Vincent Arthur SmithCIE (3 June 1843 – 6 February 1920) was an Irish
Indologist, historian, member of the
Indian Civil Service, and curator. He was one of the prominent figures in Indian historiography during the
British Raj.[2]
After graduating from
Trinity College Dublin, he passed the final examination for the
Indian Civil Service in 1871, at "the head of the list", and served in what is now
Uttar Pradesh until 1900, in the regular ICS roles, rising to the post of Chief Secretary to the government in 1898, becoming a Commissioner the same year. Throughout this period he was a prolific writer on Indian history, and finally left the service early to devote more time to this, in 1900, returning to England.[1]
Following his retirement, Smith wrote several monographs on Indian history.[5] These included two monographs on the emperors
Ashoka and
Akbar respectively, which he went on to revise several times, updating them to reflect new research and information.[5] He also wrote and published two comprehensive volumes on Indian history, The Early History of India and The Oxford History of India, as well as a book about the history of fine arts in India and Sri Lanka.[1]
General index to the reports of the Archaeological Survey of India: Volumes I to XXIII, with a glossary and general table of contents, Simla, Government Central Press, 1887. - Varanasi: Indological Book House, 1969
Preface to Purna Chandra Mukherji: A report on a tour of exploration of the antiquities of Kapilavastu Tarai of Nepal during February and March, 1899, Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1901; Delhi Indological Book House, 1969.
^"Fuhrer's attempt to associate the names of eighteen Sakyas, including Mahanaman, with the structures, on the false claim of writings in pre-Asokan characters, was fortunately foiled in time by V.A. Smith, who paid a surprise visit when the excavation was in progress. The forgery was exposed to the public." in
East and West. Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente. 1979. p. 66.