Ace
Archaeologist Dr. Dani dead
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Jan 26: Internationally acclaimed archaeologist, historian
and linguist Prof Dr Ahmad Hasan Dani died here on Monday morning.
He was 88.
Dr Dani had been admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical
Sciences five days ago with heart, kidney and diabetes problems.
His condition deteriorated on Sunday night and he was shifted
to the ICU where he died.
He is survived by his wife, three sons Dr Anis Ahmad Dani,
Navaid Ahmad Dani, Junaid Ahmad Dani and daughter Fauzia
Iqbal Butt. He has left behind a large number of admirers, students
and friends to mourn his death.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed profound grief over the
death of Prof Dani and described it as a great loss to the nation.
He said the country had lost an eminent historian. His death,
the president said, had left a vacuum that would be hard to fill.
He said Dr Dani's contribution to setting up of several museums
in the country and his vast publications had set the pace for
future course of action in this vital field.
Prof Dani was a world renowned historian. He was regarded as
an authority on archaeology, culture, linguistics, Buddhism and
Central Asian archaeology and history. He was Professor of Emeritus
at the Quaid-i-Azam University, a distinction bestowed on him
after his retirement as Dean of the Social Sciences Department
in recognition of his contributions. He was founding director
of the Taxila Institute of Asian Civilisations of the university
since its establishment in 1997 and founding director of the Islamabad
Museum.
During his long career, Prof Dani had held various academic positions
and international fellowships and conducted archaeological excavations
and research. He received a number of civil awards in Pakistan
and abroad. As a recognised linguist, he was proficient in more
than 14 national and international languages and dialects.
An ethnic Kashmiri, Dr Dani was born in Basna, in the district
Raipur in India, on July 20, 1920. He did his Masters in 1944
and became the first Muslim graduate of Banaras Hindu University.
In 1945, Prof Dani started work as an archaeologist with Sir Mortimer
Wheeler and took part in excavations in Taxila and Moenjodaro.
He was subsequently posted at the Department of Archaeology of
British India at Taj Mahal.
After partition, he moved to Dhaka and worked as assistant superintendent
of the Department of Archaeology. At that time, he rectified the
Verandra Museum in Rajshahi. In 1950, he was promoted to the position
of superintendent-in-charge of archaeology. For 12 years (1950-62),
Prof Dani worked as associate professor of history at the University
of Dhaka and also as curator at Dhaka museum. During this period,
he carried out archaeological research on the Muslim history of
Bengal.
He also worked as a research fellow at the School of Oriental
and African Studies, University of London (1958-59). In 1969,
he became Asian Fellow at the Australian National University,
Canberra. In 1974, he went to the University of Pennsylvania as
a visiting scholar. In 1977, he was a visiting professor at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Prof Dani was awarded honorary fellowships of the Royal Asiatic
Society of Bangladesh (1969), German Archaeological Institute
(1981), Ismeo, Rome (1986) and Royal Asiatic Society (1991).
He moved to the University of Peshawar in 1962 as professor of
archaeology and remained there till 1971. He conducted a number
of archaeological explorations and excavations on the Stone Age
and Gandhara civilisation in the Northern Areas and guided the
resetting and renovation of Lahore and Peshawar museums.
In 1971, he moved to Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad where
he established the Faculty of Social Sciences and served as its
dean until his retirement in 1980.
He received an honorary doctorate from Tajikistan University
in Dushanbe in 1993. The same year, Prof Dani established the
Islamabad museum. Between 1992 and 1996, he was appointed adviser
on archaeology to the ministry of culture. Between 1994 and 1998,
he worked as chairman of the National Fund for Cultural Heritage
in Islamabad. In 1997, he became honorary director at the Taxila
Institute of Asian Civilisations.
Dr Dani took part in exclusive excavation works on the pre-Indus
civilisation site of Rehman Dheri in northern Pakistan. He also
made a number of discoveries of Gandhara sites in Peshawar and
Swat and worked on Indo-Greek sites in Dir.
From 1985 he was involved in research focussing on documentation
of ancient rock carvings and inscriptions on remains from the
Neolithic age in the mountainous region of Gilgit-Baltistan, along
with Harald Hauptmann of Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, University
of Heidelberg. In 1990-91, he led Unesco's international scientific
teams for the Desert Route Expedition of Silk Road in China and
the Steppe Route Expedition of the Silk Road in the former Soviet
Union.
He was awarded Hilal-i-Imtiaz in 2000 and Sitara-i- Imtiaz in
1969 in recognition of his meritorious contributions. He was also
awarded Légion d'Honneur by the French government in 1998,
Aristotle Silver Medal by Unesco in 1997, Order of Merit by the
government of Germany in 1996 and Knight Commander by the government
of Italy in 1994.
Dr Dani authored more than 30 books, the latest being the History
of Pakistan published in 2008. His other books include Historic
City of Taxila, History of Northern Areas, Romance of the Khyber
Pass, New Light on Central Asia, Central Asia Today and Human
Records on Karakoram Highway.
He co-authored with J.P. Mohen the Volume III of History of Humanity,
and with B.A. Litvinksy The Kushano-Sassanian Kingdom.
He was fluent in Bangla, French, Hindi, Kashmiri, Marathi, Pashto,
Persian, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Seraiki, Sindhi, Tamil, Turkish and
Urdu languages.
His funeral prayers will be held on Tuesday at the Abbasi market
mosque, F-8/3, Islamabad, after Zohr prayers. He will be laid
to rest at H-11 graveyard at 2pm.
http://www.dawn.com/2009/01/27/top9.htm