Ghulam Yazdani, OBE (22 March 1885 – 13 November 1962) was an Indian archaeologist who was one of the founders of the Archaeological Department during the colonial era reign of Nizam of Hyderabad.
He was instrumental in surveying and documenting Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu and Jain sites in the Hyderabad state, including major mosques in the region, the caves at Ajanta, Ellora caves, Alampur group of temples, Ramappa Temple, Bidar fort, and Daulatabad Fort, among many others.
[4] He succeeded Josef Horovitz as the Epigraphist to the Government of India for Persian and Arabic inscriptions in 1915, and held that office till 1941.
[8] Later, he completed his book Bidar: Its History and Monuments published by the Nizam’s Government and printed at Oxford University Press in 1947.
[9] The work done by him on the preservation of monuments and exploration and excavation of relics of ancient civilization, particularly Ellora, Ajanta and Bidar, was well received not only in India but also in Europe and the United States of America, Dr. Yazdani wrote several books.
Finally, in recognition of his glorious service to history and archaeology, the Government of India conferred the award of Padma Bhushan in 1959.
Dr. Sherwani is best known for his two volume work co-edited with Purushottam Mahadev Joshi (Director, Bombay Archives) called History of Medieval Deccan.