Friedrich Oscar Oertel (9 December 1862 – 22 February 1942) was a German-born British engineer, architect, and archaeologist. He is best known among Indian art historians and archaeologists for having excavated the archaeological site of Sarnath (India, Uttar Pradesh) in the winter of 1904–1905. It was here that in March 1905 he unearthed the Lion Capital of Ashoka of an Ashokan pillar, which was to become the national emblem of India. However, probably because he was mainly involved as a civil engineer and architect in the Public Works Department, his contributions to the fields of art history and archaeology are largely overlooked in the historiography of South Asian art and archaeology.
Early life
Friedrich [Frederick] Oscar Emanuel Oertel was born 9 December 1862 in Hannover, Kingdom of Hanover. The author of this page is thankful to Rolf Jaeger for having put to her disposal photos and letters from F.O. Oertel. He renounced his German citizenship before leaving for India as a young man and was naturalised British.http://yourdemocracy.newstatesman.com/parliament/war/HAN2250178 ; https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1916/nov/15/public-works-department#S5CV0087P0_19161115_HOC_9 | Retrieved 10 July 2013. He married Margaret Haywood Lechmere (1882–1969) on 25 July 1903,http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=rossbus&id=I36381 (retrieved 24 June 2013). See for Margaret Lechmere-Oertel date of death. with whom he had two children. Retiring around 1920, he returned to England and from 1921 added the name of his wife to his own,As would appear from the "List of members of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland" published in 1921 and the following years. thus publishing under the name of "F.O. Lechmere-Oertel". He died in New York on 22 February 1942.Confusion about his date of death is noted to this day: the Directory of British architects has him die in 1921 (Directory, vol. 2, pp. 27–28, with further references to 1921 publications), an evident misinterpretation probably caused by his retirement and his return to Europe. The date of 1931 is given without any further reference by Guha 2010, p. 249 (probably in that year he made a major donation to the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge). Mention of his decease, without any precise date being given, is made in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, October 1944, p. 213.
India: 1883-1920
Oertel left Germany for India where he studied at the Thomason College of Civil Engineering (now Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee).The India List 1905, pp. 579–580. From March 1883 to March 1887, he was assistant engineer on railway and building construction for the Indian Public Board, being posted to the North-Western Provinces and Oudh.Directory 2001, p. 27; The India List 1905, p. 580. From 1887 to 1888, he returned to England where he studied architecture under Richard Phené Spiers.Oertel 1913, p. 378. On his way back to Europe he was nearly killed on 17 April 1887, when the P&O Tasmania (de) which he had boarded sailing from Bombay (today Mumbai) to Marseille, sunk on the south-western coast of Corsica.The Times of Malta 16 December 1936, p. 10.
Oertel then started upon a brilliant career in the Public Works Department, being first sent on diverse missions and then appointed in various locations. Sent by the Government of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, in the winter of 1891–92 he surveyed the monuments and archaeological sites in North and Central India before reaching Rangoon in Burma Province in March 1892.Oertel 1893, p. (1). Then, and in the following month, Oertel visited Mandalay, Amarapura and Sagaing, from where he travelled down the Irrawaddy River to Pagan and Prome (today Pyay). Back in Rangoon, he travelled south to Pegu (today Bago), Moulmein (today Mawlamyaing), Martaban (Mottama) and Thaton. On his return, he wrote a lengthy report illustrated with original photos which was published as Note on a Tour in Burma in March and April 1892. The photographs he took during this journey also were used to illustrate George W. Bird's book Wanderings in Burma, published a few years later, along with photos by Felice Beato.Bird, George W. 1897. Wanderings in Burma. Bournemouth: Bright & Son. https://historicaltexts.jisc.ac.uk/bl-000356111. Illustrated with photos by F.O. Oertel and Felice Beato. Some 28 photos are by Oertel.
In 1900, he was sent to Sri Lanka by the Royal Asiatic Society to visit the Abhayagiri dagoba and make suggestions on the best way to preserve or restore it."Some Interesting Experiences", p. 9; Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, July 1905, p. 598. As a result of this survey, Oertel wrote a report (Oertel 1903). As Executive Engineer in the "Buildings and Roads" branch of the Public Works Department, North-West Provinces and OudhOertel 1913, p. 378. from 1902 on and then as Superintending Engineer after 1908,The India List 1902, p. 60; his promotion can be deduced from the "List of Members of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great-Britain and Ireland" for 1908. he was posted in various places of Uttar Pradesh:From what can be inferred from the addresses added to his name in the "List of Members of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great-Britain and Ireland". It is, however, to be noted that these addresses do not necessarily coincide with those given in other sources. For instance, the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft for 1908 mentions Cawnpore. from 1903 to 1907, he was in Benares, in 1908 he was located in Lucknow, and from 1909 to 1915, in Cawnpore; he was then sent to Shillong, Assam, where he remained up to 1920.Following the references in the India directories for these years, the following locations are found: 1897 Naini Tal, 1898-1899 Saharanpur, 1902-1905 Benares, 1906-1907 Agra, 1908-1909 Lucknow, 1910-1914 Allahabad. According to Margaret's writings, Oertel retired in 1918 after which they stayed on in India, but not in Assam. They spent a lot of time trekking in Kashmir. Bodleian: Ms. Eng. let. d. 481 Throughout this period he was also involved in supervising or participating in the construction of numerous buildings in Uttar Pradesh (Allahabad, Agra, Lucknow, Cawnpore).Oertel 1913, p. 380. This firsthand experience helped him to formulate his opinion concerning the construction of the new capital at New Delhi, which he made public with a lecture delivered before the East India Association at Caxton Hall, Westminster, on 21 July 1913.Oertel 1913. There he strongly advocated that the architects of New Delhi should be inspired by a "really national Indian style".Oertel 1913, p. 384 also quoted by Metcalf 1989, p. 216 (see pp. 215–217).
Oertel was a member of various associations: the Institution of Civil Engineers (1889),Civil Engineer Records: retrieved 29 July 2013. See the "List of Associate Members of the Institution of Civil Engineers", 1904, p. 192. the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1900),"Notes of the Quarter" 1901, p.621 where the name of his brother also appears as elected member. and the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft (1908)."Personalnachrichten", p. LVI (he was the 1414th member). Further, he became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1888 and Fellow of the same institute in 1901.Directory 2001, p. 27; The R.I.B.A. Kalendar 1888–89, p. 68. While posted at Benares, Oertel undertook several public works, such as the construction of a road leading to Sarnath, construction of a shelter for the sculptures found at Sarnath, transfer of the images kept in the Queen's College to this site, and excavation of the site.Oertel 1904–1905, p. 63; Oertel 1908, p. 277; Vogel 1910, p. 4. Following his excavations, he was transferred to Agra – John Marshall, the then General Director of the Archaeological Survey of India, taking over the Sarnath excavations – where he worked on preservation of the Agra Fort in the years 1905–06. In 1909–10, he surveyed the Rikhian caves in Uttar Pradesh.Guha 2010, p. 249. Rikhian was then located in the Banda district; it is now in the Chitrakoot district.
During the Royal Tour of 1905–06, Oertel guided the Prince and the Princess of Wales (later King George V and Queen Mary) around the Agra Fort on 18 December 1905 and accompanied the Princess on her visit of the Sarnath excavations, while the Prince and the Princess were in Benares from 18 to 21 February 1906.The Times of Malta 19 December 1936, p. 11; Tour p. xiii. A detailed map of the tour in the Agra fort with written indications by Oertel is preserved in the Cambridge University Library, see http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0115%2FRCMS%2089%2F52%2F1 (last retrieved 15 July 2013). The visit to Sarnath probably took place on 20 February (Tour, p. xxi); a photo depicting the Princess of Wales in front of the Ashoka capital preserved in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle shows her surrounded by some Europeans, one of them – one may reasonably surmise – being Oertel (see https://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090426/spectrum/art.htm) (last retrieved 15 June 2013). In August 1908, he took part in the Fifteenth International Congress of Orientalists in Copenhagen, where he presented his excavations at Sarnath."The Fifteenth International", p. 335. In 1909, he was still on furlough in Europe where he visited glass factories in England, Germany, and Austria, publishing a short monograph on the topic in 1915, where he advocated that this industry should be developed in India.Oertel 1915; see also "India's Glass Trade"; https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1915/may/05/glass-industry-india#S5CV0071P0_19150505_HOC_145 (retrieved 10 July 2013). Oertel then became Chief Engineer and Secretary to the Public Works Department of the Government of Assam and this position provoked debate, because Oertel was German by birth and as Germany and England were at war during this time.
Contribution to Indian art and archaeology
Beside his report on the monuments of Burma published in 1893, Oertel is best known for the excavation of Sarnath done from December 1904 up to April 1905.Oertel 1908, p. 277. Not only did he unearth the Maurya capital on 15 March,Guha 2010, p. 249. but he also brought to light numerous major images dating from the 4th up to the 12th century.
Oertel left Sarnath for Agra where another major task awaited him: the restoration of the Diwan-i-Amm and Jahangiri Mahal in the Agra Fort and the reconstruction of the four minarets of the south gateway of the Akbar tomb in Sikandra in 1905–1906 while also working on the compound of the Taj Mahal,Nicholls 1906, pp. 17–20. Oertel drew elevations of the Saheli Burj 1 (see Nicholls 1906, plate IV). all work undertaken under the impetus of Lord Curzon as preparation to the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
In 1909–1910, Oertel documented the sculptures of Yoginis at Rikhian (Rikhiyan) in Banda, now Chitrakoot district of Uttar PradeshAbove note 26; for the photos taken during this short survey, see Annual Progress Report...1910, pp. 23–24 (and http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/JointEnqList.asp?txtPlace=Rikhian&strCat=1); on Rikhiyan, read Dehejia 1986, pp. 118–121. Guha 2010, p. 250 mentions the existence of an unpublished paper on the topic. and also took an interest in the monuments located at Garhwa in the Allahabad district.Vogel 1910, pp. 5–6; Guha 2010, p. 250.
After India