Aurel Stein

Aurel Stein (1862 with Budapest - 1943 with Kabul) is a archeologist and British explorer of Hungarian origin , whose work primarily concerned the old ages of the Central Asia.

Born in Budapest on November 26th, 1862 in a Jewish middle-class family, he is baptized in the Luthérienne church. He begins his education in a Catholic school where he learns Latin and the Greek. Then its family sends it to Dresden to old 10 years, where it spends four years. At 17 years, it settles in Vienna to study Sanskrit and philology, then in Leipzig and Tübingen, where it obtains a doctorate in 1883.

In 1884, it settles in England to study the Eastern collections of Oxford, Cambridge and London, and its stay is stopped only by the military service in Budapest which it devotes to the study of the techniques of topography.

In 1887, it obtains the position of director of the Eastern College of Lahore and secretary (registrar) at the university of Punjab, and embarks for India. As soon as it can it, it moves away from its administrative obligations. It passes its vacation to the Cashmere, where it seeks old manuscripts and where it organizes forwardings in the mountains. It also devotes its spare time to translate and comment on the “Chronicle of the kings of the Cashmere”, a very important known old text then only by indirect translations. This work will be published in 1900.

He also studies the account of the voyage of XuanZang, the Chinese monk of the 7th century which crossed the Central Asia to the research of the original texts of Buddhism. This revives its interest for the art of Gandhara, this civilization of the first centuries, centered in the valley of Peshawar, and whose art amalgamates Greek and Buddhist elements.

A voyage in Europe in 1890 does not enable him to obtain a station there. Gradually, it takes root in India and with the Cashmere. He visits the valley of Swat in 1897 with the French orientalist Alfred Foucher, then returns to Europe. He takes note of the existence of old manuscripts there coming from Chinese Turkestann, of which the first had been reported in 1890 by an English soldier, lieutenant Bower. These manuscripts were written in languages and writings which made it possible to date them from the first centuries of our era, and proved that the civilization of Gandhara had been diffused until in the oases bordering the desert of Taklamakan, in what is today the Chinese province of XinJiang.

It returns to India in 1897, and it poses the first stakes of the organization of a forwarding towards Chinese Turkestan. At the end of 1898, it is promoted at the position of director of Madrassa de Calcutta, a station which with the additional attraction to offer many periods of spare times. It is at that time that a pulpit is created for him at the university of Budapest, but it will never occupy it.

Forwarding towards Khotan (today HoTian) is differed one year, but receives the support of the governor of Bengal, and the government of India.

1900-1901: The first forwarding, reported daN “Sand buried ruins off Khotan” (1903)

Forwarding takes the departure of Bandipur to the Cashmere at the end of the month of May 1900. It starts a difficult walk of 200 miles towards north by the collars of Tragbal and Burzil to join Astor, Gilgit, then the valley of Hunza and the collar of Kilik at the Chinese border, very close to the end of the corridor of Wakhan in Afghanistan. From there, forwarding joined Tashkurgan, capital of Sarikol, Chinese Pamir, populated of Kyrgyz. Stein undertakes the rise of Muztagh ATA, a solitary mountain of 7546m that the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin had vainly tried to climb by three times in 1894 (?). He does not manage to venture higher than 6.000 meters.

He reaches Kashgar on July 29th, where he is accommodated by George Macartney, the British resident, and sets out again on September 11th towards Yarkand, more the big city of Turkestan, strong of 150.000 inhabitants, then Khotan, where he establishes his base.

October 17th it leave towards the south to recognize the higher course of the Karakash river (?) who goes down from the tops of the chain of Kunlun, while hoping to see the tops which would enable him to connect its position with the measurements established since the southern slope, and to thus establish in a precise way his geographical position.

Income with Khotan, it is made lead on the site of Dandan-Uilik, at ten north-eastern of Khotan, abandoned year days at the end of VIIIè century, and already visited by Hedin in 1895. Its caravan, equipped for four weeks, is made up of about thirty local peasants, seven camels and a dozen asses.

On the site, it excavates fourteen buildings, discovers frescos, low-reliefs, statues and currencies of copper.

At the end of January 1901, he discovers new ruins with 150 kilometers in the north of Niya (MinFeng). In addition to remainders of constructions, they produce wood shelves containing of the texts of the 3rd century, in a writing which corroborates that the area was conquered and colonized by inhabitants of Taxila (today in Pakistan). The seals which decorate the shelves carry figures clearly resulting from the world greco-Roman: Heracles, Eros, Pallas Athenaeum.

Stein has just time to spend a few days on a third site, Endere, located 150 kilometers more at the west, then two others which it does only effleurer. It returns in Khotan where it has time to solve a mystery which held in breath the European philologists: certain manuscripts proposed to the Westerners were written in unknown alphabets, and Stein could confuse Islam Akhun, the forger who produced them.

It leaves Khotan on May 1st to go to Kashgar, Osh and Andijan, in the valley of Ferghana (today in Ouzbekistan), and terminus of Transcaspien, the Russian train which brings back it to Europe.

British Museum lends a part to him, where it can analyze the three thousand parts which it reported.

As of October 1901, it is on the way towards its new assignment of inspector of the schools of Punjab, but it profits from an exceptional leave and it returns to London via Bombay in May 1902, with the intention to work with the drafting of a detailed report/ratio of its forwarding.

He proposes a new forwarding, towards Balkh in Bactriane, the cradle of Hellenic civilization resulting from the conquests of Alexandre, who later developed in direction of the valley of Indus. But its request is refused by the emir of Afghanistan.

At the end of 1903, a friend obtains for him the creation of a station to measure: inspector of the schools of the north-western border and Baluchistan and superintendant of archeology. While accepting, it makes application form to accompany British military forwarding in Tibet, under the direction of Younghusband. This request is again refused, with the reason that of the specialist in Tibet are already had a presentiment of for the station.

In 1904, he becomes British citizen, and receives a distinction of Royal Geographic Society for his explorations in Kunlun.

The success of its first forwarding having drawn the attention of his/her colleagues and rival European, it decides to organize a new forwarding to prevent that many sites are identified and explored by other archeologists. This time, its project is accepted, and it can get under way in 1906.

1906-1908: The second forwarding, reported daN “Ruins off deserted Cathay” (1912)

Conscious of the competition of forwardings of the German Albert von the Cock and the franças Paul Pelliot, Stein doubles the stages to put itself at work as soon as possible. It leaves Punjab in April 1906, and takes a new road: it leaves in direction the valley Swat, then of Chitral via the collar of Lowerai. It enters in Wakhan by the collar of Baroghil, and to China by the collar of Wakhjir, which brings it to Tashkurgan and Kashgar on June 8th. It finds there Macartney, recently promoted consul by the English government, which was not embarrassed to ask for the opinion of the Chinese.

Accompanied this time by a Chinese secretary, Stein moves towards Khotan where it spends the summer to explore Kunlun. Then he studies two sites with Khadalik and Niya before going to Charklik (RuoQiang), then in Loulan, in the second fortnight of December.

Had the site of Loulan been fortuitously discovered by Sven Hedin in 1900 (?), and corresponded to the point where the silk route was divided into two branches which circumvented the desert of Taklamakan by north and the south. In this old garrison town, Stein discovers daily objects, but also of silk, and documents, of which some in a writing on this unknown date.

The following stage of forwarding is the site of Miran, where the ruins of a strong Tibetan produce old documents. But the most important discoveries are older: remainders of statues, painted, and same frescos of the winged cherubs which evoke the Christian art.

At the beginning of March, forwarding moves towards DunHuang, a site which the Germans and the French also wished to visit, not without identifying on the way the ruins of a wall of fortifications, marked by a succession of turns with intervals of a few kilometers.

Dunhuang proves to be most attractive of all the sites explored by Stein: with the side of a cliff, hundreds of caves containing of the frescos and the sculptures testify there to the Buddhist enthusiasm of the tradesmen of the caravans which surveyed the silk route. The major part of the caves dates from the dynasty Tang (VIIè with Xe century), and then is always attended by pilgrims. But a rumor gives a report on the recent discovery of a hiding place containing of the thousands of old manuscripts. It is a Taoiste monk named Wang which in with the guard.

In April and May, Stein turns over in the desert to excavate turns of the wall which it identified while arriving, then it turns over to DunHuang. There, using of their admiration shared for the Buddhist pilgrim XuanZang, he persuades the Wang monk to yield manuscript of the hiding place to him. Working day and night with its Chinese secretary, Stein selects the parts which seem to him most interesting, and leaves DunHuang on June 14th, 1907, with five horse-drawn carriages charged with cases of documents.

During the summer months, it explores the chain of NanShan, in the south of DunHuang, then it takes the northern road of Taklamakan, where it visits sites already excavated by German. In February 1908, he undertakes a daring crossing of Taklamakan, north in the south. He starts from Shahyar, with two steps in the south of Kucha (KuChe), in company of twenty men and fifteen camels for a crossing of 250 kilometers which must lead it to the point where the river of Khotan is lost in sands. After a few days of anguish, the caravan finds the bed cold of the river, reconstitutes its reserves and reaches Khotan. It again crosses the desert in the other direction to go to Aksu, and returns in Khotan by the oases of the west. It devotes a few weeks to the preparation of the caravan of the return, which it sends on August 1st towards Leh to Ladakh by the track of the collars of Karakorum (Sanju, Suget, Karakorum, Sasser, Khardong) while undertakes to him to cross Kunlun by a new route, with the objective to recognize the higher course of the Yorun-Kash river. They pass a collar to 6.000 meters of altitude, where Stein is delayed to carry out photographs in spite of the piercing cold. Arrived at the camp, it realizes that its toes are cold. Not being able to go, it is made carry by the ponies. Four days are necessary to join the principal caravan which waits the foot of the master key of Karakorum, then it occurs still two weeks before it can be amputee of five toes by the surgeon of the mission of Leh.

On its arrival with the Cashmere, it is accommodated as hero. It joined then Lahore, then Calcutta, and Europe in January 1909. It spends there three years, which it devotes to work and conferences. It receives the honors of the universities and scientific companies and prepares two works: a report intended for the public (Ruins off deserted Cathay, 1912) and a bulky work in five volumes entitled Serindia which will be published only in 1921.

Its return in India is differed until the end from 1911, where one proposes the station to him of superintendant for architecture in the province of the Borders of the North-West, a station which enables him to prepare for forwarding that it dreams to carry out in Balkh, but for which no authorization is not granted to him. It decides to assemble the third forwarding towards Chinese Turkestan.

1913-1915: The third forwarding, reported in “In Asia” (19xx)

Forwarding leaves the Cashmere in July 1913 in direction of Chilas on Indus, then of the tribal valley of Darel, whose Islamic sites had never been recognized. Stein identifies sites mentioned by the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims, and in particular of the gorges of Indus where metal chains allowed the passage. It crosses the collars of Sheobat and Darkot towards north, finding a route borrowed by a Chinese forwarding of VIIIè century, and identifying with the passage an inscription Tibetan.

Arrived in Tashkurgan, it sends a team to recognize unknown areas of Kunlun, and moves towards Kashgar by a new route to the east of Muztagh ATA.

Without delaying, it moves towards the desert of Lop by a new route, while leaving directly to the east Kashgar and with the intention to oblique then towards the south in direction of Mazartagh. The difficulty of the ground the constrained one of making half-turn, and of reaching Khotan by a surer road. Forwarding skirts the cord of the oases of the south of Taklamakan while benefitting from some interruptions to supplement its work of preceding forwardings. In Miran, it notes the passage of a Japanese forwarding, of which it fustigates bad work. Then it moves towards Lop to find the old road leading of Loulan to Dunhuang. It has even the surprise to find its own traces of step, preserved intact by the desert after seven years.

In Dunhuang, it finds the Wang monk, who sells new manuscripts to him, and the passage of the French forwarding of Paul Pelliot reports to him. It engages towards the east, along the wall of China, then goes up the course of the river Etsin Gol which drains towards north water of NanShan. It reaches Khara-khoto, Etsina of Marco Polo, the old city which had been discovered in 1908 by the Russian explorer Kozlov.

In November 1914, Stein arrives at Turfan through the Gobi Desert. It is put at work on sites already excavated by German a few years earlier, and discovers the site of Astana.

In May 1915, it is of return to Kashgar. The Russians, combined war of the English, allow him to venture in their zone of influence: the valley of Went, then the crossing of Pamir made difficult by an earthquake in 1911, and the lake Yeshil-Kol and Victoria. Stein drives out Ovis polished (sheep of Marco-Sports shirt), and reached Russian Wakhan, from where it moves towards Samarkand, Bukhara and Meshed to Iran.

On the site of Koh-i-Kwaja, in Sistan, he exhumes the remainders of a Buddhist sanctuary, decorated of a fresco which he allots to the period Sassanide (IIIè in VIIè century).

Stein returns to Delhi via Balouchistan and Quetta, in February 1916, then goes to England, where it reaches the retirement age in 1917. It continues nevertheless to work with its publications in England and India until 1924. It also gets busy to obtain the authorization of to go to Afghanistan, but the bad luck falls down on him. The third anglo-Afghan war, then the French diplomacy thwart its plans: in 1923, France obtains an exclusive concession for the archaeological missions of research in Afghanistan.

In 1924, he undertakes to study Arabic. He visits Egypt, Petra, Jerusalem, Damas, Beirut, Constantinople.

When it turns over to India at the end of 1925, it learns that Mir of the area of Swat is laid out to provide him a license of exploration, It spends there two months and half to identify the traces of XuanZang and Alexandre, which constitutes the substance of its work " One Alexander' S Track to the Indus" (1927)

In 1927, it is interested in Eastern prehistoric civilizations. The site of Harappa had been discovered a few years earlier on the lower course of the valley of Indus, and it wishes to study the possible bonds of these cultures with Sumer. It turns over twice for four months to Baluchistan where it identifies old sites. He visits Gwadar, Kalat, Quetta, and returns to the Cashmere in May 28, where he finally decides to take his retirement at the 66 years age, after 41 years of service. He returns to Europe via the Middle-East. In Mosul it obtains the permission of the RAF to fly over the zone in the plane, an experiment which it wishes to reiterate on other theaters of exploration.

1930: The fourth forwarding

In December 1929, guest to give conferences to Harvard, it goes to the United States. He manages to raise there funds for a new forwarding to China. After being returned in London, it decides to join Nankin via the United States, Vancouver and Japan. Arrived at Nankin in April 1930, it obtains a vague license, in spite of the hostility of the Chinese government. Then it embarks in Shanghai for Calcutta and the Cashmere, which it leaves in August, in direction of Gilgit, where it learns that the governor of XinJiang refuses the entry to him on the Chinese territory. The situation is untied, and it reaches Kashgar on October 8th, then Khotan, Keriya and Cherchen. But the troubles begin again: one associates a Chinese liaison officer to him which has mission of espionner, one prohibits to him to excavate, and it must finally return in Kashgar and finish forwarding prematurely.

Acceptor that the political conditions changed, it turns its attention towards Iran, but carries out in the interval a recognition of the Jelhum river at Punjab to identify the point where Alaxandre crossed it.

From 1932 to 1936, he works in Iran, hitherto the preserved field of the French archeologists. In Balouchistan initially, then along the Persian Gulf, in Fars, and Kurdistan, he traverses long distances and cleared patch the central elements of the local old story.

Its attention turns then to Iraq and Jordan, where he imagines that techniques of air recognition will make it possible to find the layout of an old network of Roman roads constituting a defensive system. The permissions and financings obtained, it accomplishes at the beginning of Mosul its first reconnaissance flight in March 1938, at the 76 years age.

Whereas the European situation darkens, it joined the Cashmere, then London from where it attends the declaration of war. It estimates that it will be able to better work in India, where it hopes to obtain licenses to go in territories which it did not visit yet. In February 1940, it at the time of flying over in the plane the gorges of Indus between Besham and Gilgit, and to admire the imposing mass of Naga Parbat.

It explores the area of the master key of Khyber, at the Afghan border, and is invited to visit Kohistan with the end of the year 1941. It goes to Swat, then passes the collar of Bisau to 4.500 meters of altitude towards the Kandia river. It continues its investigations in the various valleys tributary of Indus.

Lastly, it obtains the authorization to go to Afghanistan, one of the oldest dreams of its life. It goes to Peshawar, and reaches Kabul on October 19th, 1943. But he falls ill a few days later, and dies the 26, after having expressed the wish of a ceremony Anglican. He rests in the international cemetery of Kabul.

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