BURGESS, James. Kirkmahoe, Dumfriesshire 14.8.1832 — Edinburgh 3.10.1916. British (Scottish) Indologist and Archaeologist in India. School at Dumfries, studies at Glasgow and Edinburgh. In 1856 entered Indian Educational Service and became Professor of Mathematics at Doveton College in Calcutta. From 1861 Head of Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Parsee Benevolent Institution in Bombay. From 1873 (began in January 1874) head of the A.S.I. for Western India (Archaeological Surveyor and Reporter for W. I.), from 1881 for Western and Southern India. Worked independenty of Cunningham, with whom he had problematic relations. From 1886 Director-general of the A.S.I. Retired in 1889 and settled in Edinburgh concentrating on writing. Last years ill. LL.D. Edinburgh 1881. C.I.E. 1885. In last years often ill. Married Anne Allan, four sons and three daughters.
Burgess was a noted scholar of Indian epigraphy, archaeology and art history (especially architecture), also a mathematician. Founder of the Indian Antiquary and the Epigraphia Indica.
Publications: As teacher he edited English classics and wrote a textbook of arithmetics; a few papers on science.
– The Temples of Shatrunjaya, the celebrated Jaina place of Pilgrimage, near Pálitana in Katiawar. 27 p. 44 pl. Bombay 1869; The Rock Temples of Elephanta or Ghârâpurî. 60 p. Bombay 1871; Temples of Somanath, Junagadh, and Girnar. 1870.
– Edited: IA 1872-1884 (with numerous own contributions), EI 1-2, 1892-1894.
– Scenery and Architecture in Gujarat and Rajputana. Illustr. 1873.
– Reports of Archaeological Survey of Western India. 1-9. L. 1874-1905: 1. The Antiquities of the Belgaum and Kaladgi Districts. 45 p. 56 pl. L. 1874; 2. The Antiquities of Kāthiāwad and Kachh. 242 p. 74 pl. L. 1876; 3. The Antiquities of the Bidar and Aurangabad Districts. 138 p. 66 pl. L. 1878; 4. The Buddhist Cave Temples and their inscriptions. 140 p. 1883; 5. The Elura Cave Temples and the Brahmanical and Jain Caves in Western India. 225 p. 1883 (with Bühler); 6. The Muhammadan Architecture of Bharoch, Cambay … in Gujarat. 47 p. 77 pl. L. 1896; Revised Lists of Antiquarian Remains in the Bombay Presidency and the Native States of Baroda, Palanpur, etc. 398 p. 1897 (with H. Cousens); 7. & 9. The Muhammadan Architecture of Ahmedabad. 1-2. 12+87, 14+109 p. 112+87 pl. L. 1900-05; 10. Inscriptions from the cave-temples of Western India. 5+114 p. Bombay 1881 (with Bh. Indraji).
– A Guide to Elura cave temples, Hyderabad, Deccan. 56 p. 9 pl. Bo. 1877; Notes on the Bauddha Rock-Temples of Ajanta. 111 p. Bo. 1879; Buddhist Art of India. 240 p. 1901.
– With J. Fergusson: The Cave-Temples of India. 536 p. L. 1880.
– Notes on the Amarāvati Stupa. 57 p. 17 pl. Archaeological Survey of Southern India 3. 1882; Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions. 57 p. Arch. Survey of Southern India 4. 1886; Buddhist Stupas of Amaravati and Jaggayyapeta. 298 p. Archaeological Survey of Southern India 6. L. 1887.
– The ritual of the temple of Râmêśvaram in Southern India. 43 p, Bombay 1884.
– The Antiquities of the Town of Dabhoi in Gujarat. 13 p. 22 pl. 1888 (with H. Cousins).
– “Archaeological Research in India”, OC Stockholm 1889, Actes 3:2, 1893, 1-48.
– The Gandhara sculptures: a selection of illustrations in twenty-five plates, from the British and Lahor Museums, with notes on the age of the sculptures, and descriptive remarks. 17 p. 25 pl. L. 1899.
– With H. Cousens: The Architectural Antiquities of Northern Gujarat. 118 p. Arch. Survey of Western India 9, A.S.I. New Imp. Series 32. L. 1903.
– “Indian architecture; an outline sketch”, Imperial Gazetteer of India. 2. Oxford 1907, 155-205.
– The Chronology of Modern India, A.D. 1494–1894. 6+483 p. Edinburgh 1913.
Sources: Buckland, Dictionary; J. F. Fleet, IA 46, 1917, 1-4; C.G. Knott, Proc. of the Royal Soc. of Edinb. 1916-17, 382-386; *R. Sewell, JRAS 1917, 195-199; Up. Singh 2005 (esp. 188ff., photo on p. 192); briefly Wikipedia; Who Was Who 1916–1928; not in D.N.B.
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