HCP Bell

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HCP Bell, ~ 1890.

Harry Charles Purvis Bell (* 1851 ; † 1937 ) was a British colonial official and archaeologist in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) who, in addition to his work in Sri Lanka, first drew broader interest in the archeology of the Maldives .

biography

HCP Bell worked as a commissioner in the Ceylon Civil Service , the administration of the British colony of Ceylon. In November 1879 he was ordered to the Maldives to secure the cargo of the British steamer Sea Gull if possible, which failed on the reef of the G * -Atoll. Although this failed, Bell was able to spend two or three days in Malé, which he used to record the history of the Maldives.

In 1889/1890 he was appointed Archaeological Commissioner by Governor Arthur Gordon and entrusted with archaeological investigations, which is considered to be the birth of Sri Lankan archeology. In the following years Bell carried out extensive excavations in Anuradhapura , Polonnaruwa , Sigiriya and Ritigala .

In 1912 he retired, which he used to do archaeological work in the Maldives in the early 1920s. There he studied the Dhivehi language and examined pre-Islamic temple ruins, which he understood consistently as the remains of Buddhist dagoben . Bell's publications do not seem to indicate that remains of even earlier advanced civilizations existed in the same buildings , although he must have known Hindu or even earlier relics at the sites he visited.

Bell died in 1937. A summary of publications on the Maldives that he had published in JRAS from 1922 onwards appeared posthumously in 1940.

Works (selection)

  • Report on the Kegalla District. Colombo 1892.
  • Excerpta Máldiviana. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Colombo 1922-1935. (Reprint: New Delhi 1998, ISBN 81-206-1221-3 )
  • The Máldive islands: An account of the physical features, climate, history, inhabitants, productions, and trade. Ceylon 1883. (Reprint: New Delhi 2004, ISBN 81-206-1222-1 )
  • The Maldive islands: Monograph on the History, Archeology and Epigraphy. Colombo 1940. (Reprint: Novelty Printers Publ., 2002, ISBN 99915-3-051-7 )

literature

  • Bethia N. Bell, Heather M. Bell: HCP Bell: Archaeologist of Ceylon and the Maldives. Archetype Publ., Clwyd 1993, ISBN 1-873132-45-X .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bell, HCP
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bell, Harry Charles Purvis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British colonial administrator and archaeologist in Ceylon and the Maldives
DATE OF BIRTH 1851
DATE OF DEATH 1937