Hiranand Sastri (1878–1946) was an Indian archaeologist, epigraphist and official 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 ...

who was involved in the excavation of numerous sites including

Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...

and

Sankissa Sankissa (also ''Sankasia'', ''Sankassa'' and ''Sankasya'') is an ancient city in India renown for the descent of Gautama Buddha from the Tushita heavens where he taught his mother before landing at Sankissa. Considered among the eight great p ...

. His son, Sachchidananda Vatsyayan 'Agyeya', Nityanand hiranand vatsyayan and Ramananda Shastri was a Hindi language poet and writer.

Early life

Sastri was born in 1878 in

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. He graduated from the D.A.V. College,

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 ...

, winning a Gold Medal in the BA examination in the

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 English subjects. He obtained an MA from the Oriental College, Lahore (under

Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a state university in Kapurthala, Punjab * Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Techn ...

), and again won a Gold Medal.

Career

Sastri started his career as a professor of Sanskrit and Philosophy at D.A.V. College, and later, he became a reader in Sanskrit at the Punjab University, teaching Sanskrit and Comparative Philology. He passed the Honours Examination in Sanskrit and received the Master of Oriental Learning (MOL). He joined the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1903 and was appointed as an assistant archaeologist surveyor in the Northern Circle. Soon after, he was deputed by

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...

, the then director general of ASI, to survey some archaeological sites in the

Ganga The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary riv ...

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

doab, where he found some copper hoard objects. He explored and surveyed sites in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

including Rajpur Parasu, Bithoor, Parihar,

Kullu Kullu () is a municipal council town that serves as the administrative headquarters of the Kullu district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is located on the banks of the Beas River in the Kullu Valley about north of the airport ...

, Mandi and Suket. He was the first person to have noticed the

Brahmi Brahmi ( ; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' or ...

inscriptions at Shalri, which were later studied by J. Ph. Vogel and

Dineshchandra Sircar Dineshchandra Sircar (1907–1985), also known as D. C. Sircar or D. C. Sarkar, was an epigraphist, historian, numismatist and folklorist, known particularly in India and Bangladesh for his work deciphering inscriptions. He was the Chief E ...

. He was promoted to the rank of Assistant Archaeologist, Librarian and Curator of the

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

Government Museum in 1906. He was sent to

Harappa Harappa () is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal, that takes its name from a modern village near the former course of the Ravi River, which now runs to the north. Harappa is the type site of the Bronze Age Indus ...

in 1909. On 16 September 1925, he was appointed the government epigraphist for India. He held the post till 10 October 1933. He edited some volumes of ''

Epigraphia Indica ''Epigraphia Indica'' was the official publication of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) from 1882 to 1977. The first volume was edited by James Burgess in the year 1882. Between 1892 and 1920 it was published as a quarterly supplement to ...

'', the official publication of the ASI.

Death

He died on 4 August 1946 in

Gurdaspur Gurdaspur is a city in the Majha region of the Indian state of Punjab, between the rivers Beas and Ravi. It houses the administrative headquarters of Gurdaspur District and is in the geographical centre of the district, which shares a bord ...

Recognition

The Punjab University awarded him the Doctor of Literature for his work '' Bhasa and the Authorship of the Thirteen

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...

Plays''. The

Baroda State Baroda State was a kingdom within the Maratha Confederacy and later a princely state in present-day Gujarat. It was ruled by the Gaekwad dynasty from its formation in 1721 until its accession to the newly formed Dominion of India. With th ...

awarded him the title of ''Jñānaratna''.

Selected works

* Nālandā and Its Epigraphic Material, 1942, Issue 66 of the Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India * A guide to Elephanta, 1934, Kanak Publications * The Ruins Of

Dabhoi Dabhoi is a town and a municipality in the Vadodara district in the state of Gujarat, India. Dabhoi has a big popular sunni masjid (mosque) named Kaziwad Masjid. History Dabhoi was historically known as Darbhavati, Darbikagrama, Darbhavat ...

Or Darbhavati In Baroda State, 1940, Gaekwads Archaeological Series *

References

External links

* * 1878 births 1946 deaths 20th-century Indian archaeologists Archaeological Survey of India people Archaeologists from British India {{India-scientist-stub