Bal Krishen Thapar (18 October 1921 – 6 September 1995) was an Indian archaeologist who served as the

Director-general A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

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 Alexander ...

from 1978 to 1981. He was the founder of

INTACH The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is a non-profit charitable organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. In 2007, the United Nations awarded INTACH a special consultative status with the ...

Early life

Thapar was born to a cloth merchant in

Ludhiana Ludhiana () is the most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab.164.100.161.224 http://164.100.161.224 › filesPDF Ludhiana State: Punjab Business & Industrial Centre, Tier 2 1 ... The city has an estima ...

on 18 October 1921. On completing his M.A. in History from the

University of Punjab The University of the Punjab (UoP) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1882, its international influence has made it one of the most prestigious universities in South Asia; being the oldest and largest publ ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, Thapar joined the

and trained under

Mortimer Wheeler Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, CH Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire, CIE Military Cross, MC Territorial Decoration, TD (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976) was a British archaeolo ...

at the newly established Institute of Archaeology in

Taxila Taxila or Takshashila () is a city in the Pothohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is just south of the ...

. Thapar obtained a doctorate in West Asian archaeology from the

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

In the Archaeological Survey of India

Thapar participated in the archaeological excavations in

Kalibangan Kalibangān is a town located at on the left or southern banks of the Ghaggar (Ghaggar-Hakra River) in Tehsil Pilibangān, between Suratgarh and Hanumangarh in Hanumangarh District, Rajasthan, India 205 km from Bikaner. It is also ident ...

Purana Qila Purana Qila () is one of the oldest forts in Delhi, India. It was built by the second Mughal Emperor Humayun and Surid Sultan Sher Shah Suri. The fort forms the inner citadel of the city of Dinpanah. It is located near the expansive Pragati ...

and

Maski Maski is a town and an archaeological site in the Raichur district of the state of Karnataka, India.Amalananda Ghosh (1990), p282 It lies on the bank of the Maski river which is a tributary of the Tungabhadra. Maski derives its name from Mahasa ...

. He was also involved in the ASI's excavations at Farah Valley and Begram in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Other excavations he conducted and led include archaeological projects at

Hastinapur Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'' is described as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas; it is also mentioned in ancient Jain ...

Sisupalgarh Sisupalgarh or Sisupalagada () is situated in Khurda District in Odisha, India, and houses ruined fortifications. First inhabited around 7th to 6th centuries BCE, it is one of the largest and best-preserved early historic fortifications in Ind ...

Rupnagar Rupnagar (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Ropar) is a city and a municipal council in Rupnagar district in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab. Rupnagar is a newly created fifth Divisional Headquarters of Punjab compri ...

Kausambi Kosambi (Pali) or Kaushambi (Sanskrit) was an ancient city in India, characterized by its importance as a trading center along the Ganges Plain and its status as the capital of the Vatsa Kingdom, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas. It was locat ...

, Porkalam,

Somnath Prabhas Patan, historically named Dev Patan, is a locality in Veraval, Gujarat. As the site of the Somnath temple and its associated Jyotirlinga (an aniconic representation of the god Shiva), it is an important place of Hindu pilgrimage. Pl ...

Prakash Prakash is a common given name in Asian, Hindu, Sanskrit names and widely used in Nepal, India and Sri Lanka. Prakash is generally used as a masculine name. The word prakash is derived from the Sanskrit word , meaning "bright light" or "sun light" ...

Kuchai Kuchai is a village in the Kuchai CD block in the Seraikela Sadar subdivision of the Seraikela Kharsawan district in the Indian state of Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern I ...

, and Juna Pani. Thapar edited the Archaeological Survey of India's official journals ''Indian Archaeology'' from 1973 to 1979 and ''Purattatva'' from 1974 to 1978. In 1978, Thapar succeeded

M. N. Deshpande Madhusudan Narhar Deshpande (11 November 1920 – 7 August 2008), was an Indian archaeologist, art historian and conservator who served as the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1972 to 1978. Early life Deshpande was b ...

as the Director-general of the ASI and served till retirement in 1981.

Professional memberships

Thapar was a member of many academic bodies, both in India and abroad, including: * Chairman, Centre for Cultural Resources & Training (1982–92) * Secretary and Founding Member, Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage (1986–94) * Member, Advisory Committee,

American Institute of Indian Studies The American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS), founded in 1961, is a consortium of 90 universities and colleges in the United States that promotes the advancement of knowledge about India in the U.S. It carries out this purpose by: awarding fell ...

(1988–94) * Vice President, Executive Committee,

ICOMOS The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS; ) is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world. Now headquartered in Charenton-le-Pont, France, ICOMOS was fou ...

(1975–84) * Member, Permanent Council, Congress Internationale des Sciences Prehistoriques et Protohistoriques * Member, Indian National Committee for cooperation with

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

(1987–91) * Member International Editorial Committee of UNESCO – Projects on Scientific & Cultural History of Mankind and History of Civilisation of Central Asia * Member, UNESCO Consultative Committee on Silk Roads & Roads of Dialogue project * Correspondent Member,

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office, Federal Foreign Office of Germany. Status, tasks and ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

* Secretary, Central Advisory Board of Archaeology in India * Member,

Indian Science Congress Association Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India with headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal. The association started in the year 1914 in Calcutta and it meets annually in the first week of January. It h ...

* Member, Radiocarbon Dating Committee

Fellowships and awards

In 1992, Thapar was awarded the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

for Literature and Education by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. Thapar was awarded the Alexander Von Humboldt Scholarship in 1959. In 1993, he was awarded the

Asiatic Society of Bengal The Asiatic Society is an organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of " Oriental research" (in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions). It was founded by the philologist Will ...

medal, and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centenary Medal. Thapar was also a

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 ...

Fellow;

Churchill College Churchill College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but retains a strong interest in the arts ...

Fellow (1971), and a Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fellow (1981).

Death

Thapar died at

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

on 6 September 1995.

Selected publications

Indian megaliths in Asian context
' - with Arun Kumar Sharma (1994)
''Conservation of the Indian heritage''
- with

Bridget Allchin Bridget Allchin (10 February 1927 – 27 June 2017) was an archaeologist who specialised in South Asian archaeology. She published books, some co-authored with her husband, Raymond Allchin (1923–2010). Background She was born Bridget Go ...

and Frank Raymond Allchin (1989)
''Recent archaeological discoveries in India''
(1985)
Approaches to the Archaeological Heritage
' Chapter 7, India - Henry Cleere (1984)
History of Humanity: Scientific and Cultural Development.
' Book Chapter: The Indus Valley: 3000-1500 BC. Dani, A. H. and Mohan, J.-P. (eds.), Vol. II UNESCO and Rutledge: 246-265 - with

Mohammed Rafique Mughal Muhammad Rafiq Mugal (born 1936) is a Pakistani archaeologist, engaged in investigating of ethnoarchaeological research in Chitral, northern Pakistan. He has been responsible for the direction, technical support and supervision for restorati ...

(1996)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thapar, B. K. 1921 births 1995 deaths Directors general of the Archaeological Survey of India University of the Punjab alumni 20th-century Indian archaeologists Scientists from Ludhiana Indian institute directors Indian expatriates in Germany