R. D. Banerji
Indian archaeologist (1885–1930)
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Through Mohenjo-daro, Indus Valley Civilisation and Gupta Empire
In 1931, in the introduction of Mohenjo-daro and the Indus Civilization, London: Arthur Probsthain, 1931, Sir John Marshall wrote, "Three other scholars whose names I cannot pass over in silence, are the late Mr. R. D. Banerji, to whom belongs the credit of having discovered, if not Mohenjo-daro itself, at any rate its high antiquity, and his immediate successors in the task of excavation, Messrs. M.S. Vats and K.N. Dikshit. ... no one probably except myself can fully appreciate the difficulties and hardships which they had to face in the three first seasons at Mohenjo-daro."
Early life
Banerji was born on 12 April 1885 in Berhampore of Murshidabad District, in present-day Indian state of West Bengal, to Matilal and Kalimati. He passed his entrance examination from the Krishnath College School in Berhampore in 1900. He lived in Bangaon.
Soon, he married Kanchanmala (1891–1930), the daughter of Narendranath Mukhopadhyay. He passed his F.A. examination in 1903 and graduated from the Presidency College with Honours in history in 1907. He obtained his M.A. in history from Calcutta University in 1911.
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Career
Banerji joined the Indian Museum in Calcutta as an Assistant to the Archaeological Section in 1910. He joined the Archaeological Survey of India as Assistant Superintendent in 1911 and was promoted to the rank of Superintending Archaeologist of the Western Circle in 1917. In 1924, after running into difficulty over his expenses, requested, and was transferred to the Eastern Circle, and took part in the excavations at Paharpur. He took voluntary retirement in 1926. After teaching at the University of Calcutta, he later joined the Banaras Hindu University in 1928 and held this post till his premature death on 23 May 1930.
Banerji's first major independent professional work was in the fields of palaeography and epigraphy. He won the Jubilee Research Prize of the Calcutta University for The Origin of the Bengali Script published in 1919.
He was the first to study the proto-Bangla script, the original form of Bangla script. He wrote the classic historical works on medieval Indian coins, and the standard works on the iconography of Indian art, in particular Gupta sculpture and architecture. His best known work was Eastern Indian Medieval School of Sculpture, published posthumously in 1933.
Discovery of Mohenjo-Daro
Banerji is known for unearthing pre-Buddhist artifacts at the ruins at Mohenjo-Daro and for noting similarities between the site at Mohenjo-Daro and Harrappa. Those discoveries led to excavations at the two sites that established the existence of the then-unknown Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation.
His interpretations of this civilisation were published in a number of articles and books: "An Indian City Five Thousand Years Ago"; "Mohenjo-Daro" (in Bangla, Basumati, 1331 BS); Prehistoric, Ancient and Hindu India (posthumously published, 1934) and Mahenjo-Daro – A Forgotten Report.
Non-fiction books
- The origin of the Bengali Script
- Baanglaar Itihaash (The History of Bengal) (1914 and 1917) - 2 volumes
- Prachin Mudra (1915)
- The Palas of Bengal (1915)
- The Temple of Shiva at Bhumara (1924)
- The Paleography of Hati Gumpha and Nanaghat Inscriptions (1924)
- The History of India (1924)
- A Junior History of India (1928)
- Bas Reliefs of Badami (1928)
Posthumous
- History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period (1930 and 1931) - 2 volumes
- The Haihayas of Tripuri and their Monuments (1931)
- The Age of the Imperial Guptas (1933)
Novels
- Dhrubo
- Hemkana (uncompleted) - published in Prabasi magazine (1911–12)
- Pashaner Katha (1914)
- Shashanka (1914)
- Dharmapala (1915)
- Mayukh (1916)
- Karuna (1917)
- Pakshantar (1924)
- Byatikram (1924)
- Asim (1924)
Posthumous
- Anukram (1931)
- Luttfullaah
Legacy
In 2022, in commemoration of the 137th anniversary of Banerji’s birth, and to celebrate the centenary year of the discovery of Harappan Civilization, the Indian Museum in Kolkata exhibited artifacts from its collection to provide a glimpse of Harappan civilization to visitors.