Opening the
seminar, Dr. Lokesh Chandra described Aurel Stein in
his inaugural address titled 'Flow of Culture Across
the Sands' as a "great pilgrim, great scholar and
great adventurer who opened for us a great
vision". "Stein", said Dr. Lokesh
Chandra, belonged to a long tradition of European
scholarship particularly of Germanic dimension."
At a time when everybody in Europe was thrilled by the
discovery of Sanskrit, Stein represented the European
consciousness, he explained. When he arrived in India,
his "great master" Prof. Buhler, had already
explored and catalogued "the Sanskrit manuscript
wealth of India". Coming from Hellenic tradition,
Stein, who was in search of the track of Alexander the
Great, was fascinated in particular by one manuscript
in which Buhler had provoked his interest - the
Rajatarangini. Dr. Lokesh Chandra said that the
Rajatarangini was an important text from many points
of view. It helps us understand, he explained, how
just before Islam secured a strong foothold in the
north, things were shaping in India. It (the
Rajatarangini) projected the Indian, and the Hindu,
point view. "It is a traffic which has never been
really studied in depth. The Hindu Shahis (ofAfghanistan)
had very close connections with Kashmir. The languages
of Kashmir happen to share very richly with the
languages of Kafiristan and other parts of north and
united India."
But even as
Stein was investigating the Rajatarangini, Dr. Lokesh
Chandra observed, his mind was set on the track of
Alexander. As the Afghans did not encourage him, and
with Dr. Buhler provoking him to study Rajatarangini,
Stein came into contact with a Sanskrit Pandit to help
him, he undertook the entire work of editing and
translating and interpreting the Rajatarangini -- his
edition of the work ultimately appearing in
1900." Ever since, it is the only edito princep
or the main edition of the Rajatarangini. Dr. Lokesh
Chandra felt that the Sharada text of Kalhana's
chronicle "has been preserved somewhere, and
should be published in fascimile; because I always do
not find the reading in Rajatarangini very clearly
understandable". Dr. Lokesh Chandra further said
that (Kshemendra's) Lokprakasha also deserves to be
re-edited as it is "very crucial to the
understanding of Rajatarangini. "
In Dr. Lokesh
Chandra's view, however, more than the Rajatarangini,
Stein's greatest contribution is in "unravelling
the sands of Central Asia", and his first
expedition to Khotan was a "tremendous
revelation. "He brought for the first time to the
Western world the idea that we need not only to look
at Kashmir for the earliest catch but to Central
Asia," Dr. Lokesh Chandra said. The earliest
Indian manuscripts, he revealed, were from Central
Asia, all predating the Japanese manuscripts. The
Kharosthi Dhammopada also came from this very region,
belonging to even earlier then the 2nd century B.C.
This was provoked by the accidental discovery of a
Sanskrit manuscript in Kucha by Lt. Col. Bower
"where they had gone to find out the criminal who
had assassinated a British army official". While
they were trying to locate the criminal, they located
an ancient temple. There was a cow standing there and
just as they opened the door, the cow crumbled to dust
and from the stomach of this cow came out the Sanskrit
manuscript which was later known as the Bower
manuscript. It was the first proof to the fact that
Sanskrit manuscripts are very ancient and these could
exist in Central Asia. According to Dr. Lokesh Chandra,
"it was one of the major inspirations for Sir
Aurel Stein to reach Central Asia and find out these.
So Sir Aurel Stein extended the history of Sanskrit,
and the cultural interflow of the ancient world".
Sir Aurel
Stein's "major achievement", said Dr. Lokesh
Chandra, is discovery of manuscript of Tun-Huang.
"These manuscripts are being studied to this very
day. They give an insight into the evolution ofthe
Chinese political strategies in Central Asia",
Dr. Chandra added . "So the work of Sir Aurel
Stein gave us the very temperature of Central Asia,
the topography of Central Asia. Too many things have
been revealed by him which are as relevant today, and
will be as relevant in the coming century as they were
when they were sighted", he pointed out.
Stein's
discoveries Dr. Chandra observed, "are going to
condition the life of our country at least for a
century. His basic findings deserve to be put in a
more modern context. Not only within the context of
history, but within the context of Sanskrit
studies."
Making a
personal reference, Dr. Lokesh Chandra said that Stein
was a great Sanskrit scholar and one of the very few
Europeans who wrote Sanskrit. "As a great friend
of my father (Dr. Raghuvira), he wrote to my father
when he was going to Afghanistan. My father went to
see him in Lahore at the station. He went to
Afghanistan where he died." Dr. Lokesh Chandra
concluded his speech with glowing tributes to Sir
Aurel Stein. He said: "Stein was the bedrock of
India's archaeology, India's history, India's
strategic interest in Central Asia."
Agreeing with
Dr. Lokesh Chandra on the influence of Germanic
scholarship on Sir Aurel Stein, Prof. Geza
Bethlenfalvy, Director, Hungarian Information and
Cultural Centre, said that the whole of Hungarian
research and oriental studies were motivated by the
desire to go back to roots of the Hungarian race, and
Stein's scholarship was part of this quest. "In
this of course we have taken help from German
scholarship", he added. Prof. Geza spoke mainly
on "Aurel Stein's Relation to the Hungarian
Scholarly World" and said that Stein carried on
the tradition of Cosma de Koros whose name is
"the motifand life behind all Hungarian oriental
studies". Prof. Geza dwelt on the Hungarian
background and connections of Sir Aurel Stein,
illustrating his view mainly by referring to two
letters Stein wrote to his Hungarian friends. Other
Indian (mostly Kashmiri) and Hungarian scholars who
presented their papers in the seminar were Mr. S. N.
Pandita of NSKRI, Prof. P. Bhatia of Delhi University,
Dr. Margaret Kovis of HICC, Mr. Peter Hajto of Hungary
and Dr. S. S. Toshkhani and Mr. P. N. Kachru both of
NSKRI.
Mr. S. N.
Pandita's paper titled "Sir Aurel Stein and
Kashmiri scholars -- a Tribute to Scholarship"
gave intimate and interesting glimpses of Aurel
Stein's "long and lasting association" with
Kashmiri scholars. The paper revealed several unknown
facts about five decades of close friendship between
Stein and his own grandfather Prof Nityanand Shastri,
who in Stein's words was "the crest jewel of
Kashmiri scholars". It also revealed the high
esteem that Stein had for other scholars like Pandit
Govind Kaul, Pandit Damodar and Mahamahopadhaya Pandit
Mukund Ram Shastri for the valuable guidance and
assistance they provided him in translating
Rajatarangini.
Prof P. Bhatia's
"Stein's contribution to Numismatics" was a
well researched paper which explored the numismatic
history of Kashmir as presented by Stein in his notes
on the Rajatarangini.
In his paper
titled "Ancient Geography of Kashmir as
Established by Stein", Dr. S. S. Toshkhani
discussed some interesting details of the way Stein
addressed difficult topographical and antiquarian
questions related to Rajatarangini. A large number of
old localities and historical sites stand convincingly
identified today, thanks to Stein, Dr. Toshkhani said,
citing the identification of the castle of Lohar and
the ancient Shrine of Sharada, as well as the
rediscovery of the long-forgotten temple of Bheda Devi
as his major achievements. Dr. Toshkhani's paper also
analysed Stein's etymology of Kashmiri place names
which "is convincing enough to set at rest the
meaningless controversies bought to be raised by some
people today".
Mr. P. N. Kachru,
in his paper titled "Stein's Search for Codex
Archetypus" presented the exciting drama about
the discovery of the codex archetypus of Rajatarangini
and Stein's endeavour to secure it for his edition.
Dr. Margit
Kovis's paper on "Stein in Lahore" was full
of interesting details and provided a peep into some
hitherto unknown facts.
Dr. Peter Hajto,
Counsellor, Ministry of Education, Budapest
illustrated his interesting lecture on Stein with
slides.
Dr. Utpal Kaul,
who had to rush back from a business tour to
participate in the seminar, could not find time to pen
down his views on the subject he had chosen for his
paper, "Stein's contribution to Kashmir
Histriography with special Refence to Rajatarangini",
but he spoke on it eloquently and passionately.
Mr. Virendra
Bangroo, however, was unable to present his paper
titled "Ancient Shrines of Kashmir- Stein's
Historical Overview."
Stein's
Kashmir Diary: Excerpts
Still
Kashmir, Vangath. Last night at Peer Bakhsh's
suggestions the tribal people who in the summer months
pasture their flocks in the high valleys gave me a
real serenade. Some of the Kashmirian songs were very
melodic and reminded me of Hungarian songs.
- August 25, 1891.
On the Dudh
Kuth Pass. Twelve thousand feet high. Cooler than
Srinagar. I am taking advantages of the opportunity to
learn Kashmiri and regularly take lessons both on the
march and at camp from Pandit Kashi Ram. Though not a
scholar like Govind Koul, he is more reasonable and a
fine person.
- August 15, 1894.
In the night
ride across the Wular lake a small storm made me worry
for the safety of my Rajatarangini manuscript. It
seemed as if the Goddess of Wisdom Sharda represented
by the waters of Kashmir, was unwilling to let me
abduct the manuscript. This is what happened 1200
years ago to Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang who had to
leave his Sanskrit manuscripts in the angry Indus
river.
- October 17, 1894.
Camped on
Mohand Marg. I enjoy the freedom and work eleven
hours a day. After dinner I along with Govind Koul
take down Kashmiri tales from the mouth of the peasant
bard Hatim, the storyteller and am thus collecting
valuable material which I will put to good use in
Europe.
- June 19, 1896.
Jammu: I
visited again after 50 years the Raghunath temple
library. Its six thousand old Sanskrit manuscripts had
been catalogued by me with the help of Pandit Govind
Koul and another excellent scholar friend Sahaz Bhat
in what seems now like a previous birth. It had been a
dreary task but it saved the collection from being
lost. I had a very attentive reception, had to talk
Sanskrit again for an hour or so thus purifying my
tongue by use of the sacred languages after all my
peregrinations in the barbarian North and West. It was
a quaint experience to find myself in the end
garlanded in the traditional Kashmir Hindu fashion for
the first time in life.
- December 12, 1940.
Along the
Kishan Ganga river: Towards the end of 12 marches
I was glad to find myself back in Kashmir after all
the barrenness past, the kingdom looked more verdant
and fertile than ever. How grateful I must feel to the
kind fate which allowed me to do so much of my work in
Kashmir for the last 55 years.
- September, 1943.
Source:
Unmesh (unmesh.com)
November-December 1998
Vol. II, No. 11 & 12
Book in pdf format 
