Alexander Cunningham

Who was Alexander Cunningham?

Sir Alexander Cunningham KCIE CSI was a British army engineer with the Bengal Engineer Group who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India which led to his appointment in 1861 to the newly created position of archaeological surveyor to the government of India. He founded and organized what later became the Archaeological Survey of India. He wrote numerous books and monographs and made massive collections of artefacts. Some of his collections were lost but most of the gold and silver coins in his collection were bought by the British Museum. Two of his brothers, Francis Cunningham and Joseph Cunningham became well known for their work in British India while another, Peter Cunningham, became famous for his Handbook of London.