Skip to content
Alexander Cunningham

File:Alexander_Cunningham_of_the_ASI_02.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ455430· pop 42· linked from 337 articles

Alexander Cunningham

Sign in to save

Also known as Sir Alexander Cunningham

British army engineer and amateur archaeologist (1814-1893)

OverviewAI-generated

Alexander Cunningham (1814–1893) was a British explorer, art historian, archaeologist, and numismatist. Born and died in London, he held citizenship in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He served as a general in the British Army and was educated at Christ's Hospital. His father was Allan Cunningham, and his sibling was Joseph Davey Cunningham.

Cunningham’s field of work included archaeology and oriental studies. He was a member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences. He wrote in English and is the author of works such as *Ladak - Physical, Statistical and Historical with Notices of the Surrounding Countries*, *Ancient Geography of India*, and *Bhilsa Topes; or, Buddhist Monuments of Central India*.

Synthesized by Vinony from 34 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works
28

Top works

  • Ladak - Physical, Statistical and Historical with Notices of the Surrounding Countries
  • Ancient Geography of India
  • Sánchi and Its Remains
  • Report of a Tour in the Central Provinces and Lower Gangetic Doab in 1881-82. Vol. 17
  • Bhilsa Topes; or, Buddhist Monuments of Central India

via Open Library + Wikidata

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
1
Total plays
16

<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Alexander+Cunningham">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · Alexander Cunningham

Key facts

Born
( 1814-01-23 ) 23 January 1814, London , United Kingdom
Died
28 November 1893 (1893-11-28) (aged 79), London , United Kingdom
Spouse
Alicia Maria Whish ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1840 ⁠ – ⁠ 1870 ) ​ (her death)
Children
Allan J. C. Cunningham Sir Alexander F. D. Cunningham

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Alexander
Family name
Cunningham
Gender
male
Place of birth
London
Place of death
London
Occupation
historian
Languages spoken
English language
Field of work
oriental studies
Military branch
British Army
Military rank
general
Image
Alexander Cunningham of the ASI 02.jpg
Show 7 more facts
date of birth
1814-01-23
date of death
1893-11-28
Commons category
Alexander Cunningham
name in native language
Sir Alexander Cunningham
writing language
English language
Commons Creator page
Alexander Cunningham
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~17 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Major-General Sir Alexander Cunningham KCIE CSI (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Sappers who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly created position of archaeological surveyor to the government of India; and he founded and organised what later became the Archaeological Survey of India.

He wrote numerous books and monographs and made extensive collections of artefacts. Some of his collections were lost, but most of the gold and silver coins and a fine group of Buddhist sculptures and jewellery were bought by the British Museum in 1894. He was also the father of mathematician Allan Cunningham.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Alexander Cunningham” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (6)