Henry Cousens Explained

Henry Cousens should not be confused with Henry Cousins.

Henry Cousens (1854–1933) was a Scottish archaeologist and photographer known for his pioneering work among the monuments and antiquities in British India, particularly in regions that are now Western India and Southern Pakistan. He was born in 1854 to Margaret Fitzmaurice and Henry Cousens Sr, in Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK. After his studies, he arrived in India and joined the Western division of the Archeological Survey of India in 1881. In 1891, he was promoted to the Superintendent post, where he served for nearly 20 years, retiring in 1910. He built a team of artists and draftsmen, visited remote archaeological and historic sites in impoverished regions with hardly any transport infrastructure. He surveyed the ruins and sites, documented and photographed caves, temples, and antiquarian remains of Buddhist, Hindu and Jaina monuments. He also surveyed medieval era ruins and sites belonging to Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Jainism.^{[1] [2]}

Cousens meticulous measurements, sketches, photographs and reports were in many cases the earliest reports of historic sites in these parts of India and Pakistan. He thus published objective facts about India and Pakistan history, and brought them to the notice of wider scholarship within India, as well as Europe and the United States. He worked with James Burgess, a collaboration that produced a series of publications, cited throughout the 20th and 21st century.^{[3] [4] [5]} These were praised as of high quality, "beautiful photographs of temples and mosques", and important contributions by his peers, though some of the printing oversights and spelling errors were criticized.^{[6] [7] [8]}

According to John Marshall, Cousens success at the Archeological department brought his team added responsibilities where the British India government sought to preserve the local heritage, its ancient monuments and further explore buried remains. Cousens effort helped clean up, restore and start this process of preserving India's heritage in Sindh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. His publications include:^[3]

• The Antiquities of the Town of Dabhoi in North Gujarat (with J. Burgess)
• Bijapur, a Guide to its Ruins
• Notes on the Buildings and other Antiquarian Remains at Bijapur
• Lists of Antiquarian Remains in HH. the Nizam’s Territories (now part of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana)
• The Architectural Antiquities of Northern Gujarat (with J. Burgess)
• Portfolio of Illustrations of Sindh Tiles
• Bijapur and its Architectural Remains
• The Architectural Antiquities of Western India
• The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts
• The Antiquities of Sindh (now part of Pakistan)
• Medieval Temples of the Dakhan
• Somanatha and other Medieval Temples in Kathiawad

External links

• Henry Cousens: A more extensive biography, Digital South Asia Library

Notes and References

1. Sawant, R. (2010). Review of archaeological investigations in the Protohistoric and historical archaeology of Vidarbha. Man and Environment, 35(2), pp. 45-65
2. G.B. Deglurkar (1988), ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF INDIAN TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE, SOUTH INDIA: LOWER DRĀVIDADEŚA Vol. I, Part I & II,
3. Marshall . John . Henry Cousens . Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society . Cambridge University Press . 66 . 3 . 1934 . 10.1017/s0035869x00076243 . 644–644. free .
4. Khan, M. I. (2002). The Grand Mosque of Banbhore: A Reappraisal. Ancient Pakistan, 15, pp. 1-9
5. Book: N Agnew . John Falconer . Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road . Getty Conservation Institute . GCI Proceedings . 2010 . 978-1-60606-013-1 . 111–115.
6. Seddon . C. N. . Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan. Archæological Survey of India, Volume XLVIII, Imperial Series. By Henry Cousens. 12¾ × 10, pp. vi + 86, pls. 115, ills. 17. Calcutta: Government of India Pub., 1931. 37s. 6d. . Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society . Cambridge University Press . 66 . 3 . 1934 . 10.1017/s0035869x00075729 . 567–568.
7. Seddon . C. N. . Somanātha and other Mediaeval Temples in Kāthiāwād. Being vol. xlv, Imperial Series, Archæological Survey of India. By the late Henry Cousens, M.R.A.S. Calcutta, 1931. Rs. 26.12 or 41s. 6d. . Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland . Cambridge University Press . 66 . 1 . 1934 . 10.1017/s0035869x00082733 . 130–130.
8. O. v Hinüber (1981), Cousens, H.: The Antiquities of Sind (Book Review). Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, 76(6), 593 (in German)