Ahmad Hassan Dani | |
|---|---|
 Ahmed Hasan Dani (1920-2009) | |
| Born | (1920-06-20)20 June 1920 |
| Died | 26 January 2009(2009-01-26) (aged 88) |
| Alma mater | Banaras Hindu University |
| Known for | Research on theIndus Valley civilization |
| Awards | Hilal-e-Imtiaz (2000) Sitara-e-Imtiaz (1969) Bundesverdienstkreuz Légion d'honneur Palmes Academiques |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Archaeology,History,Linguistics |
| Institutions | Quaid-e-Azam University |
Ahmad Hassan Dani (Urdu:احمد حسن دانی)FRAS,SI,HI (20 June 1920 – 26 January 2009) was a Pakistaniarchaeologist,historian, andlinguist. He was among the foremost authorities onCentral Asian andSouth Asianarchaeology and history.[1][2] He introduced archaeology as a discipline in higher education in Pakistan andBangladesh.[3] Throughout his career, Dani held various academic positions and international fellowships, apart from conducting archaeological excavations and research. He is particularly known for archaeological work on pre-Indus civilization andGandhara sites innorthern Pakistan.
Ahmad Hasan Dani, was born on 20 June 1920 into an ethnicKashmiri Muslim family of traders of theWain clan,[4] inBasna, in theCentral Provinces and Berar inBritish India (now inChhattisgarh, India).[2][5] He graduated in 1944, with anMA degree in Sanskrit, to become the firstMuslim graduate ofBanaras Hindu University.[1] He scored highest marks in the exams which earned him a gold medal. This also qualified him for a teaching fellowship from the same university. Although he was provided with the grant, he was not allowed to teach owing to his religious beliefs.[6] He stayed there for six months. In 1945, he started working as a trainee in archaeology under the guidance ofMortimer Wheeler.[1] At this time, he participated in excavations atTaxila andMohenjo-daro.[1]
After thePartition of India, Dani migrated toEast Pakistan. There, between 1947 and 1949, he worked as assistant superintendent of the Department of Archaeology. At this time, he rectified the Varendra Museum atRajshahi. In 1949, he married Safiya Sultana. Together, they had three sons (Anis, Navaid and Junaid) and a daughter (Fauzia). In 1950, Dani was promoted to the position of superintendent-in-charge of archaeology. In the same year, he became the general secretary of the Asiatic Society of Pakistan in Dhaka. Later on, in 1955, he took the position of president of the National Committee for Museums in Pakistan. For a period of twelve years (between 1950 and 1962), Dani remained associate professor of history atUniversity of Dhaka, while at the same time working ascurator atDhaka museum.[1] During this period, he carried out archaeological research on the Muslim history ofBengal.[1]
Dani moved to theUniversity of Peshawar in 1962, where he created the Department of Archaeology and remained a professor until 1971.[1] During this time, he led the resetting and renovation works for theLahore andPeshawar Museums. He became chairman of Research Society in the University of Peshawar in 1970. In 1971, he moved toUniversity of Islamabad to become dean of Faculty of Social Sciences.[1] He left the post in 1975 to concentrate on research as professor of history. Meanwhile, the university was renamed Quaid-e-Azam University in 1976. He continued to work in various positions until his retirement in 1980 when he was madeemeritus professor. During this period, he also served as president of the Archaeological and Historical Association of Pakistan (1979) and co-director of the Pak-German Team forEthnology Research in Northern Areas of Pakistan (1980).
He received anhonorary doctorate fromTajikistan University, (Dushanbe) in 1993. During the same year, Dani established the Islamabad Museum. Between 1992 and 1996, he was appointed advisor to theMinistry of Culture of Pakistan on archaeology. Between 1994 and 1998, he remained chairman of the National Fund for Cultural Heritage in Islamabad. In 1997, Dani became an honorary director at the Taxila Institute of Asian Civilizations. He held the position until the time of his death.[2]
On 22 January 2009, he was admitted toPakistan Institute of Medical Sciences inIslamabad with heart, kidney anddiabetes problems. He died on 26 January 2009 at the age of 88 years.[2]
During his associate professorship at Dhaka University, Dani worked as a research fellow at theSchool of Oriental and African Studies,University of London (1958–59).[1] Later, in 1969 he became Asian Fellow at theAustralian National University,Canberra. In 1974, he went to theUniversity of Pennsylvania inPhiladelphia as a visiting scholar. In 1977, he was a visiting professor at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison. Over the span of his career, Dani was awarded honorary fellowships of Royal Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (1969),German Archaeological Institute (1981),Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsMEO) (1986) andRoyal Asiatic Society (1991).
In 1991, Dani was made an honorary citizen ofBukhara and an honorary member of the Paivand Society inTajikistan. He was made an honorary life patron of Al-Shifa Trust,Rawalpindi in 1993.
Dani remained engaged in excavation works on the pre-Indus civilization site ofRehman Dheri inNorthern Pakistan.[7] He also made a number of discoveries ofGandhara sites inPeshawar andSwat Valleys, and worked on Indo-Greek sites inDir.[8] From 1985, he was involved in research focusing on the documentation of the rock carvings and inscriptions on ancient remains from theNeolithic age in the high mountain region of Northern Pakistan along with Harald Hauptmann of Heidelberg Academy of Sciences,University of Heidelberg.[9] He also led theUNESCO teams for the Desert Route Expedition of theSilk Road inChina (1990) and the Steppe Route Expedition of theSilk Road in theSoviet Union (1991).[1]
From his extensive fieldwork and research experience, Dani refuted any influence ofSouth Indian culture on the Indus Valley civilization.[7] Using a geographic perspective of the socio-political systems and cultural distribution of theIndus Basin and surrounding hinterland, he observed that theIndo-Gangetic Plain did not play any significant role in the development of Indus Valley culture.[10] Nor was there any invasion from the seaside during theBronze Age, although the coastline facilitated maritime trade. The major influence, according to Dani, came fromCentral Asia in the west. He asserted that the hilly western borderland that appears as a boundary to the external eye is actually a network of hill plateaus where the local people have always moved freely. He therefore argued that thecultural history of Pakistan is more closely related to Central Asia throughBuddhist,Persian and laterSufism influences.[1]
Dani maintained that despite theArabian Sea allowing theMeluhhans to establish trade relations withMesopotamia andAncient Egypt, the majority of historical movements occurred between Central and South Asia. The geographic location as a link between the two regions has characterised the relationship "between the people of Pakistan and those of Central Asia in the field of culture, language, literature, food, dress, furniture and folklore".[11]
Despite being the first Muslim student of Banaras Hindu University, Dani also scored highest in the graduation exams and received the J. K. Gold Medal from that university in 1944.[2] Among the national awards, Dani receivedSitara-e-Imtiaz in 1969, Aizaz-e-Kamal in 1992 andHilal-e-Imtiaz in 2000 from theGovernment of Pakistan. In 2004, he was awarded the title of 'Distinguished National Professor' by theHigher Education Commission in recognition of his contributions and achievements.
Internationally, his services in archaeology, linguistics and ancient history were commended through various prestigious honours and awards such as:
Ahmad Hasan Dani had more than 30 published books and numerous journal articles to his credit. He spoke 35 languages and dialects, and was fluent inBengali,French,Hindi,Kashmiri,Marathi,Pashto,Persian,Punjabi,Sanskrit,Seraiki,Sindhi,Tamil,Turkish andUrdu languages.[5][2] He also published various texts in most of these languages.
