145th birthday of Sir Marshall, discoverer of Indus Valley civilizations, on Friday

145th birthday of Sir Marshall, discoverer of Indus Valley civilizations, on Friday
Sir John Marshal sitting third from front right side with Khan Bahadur Ahmed Din Siddiqui in the center

ISLAMABAD, Mar 18 (APP):Sir John Marshal, one of the founding fathers of British archeology in the Indian Subcontinent and discoverer of the cradle of historic human civilizations of the Indus Valley, will be remembered at Taxila on Friday for his indelible contributions.

The dedicated research facility of Gandhara Resource Center Pakistan in Taxila will hold a memorial seminar to mark the 145th birthday of Sir John Marshall.

“This is to acknowledge Sir John Marshall’s life time contributions and make the masses acquaint with an unsung hero of Pakistani archeology, who had excavated and unveiled the hidden treasures of ancient history of Pakistan for the world,” Dr Nadeem Omar Tarar, Executive Director of Center for Culture and Development (C2D), told APP on Thursday.

Dr Tarar said it would be the first ever tribute being paid to the services of Sir Marshall, which remained obscure for the general public in Pakistan.

Sir Marshalm, he said, not only discovered the major urban centers of Indus Valley Civilization at Mohenjo Daro and Harrapa but also excavated the remains of Buddhist Civilization at Taxila for over 20 years that had remained unexplored for many centuries.

“Sir Marshall’s contributions are most significant in terms of establishing the ancient history of geographical region of Pakistan,” he added.

Lord Curzon, the British viceroy of Colonial India, had appointed Sir Marshal as the Director General of Archeological Survey of India in 1902 at the age 25. He trained the first generation of Pakistani and Indian archeologists. Among them was Ahmed Din Siddiqui, who was given the title of Khan Bahadur in 1929 for his meritorious services in Indian archeology.

As an excavation assistant to Marshall, Siddiqui developed very close association with him, Dr Tarar said. The personal relationship between the two founding fathers of Pakistani archeology, he added, was immortalized in the letters written by Marshall to Siddiqui since Marshall returned to England. The letter were with the grand children of A D Siddique living in Taxila.

Dr Tarar said the letters and photographs of Sir John Marshal would be displayed at the venue of seminar apprise the general public about the less celebrated hero of archaeology.
“Sir Marshal had a great fondness for Pakistan and its archaeological sites. His last letters to Khan Bahadur Siddiqui amply demonstrate his relentless passion in this regard,” he added.

He said C2D had initiated a search for the descendants of Marshall’s family in England with a hope to connect them with the family of Khan Bahadur Siddiqui, who once held great association with each other.

APP Services