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Obituary Notice: Pandit R. D. Banerji

By Ramaprasad Chanda

Vol. 7 · No. 4December - 1931pp. 776–778English

Summary

This obituary commemorates Pandit Rakhaldas Banerji, a pioneering Indian archaeologist best known for his role in the discovery of the Indus Valley civilisation. Born in 1885, Banerji joined the Archaeological Survey of India and conducted important excavations at Mohenjo‑daro, unearthing evidence of an ancient urban culture. The notice recounts his scholarly training, his publications on Bengali history and antiquities, and his commitment to preserving heritage. It notes the challenges he faced, including limited funding and bureaucratic obstacles, and praises his perseverance and keen eye for archaeological detail. The obituary reflects on his legacy as a trailblazer who brought India’s prehistoric past to light and inspired subsequent generations of archaeologists. It also mentions his personal qualities of modesty, generosity and intellectual curiosity.

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Conclusion

Pandit Rakhaldas Banerji’s untimely death deprived Indian archaeology of a visionary researcher. His discoveries at Mohenjo‑daro transformed our understanding of South Asia’s ancient past and remain a testament to his dedication.

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  • “The site had long been known to district officials in Sind, and had been visited more than once by local archaological officers, but it was not until 022, when Mr, R, D, Bonerji starte. to dig there, that the pre-historic character of its remains was revealed.”
  • “Nevertheless, Mr. Banerji divined, and rightly divined, that these earlier remains must have antedated the Buddhist stuctures, which were only & foot or 1૪૦ above them, by some two or three thousand years.”
  • “All the writings of Professor Banerji are inform ative and singularly ‘free from bias, His memory will ever retnain assaciated with' the epoch-making discoveries at Mohenjo-Daro and Paharpur,”

Works cited in this article

  1. Scythian Period of Indian History
  2. New Brihmi Inscriptions of the Scythian Period
  3. Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal
  4. History of Bengal

Discussed in this article

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Texts & works

  • History of Orissa
  • Eastern Indian School of Medi®val Sculpture

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In this issue

Vol. 7 · No. 4
629–634Mahanitakam – Our Text635–650Notes on the Nagarjunakonda Inscriptions651–654Kulasekhara Alvar and His DateK. G. Sesha Aiyar655–679Early Visnuism and Narayaniya WorshipMrinal Das Gupta679–689King Nanyadeva of MithilaRamesh Chandra Majumdar683–702The Sea and Land Travels of a Buddhist Sadhu in the Sixteenth CenturyGiuseppe Tucci689–702The Coins and Weights in Ancient IndiaA. K. Sarkar703–708Fire-Arms in Ancient IndiaJogesh Chandra Roy703–709Finger-posts of Bengal HistoryBijoy Nath Sarkar709–715Studies in the KautilyaNarendra Nath Law716–726On Some Castes and Caste-origins in SylhetK. M. Gupta727–734The Chando-Vedanga of PingalaMano Mohan Ghosh735–737On the origin of the Aryan word IstakaJean Przyluski737–740An Inscription of Asoka discovered at YerragudiDineshchandra Sircar740–741Bodhichitta-vivarna of NagarjunaP. C. Bagchi741–742On the antiquity of the name "Kasthamandapa" or "Kathmandu"P. C. Bagchi743–746Identification of BrahmaputraK. M. Gupta746–747MeradaLakshmi Narayan Harichandan Jagadeb747–750Origin of the Lotus-CapitalAnanda Kentish Coomaraswamy750The Gudimallam LingamAnanda Kentish Coomaraswamy751–753GopalaJogendra Chandra Ghosh753–756Early Capital of the Gurjara Pratiharas of MahodayaJogendra Chandra Ghosh757–759The St. Thomas Tradition and a Recent Discovery in TravancoreC. S. Srinivasachari760–768ReviewsSushil Kumar De, Batakrishna Ghosh, D. Bhattacharya769–775Select Contents of Oriental Journals776–778Obituary Notice: Pandit R. D. BanerjiRamaprasad ChandaCurrent article779–782Bibliographical Notes

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