Edward Thomas (31 December 1813 – 10 February 1886) was an English civil servant of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...

, known for his writings on Indian antiquities.

Life

Born on 31 December 1813, the son of Honoratus Leigh Thomas, he was educated at the East India College at Haileybury. He went to India in 1832 as a writer in the Bengal service of the company. Poor health affected his career, and he took several absences in England on sick leave; and when

Lord Dalhousie James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie (22 April 1812 – 19 December 1860), also known as Lord Dalhousie, styled Lord Ramsay until 1838 and known as The Earl of Dalhousie between 1838 and 1849, was a Scottish statesman and co ...

offered him in 1852 the post of foreign secretary to the government of India, he declined it. After acting for a short time as judge at

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, Thomas was appointed superintending judge of the Saugor and Nerbudda territory. He retired on a pension in 1857, and spent the rest of his life in scholarly pursuits, attending the meetings of learned societies and writing on Asian archæology. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...

in 1871, and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in the

1884 Birthday Honours The 1884 Birthday Honours were appointments by Queen Victoria to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of the Queen, and wer ...

. He died in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Garden ...

on 10 February 1886.

Works

Thomas is considered to have made ground-breaking studies in a number of areas of scholarship, such as

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inc ...

(Bactrian, Indo-Scythic, and Sassanian coins); Indian metrology; and Persian gems and inscriptions. His work was recognised by his election as a

on 8 June 1871, as correspondent of the

Institute of France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute m ...

in January 1873, and as honorary member of the Russian Academy; and by his decoration as

Companion of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

. His major works were: * ''Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Delhi'' (1847; 2nd enlarged edit. 1871), and * his edition of

James Prinsep James Prinsep FRS (20 August 1799 – 22 April 1840) was an English scholar, orientalist and antiquary. He was the founding editor of the ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'' and is best remembered for deciphering the Kharosthi and B ...

's ''Essays on Indian Antiquities'' and ''Useful Tables'' (2 vols. 1858), which he annotated. * ''Jainism or The Early Faith of Asoka'' Other publications included: * ''Coins of the Kings of Ghazni'' (1847, 1858); * ''Initial Coinage of Bengal'' (1886, 1873); * ''Early Sassanian Inscriptions'' (1868); * ''Ancient Indian Weights'' (1874), as part i. of the new edition of the ''Numismata Orientalia'' ubsequently_renamed_International_Numismata_Orientalia.html" ;"title="International_Numismata_Orientalia.html" ;"title="ubsequently renamed International Numismata Orientalia">ubsequently renamed International Numismata Orientalia">International_Numismata_Orientalia.html" ;"title="ubsequently renamed International Numismata Orientalia">ubsequently renamed International Numismata Orientaliawhich he edited for Nicholas Trübner; and * ''The Revenue of the Mughal Empire'' (1871, 1882). Many of his numerous short papers appeared in the ''Numismatic Chronicle'' between 1847 and 1883. Rather more were in the ''Journal'' of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

, of which he was a member for 40 years and treasurer for 25.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Edward 1813 births 1886 deaths British East India Company civil servants English antiquarians Fellows of the Royal Society Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire English numismatists