Despite his Hungarian origin, Aurél Stein, a world-known Eastern researcher, has been successful in Britain, but he is remembered for his Hungarian origin and work throughout the world. He died in Kabul in 1943, where his coffin was placed in a Christian cemetery. On the 60th anniversary of his death, his tomb was given a plaque bearing the following inscription:
“Hungary raised him,
England taught him,
Afghanistan welcomed him
On the 60th anniversary of the death of the great Hungarian Eastern researcher”
Aurél Stein was born in Pest-Buda but moved to England at the age of 21 to continue his studies there. The young Doctor of Humanities became interested in Oriental culture at an early age and traveled to India at the age of 24, after studying in Oxford and Cambridge. He started studying local culture in India and received teaching jobs at several local universities.
He started his first expedition in 1900, lasting one year. During the grand tour, he mapped the ruins of the Takla-Makan Desert. The findings that have been discovered and can be viewed today at the British Museum, among others. He led further expeditions to the Gobi Desert and Iran. During one of his expeditions, he discovered thousands of 11th-century scrolls hidden in the Mokao Caves. In the 1930s he could no longer organize new expeditions due to changed political conditions.
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