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{{Short description|Indian archaeologist (1878–1946)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Hiranand Sastri
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date text|1878}}
| birth_place = [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab Province]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1946|8|4|1878}}
| death_place = [[Gurdaspur]]
| other_names =
| known_for =
| occupation = Archaeologist
| alma_mater =
| children = [[Sachchidananda Vatsyayan]] 'Agyeya'
}}

''''''Hiranand''' Sastri''' (1878–1946) was an Indian archaeologist, [[epigraphist]] and official of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] who was involved in the excavation of numerous sites including [[Nalanda]]<ref name=phuocle>{{Cite book|title = Buddhist Architecture|last = Le|first = Huu Phuoc|publisher = Grafikol|year = 2010|isbn = 978-0984404308|page = 59|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9jb364g4BvoC}}</ref>{{rp|}} and [[Sankissa]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=F. R. Allchin|author2=George Erdosy|author-link1=F. R. Allchin|author-link2=George Erdosy|title=The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States|date=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521376955|page=297|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EfZRVIjjZHYC|access-date=9 January 2015}}</ref> His son, [[Sachchidananda Vatsyayan]] 'Agyeya', Nityanand hiranand vatsyayan and Ramananda Shastri was a Hindi language poet and writer.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Amaresh Datta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObFCT5_taSgC |title=The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature (Volume One (A To Devo) |date=2006 |publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]] |isbn=9788126018031 |page=103 |access-date=9 January 2015}}</ref>

==Early life==
Sastri was born in 1878 in [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]]. He graduated from the [[D.A.V. College (Lahore), Ambala City|D.A.V. College]], [[Lahore]], winning a Gold Medal in the BA examination in the [[Sanskrit]] and English subjects. He obtained an MA from the [[Oriental College, Lahore]] (under [[University of the Punjab|Punjab University]]),{{when|date=August 2019}} and again won a Gold Medal.<ref name="Mani2014">{{cite book|editor-last=Mani|editor-first=B. R.|last1=Ray|first1=Purnima|last2=Patil|first2=C. B.|title=Remembering Stalwarts: Biographical Sketches of Scholars from Archaeological Survey of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ttx-oAEACAAJ|year=2014|publisher=Director General, Archaeological Survey of India|location=New Delhi|pages=201–202|oclc=934249757}}</ref>

==Career==
Sastri started his career as a professor of Sanskrit and Philosophy at D.A.V. College, and later, he became a [[Reader (academic rank)|reader]] in Sanskrit at the Punjab University, teaching Sanskrit and [[Comparative Philology]]. He passed the Honours Examination in Sanskrit and received the Master of Oriental Learning (MOL).<ref name="Mani2014"/>

He joined the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1903 and was appointed as an assistant archaeologist surveyor in the Northern Circle. Soon after, he was deputed by [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]], the then director general of ASI, to survey some archaeological sites in the [[Ganga]]-[[Yamuna]] [[doab]], where he found some [[Copper Hoard Culture|copper hoard]] objects.<ref name="Mani2014" /> He explored and surveyed sites in [[Uttar Pradesh]] and [[Himachal Pradesh]] including Rajpur Parasu, [[Bithoor]], Parihar, [[Kullu]], [[Mandi, Himachal Pradesh|Mandi]] and [[Suketi|Suket]].<ref name="Mani2014" /> He was the first person to have noticed the [[Brahmi script|Brahmi]] inscriptions at Shalri, which were later studied by [[J. Ph. Vogel]] and [[Dineshchandra Sircar]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-06-22 |title=Rare rock inscription in HP Banjar valley: A forgotten story |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/shimla/rare-rock-inscription-in-hp-banjar-valley-a-forgotten-story/articleshow/101177377.cms |access-date=2023-12-09 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref>

He was promoted to the rank of Assistant Archaeologist, Librarian and Curator of the [[Nagpur]] Government Museum in 1906. He was sent to [[Harappa]] in 1909.<ref name="Mani2014" />

On 16 September 1925, he was appointed the government epigraphist for India. He held the post till 10 October 1933. He edited some volumes of ''[[Epigraphia Indica]]'', the official publication of the ASI.<ref name="Mani2014"/>

==Death==
He died on 4 August 1946 in [[Gurdaspur]].<ref name="Mani2014"/> 

==Recognition==
The Punjab University awarded him the Doctor of Literature for his work ''[[Bhāsa|Bhasa]] and the Authorship of the Thirteen [[Trivandrum]] Plays''. The [[Baroda State]] awarded him the title of ''Jñānaratna''.<ref name="Mani2014"/>

==Selected works==
* [[Nālandā]] and Its Epigraphic Material, 1942, Issue 66 of the Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India
* A guide to [[Elephanta Caves|Elephanta]], 1934, Kanak Publications
* The Ruins Of [[Dabhoi]] Or Darbhavati In Baroda State, 1940, [[Gaekwad dynasty|Gaekwads]] Archaeological Series
* {{cite book|last=Sastri|first=Hiranand|author-link=Hiranand Sastri|title=The Baghela Dynasty of Rewah|url=https://archive.org/details/bagheladynastyof21shas|year=1998|publisher=Archaeological Survey of India|location=New Delhi|oclc=85167561}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Hirananda Shastri}}
* {{Gbooks-author|Hiranand Sastri}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sastri, Hiranand}}
[[Category:1878 births]]
[[Category:1946 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian archaeologists]]
[[Category:Archaeological Survey of India people]]
[[Category:Archaeologists from British India]]

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{{India-scientist-stub}}

Hiranand Sastri - Revision history

Vikaasajublieeschool at 22:52, 7 February 2026