Meet Arsh Ali, India’s youngest archaeologist, probing ‘Egyptian Buddhism’
At 18, Arsh Ali is dubbed as India’s youngest archeologist.
He has already been a part of various archaeological excavations and explorations and is currently working on the experimental approach to ancient Egyptian cuisine, particularly bread and ancient Egyptian mummification.
Arsh is working to find more evidence for his research on ‘Egyptian Buddhism’ which seeks to discern the Buddhist proselytism movement of the Indian-Mauryan emperor Ashoka in Egypt around the 3rd century BCE, and its profound effect on both the ancient societies.
Armed with no formal education on archaeology but possessing great knowledge on natural sciences and cultures of different countries the young archaeologist is presently studying in class 12th (A levels) with a combination of Life Sciences and Humanities through the NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling).
He won a few scholarships from the state cultural department for his proficiency in art while at school. As he progressed in class, he had already started self-learning the hieroglyphs when he was just 10.
His active interest in archaeology and history was becoming more visible. Arsh came in contact with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), when he was only in eighth standard.
Arsh is working to find more evidence for his research on ‘Egyptian Buddhism’.
Evidence on Egypt
The ASI, after assessing Arsh’s level of knowledge in archaeology through a panel questioning, allowed Arsh at a tender age of 15, to participate in archaeological excavations that were being undertaken at that time all over the country by the ASI. And the rest is history, as they say.
Responding to Al Arabiya English, the young prodigy said: “After I have discovered a lot of evidence for the topic on Egypt, I am being invited by various archaeological institutions and museums in India and Egypt for delivering lectures/presentations on the same. Most recently, I have also been invited to publish my research papers in some of the most prestigious archaeological journals and reference books.”
“I want to gift something to this world, something that might prove itself to be absolutely useful to this world, either in terms of the understanding of the natural world or some sort of this. And I intend to live my whole life dedicated to knowledge,” he said.
Hailing from Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh and born to Faisal Ali and Fatima Ali, Arsh did his schooling till 10th (O levels) from City Montessori School, Lucknow and subsequently passed the Advanced Placement (AP) exams in world history and European History.
Arsh’s passion for art and archaeology started early and today he spends a great amount of time researching ancient history, visiting digs, presenting papers at seminars, and delivering lectures on history and archaeology.
Arsh has won scholarships from the state cultural department for his proficiency in art while at school.
Convinced of his abilities, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), under the Ministry of Culture, the premier organization for the archaeological researches and protection of the cultural heritage of the nation, has been inviting Arsh since 2015 to their programs, seminars, excavations and explorations, a privilege often enjoyed by post-graduate students of archaeology.
Arsh has so far been engaged in seven excavations and explorations since 2015 including the ones at Bijnore, Rakhigarhi, Assam, Sonari, Satdhara, Ranchi and Early Historic site of Purana Qila.
Arsh recently delivered a lecture on “Egyptian Buddhism” as part of the exhibition, India and the World: A History in Nine Stories, at the National Museum in New Delhi.
Arsh came in contact with the Archaeological Survey of India when he was only in eighth standard.
Documentation and research
Arsh’s has several assignments at hand and is meticulously working on Ashokan Buddhist proselytism and its connection with the archaeological and literary sources of India and the Hellenistic world.
He is especially focused on Ptolemaic Egypt; on the experimental approach to the bread-baking techniques of the ancient Egyptians and the experimental approach to ancient Egyptian mummification and on the funerary hieroglyphic inscriptions on the ancient Egyptian coffins and mummies in the various museums all over India.
Arsh recently delivered a lecture on “Egyptian Buddhism”.
Also, he is engaged in the study of the effects of the great Oxygen revolution on the chemical and microbiological composition of the Cambrian stromatolites; comparative skeletal anatomies between reptiles and birds and the evolutionary link between the two on the basis of morphology and fossil record; and the inscriptions discovered in the Brahmaputra river valley in Goalpara district of Assam among others.
Arsh bats for better technology as key tools of investigations and discoveries. He says that aerial photograph has lot of implications in archaeology.
“One of the most important significance of aerial photography in archaeology is that it allows you to have an overview of the whole site and its extent at one glance, whereas ground photography rarely allows you to do so,” he says.
According to him, aerial photography also allows discovery of new sites by means of shadow marks, crop marks, etc. which sometimes goes intractable with some other exploration methods and field methods.
For the teenager who has chosen to straddle different eras and civilizations, digging history deeper is his mission.
Courtesy: english.alarabiya.net
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
