Essays on Indian Antiquities Historic Numismatic and Palaeographic - Volume 1

A key figure in the history of Benares (Varanasi) James Prinsep (17991840) was instrumental in expanding Western knowledge of Indian civilisation. After briefly studying under Pugin he became an assay master in Calcutta in 1819 and soon moved to Benares. His talents were many and within a few years he had completed a detailed map of the city designed a new mint engineered a system to improve sanitation and begun studying the inscriptions and coins that helped him to decipher two ancient scripts and to establish the dates of Indian dynasties. Collected in 1858 and edited by the numismatist Edward Thomas (181386) these essays are generously illustrated often in Prinsep''s hand and display the enormous breadth of his knowledge. Volume 1 includes a short biography by his brother along with articles on coins relics and archaeological discoveries.