DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0303
AJANTA. 281
known to have seen them were some officers of the Madras army in
1819.1 Lieutenant (now General Sir) James E. Alexander of the
Lancers, on a tour which he made privately through the Nizam's
territories in 1824, visited them and sent a short account of them
and their wall paintings to the Royal Asiatic Society, which was
published in their Transactions* in 1829. Captain Gresley and
Mr. Ralph were there in 1828, when Dr. J. Bird was sent up by
Sir John Malcolm to examine them. Mr. Ralph's lively notice of
the paintings appeared in the Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal in
1836.3 Dr. Bird's account was published in his Historical Besearches
(1847), a work in which the erroneousness of the author's opinions
on Buddhism4 is only matched by the inaccuracies of the drawings
that illustrate it. An interesting and trustworthy description of
them appeared in the Bombay Courier in 1839, from Lieutenant
Blake.5 Mr. Fergusson visited them in 1839, and in 1843 laid before
the Eoyal Asiatic Society his paper on the Rock-Out Temples of
India, about a dozen pages of which is devoted to a critical architec-
tural description of the Ajanta caves and their paintings.6
1 Trans. Bomb. Lit. Soc, vol. iii. p. 520.
2 T. R. A. S., vol. ii. p. 362.
J- A. S. B., vol. v. pp. 557-561; see also some copies of inscriptions by the same,
«*• pp. 348, 556.
4 Conf. Jour. A. Soc. Beng., vol. v. p. 560.
■This was reprinted with other papers as A description of the ruined city of Mandu,
#<>., also an account of the Buddhist Cave Temples of Ajanta in Khandes, ivith
ground-plan illustrations, by a Subaltern (Bombay Times Press, 1844), 140 pp. cr. 8vo.,
with two plates.
6 Dr. John Wilson visited them early in 1838 (Life, p. 278), bet his account of
'liem (Jour. Bom. B. B. A. Soc, vol. iii. pt. ii. pp. 71, 72) is a mere resume of what
previously been written by Mr. Fergusson and others. A good description of the
principal caves appeared in Dr. J. Muir's Account of a Journey from Agra to Bombay
w 1854.
About 1862 Major GiU's stereoscopic photographs of the Rock Temples of Ajanta and
a were published; and in 1864 his One hundred Stereoscopic Illustrations ofArchi-
"re md Natural History in Western India,—both volumes with descriptive letter-
less by J. Fergusson, Esq., F.E.S. In 1863 Dr. Bhau Daji published transcripts and
ns ations of the inscriptions which he found in the caves,—Jour. Bom. B. R. A. Soc,
' Tu> PP- 55-74; these require careful revision. The writer visited them at Christmas
. and again in 1867, and contributed his notes on them to the Times of India;
>ese were also printed separately (16mo. pp. 58) as The Rock-cut Temples of Ajanta, <§■?.
■pother visit was paM to them in May 1872 (Ind. Ant., vol. iii. pp. 269-274). An
WUnt of the wall-paintings, &c. has also been printed officially by the Bombay Govern-
known to have seen them were some officers of the Madras army in
1819.1 Lieutenant (now General Sir) James E. Alexander of the
Lancers, on a tour which he made privately through the Nizam's
territories in 1824, visited them and sent a short account of them
and their wall paintings to the Royal Asiatic Society, which was
published in their Transactions* in 1829. Captain Gresley and
Mr. Ralph were there in 1828, when Dr. J. Bird was sent up by
Sir John Malcolm to examine them. Mr. Ralph's lively notice of
the paintings appeared in the Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal in
1836.3 Dr. Bird's account was published in his Historical Besearches
(1847), a work in which the erroneousness of the author's opinions
on Buddhism4 is only matched by the inaccuracies of the drawings
that illustrate it. An interesting and trustworthy description of
them appeared in the Bombay Courier in 1839, from Lieutenant
Blake.5 Mr. Fergusson visited them in 1839, and in 1843 laid before
the Eoyal Asiatic Society his paper on the Rock-Out Temples of
India, about a dozen pages of which is devoted to a critical architec-
tural description of the Ajanta caves and their paintings.6
1 Trans. Bomb. Lit. Soc, vol. iii. p. 520.
2 T. R. A. S., vol. ii. p. 362.
J- A. S. B., vol. v. pp. 557-561; see also some copies of inscriptions by the same,
«*• pp. 348, 556.
4 Conf. Jour. A. Soc. Beng., vol. v. p. 560.
■This was reprinted with other papers as A description of the ruined city of Mandu,
#<>., also an account of the Buddhist Cave Temples of Ajanta in Khandes, ivith
ground-plan illustrations, by a Subaltern (Bombay Times Press, 1844), 140 pp. cr. 8vo.,
with two plates.
6 Dr. John Wilson visited them early in 1838 (Life, p. 278), bet his account of
'liem (Jour. Bom. B. B. A. Soc, vol. iii. pt. ii. pp. 71, 72) is a mere resume of what
previously been written by Mr. Fergusson and others. A good description of the
principal caves appeared in Dr. J. Muir's Account of a Journey from Agra to Bombay
w 1854.
About 1862 Major GiU's stereoscopic photographs of the Rock Temples of Ajanta and
a were published; and in 1864 his One hundred Stereoscopic Illustrations ofArchi-
"re md Natural History in Western India,—both volumes with descriptive letter-
less by J. Fergusson, Esq., F.E.S. In 1863 Dr. Bhau Daji published transcripts and
ns ations of the inscriptions which he found in the caves,—Jour. Bom. B. R. A. Soc,
' Tu> PP- 55-74; these require careful revision. The writer visited them at Christmas
. and again in 1867, and contributed his notes on them to the Times of India;
>ese were also printed separately (16mo. pp. 58) as The Rock-cut Temples of Ajanta, <§■?.
■pother visit was paM to them in May 1872 (Ind. Ant., vol. iii. pp. 269-274). An
WUnt of the wall-paintings, &c. has also been printed officially by the Bombay Govern-