I N D I R A N The newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust Issue 12: Autumn 2018

In this issue Editor’s letter News from the Trust. Katragadda Paddayya, Andrew Goudie, Robin Dennell, Munizha Ahmad-Cooke, Nicholas Barrington Bridget Allchin remembered. James Cormick When I met the Allchins; Plantatio memorialis. Norman Hammond The republication of The Archaeology of Afghanistan. Nicholas Barrington A spotlight on Lahore’s heritage. Joanna Salisbury, Deborah Freeman Fahid The Ralph Pinder-Wilson archive. Gul Rahim Khan On the trail of Taxila’s coins. Benedikt Peschl A veritable temple of learning and more... Sam Lieu Friends of the Trust. James Cormick FitzGerald’s Roses. Editor’s Letter News from the Ancient India & Iran Trust

Welcome to the twelfth edition Dennell for their tributes at her on outside expertise to enhance of Indiran, the newsletter of the funeral, which are also published in the accessibility of our collections. Ancient India and Iran Trust. this issue. These three pieces not One such project has been the only describe Bridget and Raymond’s Ralph Pinder-Wilson archive, which Taking up the position of huge contribution to South Asian Deborah Freeman Fahid, who Administrator at the Trust again, archaeology, but also bring to the worked with Pinder-Wilson in his after eight years’ absence, has felt fore the tenacity and strength of later years, has kindly helped us like coming home. I have worked character that Bridget ceaselessly organise. in many places, but there is displayed. nowhere that matches the unique Always an invaluable source of environment of the Trust, and the We also report on two special events support, our network of Friends warmth of the Trust ‘family’. Not to this year to commemorate Bridget continues to thrive. After 10 years mention its legendary, most civilised, and Raymond: the memorial event of taking care of this community, as coffee time at 11 am, hosted by we hosted at Wolfson College in Friends Coordinators, Sandra Mason James Cormick, an institution in March 2018, at which our former and Bill Martin have passed on this himself, with his splendid collection trustee Professor Mike Petraglia baton to our trustee Sam Lieu. We of teas and china. Perhaps we spoke about Bridget’s legacy in Stone look forward to hosting more special could teach the modern workplace Age archaeology; and the planting events for Friends and continuing to a thing or two about enhancing of a Rowan tree in the Trust’s garden develop these relationships. communication and wellbeing! by Will and Paula Allchin, Bridget As well as our Friends events, our and Raymond’s son and daughter- A major absence, of course, is that Friday Lectures remain a permanent in-law. Completing our tribute are of Bridget and Raymond Allchin, fixture. We have been delighted to the recollections of our trustee Sir who came in almost daily when I host a number of speakers who have Nicholas Barrington and Custodian worked here from 2005–2010. Their shared their expertise on a wide James Cormick, who met the Allchins energetic dedication to growing the range of subjects, from classical when working abroad, in Pakistan Trust is reflected in the revered, Indian music to Kushan chronology. and Afghanistan respectively. well-established position it holds Finally, the garden continues to for scholars and others interested in Two publications also feature in delight both staff and visitors. The Ancient India and Iran 40 years since this issue: the new (2019) edition extraordinarily hot summer this year its inception. As you come into work of The Archaeology of Afghanistan, made us appreciate it even more. each day, you can’t help but admire originally edited by Raymond Our Annual Garden party was a the legacy left by the founding Allchin and Norman Hammond and bright, sun-kissed occasion and the trustees, and smile at the touches of published in 1978; and the booklet beautiful plants and flowers were in magic in the Trust’s lovely premises: of talk summaries published by full bloom. We round off this issue, spotting a deer in the orchard, or the Trust following the successful therefore, with a reflection on our being greeted by the delicate purple symposium held in October 2017 Omar Khayyam rose, which we hope flowers of the Himalayan Indigo as on ‘The History of Lahore and and you will enjoy. you open the front door. the Preservation of its Historical Buildings’. Munizha Ahmad-Cooke is the It has been fitting, therefore, to Administrator of the Ancient India As ever, the Trust has attracted come back and edit this issue, mostly and Iran Trust. a range of academic visitors this dedicated to Bridget Allchin. I feel Keep up with our news: like I have said a proper goodbye to year from different institutions, my former employer, who was very disciplines and at various career Blog: www.indiran.org/blog/ good to me. The pieces here remind stages. Professor Gul Rahim Khan, Twitter:@INDIAIRANTRUST us of her formidable character and a numismatist from the University Facebook: www.facebook.com/ the remarkable team that she and of Peshawar, and Benedikt Peschl, AncientIndiaAndIranTrust/ a PhD student in Ancient Iranian Raymond were, both professionally To join our mailing list or become a Studies at SOAS University of and as a couple. Friend, email [email protected] or London, describe the time they have We are grateful to Professor K. call 01223 356841. spent at the Trust this year. Paddayya for his permission to reprint his obituary of Bridget, and to While the Trust continues to be a Professors Andrew Goudie and Robin valuable resource for scholars, we are also fortunate to be able to draw

2 INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust Bridget Allchin remembered 10 February 1927 – 27 June 2017

A spokesperson par on the Late Stone Age of Southern hunter-gatherer groups such as the Africa at the Institute of Archaeology Bushmen and Hottentots, Chenchus, excellence for South in London under the supervision of Veddas, Semangs and Australian Asian archaeology Frederick Zeuner. Around this time, aborigines for reconstructing Late Raymond commenced his doctoral Stone Age lifeways. K. Paddayya research on the early cultures In his well-known book Roots of of Raichur Doab at the School of Ancient India (1971), Walter A. Oriental and African Studies. They Fairservis Jr. gently reminds his met at one of Zeuner’s lectures American co-workers specialising in and got married shortly thereafter. studies of the Indian subcontinent Thus started their long partnership that ‘most of us have been mere in South Asian archaeology. A full tourists in its presence, seeing and lively account of their road without understanding … [failing] to journey from Iran and Afghanistan recognize that on the subcontinent to India in the very first year of their we are in the midst of an ancient partnership is available in their civilization still living, still vital, still memoir, From the Oxus to Mysore of an importance in our world that in 1951, published in 2012. This was is beyond price’. The Allchin couple the beginning of their numerous from Britain are an outstanding visits to various parts of South Asia. exception to this unhappy situation, Besides completing her PhD thesis She in fact correctly proposed a which is not totally inapplicable in on the African Stone Age, in the lineal connection between the the case of South Asians themselves. next decade and a half Bridget extinct and surviving hunter-gatherer Raymond and Bridget Allchin were equipped herself with complete groups in the respective regions. spokespersons par excellence for knowledge of South Asian prehistory The two chapters in this book South Asian archaeology in the both by visiting major sites and her dealing with India and Sri Lanka West for well over half a century own discovery of several Middle read extremely well, even now, and in teaching, research, writing and Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites represent the first major attempt in other promotional matters. They in Peninsular India and Sri Lanka. South Asian ethnoarchaeology. together mastered the region’s early She published several important In the 1970s, Bridget undertook a past, with Raymond (d. 4 June 2010) research papers including a synthesis multidisciplinary research project in specialising in protohistory and early of the Indian Stone Age sequence the Rajasthan desert in collaboration historic archaeology, and Bridget (Journal of the Royal Anthropological with the late K.T.M. Hegde of Baroda taking charge of prehistory. Sadly, Institute, 1963). University and the geographer now Bridget, too, has passed away in A major contribution made by Andrew Goudie of Oxford University. Norwich on 27 June 2017 at the age Bridget to the prehistory of the This project aimed to reconstruct of 90. tropical lands is a comparative study the Quaternary environmental Bridget was born in Oxford on 10 of the Late Stone Age (Mesolithic) history and Stone Age adaptations. February 1927. After completing hunter-gatherer societies of sub- Their field studies, the results of her early education in England, Saharan Africa, South and Southeast which appeared in print as a major she moved with her parents to Asia and Australia. This culminated in monograph entitled The Prehistory South Africa where she developed her famous book The Stone-Tipped and Palaeogeography of the Great an interest in the study of simple Arrow (1966). Indian Desert (1978), showed that societies. She enrolled herself at Although the lithic industries the area witnessed two major wet the University of Cape Town and of all these far-flung areas are periods separated by dry phases. completed a full-fledged university characterised by microlithic The Stone Age groups occupied sand degree in anthropology and traditions, they show tremendous dunes overlooking shallow water archaeology. This served as the regional peculiarities, as dictated bodies in the form of lakes and basis for her interest in prehistory by differences in raw material use ponds. These results were confirmed and awareness of the relevance of and ecological settings. Another by the later investigations by V.N. ethnography in its study. In 1950, major aspect of this book concerns Misra and S.N. Rajaguru in the area. Bridget returned to England and Bridget’s extensive use of the Bridget’s third major contribution enrolled herself in a doctoral degree ethnographic record pertaining to to South Asian prehistory relates

INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust 3 Bridget Allchin remembered 10 February 1927 – 27 June 2017 to northern Pakistan. From promptly published the proceedings Asian scholars. The AIIT took on 1980 to 1990, she and Raymond (Conservation of the Indian the responsibility of administering organised and directed the Heritage, 1989). The destruction of these fellowships. Many South British Archaeological Mission to archaeological sites in India has since Asian scholars visited Britain and the Siwalik Hills. As part of this assumed truly alarming proportions conducted research on various prolonged field research, Robin and a follow-up of the initiative topics. As Secretary of the AIIT, Dennell, Helen Rendell and their taken by the Allchins is yet to come. Bridget took good care of the visiting co-workers re-examined the Soan Through her visits to various remote scholars and their various needs. culture sequence put forward parts of South Asia and consultation In 1970, the Allchins founded the earlier by De Terra and Paterson of anthropological writings, Bridget European Association for South and disproved the glacigenic origin realised that the ethnographic Asian Archaeology (now the of Soan sediments as well as the approach she had adopted in The European Association for South chronological relationship between Stone-Tipped Arrow had a much Asian Archaeology and Art), which these and stone tool assemblages wider scope in archaeological holds biennial conferences. For many found on their surfaces. However, studies. She brought this topic years, Bridget served as its Honorary as part of this work, the team found into prominence by organising a Secretary and also as the Editor of its that the Riwat site dated back 1.9 theme-based seminar in Cambridge journal South Asian Studies. million years, and the Acheulian sites in 1991, in which about 20 senior All through their working lives, of Dina and Jalapur dated back 0.7 scholars from South Asia, Europe Bridget and Raymond stayed in million years. and America participated. Again, the cordial contact with South Asian Although Bridget did not hold a proceedings were soon published, scholars by visiting their institutions regular academic position in England, as Living Traditions (1994). Bridget and excavation sites and attending she was involved in teaching South herself captured well the relationship major seminars and conferences. Asian archaeology in the extramural between the past and the present They were the honoured guests of departments of the Universities in the region in the memorable the Indian Society of Prehistoric of Cambridge and London. She statement ‘South Asia’s living past’. and Quaternary Studies at its 25th co-authored with Raymond three To date, this is the only meeting on Annual Conference held at H.N. major and still widely cited syntheses ethnoarchaeology in South Asia as a Bahuguna University in Srinagar of South Asian archaeology: The whole. (Garhwal) in October 1997. Raymond Birth of Indian Civilization (1968), In 2004, Bridget (representing the delivered the prestigious H.D. The Rise of Civilization in India and Ancient India and Iran Trust) and Sankalia Memorial Lecture on the Pakistan (1983) and The Origins of Michael Petraglia of Cambridge topic ‘The Interface of Archaeology a Civilization (1997). The Allchins University organised a Conference and History’. Bridget herself gave published the latter to mark 50 years in Cambridge on ‘South Asia at the the presidential address, titled of India’s independence – an event Crossroads’ to review the state of ‘Whither South Asian Prehistory’ that went totally unnoticed by Indian palaeoanthropological research in (Man and Environment, Vol. 23(1), and Pakistani archaeologists. the region. More than 20 leading 1998, pp. 37–44), in which she gave While being practising scholars from America, Europe and an excellent review of the progress archaeologists, both Raymond and South Asia participated. Bridget and made thus far and also listed the Bridget held a larger conception Michael published the proceedings issues still to be tacked in South of India’s heritage and included promptly (The Evolution and History Asian prehistory. in it natural heritage, various arts of Human Populations in South Asia, Bridget and Raymond are survived and crafts and oral traditions. In 2007). by their widowed daughter, Sushila order to create awareness about The Allchins joined hands with Sir (born in India and hence fondly given the increasing loss of heritage due Harold Bailey, J.E. van Lohuizen-de the Indian name), their son William to modernisation processes, in Leeuw and her husband Jan and and daughter-in-law Paula, and three 1982, jointly with B.K. Thapar of the established from their own funds the grandchildren. Archaeological Survey of India, they Ancient India and Iran Trust (AIIT) Katragadda Paddayya is Emeritus organised a seminar in Cambridge in Cambridge to promote South Professor of Archaeology and on conservation in which naturalists Asian studies. They also prevailed former Director of Deccan College. such Madhav Gadgil and the famous upon the Charles Wallace India This obituary first appeared in Man ‘Snake Man of India’, Romulus Trust to institute short-term annual and Environment, Vol. 42(2), 2017. Whittaker, also participated. They research fellowships for young South

4 INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust Bridget Allchin remembered 10 February 1927 – 27 June 2017

Indefatigable, I loved visiting the family home in ceased, so I remember heading Barrington, shooting pigeons with an north into Gujarat in our Jeep and indomitable and air rifle in the orchard with Raymond having from time to time, at the and playing with Pluto, their dog, behest of the police, to leap into a illustrious in many ways the most intelligent roadside ditch to avoid what they Andrew Goudie member of the household. When I claimed was imminent enemy fire Very early on in my academic career, bought my first house, she gave me (though this never materialised). around 1970, I was engaged in some lovely old tables, beds and Roadside ditches in India are not conversation with a distinguished dressers with which to furnish it. something you leap into very but crusty Oxford geologist who Above all, I relished our trips to the willingly or without trepidation. had worked with archaeologists Indian subcontinent. Bridget was a pioneer and a in Africa. ‘My boy’, he said, ‘keep When we had one, the Royal proselytiser, for since Independence away from archaeologists – they are Navy used to give its capital ships and Partition, British archaeologists nothing but trouble’. Fortunately, I names that remind me of Bridget: had taken little interest in the ignored his advice and, for the most Indefatigable, Invincible, Indomitable subcontinent. Fred Zeuner, her part of the following four decades and Illustrious. Throughout her research supervisor, Mortimer or so, found archaeologists, though career, she demonstrated these Wheeler and Stuart Piggott were frequently eccentric, to be perfectly characteristics, and was the equal of notable exceptions. The Allchins agreeable. This was certainly true of other doughty lady archaeologists put the subcontinent on the an archaeologist I met in the early that this country has produced. One map and generated a whole new 1970s. I gave a lecture at Churchill thinks of Lady Hester Stanhope, generation of scholars, both British College to a meeting of South Asian Kathleen Kenyon, Gertrude Bell, and Indian, many of whom referred archaeologists, my first ever at an Amelia Edwards, Gertrude Caton- to her as ‘Auntie’. In particular, international conference, and at the Thompson, and Beatrice de Cardi. Bridget contributed hugely to our end of it a very distinguished looking Some of them may, to use modern understanding of the Indian Stone figure with a luxuriant head of hair parlance, have appeared to some Age, in terms of its typology (she and a splendid moustache, leapt men to have been ‘bloody difficult was very good at drawing tools), onto the stage, shook my hand and women’, but the obstacles put in distribution and dating. Before offered his congratulations. ‘Let us front of them were often massive we started work in the Rajasthan go and have a drink’, he said. It was and required a certain degree desert, people had always assumed only 9:30 in the morning, but using of persistence and resolution to it was too dry for there to have his legendary charm, he managed overcome. Resolution, by the way, been extensive Stone Age presence to get a college servant to find two was another favoured name for in that huge area – we found the pints of ale, and we had a great Royal Navy warships. reverse was the case. The desert natter. This paragon was, of course, Bridget was an avid fieldworker, teemed with Stone Age sites of Sir Mortimer Wheeler, a man who and she showed many of these different ages, often preserved in was then over 50 years my senior. characteristics on our travels. sequences of dunes and palaeosols In spite of his eminence, he was Fieldwork in the outlying parts of and in proximity to old lake basins. not too proud to talk to a new and India and Pakistan – the mofussil Although the dating methods then nervous academic. It was just before – was not entirely easy in those available were nothing like as good this that I had started a collaboration days. We travelled on rough tracks in as they are now, the sequence that with Bridget Allchin, and she was an open Jeep with unforgiving cart Bridget postulated has remained also most encouraging to the young, springs. There was then no bottled remarkably durable. Above all, we as the list of her co-workers over water, telephones were scarce showed that river terraces, upon the years clearly demonstrates. and rudimentary (if you could get which archaeologists had been ‘Always be nice to your graduate a line you had to shout), we had fixated for generations, were not students’, said the late Richard no modern maps and we stayed in optimal locations for palaeolithic Chorley, Professor of Geography at rather basic dak bungalows. On one archaeology. Bridget’s work was not, Cambridge, ‘for it is they who will of our trips, we arrived in India at the of course, restricted to Gujarat and write your obituary’. That is why I am outbreak of the Indo-Pakistan war, Rajasthan. I remember with pleasure standing here this afternoon. Bridget and that presented its challenges. investigations we undertook in the was very good to me, as she was to Bridget was keen for us to get back Rohri Hills of the Indus Valley, in the so many aspiring academics. into the field even before hostilities red laterite hills of Maharashtra and

INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust 5 Bridget Allchin remembered 10 February 1927 – 27 June 2017 in the loess terrains of Tajikistan. A remarkable geochronologist in Britain, that Robin Dennell speaks more she would never have an academic authoritatively on this facet of person and a career because she was a woman. Bridget’s work than I can. remarkable life And yet, with her determination, and the support given her by Raymond, Bridget was also an enthusiast for Robin Dennell India and Indians, Pakistan and she published several books and Pakistanis and for Afghanistan and Although this is a sad occasion, we papers, did fieldwork, including Afghans. She instilled in me, and in should celebrate the remarkable that in the Thar Desert that Andrew others, a love for the landscapes person Bridget was, and the Goudie has mentioned, and became of the region – who could fail to remarkable life she led. She was a recognised authority on the be entranced by the Rajputs and unrepeatable. From her childhood Palaeolithic of South Asia. She was Rajasthan, by Bikaner, Jaisalmer and and adolescence in Scotland and also the driving force behind the Jodhpur, and the fabulous sacred South Africa, she acquired a Scottish Ancient India and Iran Trust (AIIT), of town of Pushkar? – and introduced self-reliance and a South African which she was Secretary and later, me to local scholars that she stubbornness. As she describes in Chair; she was the editor of South assiduously befriended, cultivated her autobiography, she was newly Asian Studies for 10 years; Secretary and collaborated with. She was deft married in 1951 and travelling General of the European Association at networking before that term was overland from England to India – of South Asian Archaeologists; and used and I was fortunate indeed to no light undertaking in those days she played an important pastoral meet in her presence such towering – and discovered that she was role as a Fellow at Wolfson College. Indian prehistorians and historians pregnant. Undeterred, she took it in In 2014, she was awarded the Royal as Romilla Thaper, H.D. Sankalia, her stride, carried on and returned Asiatic Society’s gold medal as a R.V. Joshi, B.K. Thapar, D.P. Agrawal, with Sushila, her daughter. She may lifetime achievement award. In this S.N. Rajaguru and, above all, my have been called many things in her day and age, with her track record, late friend and our co-author, K.T.M. lifetime, but no one would ever have she would have been, like my wife, a Hegde. She encouraged me to wear described her as a snowflake. professor in a tenured post. Indian clothes, to eat Indian food In early post-war Britain, she One of Bridget and Raymond’s main and even to put coconut oil in my was one of the few people who achievements in Cambridge when I hair (which in those days was black). obtained a PhD, and of those, was was there in the 1960s and 70s was I have to admit, however, that I one of very few women. Today, that that they kept South Asia on never managed to wear a lungi with thankfully, it is not unusual for a the map. What she achieved was, the same panache as Raymond. woman to have a PhD and proceed in my view, despite Cambridge, not In those happy days before the to an academic career. In Bridget’s because of it. For all the emphasis nonsense of Brexit, she also worked case – and it shows how much that Cambridge then placed on a with European scholars such as Joan Britain has changed – she was world archaeology, South Asia never van Lohuizen-de Leeuw and Jean- told by her supervisor, Frederick ranked highly. It is now a hot spot, François Jarrige and, with Raymond, Zeuner, then the leading Pleistocene especially India: the Thar Desert helped to set up the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art. Bridget achieved so much, without ever having a secure university post and by seeking out a stream of research grants. It was to the credit of Wolfson College that it gave her a Fellowship and to the Royal Asiatic Society that it awarded her, just a little while ago, its gold medal. She will be missed by generations of Raymond and friends and scholars, but her work Bridget Allchin and influence will endure. in conversation Andrew Goudie is Emeritus Professor at the Trust, of Geography, University of Oxford. 2010

6 INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust Bridget Allchin remembered 10 February 1927 – 27 June 2017 continues to generate exciting data gave me a range of experiences that Bridget could be totally on the earliest evidence of our have never been matched. unpredictable, in her own way, species in South Asia, and recent Although we never found a hominin, like a tornado that no force could work by Mike Petraglia and his team we came close; we did find the withstand. I remember her phoning in the Son Valley, the Jawallapurram oldest stone tools outside Africa that me at 6am on a Sunday morning, Basin and now in Sri Lanka has are almost 2 million years old, as and her being surprised that I wasn’t built on foundations of knowledge well as what were then the earliest busy. There was also a rumour and personal contacts established handaxes in South Asia, and the that she had made a plane turn by Bridget and Raymond, and has earliest signs of an upper palaeolithic around mid-flight from Islamabad generated world-class data. On top dated to circa 45 ka. None of that to Delhi because she had forgotten of all that, she mothered a family would have happened without the something. I never found out if it was and had a long, happy marriage. constant support of Bridget and true, but no one has seemed inclined I came to know Bridget best by Raymond. It was through them that to disbelieve it. I do remember she a serendipitous route from her I was awarded a Leverhulme Senior was very fond of the fruit cake she fieldwork in the Thar Desert. In Research Fellowship so that I could bought from the bakery at the local the 1970s, I was working in Iran be Field Director of the Mission; army base. This should have been on a UNESCO Man and Biosphere and on a personal note, it was also off-limits to foreigners, but she did programme on desertification, until through them that I met my wife, not seem to think it was problematic. the revolution in 1978. The proposed who was part of the team in 1987 There was also one time I was workshop was then moved from and for several seasons thereafter. I staying with her and Raymond for Tehran to Jodhpur, and as the Thar remember the first time we visited a meeting at the AIIT. She woke me volume had just been published, I them in Cambridge as a couple. I loudly at 4am and told me to get asked Antiquity if I could review it as felt that Bridget was vetting my wife ready. I thought perhaps the house I would be seeing part of the Thar as though she were a prospective was on fire, but she said the lunch Desert. I duly reviewed it, praised daughter-in-law; thankfully, she arrangements were not satisfactory it highly, and a few months later, passed the appraisal and Bridget so we had to go shopping. Tesco in Bridget rang me to ask if I knew later told me it was a good match. Huntingdon, she informed me, would be open. After a white-knuckle drive, anyone who might be interested I was constantly amazed by the we arrived and she summoned some in working with her in Pakistan. It range of people she and Raymond hapless shelf-stacker and presented took me no more than a couple knew. This included, I think, every him with a long list, which included of nanoseconds to say that I could Director General and senior cooked chicken and various types of think of someone, and that is how I archaeologist in India and Pakistan; salami, cheese, salad and bread. My worked under her direction as part numerous ambassadors and high role was simply to follow and help fill of the British Archaeological Mission commissioners, including Sir Nicholas the shopping trolley. We drove back, to Pakistan throughout the 1980s. Barrington, who is still part of the she calmly opened the meeting and I first went to Pakistan in 1981, AIIT; I remember her comparing her the lunch was indeed sumptuous. thinking it would be a short, one- personal impressions of Margaret off trip. I confess, it did not begin Thatcher, Benazir Bhutto and Indira Overall, we are remembering auspiciously. When I arrived in Gandhi; and she knew an enormous and celebrating someone who Islamabad, she and Raymond were range of less-exalted individuals. In maintained a long and happy not at the airport as they had India and Pakistan, she was most marriage, a loving family, and despite promised, so eventually I took a taxi often called ‘Auntie’, which suited the odds, had a successful career as to Taxila Museum, the only place her well. As Auntie, she viewed an academic, editor, organiser and they had mentioned to me, which those around her with a critical fundraiser. I remember her with I discovered was 30 miles away. yet kindly eye; she was indulgent, immense respect and affection, and I Thankfully, they were there, and always well-meaning, occasionally doubt if we shall see her like again. had forgotten that I was coming that exasperated with her errant juniors Robin Dennell is Honorary Research week. But, as Bridget said, I was in and sometimes very cross – at which Professor of Archaeology, University time for tea. Anyhow, that one-off point you felt extremely small. of Exeter. trip lasted 18 years, with around 20 She was also incredibly tolerant of These tributes by Andrew Goudie visits and some 2 years of fieldwork. human frailties and foibles; I think and Robin Dennell were delivered Thanks to Bridget, Pakistan the only thing she could not tolerate by the authors at Bridget Allchin’s dominated my middle career and were bad manners. funeral on 20 July 2017.

INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust 7 Bridget Allchin remembered 10 February 1927 – 27 June 2017

and modern humans; and hunter- Integral to the ground-breaking gatherers before agriculture. The first work of the Allchins was an part discussed the discoveries made attitude of always re-evaluating the about the earliest settlers in South methodology and techniques used Asia, perhaps dating back 2 million in their field. As Bridget put it: ‘After years, by the British Archaeological my first visit to India in 1951–2 I Mission to Pakistan (1981–1991), became increasingly aware of the directed by Bridget and Raymond urgent need for modification of Allchin and Professor Robin Dennell. the … classification of pre-Neolithic The second part looked at the cultures’. And, as they both stated in effect of environmental factors on an interview in 1998: ‘We must be early migrations, and Dr Allchin’s prepared for changes of approach pioneering work in the 1970s on and changes in the types of jobs the relationship between Stone available. There has to be a move Professor Michael Petraglia Age populations and changing away from large excavations to environments in the Indian problem oriented archaeology, Celebrating Bridget subcontinent. In relation to this, exploring all kinds of new techniques Allchin’s life Professor Petraglia went on to and methods of analysis’. discuss the discoveries that have This forward-thinking attitude and Munizha Ahmad-Cooke been made about the survival and lifelong commitment is also evident We were delighted that so many migration of human populations in the establishment of the Ancient people attended the memorial after the Toba volcanic super- India and Iran Trust, with fellow event for Bridget Allchin at Wolfson eruption 74,000 years ago, citing Dr founding trustees Sir Harold Bailey College, Cambridge, on Saturday Allchin’s instruction to him: ‘Go to and Joan and Jan Van Lohuizen, 17 March. The occasion, attended the Belan River Valley Mike!’ and its continued growth 40 years by Dr Allchin’s family, friends, The third part of Professor Petraglia’s on. The Allchins worked tirelessly colleagues and students, and fellow talk opened with the eye-catching to develop the Trust and ensure trustees, was hosted by the Trust, in cover image of Dr Allchin’s 1966 that it maintained its position as an cooperation with Wolfson College. book, The Stone-Tipped Arrow: The independent, invaluable resource for The event was introduced by Dr Stone-Age Hunters of the Tropical the study of early South Asia, Iran Gordon Johnson, former President Old World. From here we journeyed and Central Asia. of Wolfson College, and Professor through Dr Allchin’s and her The buzz around the display of Nicholas Sims-Williams, Dr Allchin’s successors’ archaeological studies Bridget Allchin’s publications at successor as Chair of the Trust. This of weaponry and rock art, as well the reception reflected how a life was followed by a fascinating talk by as touching on bees and honey in driven by constant inquiry, discovery our former trustee Professor Michael the Bilasurgam Caves, which have and sheer determination had been Petraglia, now at the Max Planck now been carbon dated to 3000 BC, celebrated to the full. The liveliness Institute for the Science of Human and to which Bridget and Raymond of the occasion was something she History in Jena, Germany. Allchin travelled by bullock cart in would have appreciated. ‘Following in Bridget Allchin’s 1957. Footsteps: the Current State of Stone Age Archaeology’ paid tribute to Dr Allchin’s pioneering contribution to the field of South Asian archaeology and prehistory, tracing the scholarly developments and debates that have followed this work. The talk, perfectly pitched for a mixed academic and non-academic audience, looked at three key areas of Dr Allchin’s work: the earliest colonisers; environments

8 INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust Bridget Allchin remembered 10 February 1927 – 27 June 2017

A character who The book that she and Raymond started to write in the last years of their lives, too late really, because they could have written so much more about their made her mark in achievements, was very important to her. It describes their different and, in her everything she did case, adventurous childhoods and how they teamed up, in all senses, to provide the genesis of British Indian scholarship for a long period of years. She made me Nicholas Barrington solemnly undertake, with Almut Hintze, to bring the text to publication while her My last diplomatic post as British powers were fading. Thanks to a great deal of hard work, more from Almut than Ambassador in Pakistan was from me, From the Oxus to Mysore in 1951: The Start of a Great Partnership in made much more agreeable by Indian Scholarship, was published in 2012. I hope it can be read more widely, as advice to contact Raymond and Bridget would have wished. Bridget Allchin. They were regular visitors, and a fount of knowledge on Pakistan’s monuments and history. I visited the site of their archaeological dig near Jhelum, and accompanied them on trips to some places even they had not been to before, like the walled village of Hund, near where Alexander the Great crossed the Indus river (wide and shallow). They had a great range of Pakistani scholar friends, several of whom became mine. Four years before I retired in 1994, I was delighted to be asked to be a trustee of the Ancient India and Iran Trust, of which the Allchins had been co-founders. I was able to see something of the great linguist Sir Harold Bailey before he died, and enjoyed the company of the people he and the Allchins collected around them, including younger scholars such as Robin Coningham, Almut Hintze and Richard Blurton. Raymond was the relaxed source of comprehensive knowledge of the Indian subcontinent, Bridget, the prehistorian, was the focused organiser, who nurtured international contacts and liked hard work; never happier than arranging a conference or a high-profile lecture. From the Oxus to Mysore in 1951 is available to buy from the Trust fror £15 (inc. She had her likes and dislikes. I made free UK postage). To purchase a copy, email [email protected] or call 01223 sure to keep on the right side of her. 702095. She was sympathetic to me as a non- Nicholas Barrington is Former British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Honorary academic. She valued commitment Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and a trustee of the Ancient India and Iran in others and was always looking for Trust. opportunities to further the interests of the Trust family. She was also a great cook and a welcoming hostess. Above all, she was a character who made her mark in everything she did.

INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust 9 Bridget and Raymond Allchin remembered

When I met the expensive it was to maintain 7 acres of roof?’ I couldn’t. Allchins There was nothing of comparable James Cormick magnificence in Kabul, unfortunately. Even though it was conquered in I first got to know the Allchins 40 1504 by the first Mughal emperor, years ago in Kabul. We were there Babur, nothing even approaching the for radically different purposes: I wonderful Mughal tombs, mosques was trying to improve the present, and palaces in Pakistan and India whereas they were trying to uncover was ever built there. There were the past. Let me explain. two gardens, however, which were The Ministry of Overseas The Ambassador’s Residence, British Embassy, attractive and of some historical Development in collaboration with Kabul, 1968 interest. the British Council had decided to trustees and the recently emeritised The Bagh-e-Babur was the garden send out a team of ‘experts’ in 1977 head of the South Asian section in site of Babur’s tomb on a hillside to help the Afghans reform the the British Museum’s Department of anciently planted with lovely plane teaching of English throughout the Asia.) trees (chenar in Persian, platanus entire educational system, which In February 1978, a group of orientalis in Latin). It was a very was generally recognised to be in a members of the Society for Afghan pleasant spot when I was there, parlous condition. I was responsible Studies came out for a visit, to see but showed too many signs of for the teacher training college level what was happening in Kandahar later (post-Mughal) additions and of the project, and because it was a and other sites considered to be subtractions. Another attractive British Government funded project, within the Society’s remit. They were but much more recent (late 19th- it was considered appropriate that led by Raymond and Bridget Allchin century) site was the Bagh-e-Bala, a I be given a house in the second and used the embassy compound royal palace built amongst gardens compound (the Hospital Compound) as the base for their excursions into on a hill overlooking the British of the British Embassy in Karte the countryside. Apart from the Embassy in Karte Parwan. The palace Parwan, in what had been the Allchins, with whom I immediately had suffered a demotion in recent doctor’s house. This fact is relevant, established a rapport, I particularly years and had become a restaurant, because shortly after I arrived I remember certain other people from which was convenient, actually, for acquired significant neighbours. The that group: Bob Knox, who was then entertaining guests of the embassy. British Institute of Afghan Studies Raymond’s postgraduate student at (I took the Allchins and other guests (BIAS) was also invited to move into Cambridge and later became Keeper there for tea during their visit.) what had been the hospital in that of the Department of Oriental same compound. Eight years later, when I decided Antiquities at the British Museum; to stop working abroad and take I became friendly with the Director Rachel Maxwell-Hyslop, who was up residence in Cambridge, I re- of the Institute, Ralph Pinder-Wilson, an expert on ancient metalwork established contact with the Allchins. and through him was introduced to and jewellery at the Institute of We met in local pubs (of which a very interesting series of people Archaeology; and Lionel Sackville- they had an unrivalled knowledge) visiting or temporarily resident in West, the 6th Baron Sackville and and entertained each other in our Afghanistan for purposes widely owner of Knole, the magnificent homes for dinner. I even house-sat different from my own. country house in Kent. for them in Barrington when they BIAS had been and was still carrying Knole was, in fact, by then no longer went abroad. And five years later out an excavation at Kandahar in wholly owned by the Sackville-West in 1991, after the death of Jan van southern Afghanistan when I arrived family, but had been partly made Lohuizen, they asked if I would like in the country. Through Ralph I met over to the National Trust. I was to live in the Trust’s house at 23 Svend Helms, the director of the dig, asked to put up Lord Sackville as a Brooklands Avenue, to occupy Jan’s and most of the other archaeologists guest in my house during his sojourn rooms upstairs, and make sure that working with him, including in Kabul, and I recall during one of Sir Harold Bailey, the nonagenarian Richard Blurton and Warwick Ball, our after-dinner conversations his occupant of the adjacent suite, and actually visited the site twice answer to my surprise that they didn’t burn the house down. I during my two years in Afghanistan. had parted with such a treasure. He accepted. (Richard is, of course, one of our said ‘Yes, but can you imagine how

10 INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust Bridget and Raymond Allchin remembered

that Friday afternoon, she would have seen around 25 brightly dressed humans drinking Spanish champagne, eating Pringles, and watching William and Paula Allchin, the son and daughter-in-law of Raymond and Bridget, planting it. According to Richard Mabey in his splendid Flora Britannica (p. 203), the Rowan was ‘once widely planted by houses as a protection against witches’ and ‘in parts of Scotland there is still a strong taboo against cutting down a rowan tree, especially when it is close to houses’. The choice of tree and the position of planting is, therefore, entirely appropriate, and would have been especially appreciated by Bridget, a proud lowland Scotswoman.

Plantatio memorialis James Cormick By now the Muntjac deer that regularly forage in our garden will have noticed a new and potentially delicious addition to their larder. It is a young tree, with beautiful pinnate leaves, planted (on Friday 18 May 2018) in the south-eastern Will and Paula Allchin planting and watering the new Rowan tree corner of the lawn. And although An uninvited guest to the party was a swarm of bees. They decided to form a the Muntjac is not a native species, hive on a branch of the spring-flowering Osmanthus (Osmanthus x burkwoodii) the tree will almost certainly jog its opposite the door of the house, an hour before the festivities were about to ancestral memory, for the tree is a begin. Terrible timing, unfortunately. Had they come much earlier in spring when Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) and is as the Osmanthus was flowering, they would have had a larder on their doorstep. widely spread in China, the deer’s Or had they been patient and waited for the Rowan itself to flower in a few original home, as it is in Britain and weeks time, or even more patiently, waited until autumn for the companion other northern European countries. Osmanthus (Osmanthus heterophyllus) opposite the door to flower, they could A large amount of species diversity have had an abundance of rich summery nectars to sup from. As it was, for fear occurs, of course, especially in China, of frightening our guests, we had to arrange for a bee enthusiast to come and but not enough to confuse our clever transport them to one of his own hives. little visitors. James Cormick is the Custodian of the The deer had better beware, Ancient India and Iran Trust. however. Before sinking their teeth into the familiar leaves of this lovely young tree, they should read the notice planted in front of it. (They have learnt English, of course, since being introduced into Britain by the 11th Duke of Bedford in 1894.) This might make them realise that the tree is of protected status. And had one of the deer been hiding behind the Magnolia tree at 4:30pm The swarm

INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust 11 Bridget and Raymond Allchin remembered

The republication Afghanistan from Earliest Times to the Timurid Period, was published by of The Archaeology Academic Press in 1978. of Afghanistan This unfortunately coincided with a downturn in opportunities Norman Hammond for archaeological fieldwork The Archaeology of Afghanistan in Afghanistan as the result of began as a collaboration between political events; but by the early Raymond Allchin and myself not 21st century it became clear that long after my 1966 archaeological sufficient new information and ideas reconnaissance of sites in the lower were available for a revision to be Helmand valley, south from Bost feasible. Raymond died before a towards Seistan in the corridor formal contract could be drawn up, between the Dasht-i Margo and but Bridget welcomed the idea. Registan deserts. Raymond had Warwick Ball was willing to join as worked in the Bamiyan valley a co-editor and principal reviser, and decade and a half earlier, and we with the encouragement of Carole were both acutely aware of the Hillenbrand at the University of lack of any overarching publication Edinburgh, the book proposal was on Afghanistan’s archaeology, accepted by Edinburgh University certainly in English, although the Press. We look forward to its numerous French monographs of the appearance in April 2019. Délégation archéologique française For further information about this publication, visit: https://edinburghuniversity- en Afghanistan (DAFA), several press.com/book-the-archaeology-of-afghanistan-hb.html publications by Americans including Norman Hammond is a Senior Fellow at the McDonald Institute for Louis Dupree, and a few Russian Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. and Italian works documented the richness of the country’s ancient heritage. We determined that a collaborative book would be best, rather than trying to synthesise everything ourselves, and duly began to recruit a team of specialists, eventually drawn from Britain, Germany, Italy and the United States, and with the cooperation of colleagues in France and elsewhere. As we progressed, the biennial South Asian Archaeology conferences developed from an initial small meeting in Cambridge in 1970 organised by Raymond and Bridget Allchin, Johanna Van Lohuizen and myself, and a formal one there in 1971 which led to the first volume of South Asian Archaeology (published by Duckworth in London and the University of Pittsburgh Press in the USA in 1973). The participants in these, working both in and around Afghanistan in South and Central Asia, added to our database, and Left: Part of a 1st-2nd-century ivory throne from Begram, Afghanistan (now in the Musée Guimet). Right: The Minaret of Jam, dated 1174/5, site of the Ghurid capital of Firuzkuh in our book, The Archaeology of western Afghanistan. Photos: Warwick Ball.

12 INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust Symposium on Lahore

under threat, most recently from Most of Lahore’s monuments suffer a mass transit plan already under from neglect. There are not enough construction, with a high-level rail funds to properly maintain them, nor system going through the heart of enough public interest, it appears, to the city, so the issue was topical. ensure this is done. Some restoration As a trustee of the Ancient India and has been destructive, not preserving Iran Trust, I was able to persuade original elements, nor recording the the management to sponsor a difference between old and modern two-day symposium and provide structures and decoration; some, some administrative back-up. What using wrong materials, can do more clinched the decision was that Dr harm than good. Encroachment for Abdul Majid Sheikh, a respected greed has been resisted in some journalist and author with deep places, for example the courtyard knowledge about, and interest in, of the Wazir Khan Mosque, blighted Lahore, had taken to working in the with quasi-religious structures from Trust’s library. We could organise a local mullah, has been cleared. The the conference together. He has park leading to Dai Anga Mosque links with the Centre of South Asian has been much improved. The baths Studies at Cambridge University and near Delhi Gate in the Old City have is a Research Associate at Wolfson been expertly restored by British College, a suitable conference venue. and then Aga Khan consultants. But the Cypress Tomb is fenced in. Some Experienced and aspiring scholars structures have just disappeared expressed keenness to come for a through local sharp practice, or two-day conference in October 2017. A spotlight on in the case of Hindu buildings, They included potential high-profile because of tension after the Babri Lahore’s heritage speakers, including an acknowledged Mosque destruction in Ayodhya. The Pakistani expert on Lahore and a Nicholas Barrington opponents of the overhead metro British UNESCO professor who had At the end of 2016, various line eventually lost their case in the produced a report on the mass elements came together to suggest Supreme Court. It can only be hoped transit scheme, which was then that it would be time to organise that more such obtrusive structures subject to a court case. Dr Sheikh a conference in Cambridge on are not built in other areas of the and I drew up a programme covering ‘The History of Lahore and the city if significant monuments are a range of aspects of Lahore’s Preservation of its Historic Buildings’. affected. history. It was an ambitious project. As British High Commissioner in Sufficient funding was needed, and The consensus of this symposium Islamabad 20 years ago, I had taken eventually secured, for which we are was that the people of Lahore special interest in the history of most grateful to a number of donors. should be encouraged to preserve Pakistan, particularly the number In due course the subject attracted their unique heritage, which of historic sites in Lahore. I claimed interest and over 100 people came should, in years to come, attract to have discovered monuments in and enjoyed the event. tourism and income for the city. But the back streets of the city of which Pakistan, with all its defects, is a A subsequent booklet, published by most of my sophisticated Pakistani democracy and it is up to the people the Trust, has been well-received. friends had seemed unaware. But my themselves, and the media, to It has not been subject to academic research had only been superficial. decide what should be done. rigour, but gives people who could Pakistan has been in the news for not attend the symposium informal The History of Lahore and the many reasons, but there are now summaries of the talks as drafted Preservation of its Historic Buildings few visitors. Security concerns by the speakers themselves, is available to download at: have restricted the sort of tourism together with pictures of the main www.indiran.org/the-history- that India enjoys. Because the monuments discussed. It is planned of-lahore-and-the-preservation- country has this poor image, it that an academic volume of the of-its-historic-buildings-2/ was appropriate to remind people proceedings will be published by the To order a print copy, email about its rich history. I also knew British Association for South Asian [email protected] or call 01223 that Lahore’s antiquities were Studies, probably in 2020. 356841.

INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust 13 Events calendar 2017-18

We have had another full calendar of events this past year, including our Friday Lectures, special events for Friends of the Trust, the Harold Bailey Memorial lecture, delivered by Peter Frankopan, and a special memorial event for our founding trustee Bridget Allchin. One highlight was the sarangi concert by Deepak Paramashivan, which provided a heart-warming, atmospheric glow on a showery April evening. The weather was equally suitable (i.e. glorious) for our Annual Garden Party in June. Guests enjoyed strawberries and cream and sparkling wine in the splendour of the Trust’s garden, lovingly tended to by our gardener, Charlotte Synge.

Michaelmas Term 2017 3 November: Mark Elliott (University of Cambridge): Curating Another India: Object histories and contemporary voices 10 November: Ursula Sims-Williams (British Library): Investigating the library of Tipu Sultan of Mysore 17 November: Friends’ Event. Afternoon Guided Tour of Another India: Exploration and Capturing the colour of the occassion: expressions of indigenous South Asia at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, a guest at our Annual Garden Party with exhibition curator Mark Elliott 3 December: H.W. Bailey Memorial Lecture: Peter Frankopan (University of Oxford): Sir Harold Bailey and the content of Indian, Iranian and Asian Studies

Lent Term 2018 19 January: Emily Hannam (Royal Collection): Georges, Nawabs and Nabobs: The British monarchs and India in the 18th century 2 February: Almut Hintze (SOAS): The Multi-Media Yasna: Recent research in Mumbai 23 February: Christopher Wright (British Library): Robert Ker Porter’s travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia and Mesopotamia 1817–1820 9 March: Friends’ Event. James Crowden (author): Soldier, spy, archaeologist and academic: The story of Professor K de B Codrington (1899–1986) 17 March: Bridget Allchin memorial event at Wolfson College. Michael Petraglia (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena): Following in Bridget Allchin’s Footsteps: The current state of Stone Age archaeology’ (see p. 8)

Easter Term 2018 27 April: Deepak Paramashivan (University of Alberta) with Satvinder Sehmbey on tabla: Soulful Sarangi: An Indian classical music concert 18 May: Tree planting in memory of Bridget and Raymond Allchin (see p. 11) 18 May: Friends’ event. Rachel Rowe (Cambridge University Library): Archival Adventures with Ephemera: Treasures from the Queen Mary Indian Collection 25 May: Joe Cribb (former Keeper of Coins and Medals, British Museum): Constructing Kushan Chronology: Bactria and Gandhara 1st–4th century AD 24 June: Annual Garden Party

Deepak Paramashivan, performing at the Trust in April 2018 News from the Library

The Ralph Pinder- In 2004 I took over cataloguing the extensive collection of chess and Wilson archive other games pieces in the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait. As most were Joanna Salisbury made of ivory and bone, glass, rock Over the past two years, Deborah crystal and other hardstones, this Freeman Fahid (former Assistant large project was ideally suited Curator and Head of Publications at to Ralph, but not to his advanced the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait) has years. I was fortunate that we given us her time and expertise to made at least two trips to Kuwait complete a preliminary assessment together to examine the pieces. of our Ralph Pinder-Wilson archive. With often not much to go on in Pinder-Wilson (1919–2008) was an terms of dating, his familiarity with AIIT Honorary Fellow, Deputy Keeper the materials and observations in the Department of Oriental on decoration techniques were Antiquities at the British Museum invaluable; his opinion on the dating and Director of the British Institute of an object was often confirmed of Afghan Studies in Kabul. His The organised Pinder-Wilson archive when we later undertook scientific collection of art historical books, sale Working on the tests such as carbon-14 analysis. catalogues and archival material was I was delighted to take on sorting donated to the Trust in 2008. Archive out the archive for the Trust, Deborah and I worked together Deborah Freeman Fahid particularly as I had only known to categorise, list and rehouse the Ralph at a later stage of his working archive in secure, stable boxes. It is I first met Ralph Pinder-Wilson in life. Much of his initial research now housed in our newly converted 1995 when I joined Christie’s Islamic was contained in small notebooks, basement Archives Room. Future department. Long retired, he was written in his distinctive spidery work will include more detailed still very active, as a consultant to hand, with sketches of objects. cataloguing and an appraisal of the auction house and pursuing This seems to have been a lifelong a collection of miscellaneous the interests that had occupied habit, as some go back to school photographs and negatives, with a him throughout his working life. and university days. Very little view to adding these to the archive. In 1997 he published a group of of his work is dated, so it was fascinating stone press moulds for There is particularly interesting not possible to categorise his leatherworking in the Nasser D. material on key areas of Islamic art, papers in chronological order; we Khalili Collection. These utilitarian including rock crystal, ivory, glass and grouped things by subject as far objects were used to produce small jade and research material from the as was possible. His numerous leather goods such as wallets or excavations of glass at Fustat with photographs, both prints and pouches, and are carved in intaglio George Scanlon. Also, substantial slides, are disordered and very with rich arabesque and figural material (mostly secondary) on few are inscribed with a place or decoration to create a design that Ghaznavid and Ghurid monuments in date. With correspondence with stands in relief to the surface. Afghanistan and India, and material other scholars and postcards from From one inscription, he identified on Persian painting, on which Pinder- friends and colleagues, the papers an important Ghurid general and Wilson published several articles in demonstrate a lifelong interest in governor of Herat who died in AH his early career. the core subjects that occupied him 607 (AD 1210 or 1211), and was throughout his long working life. The Pinder-Wilson library collection, thus able to attribute the group A bibliography of his books, articles which totals 600 books, has now to Khurasan and the late 12th to and catalogue entries will later be been fully catalogued and all of early 13th century. This typified published on the AIIT website. the donated books are available his approach to Islamic art history: to search on Cambridge University an ability to identify relatively Deborah Freeman Fahid is an Library’s online platform, iDiscover: humble objects that would turn independent scholar and former https://idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk out to be of great interest and Assistant Curator and Head of Joanna Salisbury is Assistant that he would treat with the same Publications at the al-Sabah Librarian at the Ancient India and level of scholarship as larger, more Collection, Kuwait. Iran Trust. impressive items.

INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust 15 Ancient India & Iran Trust Bursaries

On the trail of it is less difficult to establish the authentic history of the Kushans and Taxila’s coins archaeological sites where coins of Gul Rahim Khan this design are reported. For 22 years in the first half of the Joe Cribb and other friends then twentieth century, Sir John Marshall advised me to carry out similar carried out extensive excavations research on the remaining coins at the world famous archaeological of Taxila. I thus began to research site of Taxila (Pakistan). He dug out the Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and three major urban sites, one temple Indo-Parthian coins excavated from and many Buddhist sites, dating different sites there. The coins and from the fifth century BCE to the chronologies of these periods are sixth century CE. He published the complicated and scholars’ opinions therefore diverse. For my study, Tea at the Trust: Gul Rahim Khan with numerous antiquities he unearthed AIIT Chair, Nicholas Sims-Williams in several short (annual) reports and I needed to consult the relevant Meanwhile, the Fitzwilliam houses a final comprehensive report in three literature, the archival records of a good number of coins from the volumes. He also reported more than the Taxila excavations and the coins Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo- 12,000 coins from different periods, themselves. I am grateful to the Parthian periods. Although I could with statistics and illustrations of Ancient India and Iran Trust (AIIT) not consult them all in the time I some of the most interesting and and Royal Numismatic Society for had, I collected the data for 1200 of unique examples. Based on these their financial, material and research them. I have previously published coins, Marshall not only established support, which enabled me to some interesting coins of the Kushan the chronology of these sites, but access the coins and documents of period selected from the cabinet of also built up the dynastic history of Marshall and R.B. Whitehead in the Coins and Medals at the Fitzwilliam. the Mauryans, Indo-Greeks, Indo- AIIT library and the cabinets of the This time, I studied many coins of the Scythians, Kushans and subsequent Fitzwilliam, Ashmolean and British Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo- rulers. Later, E.H.C. Walsh published Museums. The staff of all these were Parthian periods. As well as coins, I a monograph on punch-marked coins also extremely helpful. consulted historical documents and (the earliest coins of South Asia) My two-week visit to Cambridge was the initial work by Whitehead on the mostly reported from Bhir Mound, generously funded and supported Taxila coins now in the Fitzwilliam the earliest town of Taxila. by the AIIT and I worked there and at the Fitzwilliam Museum. I was cabinet. This comprises his analysis A few years ago, I began my research and description of the Rare and on the coins of the Kushan period pleased to find a large number of original black and white photographs Unique Coins from different Taxila found by Marshall at Taxila and sites. This worthy contribution published some wonderful results of Marshall’s Taxila excavations and some relevant numismatic literature is published by Marshall in his in various articles. These are widely comprehensive report. appreciated by scholars, particularly in the AIIT library. Marshall published My work in Cambridge was a those working on Kushan coins and only selected photos in his reports, wonderful experience. I learnt a history. This was, for example, the and the locations of the coin-finds lot about the coins and process first time that the lifetime copper and other material he mentions have of excavation at Taxila through issues of Vasudeva I (194–231 CE) always posed a problem for myself Marshall’s photographs. I was also were distinguished from imitations and other scholars. The unpublished able meet several new and eminent issued by his successors. Before photos mostly concern the locations scholars. I owe thanks to the AIIT this, all coins with the uniform of the sites where the material was Bursary scheme for this opportunity design bearing the standing king found at different occupation levels. to deepen my knowledge and on the obverse and Oesho and At the AIIT, I acquired 170 scans and research. I am also very grateful to bull on the reverse were assigned 150 digital photos of the original Munizha Ahmad-Cooke, Jo Salisbury to Vasudeva, the last ruler of the images from Marshall’s excavations and other staff members for their Great Kushans, even though some and of other antiquities. These will kind support and cooperation. had been issued over 100 hundred help me a great deal to understand years after his demise. With the the context and sequence of more GulGul Rahim Rahim Khan Khan is is Professor Professor of of problem of distinguishing the two than 3,000 coins reported from Archaeology,Archaeology, Univeristy University of of Peshawar Peshawar. coinages of the same design settled, various sites at Taxila.

16 INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust Living and working at the Trust

A veritable temple of learning, and more... Benedikt Peschl Now that the end of my memorable six-month stay at the Ancient India and Iran Trust is here, it is time to write down some recollections about life and work at this unique institution. The present issue of the Trust’s very own newsletter offers me a welcome opportunity to do so. I am a second-year PhD student in the field of Ancient Iranian Studies and formally based at SOAS University of London. I first came to visit the Trust weekly during my MA studies at SOAS in 2015, when I attended Nicholas Sims- Williams’ Middle Iranian reading seminar (then on the Manichaean Sogdian cosmogony). For a young student seeking initiation into the Benedikt Peschl consulting a 19th-century facsimile of an Avestan text in our library more arcane areas of Indo-Iranian studies, these journeys felt like a However, it would be wrong to All of the above would of course little pilgrimage, with the Trust being reduce life at the Trust just to the only be half as charming without a veritable temple of learning. It books. Among the various events the friendly environment constantly became clear to me then that for I was able to attend at the Trust in provided by the staff. Here, special someone doing research in Iranian recent months, one left a particularly mention must be made of the Studies, who moreover still prefers lasting impression on me – the Custodian, James Cormick. His the use of actual printed books over concert by Sarangi player Deepak cordial hospitality, distinctive jokes electronic material, the library at the Paramashivan (accompanied by and constant encouragement to Trust had to be a real treasure trove. Satvinder Sehmbey on tabla) in April engage with Khotanese irregular 2018. The intimate setting of the verbs contribute immensely to So I immediately seized the Trust’s India Room provided such the pleasant atmosphere and opportunity when one of the flats a fitting environment for this sonic counterbalance the air of scholarly at the back of the Trust’s building experience. seriousness which naturally became available in March 2018. surrounds the place. And whenever I was particularly glad about the An integral part of the AIIT I was lost looking for a book in the impressive collection of facsimiles experience is the Trust’s beautiful wrong room, Assistant Librarian, of Avestan and Middle Persian garden with its variety of Jo Salisbury, was quickly at hand to manuscripts, whose use is so much bushes, roses and other flowers, help me out, as was Administrator, friendlier on the eye than constantly complemented by a touch of Munizha Ahmad-Cooke, whenever staring at their digitised equivalents. romantic wilderness. Especially in the hot July of 2018, I enjoyed I needed support with some A regular highlight was the spending the late-afternoon hours bureaucratic matter. I thank them all Khotanese classes run by Professor on the chairs in front of the house. for making my stay at the Trust so Sims-Williams in a series of Monday In fact, it occurs to me only now that enjoyable, and I hope I will return to afternoon sessions in the first half I should perhaps have wandered visit on many future occasions. of 2018 and again in October. What around the enchanted orchard to Benedikt Peschl is a PhD student is more fitting than to ponder the the right of the main building more in Ancient Iranian Studies at SOAS grammar of Khotanese in the midst often. University of London. of Sir Harold Bailey’s library?

INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust 17 Friends of the Trust

Continuing the good work of my Fondly remembered predecessors We were saddend this year by the Sam Lieu passing of three longstanding Friends of the Trust, Lisbeth Gershevitch, As the Trust receives no public funding, but relies John Hinnells and Heide Elfenbein, entirely on its own resources, we are extremely all of whom will be greatly missed. grateful for the continued support we receive Lisbeth, who died in December 2017 from our Friends and donors. We would also like at the age of 92, was the widow of to express special thanks to Sandra Mason and the scholar of Iranian languages, Bill Martin for carrying out the role of Friends Ilya Gershevitch (1914–2001). She Coordinators, in a voluntary capacity, for the last was his constant companion on 10 years. Sandra and Bill have organised many adventurous research trips to Iran, Friends events in this time and have been steadfast including an unprecedented three- in building enthusiasm and support for the Trust’s month visit to Southern Iran in 1956 work. We now look forward to seeing them at future to record the unknown dialects of Friend events, as guests rather than organisers. Bashkardia. She was a frequent I am delighted to be stepping into Sandra and Bill’s Professor Sam Lieu and lively visitor to the Trust and a shoes as our new Friends Coordinator. I have been loyal supporter of its work. We are a trustee since 2011, but a Friend and supporter of the Trust for much longer. I extremely grateful for the generous regularly attend the Friday Lectures and frequently use its wonderful library for bequest left to us by Lisbeth, which my research on the history of the Ancient Silk Road. includes a number of books on Before my (official) retirement in 2016, I was Inaugural Distinguished Professor world textiles, which she had a great at Macquarie University, Sydney. I am currently a Bye Fellow (2018–2022) at interest in. Robinson College and President (2017–2021) of the International Union of John Hinnells, Professor of Academies (Union Académique Internationale). This latter role means that I have Comparative Religion at SOAS to be away from Cambridge quite regularly, but I hope to make the most of every University of London and opportunity to get to know our Friends better and to develop this network. a renowned authority on To this end, I was delighted to host an informal supper for Friends at the Trust Zoroastrianism, passed away in in October. My wife Judith and I are enthusiatic cooks and were pleased to see May 2018 at the age of 76. He also guests enjoying the food we had prepared. The meal was followed by a fruitful campaigned to broaden religious discussion about future events for Friends and the ways in which Friends can education in schools and universites help further the aims of the Trust. I look forward to organising more events and to encompass the world’s main building on the wonderful work that Bill Martin and Sandra Mason did for so religions. In 2017, the Trust hosted many years. a launch and presentation of a festschrift to him (see http://www. indiran.org/a-festschrift-for-john- hinnells/), and we are honoured to have just received a large part of his library, which will be added to our collection in due course. In November 2018, the Trust hosted a post-funeral reception for Heide Elfenbein, the wife of Josef Elfenbein, who was Professor of Iranian philology at the University of Mainz. Heide was a poet and dancer, and another vibrant personality among our supporters. A substantial amount of Josef Elfenbein’s library, including many rare books on Bill Martin and Sandra Mason (2nd and 3rd from left) with our Trustees and Custodian, Balochi, has already been added to James Cormick the Trust’s collection.

18 INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust From the Trust’s garden

FitzGerald’s roses Our Trustees James Cormick Sir Nicholas Barrington, MA, KCMG, Longstanding Friends of the Trust, Bill Martin CVO and Sandra Mason gave us an Omar Khayyam Former British High Commissioner rose ’to commemorate the anniversaries of to Pakistan; Honorary Fellow, Clare 2009’, including the birth on 31 March 1809 of College, Cambridge Edward FitzGerald, translator of the Rubaiyat of T. Richard Blurton, MPhil, FSA Omar Khayyam. It did very well in the first two Former Head, South Asia Section, years of its planting but then became rather antisocial and reclusive. This year, however, British Museum perhaps because of the very hot and dry Joe Cribb, BA summer, it decided to emerge from its seclusion Former Keeper of Coins and Medals, and display some beautiful light pink flowers. British Museum; Research Associate, It is claimed (Peter Beales Roses, https://www. Heberden Coin Room, Ashmolean classicroses.co.uk/omar-khayyam-shrub-rose. Museum html) that this plant was ‘propagated from a Almut Hintze, PhD, Dr Habil, FBA The Trust’s Omar Khayyam rose plant growing on Edward FitzGerald’s grave (Honorary Treasurer) in Suffolk, planted there in 1893 from seed gathered from plants on Omar Zartoshty Brothers Professor of Khayyam’s tomb in Nishapur’, and it is quite possible that the plants on the tomb Zoroastrianism, SOAS University of were descendants of the type of rose much celebrated in his poetry. London For instance, of the 75 quatrains in the first edition of FitzGerald’s version of Khayyam’s work, 7 mention roses. They are mainly spoken of as symbols of Samuel Lieu, DPhil, FRHistS, FSA, beauty (in common with the practice in the vast bulk of poetry in all languages) FAHA, FRSN, Inaugural Distinguished Iram indeed is gone with all its Rose, Professor (Emeritus), Macquarie And Jamshyd's Sev'n-ring'd Cup where no-one knows; University, Sydney; President of the But still the Vine her ancient Ruby yields, International Union of Academies And still a Garden by the Water blows. (Union Académique Internationale) (Quatrain 5) 2017–2021 but they are also used in Khayyam’s poetry as symbols of the impermanence Julius Lipner, PhD, FBA and fragility of life and civilisations. The flowers don’t last long and their delicate Professor Emeritus of Hinduism and petals can easily be torn or dislodged: the Comparative Study of Religion, Look to the Rose that blows about us – ‘Lo, University of Cambridge Laughing,’ she says, ‘into the World I blow: Cameron Petrie, PhD At once the silken Tassel of my Purse Tear, (Honorary Secretary) and its Treasure on the Garden throw.’ Reader in South Asian and (Quatrain 13) Iranian Archaeology, University of Interestingly, however, there is no mention of the fragrance of the roses, much Cambridge lauded in other poetry, or the colour, except in one instance in this quatrain, Nicholas Sims-Williams, PhD, FBA where obviously red is associated with blood, battle and heroism: (Chair) I sometimes think that never blows so red Emeritus Professor of Iranian The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled; and Central Asian Studies, SOAS That every Hyacinth the Garden wears Dropt in its Lap from some once lovely Head. University of London (Quatrain 18) Ursula Sims-Williams, MA (Honorary Librarian) The Omar Khayyam rose is a damask rose with the rather muddled arrangement Lead Curator of Iranian Collections, of petals typical of this type, but it is pink not red, and light pink furthermore. But we should not read too much into that. Khayyam never claimed to be a hero British Library even in his verse. His claim to fame is in the sad beauty of his elegiac verse not Christine van Ruymbeke, PhD in any military or worldly ambitions or accomplishments. Had he been a Greek Ali Reza and Mohamed Soudavar poet, he would have ascribed his inspiration to Erato not Calliope. Reader in Persian Studies, University of Cambridge

INDIRAN the newsletter of the Ancient India & Iran Trust 19 Indiran is the newsletter of the Ancient India and Iran Trust. The Trust is an independent educational charity, established in 1978 to encourage the study of the early civilisations and languages of the Indian subcontinent, Iran and Central Asia. 23 Brooklands Avenue Cambridge CB2 8BG Tel: +44 (0)1223 356841 [email protected] www.indiran.org

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Front Cover image: Raymond and Bridget Allchin, Meghna River, Bangladesh, 1987. Photo, Sushila Zeitlyn Back cover image: Douglas Robar © Ancient India and Iran Trust