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    Professor Ahmad Hasan Dani was a renowned Pakistani archaeologist, historian and linguist. He introduced archaeology as an academic discipline in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Throughout his career, he held various positions and conducted excavations of pre-Indus civilization and Gandhara sites in northern Pakistan. Dani authored over 30 books and articles. He argued that the cultural history of Pakistan is more closely related to Central Asia through Buddhist, Persian and Sufi influences rather than South Asia. Dani received many national and international honors for his contributions to archaeology, history and linguistics.

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    Ahmad Hasan Dani PDF

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    Professor Ahmad Hasan Dani was a renowned Pakistani archaeologist, historian and linguist. He introduced archaeology as an academic discipline in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Throughout his career, he held various positions and conducted excavations of pre-Indus civilization and Gandhara sites in northern Pakistan. Dani authored over 30 books and articles. He argued that the cultural history of Pakistan is more closely related to Central Asia through Buddhist, Persian and Sufi influences rather than South Asia. Dani received many national and international honors for his contributions to archaeology, history and linguistics.

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    Professor Ahmad Hasan Dani was a renowned Pakistani archaeologist, historian and linguist. He introduced archaeology as an academic discipline in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Throughout his career, he held various positions and conducted excavations of pre-Indus civilization and Gandhara sites in northern Pakistan. Dani authored over 30 books and articles. He argued that the cultural history of Pakistan is more closely related to Central Asia through Buddhist, Persian and Sufi influences rather than South Asia. Dani received many national and international honors for his contributions to archaeology, history and linguistics.

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    Ahmad Hasan Dani PDF

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    aavaraich
    Professor Ahmad Hasan Dani was a renowned Pakistani archaeologist, historian and linguist. He introduced archaeology as an academic discipline in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Throughout his career, he held various positions and conducted excavations of pre-Indus civilization and Gandhara sites in northern Pakistan. Dani authored over 30 books and articles. He argued that the cultural history of Pakistan is more closely related to Central Asia through Buddhist, Persian and Sufi influences rather than South Asia. Dani received many national and international honors for his contributions to archaeology, history and linguistics.

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    of 5

    Ahmad Hasan Dani

    Professor Ahmad Hasan Dani (Urdu: )


    FRAS, SI, HI (20 June 1920 26 January 2009),
    was a Pakistani intellectual, archaeologist, historian, and
    linguist. He was among the foremost authorities on Central Asian and South Asian archaeology and history.[1]
    He introduced archaeology as a discipline in higher education in Pakistan and Bangladesh.[2] 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 and
    Gandhara sites in Northern Pakistan. He was also the
    recipient of various civil awards in Pakistan and abroad.
    As a prolic linguist, he was able to speak 35 local and
    international languages and dialects.[3]

    position of President of the National Committee for Museums in Pakistan. For a period of twelve years (1950
    62), Dani remained Associate Professor of History at the
    University of Dhaka while at the same time working as
    curator at the Dhaka Museum. During this period, he carried out archaeological research on the Muslim history of
    Bengal.

    Dani moved to the University of Peshawar in 1962 as


    Professor of Archaeology and remained there until 1971.
    During this time, he led the resetting and renovation
    works for the Lahore and Peshawar Museums. He became Chairman of the Research Society at the University
    of Peshawar in 1970. In 1971, he moved to the University
    of Islamabad to become Dean of the Faculty of Social
    Sciences. 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
    1 Biography
    continued to work in various positions until his retirement
    in 1980 when he was made Emeritus Professor. During
    this period, he also served as President of the Archaeo1.1 Early life
    logical and Historical Association of Pakistan (1979) and
    Dani, an ethnic Kashmiri, was born on 20 June 1920 in Co-Director of the Pak-German Team for Ethnology ReBasna, Central Provinces, India.[4] He graduated in 1944, search in Northern Areas of Pakistan (1980).
    with an MA degree, to become the rst Muslim graduate He received an Honorary Doctorate from Tajikistan Uniof Banaras Hindu University. He scored highest marks versity, (Dushanbe) in 1993. During the same year, Dani
    in the exams which earned him a Gold Medal. This also established the Islamabad Museum. In 1992, he was apqualied him for a teaching fellowship from the same uni- pointed Advisor on archaeology to the Ministry of Culversity. Although he was provided with the grant, he was ture of Pakistan, serving from 199296. Between 1994
    not allowed to teach due to his religious beliefs.[3] He 98, he remained Chairman of the National Fund for Culstayed there for six months. In 1945, he started work- tural Heritage in Islamabad. In 1997, Dani became Honing as a trainee in archaeology under the guidance of orary Director at the Taxila Institute of Asian CivilizaMortimer Wheeler. At this time, he participated in exca- tions. He held the position until the time of his death.
    vations at Taxila and Mohenjo-daro. He was subsequently
    On 22 January 2009, he was admitted to the Pakistan Inposted at the Department of Archaeology of British Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad with heart, kiddia at Taj Mahal, Agra. He received his PhD from the
    ney and diabetes problems. He died on 26 January 2009
    Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
    at the age of 88 years. He is buried in the H-11 Graveyard
    of Islamabad.

    1.2

    Career

    2 Visiting, research and honorary


    positions

    After the Partition of India, Dani migrated to East Pakistan. There, in 194749 he worked as Assistant Superintendent of the Department of Archaeology. At this
    time, he renovated the Verandra Museum at Rajshahi.
    In 1949, he married Saya 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 General Secretary of the Asiatic Society of Pakistan in Dhaka. Later on, in 1955, he took the

    During his Associate Professorship at Dhaka University,


    Dani worked as a Research Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (1958
    59). Later, in 1969 he became Asian Fellow at the
    Australian National University, Canberra. In 1974, he
    went to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia as
    1

    5 PUBLICATIONS

    a visiting scholar. In 1977, he was Visiting Professor at


    the University of WisconsinMadison. Over the span of
    his career, Dani was awarded honorary fellowships by the
    Royal Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (1969), the German
    Archaeological Institute (1981), the Istituto Italiano per
    l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsMEO) (1986), and the Royal Asiatic Society (1991).

    tribution of the Indus Basin and surrounding hinterland,


    he observed that the Indo-Gangetic Plain did not play
    any signicant role in the development of Indus Valley
    culture.[8] Nor was there any invasion from the seaside
    during the Bronze Age, although the coastline facilitated
    maritime trade. The major inuence, according to Dani,
    came from Central Asia in the west. He asserted that
    In 1991, Dani was made an Honorary Citizen of Bukhara the hilly western borderland that appears as a boundary
    to the external eye is actually a network of hill plateaus
    and an Honorary Member of the Paivand Society in
    Tajikistan. He was made an Honorary Life Patron of the where the local people have always moved freely. He
    therefore argued that the cultural history of Pakistan is
    Al-Shifa Trust, Rawalpindi, in 1993.
    more closely related to Central Asia through Buddhist,
    Persian and later Su inuences.[1] He strove to revive
    this relationship by promoting organisations such as the
    3 Research contributions
    Pak-Central Asia Friendship Association.
    Gilg
    it
    ar Kish
    en

    ul

    us

    Soha

    Ind

    lam
    b
    na
    he

    Jhe

    Zh

    ob

    C
    na

    e
    Ch

    PAKISTAN

    njn

    vi Lahore
    Ra

    Indus basin

    j
    Satlu

    ad

    New Delhi

    Ind
    ARABIAN
    SEA

    na

    tluj
    Sa

    INDIA
    Hyderabad

    Ch
    e

    Amritsar

    us

    Pa

    Be
    as

    ar

    ar

    nd

    Ku

    In
    du
    s

    Srinagar

    k
    ns
    Za

    Tochi

    Jhelam

    Islamabad

    Guma
    l

    Ganga

    yo
    k

    AL

    Kurram

    nh
    Ku

    Sh

    bra

    Swat

    Kab

    CHINA
    yo

    NEP

    Kabul

    Kabul

    Sh

    Nu

    Ku
    na
    r

    AFGHANISTAN

    Dani maintained that despite the Arabian Sea allowing the Meluhhans to establish trade relations with
    Mesopotamia and Ancient 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 eld
    of culture, language, literature, food, dress, furniture and
    folklore.[9]

    4 Awards and honours


    The rst Muslim student of Banaras Hindu University,
    Dani scored highest in the graduation exams and received the J. K. Gold Medal from that university in 1944.
    Among other national awards, he received Sitara-e-Imtiaz
    in 1969, Aizaz-e-Kamal in 1992 and Hilal-e-Imtiaz in
    2000 from the Government of Pakistan. In 2004, he was
    awarded the title of 'Distinguished National Professor' by
    the Higher Education Commission in recognition of his
    contributions and achievements.

    Dani remained engaged in excavation works on the pre- Internationally, his contributions to archaeology, linguisIndus Civilization site of Rehman Dheri in Northern tics and ancient history were commended through various
    Pakistan.[5] He also made a number of discoveries of prestigious honours and awards such as:
    Gandhara sites in the Peshawar and Swat Valleys, and
    worked on Indo-Greek sites in Dir.[6] From 1980, he was
    1998 Lgion d'honneur, President of the French Reinvolved in research focusing on the documentation of the
    public
    rock carvings and inscriptions on ancient remains from
    1997 Aristotle Silver Medal, UNESCO
    the Neolithic age up to the late Buddhist period in the high
    mountain region of Northern Pakistan along with Karl
    1996 Order of the Merit, Government of Germany
    Jettmar, Volker Thewalt and (much later, since 1989)
    1994 Knight Commander, Government of Italy
    Harald Hauptmann of the Heidelberg Academy of Sci[7]
    ences, University of Heidelberg. In 199091, he led
    1990 Palmes Academiques, Government of France
    the UNESCO international scientic teams for the Desert
    1986 Gold Medal, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
    Route Expedition of the Silk Road in China and the
    Steppe Route Expedition of the Silk Road in the Soviet
    Union.
    From his extensive eldwork and research experience, 5 Publications
    Dani refuted any inuence of South Indian culture on
    the Indus Valley Civilization.[5] Using a geographic per- Dani had more than 30 published books and numerspective of the socio-political systems and cultural dis- ous journal articles to his credit. He spoke 35 lan-

    5.2

    Co-authored works

    guages and dialects, and was uent in Bengali, French,


    Hindi, Kashmiri, Marathi, Pashto, Persian, Punjabi,
    Sanskrit, Saraiki, Sindhi, Tamil, Turkish, English and
    Urdu languages.[4] He also published various texts in most
    of these languages.

    5.1

    Books

    3
    Alberuni's Indica: A record of the cultural history of
    South Asia about A.D. 1030. University of Islamabad Press, Islamabad. 1973
    Indian palaeography. Clarendon P. 1963. ASIN
    B0000CM0CB
    Dacca: A record of its changing fortunes. S. S. Dani
    (Publisher). 1962. ASIN B0000CQXMU

    History of Pakistan: Pakistan through ages. Sang-eMeel Publications. 2007. ISBN 978-969-35-20200

    Prehistory and Protohistory of Eastern India: With


    a Detailed Account of the Neolithic Cultures. K. L.
    Mukhopadhyay. 1960

    Historic City of Taxila. Sang-e-Meel Publications.


    2001. ISBN 978-969-35-0947-2

    Bibliography of the Muslim Inscriptions of Bengal.


    1957

    History of Northern Areas of Pakistan (Up to 2000


    AD). Sang-e-Meel Publications. 2001. ISBN 978969-35-1231-1
    Romance of the Khyber Pass. Sang-e-Meel Publications. 1997. ISBN 978-969-35-0719-5
    New Light on Central Asia. Sang-e-Meel Publications. 1996. ISBN 978-969-35-0294-7
    Central Asia Today. Sang-e-Meel Publications.
    1996. ISBN 978-969-35-0706-5
    Human Records on Karakorum Highway. Sang-eMeel Publications. 1995. ISBN 978-969-35-06464
    Peshawar: Historic City of the Frontier. Sang-eMeel Publications, (2nd Revised edition). 1995.
    ISBN 978-969-35-0554-2
    A Short History of Pakistan, Book One: Pre-Muslim
    Period. University of Karachi. (3 editions, 1967,
    1984, 1992). ISBN 969-404-008-6
    History of Northern Areas of Pakistan (Historical
    studies). National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research. 1989. ISBN 978-969-415-016-1
    Perspectives of Pakistan. National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-e-Azam University. 1989.
    ASIN B0000CQNUB
    The historic city of Taxila. Centre for East Asian
    Cultural Studies. 1986. ISBN 978-4-89656-500-3
    Chilas: The City of Nanga Parvat (Dyamar). 1983.
    ASIN B0000CQDB2
    Thatta: Islamic architecture. Institute of Islamic
    History, Culture & Civilization. 1982. ASIN
    B0000CQD43
    Indus Civilization: New Perspectives. Taxila institute of Asian Civilizations, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. 1981

    5.2 Co-authored works


    With J-P. Mohen (eds.), History of Humanity, Volume III, From the Third Millennium to the Seventh Century BC. New York: Routledge/Paris:
    UNESCO. 1996. ISBN 0-415-09306-6.
    With V. M. Masson (eds.), History of Civilizations of
    Central Asia, UNESCO, Paris. 1992 (6 volumes)
    ISBN 92-3-102719-0 (v.1)

    6 See also
    Sindhology

    7 Notes
    [1] Joe, L (2009). Ahmad Hasan Dani: Pakistans foremost
    archaeologist and author of 30 books, The Guardian, 31
    March, p.37. Retrieved on 4 September 2009
    [2] The Times (2009). Obituary Professor A. H. Dani: archaeologist, 18 February. Retrieved on 4 September 2009
    [3] A Morning with Farah, Ahmed Hasan Dani and his wifes
    live interview on Pakistan Television. Retrieved on 4
    September 2009
    [4] Khan, M.N. Biographical Data. Salaam. Retrieved on 15
    May 2008.
    [5] Khan, O (1998). An interview with Dani in Islamabad,
    on 6 January. Retrieved on 15 May 2008
    [6] Iqbal, M. (2002). Archaeological site discovered in Dir,
    Dawn, 21 May. Retrieved on 6 March 2007)
    [7] Shahid, J. (2006). Dam threatens ancient remains, Dawn,
    5 December. Retrieved on 6 March 2007)
    [8] Dani, A.H. (1975). Origins of Bronze Age Cultures in
    the Indus Basin a geographic perspective. Expedition.
    Retrieved on 4 November 2009.

    [9] Dani, A.H. History Through The Centuries. National


    Fund for Cultural Heritage. Retrieved on 22 September
    2009.

    External links
    Danis Prole at National Fund for Cultural Heritage, Pakistan.

    EXTERNAL LINKS

    Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

    9.1

    Text

    Ahmad Hasan Dani Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Hasan_Dani?oldid=678074974 Contributors: Amillar, Owen, Timrollpickering, Cobaltbluetony, MistToys, Rich Farmbrough, Kwamikagami, Matve, Enric Naval, SlaveToTheWage, VivaEmilyDavies,
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    Ohconfucius, Admn404, Avac, Keithh, Cydebot, Muhammadhani, Barticus88, Islescape, Sulaimandaud, IndianGeneralist, Tilman Berger,
    Neutron Jack, TreasuryTag, Pahari Sahib, 0goodiegoodie0, Hindutashravi, SieBot, Sitush, ImageRemovalBot, Tripping Nambiar, Badwanpk, Muro Bot, Dana boomer, RogDel, Addbot, Lightbot, Luckas-bot, Umbertoumm, AnomieBOT, Arjun G. Menon, Dynamic.leaning,
    LilHelpa, Juliablahh, FrescoBot, Ironboy11, Full-date unlinking bot, Skepticfall, Mar4d, Mirtanha, Volker-th, VIAFbot, Corinne, Obaid
    Raza, Isnib, Zaketo, Pietersielie(PC), KasparBot and Anonymous: 26

    9.2

    Images

    File:Indus_river.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Indus_river.svg License: CC BY 3.0 Contributors:


    Own work Original artist: Kmhkmh
    File:Question_book-new.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Question_book-new.svg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0
    Contributors:
    Created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Based on Image:Question book.png created by User:Equazcion Original artist:
    Tkgd2007

    9.3

    Content license

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