk Road: In the Footsteps of Sir Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin''. White Orchid Books. Bangkok. * Brysac, Shareen. "Sir Aurel Stein's Fourth 'American' Expedition."
Archeology Archive
Viewed 21 December 2014. * Deuel, Leo. 1965. ''Testaments of Time; the Search for Lost Manuscripts and Records''. Knopf, New York, 1965. paperback reprint: Pelican, Baltimore, 1970. * Falconer, John et al. 2002. ''Catalogue of the Collections of Sir Aurel Stein in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences''. Budapest, LHAS and British Museum. . * Falconer, John et al. 2007. "Supplement to the Catalogue of the Collections of Sir Aurel Stein in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Budapest, LHAS. . * Hansen, Valerie. 2012. ''The Silk Road: A New History'', Oxford University Press . * Hopkirk, Peter. 1980. ''Foreign Devils on the Silk Road''. John Murray (Publishers). Paperback edition, University of Massachusetts Press 1984. . * Ikle, Frank W. "Sir Aurel Stein. A Victorian Geographer in the Tracks of Alexander", ''Isis'' 59, no. 2 (1968): 144–55. Accessed March 24, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/228275 . * Kelecsényi, Ágnes, 2004. "Stein Aurél (1862–1943) És a Magyar Tudomány Kapcsolatok a Magyar Tudományos Akadémiával – Stein-gyűjtemények a Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Könyvtárában" hD thesis: Aurel Stein and Hungarian academia* * * Morgan, Joyce; Walters, Conrad, ''Journeys on the Silk Road: a desert explorer, Buddha's secret library, and the unearthing of the world's oldest printed book'', Picador Australia, 2011, . * Pandita, S.N., ''Aurel Stein in Kashmir: Sanskrit of Mohand Marg''. Om Publications, 2004. . * Walker, Annabel. 1999. ''Aurel Stein: Pioneer of the Silk Road''. University of Washington Press. . * Wang, Helen (ed.). 1999. ''Handbook to the Stein Collections in the UK''. British Museum Occasional Paper 129.
fully available online
. * Wang, Helen (ed.). 2002. ''Sir Aurel Stein in The Times''. London, Saffron Books. . * Wang, Helen (ed.). 2004. ''Sir Aurel Stein. Proceedings of the British Museum Study Day, 2002''. British Museum Occasional Paper 142.

* Wang, Helen (ed.). 2012. ''Sir Aurel Stein, Colleagues and Collections'', British Museum Research Publication 184, . (This an online publication only
fully available online
* Wang, Helen and Perkins, John (eds). 2008. ''Handbook to the Collections of Sir Aurel Stein in the UK''. British Museum Research Publication 129 (updated and expanded edition of ''Handbook to the Stein Collections in the UK'', 1999). . * Wang Jiqing, Photographs in the British Library of Documents and Manuscripts from Sir Aurel Stein's Fourth Central Asian Expedition

* Susan Whitfield, Whitfield, Susan. 2004. ''Aurel Stein on the Silk Road''. Serindia Publications. ; also: The British Museum Press, London. .

External links

Central Asian Antiquities
at the National Museum of India, New Delhi.
Aurel Stein in Kashmir
, Kashmir Bhawan Center, Luton, United Kingdom.
The International Dunhuang Project
Website of the

project A project is a type of assignment, typically involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a specific objective. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of events: a "set of interrelated tasks to be ...

to conserve, catalogue, digitise and research the artefacts found in the Dunhuang Caves.
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books
Digital versions of books by Marc Aurel Stein.

in Hungarian

An exhibition of his archive photos in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 2007.

A Hong Kong exhibition of his archive photos and documents conserved in the Oriental Collection of the LHAS, 2008. Preliminary articles on the web publication

an

British Museum – Sir Aurel Stein
at www.britishmuseum.org ''Sir Aurel Stein, proceedings of the British Museum study day, 23 March 2002'' (online publication)

*
The Collections of Sir Aurel Stein at the British Museum
* * *
Aurel Stein
in ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Stein, Marc Aurel 1862 births 1943 deaths Hungarian people of Jewish descent British people of Hungarian-Jewish descent British archaeologists British explorers Hungarian explorers Hungarian book and manuscript collectors Explorers of Central Asia Central Asian studies scholars Hungarian Lutherans Fellows of the British Academy University of Vienna alumni Leipzig University alumni University of Tübingen alumni Academic staff of the University of the Punjab Writers from Budapest Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom People associated with the British Museum People from Lahore Academic staff of the Oriental College Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United Kingdom Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences International members of the American Philosophical Society British people in colonial India Explorers of South Asia Archaeologists of Central Asia British Lutherans