Doyen of ancient Indian history Professor Bratindra Nath Mukherjee, who deciphered many ancient scripts, died today at his residence here after a protracted illness, his family said.
79-year-old Mukherjee is survived by his wife and son.
A Padmashri winner Mukherjee was a former Carmichael professor in the department of ancient Indian history, Calcutta University and was the only scholar from India who knew central Asian languages, including Sogdian (Eastern Iranian language of the area which is modern-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and the closely related and now extinct Bactrian.
He was a student of celebrated historian A L Basham and had deciphered many ancient scripts like Shell and Kharoshti Brahmi.
Formerly a fellow of Royal Asiatic Society, England, Mukherjee was a leading epigraphist and numismatist.
