Alois Anton Führer



Alois Anton Führer (26 November 1853 – 5 November 1930) was a German Indologist who 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. Führer's archaeological career ended in disgrace as "a forger and dealer in fake antiquities", and he had to resign from his position in 1898.

Quotes

 * It is locally affirmed that at the Musalman conquest there were three important Hindu temples at Ayodhya: these were the Janma-sthanam, the Svargadvaram, and the Treta-ka-Thakur. On the first of these Mir Khan built a Masjid, in A.H. 930 during the reign of Babar, which still bears his name.
 * A. Fuhrer, 1891 Archaeological Survey of India :“The Monumental Antiquities and Inscriptions in the North-western Provinces and Oudh.” quoted in Kishore, Kunal (2016). Ayodhyā revisited.


 * It is dated Samvat 1241 or A.D. 1184, in the time of Jaychchandra of Kanauj, whose praises it records for erecting a Vaishnava temple, from whence this stone was originally brought and appropriated by Aurangzeb in building his masjid known as Treta-ki-Thakur. The original slab was discovered in the ruins of this Masjid.
 * A. Fuhrer, on the Treta Ka Thakur inscription found by A. Fuhrer    quoted in Kishore, Kunal (2016). Ayodhyā revisited.


 * The old temple of Ramachandra at Janmasthanam must have been a very fine one, for many of its columns have been used by the Musalmans in the construction of Babar's masjid. These are of strong, close-grained, dark-coloured or black stone, called by the natives knsnuti, 'touch-stone slate,' and carved with different devices. They are from seven to eight feet long, square at the base, centre and capital, and round or octagonal intermediately
 * Alois Anton Führer (Fuhrer 1889: 68).-uhre r, A. 1889. The Shnrqi Arc/1itecture of /nu11p11r, with Notes 011 Znfnrabnd, Sn/1et-Mnhel n11d Other Plnccs i11 the North-Wes/em Proui11C1:s nnd Oud/1, Archeological Survey of India. quoted in  Jain, M. (2017). The battle of Rama: Case of the temple at Ayodhya.  ch 1


 * Bābar‘s Masjid at Ayodhyā was built in A.H. 930, or A.D. 1523, by Mīr Khān, on the very spot where the old temple Janmāsthānam of Rāmachandra was standing.
 * (Führer 1889: 67) Führer, A. 1889. The Sharqi Architecture of Jaunpur; with notes on Zafarabad, Sahet-Mahet and Other Places in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, J. Burgess, (ed.), Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta.


 * This stone was originally brought and appropriated by Aurangzeb in building his masjid known as Treta ki (sic) Thakur. ... [It was] rescued from the ruins of Aurangzeb's Masjid, known as Treta-ka-Thakur, and is now in the Faizabad Museum.
 * A. Führer on the Treta ka Thakur inscription, quoted in in Jain, M. (2017). The battle of Rama: Case of the temple at Ayodhya. 110


 * Inscription No. XLIV is written in twenty incomplete lines on a white sandstone, broken off at either end, and split in two parts in the middle. It is dated Saṁvat 1241, or A.D. 1184, in the time of Jayachchhandra of Kanauj, whose praises it records for erecting a Vaishṇava temple, from whence this stone was originally brought and appropriated by Aurangzīb in building his masjid known as Tretā-kī-Thākur. The original slab was discovered in the ruins of this Masjid, and is now in the Faizābād Local Museum.
 * (Führer 1889: 68)Führer, A. 1889. The Sharqi Architecture of Jaunpur; with notes on Zafarabad, Sahet-Mahet and Other Places in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, J. Burgess, (ed.), Archaeological Survey of India, Calcutta. also in A Timeline of Ayodhya - Nicole Elfi & Michel Danino, 201


 * The oldest building in Jaunpur is the masjid of Ibrahim Naih Barhak in the fort ; it is a long narrow building of the early Bengali type, that is, a simple arcade  supported on carved Hindu pillars, with three low domes in the middle.
 * Alois Anton Führer The Monumental Antiquities And Inscriptions, In The North-western Provinces And Oudh" Fuhrer, 1970 reprint


 * The Atala Masjid was the work of Ibrahim Shiih during the early part of his reign. It was built on the site of the Hindu temple of Atala Devi, which is  said to have been erected by Jayachchhandra Deva (1175 — 1193), the last  Rathor prince of Kanauj. Of all the masjids remaining at Jaunpur, the Atala Masjid  is the most ornate and the most beautiful. .... As is proved by nine inscriptions found in the Atala Masjid, Firuz Shah commenced the appropriation of the Ataladevi  temple in A.D. 1376 and Ibrahim Shah finished the Atala Masjid in A.D. 1408.
 * Alois Anton Führer The Monumental Antiquities And Inscriptions, In The North-western Provinces And Oudh" Fuhrer, 1970 reprint