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Aurel Stein
Stein in Central Asia (February 1929)
Born	26 November 1862 Budapest
Died	26 October 1943
Nationality	Hungary
Fields	archaeology
Influences	Sven Hedin

Sir Marc Aurel Stein (Hungarian: Stein Márk Aurél) (26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian archaeologist. He was also a professor at various Indian universities. Stein was inspired by Sven Hedin's 1898 work, Through Asia.

Early life

Stein was born in Budapest in a Jewish family. His parents had him and his brother, Ernst Eduard, baptised as Lutherans, while his parents and sisters remained Jews (a common way at the time to ensure one's sons get easier ahead in society).¹ He later became a British citizen and made his famous expeditions under British sponsorship.

Expeditions

Photograph of Aurel Stein, with his dog and research team, in the Tarim Basin.

Stein made four major expeditions to Central Asia - in 1900, 1906-8, 1913-16 and 1930.² One of his significant finds during his first journey in 1900-1901 was the Taklamakan Desert oasis of Dandan Oilik where he was able to uncover a number of relics.

The British Library's Stein collection of Chinese, Tibetan and Tangut manuscripts, Prakrit wooden tablets, and documents in Khotanese, Uyghur, Sogdian and Eastern Turkic is the result of his travels through central Asia during the 1920s and 1930s. Stein discovered manuscripts in the previously lost Tocharian languages of the Tarim Basin at Marin and other oasis towns, and recorded numerous archaeological sites especially in Iran and Balochistan.

Stein's greatest discovery was made at the Mogao Caves also known as "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas", near Dunhuang. It was there that he discovered the Diamond Sutra, the world's oldest dated printed text, along with 40,000 other scrolls (all removed by gradually winning the confidence of the Taoist³ caretaker). In 1901 Stein was responsible for exposing forgeries of Islam Akhun. During his expedition of 1906–1908 while surveying in the Kunlun mountain range in western China, Stein suffered frostbite and lost several toes on his right foot.

When he was resting from his extended journeys into Central Asia, he spent most of his time living in a tent in the spectacularly beautiful alpine meadow called Gulmarg (or 'Meadow of Roses'). Except for his latest dog (which was always called "Dash"), he lived alone here. He died and is buried in Kabul.

The art objects he collected are divided between the British Museum, the British Library, the Srinagar Museum, and the National Museum, New Delhi. His collection is important in the study of the history of Central Asia and the art and literature of Buddhism.

Publications

• 1898. Detailed Report on an Archaeological Tour with the Buner Field Force, Lahore, Punjab Government Press.
• 1900. Kalhaṇa's Rājataraṅgiṇī – A Chronicle of the Kings of Kaśmīr, 2 vols. London, A. Constable & Co. Ltd. Reprint, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1979.
• 1905. Report of Archaeological Survey Work in the North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan, Peshawar, Government Press, N.W. Frontier Province.
• 1907. Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan, 2 vols. Clarendon Press. Oxford.⁴
• 1912. Ruins of Desert Cathay: Personal Narrative of Explorations in Central Asia and Westernmost China, 2 vols. London, Macmillan & Co. Reprint: Delhi. Low Price Publications. 1990.
• 1921a. Serindia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China, 5 vols. London & Oxford, Clarendon Press. Reprint: Delhi. Motilal Banarsidass. 1980.⁴
• The Thousand Buddhas : ancient Buddhist paintings from the cave-temples of Tung-huang on the western frontier of China.⁴
• 1921b “A Chinese expedition across the Pamirs and Hindukush, A.D. 747.” Indian Antiquary 1923.⁵
• 1928. Innermost Asia: Detailed Report of Explorations in Central Asia, Kan-su and Eastern Iran, 5 vols. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Reprint: New Delhi. Cosmo Publications. 1981.⁴
• 1929. On Alexander's Track to the Indus: Personal Narrative of Explorations on the North-West Frontier of India. London, Macmillan & Co. Reprint: New York, Benjamin Blom, 1972.
• 1932 On Ancient Central Asian Tracks: Brief Narrative of Three Expeditions in Innermost Asia and Northwestern China. Reprinted with Introduction by Jeannette Mirsky. Book Faith India, Delhi. 1999.
• 1940 Old Routes of Western Iran: Narrative of an Archaeological Journey Carried out and Recorded, MacMillan and co., limited. St. Martin's Street, London.
• 1944. "Archaeological Notes from the Hindukush Region". J.R.A.S., pp. 1-24 + fold-out.

A more detailed list of Stein's publications is available in "Sir Aurel Stein: A Bibliography" in Helen Wang (ed.) Handbook to the Stein Collections in the UK, pp.49-61.

Footnotes

Further reading

• Baumer, Christoph. 2000. Southern Silk Road: In the Footsteps of Sir Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin. White Orchid Books. Bangkok.
• Deuel, Leo. 1965. Testaments of Time; the Search for Lost Manuscripts and Records. Knopf, New York, 1965. paperback reprint: Pelican, Baltimore, 1970.
• Falconer, John et al. 2002. Catalogue of the Collections of Sir Aurel Stein in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Budapest, LHAS and British Museum. ISBN 963-7451-11-0.
• Falconer, John et al. 2007. "Supplement to the Catalogue of the Collections of Sir Aurel Stein in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Budapest, LHAS. ISBN 963-508-545-3.
• Hopkirk, Peter. 1980. Foreign Devils On The Silk Road. John Murray (Publishers). Paperback edition, University of Massachusetts Press 1984. ISBN 0-87023-435-8.
• Mirsky, Jeannette. 1977. Sir Aurel Stein: Archaeological Explorer. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. Paperback edition, 1998.
• Walker, Annabel. 1999. Aurel Stein: Pioneer of the Silk Road. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-97730-2.
• Wang, Helen (ed.). 1999. Handbook to the Stein Collections in the UK. British Museum Occasional Paper 129. ISBN 0-86159-129-1.
• Wang, Helen (ed.). 2002. Sir Aurel Stein in The Times. London, Saffron Books. ISBN 1-872843-29-8.
• Wang, Helen (ed.). 2004. Sir Aurel Stein. Proceedings of the British Museum Study Day, 2002. British Museum Occasional Paper 142. ISBN 0-86159-142-9.
• Whitfield, Susan. 2004. Aurel Stein On The Silk Road. Serindia Publications. ISBN 1-932476-11-3.

External links

• siraurelstein.org.uk A website dedicated to his life and works
• The International Dunhuang Project Website of the project to conserve, catalogue, digitise and research the artifacts found in the Dunhuang Caves
• Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books Digital versions of books by Marc Aurel Stein
• http://ds.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/xha71/Stein.htm A page about Marc Aurel Stein in Hungarian
• Aurel Stein and the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas. An exhibition of his archive photos in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 2007
• Life of Aurel Stein. Web catalog in four languages. A Hong Kong exhibition of his archive photos and documents conserved in the Oriental Collection of the LHAS, 2008. Preliminary articles on the web publication: 1 and 2
• British Museum - Sir Aurel Stein at www.britishmuseum.org Sir Aurel Stein, proceedings of the British Museum study day, 23 March 2002 (online publication)

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