Alexander Cunningham

Sir Alexander Cunningham KCIE CSI ADC
Born	(1814-01-23)23 January 1814 London, United Kingdom
Died	28 November 1893(1893-11-28) (aged 79) London, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Occupations	Engineer Archaeologist
Spouse	Alicia Maria Whish ​ (m. 1840)​ [1]
Children	Allan J. C. Cunningham Sir Alexander F. D. Cunningham[1]
Parent	Allan Cunningham[1] (father)
Relatives	Francis Cunningham (brother) Joseph Davey Cunningham (brother) Peter Cunningham (brother)[1]

Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham KCIE CSI (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Sappers who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly created position of archaeological surveyor to the government of India; and he founded and organised what later became the Archaeological Survey of India.

He wrote numerous books and monographs and made extensive collections of artefacts. Some of his collections were lost, but most of the gold and silver coins and a fine group of Buddhist sculptures and jewellery were bought by the British Museum in 1894. He was also the father of mathematician Allan Cunningham.