Alois Anton Führer

Who was Alois Anton Führer?

Alois Anton Führer was a German Indologist. He served as a Catholic priest. In 1887 he converted to Anglicanism. In 1901 he re-converted to Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland. He worked for the Archaeological Survey of India.

He is known for his archaeological excavations, which he believed proved that Gautama Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal.

In 1896 he

received permission from the government of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh and the government of India to carry out an expedition to Nepal ... Accompanied by the governor of the province, General Khadga Shamsher, Führer discovered Ashoka’s pillar, which, with other evidence, confirmed Lumbini as the birthplace of the Buddha.

This discovery was disputed in a 2010 book by British writer Charles Allen.