Bicentenary of the birth of the Founding Father of South Asian Archaeology - Sir Alexander Cunningham (23rd Jan 1814 to 28th Nov 1893)

Early Days

Alexander Cunningham was the son of a Scottish poet Allan Cunningham, he was born in London on the 23rd of January 1815.He was educated at Christ's Hospital, London and at the East India Company's Addiscombe Seminary . He finished his education at the Royal Engineers Estate at Chatham and joined the Bengal Engineers at the age of 19 as a Second Lieutenant. He spent the next 28 years in the service of British Government of India. 

Soon after arriving in India in June 1833, he had a life changing and very providential meeting with James Prinsep (who deciphered both Brahmi and Kharosthi). This meeting sparked his lifelong interest in Indian archaeology and antiquity and planted the seeds of the future course of his life.

Cunningham was ADC to Lord Auckland, the Governor-General of India from 1836 to 1840. He was appointed Colonel of the Royal Engineers in 1860 and finally retired in 1861, having attained the rank of Major General.

Early Forrays into Archaeology

As part of his Military and Govermental duties he traveled the length and breadth of the sub-continent. He saw action during the Battle of Punniar and was a part of the commission that delimited the borders after the 1st Anglo-Sikh War. He had also previous carried out similar exercises in Kashmir where he came upon numerous temple remains.

His earliest works arose from these visits. He explored Buddhist monuments in Central India, served for two years as Chief Engineer in Burma and for three years in the NW Provinces. Thus the entire gamut of Indian antiquity from east to west and in the north was already visited by him as a part of his Govt service.

During his later military days (Cunningham is in the centre)

The Struggle for a formal Survey 

Cunningham working as a Second Lieutenant of the Bengal Engineers had assisted James Prinsep in formulating a plan in 1848 for an Indian Archaeological Survey . It was placed it before the British government, but, without success.

During the same period many eventful decisions were taken by the government on the recommendations of the Royal Asiatic Society of the United Kingdom . Upon these recommendations, the Indian government sanctioned a small amount for repairs to the monuments. 

Simultaneously there was much interest in archaeology by various individuals and the Asiatic Society was at the forefront of such endeavours

Lord Hardinge initiated a system approving proposals submitted by individuals based on their research and knowledge of Indian antiquities. The following years saw the uprising of the Indian soldiers and the events in 1857 virtually put a standstill of archaeological pursuits.

1861-1865 the First Survey
After much more effort Cunningham finally resigned himself and upon retirement from the army in 1861 he left for England … much to his surprise the British Govt approved the creation of the post of Archaeological Surveyor and appointed Cunningham. There were scant funds available and almost no additional manpower, but Cunningham was undeterred and set about with the gusto of a much younger man to get the job done.

Cunningham was greatly enamoured by Huen Tsang and almost all the efforts of the next few years were expended on tracing his journey and identifying the various locations he mentions in his books.

Cunningham was hugely successful and surveyed huge tracts of land from east to west in the Ganga Valley. He identified numerous important Buddhist sites, collected an enormous variety of artefacts, sculptures and coins and recorded a slew of inscriptions.

This first survey lasted 5 years from 1861 to 1865 when it was abruptly abolished by Lord Lawrence.



The Founding of the Archaeological Survey of India (1871)

The Archaeological Survey was revived as a distinct department of the government and Cunningham was appointed as Director General who assumed his charge in February 1871. 

The mandate of the department - ‘a complete search over the whole country, and a systematic record and description of all architectural and other remains that are either remarkable for their antiquity, or their beauty or their historical interest’.

Cunningham was also entrusted - ‘to direct his attention to the preparation of a brief summary of the labours of former enquirers and of the results which had already been obtained and to the formulation of a general scheme of systematic enquiry for the guidance of a staff of assistance in present and future researches’.

Cunningham was given two assistants J.D. Beglar and A.C. Carlleyle who were later joined by H.B.W. Garrik.

Cunningham resumed surveys in Delhi and Agra in 1871; in 1872 he surveyed Rajputana, Bundelkhand, Mathura , Bodh Gaya and Gaur; in 1873, Panjab; between 1873 and 1877, Central Province , Bundelkhand and Malwa. To initiate the survey in a systematic way Alexander Cunningham chose to record the Buddhist finds and monuments by plotting them on a map so as to understand the ancient trade route. The surveys of Cunningham led to several discoveries such as monolithic capitals and other remains of Asoka, specimens of architecture of Gupta and post-Gupta period; great stupa of Bharhut; identification of ancient cities namely: Sankisa, Sravasti and Kausambi. He also brought to prominence the Gupta temples at Tigawa, Bilsar, Bhitargaon, Kuthra, Deogarh and Gupta inscriptions at Eran, Udayagiri and other places.

Bahrut
Cunningham had visited Bharhut stupa, located in present Satna district in Madhya Pradesh in 1873 on his way to Nagpur. He was fascinated to find such a heritage site like Bharhut but at the same time pained at its ignorance by the people and the government. He came back in February 1874. and collected the scattered pieces of sculptures and records and tried to understand its design and lay out. He came back for a third time in November 1874 and carried some of the sculptures to Kolkata and started a Bharhut gallery in the National Museum at Kolkata.

After a detailed study of Buddhist literature and the sculptures from the site, he published in 1876 a book titled "The Stupa of Bharhut", which is still one of the defining and most authentic sources on Bahrut.


          Cover of Cunninghams's book on Bahrut                          The Sankisa Asokan Elephant Capital  

Other important achievements
The founding of the journal Indian Antiquary in 1872 by his assistant James Burgess enabled publication of important inscriptions and their decipherment by scholars like Buhler and Fleet, Eggeling and Rice, Bhandarkar and Indraji.

Cunningham also brought a new volume known as Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum which was aimed at publishing inscriptions of connected epigraphical material in a compact and handy volume.

On the proposal of Cunningham to set up an Epigraphical Survey to meet the growing demand of deciphering and interpreting the inscriptions, the government appointed J.F. Fleet as Government Epigraphist in January 1883 for a period of three years. Fleet extensively surveyed and brought to light many new inscriptions and also solved the problem related to Gupta era and he set up a new pattern and standard for the publication process of inscriptions which is followed even today.

The enactment of the Treasure Trove Act, 1878 was a landmark in the confiscation and safety of treasures and antiquities found during chance digging. Lord Lytton in 1878 observed that conservation of ancient monuments cannot be exclusively left to the charge of the Provincial Governments as directed by the Central Government in 1873 and this has to be brought under the purview of the Government of India. He produced many preliminary reports on the monuments of Bombay , Madras , Rajputana, Hyderabad , Panjab and the Northwestern Provinces . Again the conservation work was assigned to the local governments when the tenure of Cole ended in 1883.

Re-organisation of the ASI
By the time Cunningham retired in 1885 he recommended to the government to abolish the post of Director General and reorganise north India into three independent circles, viz., Panjab, Sind and Rajputana; Northwestern Provinces (Uttar Pradesh) and Central Provinces; and Bengal including Bihar, Orissa, Assam and Chhota Nagpur.

The other important events during this period was the extensive surveys carried out by Burgess in western India between 1871 and 1885 and also with his assistants Alexander Rea in south India from 1882 where many new exciting discoveries were made.

Dr. E. Hultzsch was appointed as Epigraphist in 1886 for a period of five years for deciphering and interpreting Sanskrit, Pali and Dravidian languages. Burgess was also called to take the additional responsibility along with the archaeological surveyor of south India to scrutinise the reports submitted by the three new Circles. Thus creating the system of ASI Circles that exists to this very day.

Burgess who incessantly complained about Cunningham to the Governor General (every one of the written complaints - there were 12 if I recall correctly - were forwarded by Cunningham to the GG's office) was nonetheless recommended by Cunningham as his successor.

Awards and Accolades

Cunningham authored 11 volumes of the ASI's reports (and edited 23 volumes in toto) published during his tenure, while the rest were written under his supervision.

He retired on 30 September 1885 and returned to London, and continued to write books on the Buddhist excavations and on ancient coins. He also published numerous papers in the Journal of the Asiatic Society and the Numismatic Chronicle. 

He was awarded the CSI on 20 May 1870 and CIE in 1878. In 1887, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire.

The End

He passed away in London on 28 November 1893. Today, his collection of rare Indian coins is displayed in the British Museum. He left behind numerous institutions and legacies the most prominent of which is the Archaeological Survey of India.

Cunningham's plans and map of Bodhgaya

Presto Pesto Pasta

Have been putting off blogging for a bit as I've been busy with other things ... but last nite's dinner completely knocked all the excuses out of me.

I got home starving last nite and in anticipation of the goodies Rhea was going to bring back from Saee Koranne-Khandekar's Pantry Staples workshop. Whilst Rhea quickly boiled up some corkscrew pasta I made a brown bread toast and spread some of the Pumpkinseed butter on it as an appetiser. Pumpkinseed butter is touted as a healthy alternantive to butter and I'm usually apprehensive of all things labelled 'healthy' ... but Saee had made this and I'm a shameless fan of everything she puts together so I had to give it a shot. Surprisingly it was quite good and I have to say something I wouldnt mind at all for brekker!

There was also a Vanilla-Strawbeery Jam but I've put that away to mature ... I have always believed that a good homemade jam needs atleast 3 months to develop its tatse and about a year to really come into its own.

The pasta boiled, I quickly sprinkled some superb Portuguese EVOO my friend Sidh Mendiratta introduced me to, added two large dollops of Saee's Walnut Basil Pesto, put two large heaped teaspoons of tuna in oil, and lavishly sprinkled some good Parmagiano Reggiano that a food purveyor fried 'Buff' had given me for my feedback. One good stir and mix later I was ready to eat. The next 20 minutes were spent in happy silence punchuated by the odd sigh as I worked my way through a truly superb bowl of Pesto Pasta. The Pesto was slightly grainy and had a nice texture it coated the pasta well (esp with a lil help from the EVOO ;) ) and the tuna and cheese just completed the symphony in my mouth.

This was a truly truly beautiful meal in minutes ... so superb that I felt inspired enough to get back to blogging!! Thank you, Saee, Rhea, Sidh and Buff.

Bengali Food Festival at Hornby's Pavillion, ITC Grand Central, Mumbai

Arundhati at the ITC Grand Central (Parel) invited Rhea, her mum, me and a few of our blogger friends to  a food tasting at the Grand Central last evening. The ITC was having a Bong food festival and Arundhati at the ITC was sweet enough to ask us folks down. 

The three of us were joined in the lobby by Harini, Pawan and Megha and we proceeded to Hornby's Pavillion to meet Chef Sumeet (who runs the Hornby's kitchen) and Chef Somnath who had flown down from the ITC's Sonar in Kolkata to assure the authenticity of the Festival's cuisine.

I was a tad bit sceptical as the last such Bong food festival I had been to had a poor choice of dishes, they were not suited to a buffet and the food hit all those who attended that dinner quite hard in the belly ... but given that Arundhati had made such an effort I decided to give it an honest shot. 

Right from the start we were put at our ease by Arundhati, Chef Sumeet and the ever smiling slightly cherubic Chef Somnath. The food was surprisingly authentic and the dishes were not the usual 'chaap, rezala, biryani trio' that are trotted out whenever the term Bengali Cuisine turns up. Though the ubiquitous 'Ilish' was present it was not the only star in the night's repertoire. The dishes were authentic, unapologetic, and most definitely not dumbed down for the Mumbai palette. The Shorshe bata (crushed and ground Mustard seed paste) had its 'jhaanjh' (mustardy spicyness) and the Aloo Posto its green chilli bite ... the food was cooked in mustard oil and no healthy concessions of Saffola or Sunflower were anywhere near the horizon.

The starters were an interesting blend of veg and non-veg and Harini's Vegan options were firmly in place. Not very surprisingly a lot of the vegetarian Bengali dishes were naturally Vegan.

The starters included Veg Chop and Phoolkopi Pakoda, the non-veg options were a very funky Chicken Cutlet and  Kobiraji Bhetki. The Bhetki was sadly completely unsalted and a fine dish came to a tragic end -the Chicken Cutlets on the other hand were reminiscent of the crumbed fish fillets that all 5 star buffets doled up in the 70s and 80s and were crisp, crunchy and great fun.

The Veg Chop (left) and the Chicken Cutlet (right)

The Phoolkopi'r Pakoda

The Kobiraji Fish

When the chef asked us what we'd like to drink I asked for Aaam Pora Sherbat ... a green raw mango cooler ... he was startled at the request and immediately set about to make some from scratch. The Sherbet was a great hit with all of us though Chef Somnath was not satisfied as he had to 'tandoor' the mangoes instead of a slow pan grill (to save time) ... the quest for perfection is after all the mark of a good chef!!

Aam Pora Sherbat

The main course started with Ghee Bhaat (Rice redolent with fresh Jharna Ghee from Calcutta and liberally sprinkled with fried Cashew nuts), Chholar Dal (Chana Dal with small cubed Coconut pieces), Phoolkopi Torkari (Cauliflower), Aloo Posto (Potatoes in a Poppy seed curry with a green chilli bite), Chhanaar Dalna (Soft cottage chese koftas simmered in lovely red brown curry)  and finally a truly awesome Shaak Ghonto (Palak, Mooli and Potatoes cooked with small dried Dal wadis). The Shaak Ghonto was the highlight of the meal!

Chholaar Dal

The Shaak Ghonto

The non-veg main course included a lovely light Doi Ilish (Hilsa cooked with curd), A slow cooked Tangra, Shorshe baata Ilish (Hilsa cooked in a Ground Mustard Paste) and a luscious Kosha Maangsho (Mutton curry). The meal was completed not by the ubiquitous Kolkata Biryani (which according to me is a dry rice preparation with a large chunk of boiled meat!!) but a truly delicious Dakai Reyaazi Khaashi Polao (Rich Dhaka Style Mutton Pullao).

The Kosha Maangsho 

The slow cooked Tangra 

(Chef Somnath was unhappy with its small size ... but Megha felt the gravy was awesome)

The Reyaaji Polao (left) and the Chhanaar Dalna and Ghee Bhaat (right)

Chef Somnath with the Shorshe Ilish and Rhea polishing it off soon after.

The meal ended with a selection of Bengali Sweets and Mishti Doi (traditional Bengali sweet curd). The doi was good but not spectacular. The sweets on the other hand were really outstanding especially the Bhapa Sandesh and the Chitrakoot both made under Chef Somnaths directions and neither overly sweet.

It was a fantastic Bengali meal and all of us were stuffed all the way to the gills. 

Arundhati, Chef Sumeet and  The Horby's Pavillion crew took amazingly good care of us, as is the ITC way. 

Bringing the happy, smiling and truly great Chef Somnath down was a stroke of genius ... here's looking forward to many more such Food Festivals. The Festival is on today and tomorrow and I seriously recommend you folks in Mumbai give it a dekko.

Soiree at the Casa Baptista, Khotachiwadi, Mumbai

This is a long overdue post and I must apologise to all those to whom I promised I would write this. As I said in my last post, this year I have had the good fortune to eat some truly amazing  meals and what you see in this blogpost is a tribute to one of them and it's designer, progenitor, cook, maitre'd, server, and host - Andre J Baptista.

Andre was my student at the CEMS where he got his first serious taste of Archaeology whilst doing his BA in History at the Wilson College. He then went on to do his MA in  AIHC and Archaeology at Deccan College, Pune (my old alma mater). Upon finishing his MA this May he decided to have a small and select dinner 'soiree' at his lovely family bungalow in Khotachiwadi.

He made elaborate slick invitation card (which we ribbed him no end about) and posted the event on FB. He set about collecting all the ingredients three days in advance and then set about doing all the prep, cutting, peeling and cooking all by himself! It was a complete 'one man show' and it surprised, impressed and humbled the entire gathering - of course not that we let him know ;)

The guest list included: Parth Chauhan, Rajesh Chauhan, Ruta Waghmare, Prateek Chaudhary, Rhea Mitra-Dalal, Andre and me.

I arrived fashionably late, at eight, and we shot the breeze a bit whilst we waited for Rhea who was caught in typical central-south Bombay traffic. The moment she arrived we were escorted to the beautifully set table. A lot of care had been lavished on the table setting as is abundantly apparent fromt the picture below

Andre placed some lovely Focaccia in front of us and then immediately served up the first course. Corn and Cheese Balls served with a lovely Mustard Sauce. The common complaint ... they got over too fast!

Rhea, Prateek and Ruta (l-r)

Rajesh and Parth (r-l)

Andre then brought on the second course: Spinach Soup - highly underrated, extremely subtle and superb!

The proud Host/Chef basking in the compliments for his first two courses.

The Maitre'd then proceeded to serve a very interesting, invigorating and healthy 'Bio-wine' (Rohini if you are reading this - Thank you) and Parth, who decided to stick to his beer, was rewarded with a small Pink Cocktail Umbrella!

Prateek looking most dubiously at a 'healthy' wine.

Course Three: Penne in a Marinara Sauce with bell peppers, very understated but very flavourful.

Course Four was the Magnum Opus as far as the Chef was concerned - a Mixed Vegetable Patty Stuffed with Cheese and Pineapples, pan-grilled and finished with a country-style mushroom sauce. It was sooooooo good that Rhea, who can't eat any fruit, polished it off and wiped her plate clean! The Sauce provided just the right amount of acidity and texture to a robust potato and vegetable cutlet stuffed with a slightly gooey, faintly pineapple-y, cheese-y centre.

The next course, Course Five, which I call Redemption Chicken, was a dish humbling in its very simplicity; Roast Chicken Breasts with Parsleyed Baby Potatoes, topped with a BBQ sauce. Now, any of you guys who have ever roasted chicken breasts know how tricky they are. Last year Andre had managed to slightly overcook them to dehydration and this was his attempt at redressing that wrong and showing all off us gathered there how it was done! The breasts were perfectly cooked - browned on the outside and and moist through and through, whilst being completely cooked. The sauce and the 'taters were perfect accompaniments.

Course Six - Dessert: Walnut Brownies with Vanilla Icecream and Chocolate Sauce - with a 'twist' ... the brownies had to be soaked in brandy to each one's own requirements.

Course Seven - the final course: A tongue-tickling Chocolate Liqueur. The very perfection of the Menu and the Meal evident in Rhea's smile.

The meal was perfect, the only complaint that most of us had was that we had only one stomach each and that it was full to bursting. We sat back and let the dinner settle a bit before Rhea and I made our way back to Kharghar, happy, proud, sated and humbled. Happy at catching up with old friends and students -  proud to have been invited; sated completely with the food, drink and company; humbled at being the beneficiaries of so much love and respect.

Botticino at the Trident, BKC, Mumbai

Last month I had the incredible good fortune of being invited by my friend Nikhil (the Nonchalant Gourmand) to a lovely Pasta demonstartion and an exquisite Italian Lunch at the Botticino - the fine Italian restaurant (with a contemporary twist) at the Trident, BKC, Mumbai

The Trident at BKC is a lovely boutique-ish business hotel tucked neatly off but yet a stones throw away from BKC's main thoroughfare. It has a small but tall lobby with some rather eclectic modern art scattered in it. We got there a few minutes early and were gently ushered into the waiting area at the Botticino - their speciality Italian restaurant. The Botticino is open daily for lunch and dinner services and apart from its amazing menu and extensive wine list it boasts a premium and exhaustive selection of  Grappa. A selection of such variety and in such graceful and artistic containers that they have mounted these bottles onto a specially designed Grappa Wall!

We were welcomed by Nikhil and Kainaz Daver (Communications Manager at the Trident) and plied with an exquisite Prosecco. Nikhil then told us that the days plan was to tour the restaurant, check out the kitchens, have a tete-a-tete with the Chef whilst he demonstrated how they make their own pasta and then a lunch where we could sample the offerings of the kitchen.

Salonee, Nikhil and Vrinda

Kainaz and Rhea

Grappa

More Grappa

Impeccably set tables.

Their famous floating table that hangs over their coffee shop (and where we were subsequently seated).

Clean classic white, crystal and silver service with a few pale pink roses and a lavender runner to add just that right bit of colour.

Their Bar.

The Kitchen with Chef  Vikas

The cold-kitchen where they assemble the salads and garnishes.

Megha and the crustacean tanks.

Chef Vikas (probably wondering what all these crazy bloggers would end up doing!!) the main man in charge of the Botticino's kitchen and menus.

Kainaz, probably wondering why they need to chain their fridges!

They keep their wine coolers chained and padlocked ... I guess mere fridge locks are child's play to the denizens of the kitchen.

Their quirky but lovely tea/coffee service.

Rhea, Saee and Vrinda looking quite cute in their caps.

Chef Vikas demonstrating how dough is put together - the first step in making any pasta. 

The dough resting.

Flattening it out through a pasta-maker.

Making ravioli.

Contents of the Pasta Fridge 

Making sauce, boiling pasta and assembling the Chicken Ravioli in Mushroom Sauce.

The finished dish.

(It was yumm!)

The Bloggers assembled at their table - ready to eat.

Delicious Ciabata bread fresh from the Trident's own bakery - served with pureed bell peppers.

The amuse bouche: Chef's very own take on the classic Mozzarella with sliced tomatoes.

Sea-salt encrusted Lavash.

The Argula, Pear and Pecorino Salad.

As an appetiser I chose the Pan-grilled  Foie Gras, it was truly sensational; soft, flavourful, perfectly cooked and very well complimented by a reduced red wine sauce. make sure all you Foie Gras lovers make the most of this as there is a move to ban its production.

For my Mains I chose the Herb encrusted Snapper with an Orange sauce, thinking it wouldn't hold a candle to the appetiser ... boy was I wrong, and very happily so, even if I say so myself. The fish was cooked to absolute perfection, soft flaky, firm, translucent and so fresh that it felt like it had been caught just that morning. The slightly sweet and tangy orange sauce was the perfect foil to the crusty saltiness of the fish. The only slightly puzzling feature were the cubed potatoes and carrots which appeared to have been placed there keeping in mind the Indian fixation with them. I for one would have perhaps preferred a steamed spinach. 

The Herb crusted Snapper with an Orange sauce.

Chef then came out to see that all was well and to bask in the absolute admiration of the gathered bloggers.

We rounded up the meal with Chef's signature dessert - A triple scoop of ice-cream on a white chocolate strip with a dark chocolate curl. The ice-cream flavours were an eclectic choice. We were served (from left to right) a Starcciatella - which was good; a Lemon cheesecake - that was mild and understated; and a Salted Caramel - absolutely the perfect blend of creamy chewy sweetness with small explosions of salt. 

The Salted Caramel ice-cream was a sure winner and I'd shamelessly recommend that if you like ice-cream you should go here just to eat this. 

At 4.30pm a very happy bunch of well fed and satiated bloggers slowly waddled their way out of the Trident promising themselves that they would be back.

The Botticino at the Trident was truly all that it claimed to be. It might be a trifle fussy and frou-frou, it might be a wee bit more than just expensive ... but it was worth it.