Charles Masson
Charles Masson (1800–1853) was the pseudonym of James Lewis, a
At the time of the 1838 First Anglo-Afghan War, Masson had spent more time in Afghanistan than any other British subject. He was a minority voice critical of the invasion and accurately predicted it would be a disaster for the British Empire.[2]
Early life
Charles Masson was born on 16 February 1800 at 58 Aldermanbury within the
Travels
He fought in the
Between 1833 and 1838, Masson excavated over 50 Buddhist sites around Kabul and
Masson was the first European to see the ruins of
In the 1930s, the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan (Délégation archéologique française en Afghanistan, DAFA) found unexpected evidence of an earlier European visitor scribbled in pencil on the wall of one of the caves above the 55 meter Buddha at Bamiyan:
Return to London
In 1841 he sailed from
Collection at the British Museum
Through his wide-ranging travels, Masson built up an extraordinary collection of artefacts largely (although not exclusively) from the modern states of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Numbering over 9,000 objects most are now held by the British Museum. The collection includes more than 7,000 coins.[8] Beginning in 1993, a project at the museum led by Elizabeth Errington organised the material into an accessible study collection. The project resulted in the publication in 2017 and 2021 of three volumes describing the collection and linking it to the surviving documentation, much of which is held by the British Library.[9][10][11]
Works
- Masson, Charles (1834). "Memoir on the ancient coins found at Beghram, in the Kohistan of Kabul". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 3 (28): 153–175.
- —— (1836). "Second memoir on the ancient coins found at Beghram, in the Kohistan of Kabul". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 5 (49): 1–38.
- —— (1836). "Note on an inscription at Bamyan". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 5 (51): 188.
- —— (1836). "Third memoir on the ancient coins found at Beghram, in the Kohistan of Kabul". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 5 (57): 537–547.
- —— (1836). "Notes on the antiquities of Bamian". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 5 (59): 707–720.
- —— (1840). "Papers on Afghanistan, containing the narrative of journeys performed in that and the adjacent countries, between 1827 and 1830". Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. 5: 1–198.
- —— (1841). "Memoir on the topes and sepulchral monuments of Afghanistan". In Wilson, H.H.(ed.). Ariana Antiqua: A Descriptive Account of the Antiquities and Coins of Afghanistan. London: East India Company. pp. 55–118.
- —— (1842). Narrative of various journeys in Balochistan, Afghanistan, and the Panjab, 3 vols. London: Richard Bentley.
- —— (1843). Narrative of a journey to Kalât : including an account of the insurrection at that place in 1840 and a memoir on Eastern Balochistan. London: Richard Bentley.
- —— (1846). "Narrative of an excursion from Pesháwer to Sháh-Báz Ghari". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 8: 293–302. S2CID 163543425.
- —— (1848). Legends of the Afghan Countries, in Verse. London: James Madden.
- —— (1850). "Illustration of the route from Seleucia to Apobatana, as given by Isidorus of Charax". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 12: 97–124. S2CID 163037723.
See also
- Harappa
- Indus Valley civilization
References
- ^ a b Errington 2002.
- ^ Richardson 2021.
- ^ Errington 2017a, pp. 3–4.
- ^ Errington 2017a, p. 4.
- ^ Hackin & Carl 1933, p. 2.
- ^ Whitteridge 1986, p. 157.
- ^ Errington 2017a, p. 14.
- ^ "Charles Masson". British Museum. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ Errington 2017a.
- ^ Errington 2017b.
- ^ Errington 2021.
Sources
- Errington, Elizabeth (2002). "Ancient Afghanistan through the eyes of Charles Masson (1800–1853): The Masson Project at the British Museum" (PDF). International Institute for Asian Studies: Newsletter. 27: 8–9.
- Errington, Elizabeth (2017a). Charles Masson and the Buddhist Sites of Afghanistan: Explorations, Excavations, Collections 1832–1835. British Museum Research Publication 215. London: British Museum Press. ISBN 978-0-86159-215-9.
- Errington, Elizabeth (2017b). The Charles Masson Archive: British Library, British Museum and Other Documents Relating to the 1832–1838 Masson Collection from Afghanistan. British Museum Research Publication 216. London: British Museum Press. ISBN 978-0-86159-216-6.
- Errington, Elizabeth (2021). Errington, Elizabeth (ed.). Charles Masson: Collections from Begram and Kabul Bazaar, Afghanistan, 1833–1838. British Museum Research Publication 219. London: British Museum Press. ISBN 978-0-86159-219-7.
- Hackin, Joseph; Carl, Jean (1933). Nouvelles recherches archéologiques à Bāmiyān. Paris: G. Van Oest. p. 2.
- Richardson, Edmund (2021). Alexandria: The Quest for the Lost City. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5266-0378-4.
- ISBN 978-0-85668-318-3.
Further reading
- Errington, Elizabeth (2004). "Charles Masson". Encyclopedia Iranica. Brill.
- ISBN 978-0-7141-1177-3.
- Possehl, Gregory L. (1990). "An archaeological adventurer in Afghanistan: Charles Masson". South Asian Studies. 6 (1): 111–124. .
- Richardson, Edmund (2013). "Mr Masson and the lost cities: a Victorian journey to the edges of remembrance" (PDF). Classical Receptions Journal. 5 (1): 84–105. .
- Wolff, Joseph (1835). Researches and Missionary Labours Among the Jews, Mohammedans, and Other Sects. London: The author. p. 266.
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