: अनंत सदाशिव आळतेकर) was a historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

, archaeologist, and numismatist from Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. He was the Manindra Chandra Nandi Professor and Head of the Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture at Banaras Hindu University

Banaras Hindu University

Banaras Hindu University is a public university located in Varanasi, India and is one of the Central Universities of India. It is the largest residential university in Asia, with over 24,000 students in its campus. BHU was founded in 1916 by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya under the Parliamentary...

 in Varanasi

Varanasi

-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...

, India, and later the director of the Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute and University Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture at the University of Patna

University of Patna

The Patna University, Hindi: पटना विश्वविद्यालय, the first university in Bihar, was established in 1917 during the British Raj, and is the seventh oldest university of the Indian subcontinent. At that time, the jurisdiction of the university extended to Bihar, Orissa, and the Kingdom of Nepal...

, both in Patna

Patna

Paṭnā , is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second largest city in Eastern India . Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world...

, India.

In 1936, at the invitation of the local government, he conducted an archaeological and historical survey of Kotah, and made many discoveries there, including the excavation of many old forts and temples; the most important of his discoveries from this expedition were three stone pillars dated to the year 295 of the Vikrama Era

Bikram Samwat

Vikram Samvat is the calendar established by Indian emperor Vikramaditya...

 (AD 238), the second-oldest Vikrama inscriptions known. From 1951 to 1955 he led another excavation at Kumhrar

Kumhrar

Kumhrar or Kumrahar is the remains of an ancient city of Pataliputra, located 5 km from Patna Railway Station, on Kankarbagh Road, Patna, Bihar....

, under the auspices of the Jayaswal Institute; his discoveries there confirmed the theories of D. B. Spooner that the site, which Altekar described as "probably the earliest huge stone-pillared structure to be built by Indian architects", was a relic of the Maurya Empire

Maurya Empire

The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BC...

. On display at the Patna Museum

Patna Museum

Patna Museum is the state museum of the Indian state of Bihar. Built in 1917 during the British Raj to house the historical artefacts found in the vicinity of Patna, it is in the style of Mughal and Rajput architecture and is known locally as the Jadu Ghar.Items on display in the multipurpose...

 is a casket excavated by Altekar at a Buddhist monastery near Vaishali

Vaishali (ancient city)

Vaiśālī was the capital city of the Licchavi, one of world's first republics, in the Vajjian Confederacy mahajanapada, around the 6th century BC. It was here in 599 BCE the 24th Jain Tirthankara, Bhagwan Mahavira was born and brought up in Kundalagrama in Vaiśālī republic, which make pious &...

 in 1958, said to contain the ashes of the Buddha

Buddha

In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...

.

Altekar corresponded in 1932 with Gandhi concerning Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

 and the untouchable

Dalit

Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...

 castes. His 1934 book Education in Ancient India provided a comprehensive review of all aspects of education in India until around AD 1200, with some additional treatment of topics up to the start of the British Raj

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

; it also proposed a theory of steady decline in Indian literacy from an earlier golden age, which later scholars such as Hartmut Scharfe dismissed as "sheer phantasy". Altekar's book The Position of Women in Hindu Civilization From Prehistoric Times to the Present Day (1938) was the first historical survey of the status of women in India. Altekar's other books include The Vakataka-Gupta Age, State and Government in Ancient India, Rāshṭrakūṭas and their times, History of Benares, and several books on Gupta

Gupta Empire

The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed approximately from 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent. Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta, the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the...

 coin

Coin

A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....

age.

In 1947 Altekar was elected the first chairman of the Numismatic Society of India, and in 1960 the Journal of the Numismatic Society of India published a commemorative volume in his honor. Altekar also chaired the All India Oriental Conference in 1958.