Charles Masson (1800-1853) was the pseudonym of James Lewis, a British East India Company soldier and reporter, independent explorer, archaeologist and numismatist. He was the first European to discover the ruins of Harappa in undivided Punjab, now in Pakistan. He dis­covered the ancient city of Alexandria in the Caucasus?region?dating back to the period of Alexander the Great. He unlocked the now-extinct language in parts of the Indian subcontinent and present-day eastern Afghanistan, known?as?Kharoshthi.

At the time of the First Anglo-Afghan War in 1838, Masson had spent more time in Afghanistan than any other British official. He was a minor voice and a critic of the Afghan invasion, since he accurately predicted that would be a disaster for the Empire. He travelled extensively through Balochistan, Afghanistan and the Punjab from 1826 to 1838 and published his experiences in three volumes in 1842. Later on, he wrote one more volume, covering the insurrection at Kalat, and a memoir on Eastern?Balochistan?region.