Tag: William Jones

When the Britons sought to secure their power in India, little did they know of the perils that would await them of administering a land worlds removed from the Victorian habitat. As Bengal and Bihar fell into the hands of the East India company, finding it tedious to administer so alien, so complex a culture, pandits and maulvis are were called upon to assist judges in administering laws specific to each religion. Manusmriti, the law-book of Manu, a word of authority in Hindu code, was translated in this spirit, under the title A Code of Gentoo Laws. Topping it all set out the tides of translations and researches, in earnest attempts to decipher the customs and ways of life of the people. An extended version of this frenzy resulted in the establishment of the Asiatic society of Bengal in 1784 by the well-known, good old William Jones. This man was the first to suggest the semblance between Sanskrit and other European languages (Latin and Greek). He also translated the classic Sanskrit play Abhijnanashakuntalam in 1789. The Bhagvadgita was translated by one Mr. Wilkins in 1785, who’s also one among the founding fathers of the society.

Max Mueller, another prominent figure, pushed forth these attempts by commissioning, on a massive scale, translations of several Indian texts—of which he was also an editor—and published under Sacred Books of the East series. Mueller and the scholars, however made shrewd generalisations of Indian culture, spiritualism and ethos, which were on the whole unjustified. Belonging to the same bandwagon is V.A. Smith whose Early History of India was grounded on a skewed interpretation, imbued with wanton inferences; the characterisation of Indian polity as despotic, autocratic, inhabited by divergent groups with no political unity whatsoever; no civilisation; and so on and so forth. Understandably, given that these histories were constructed to quench the Imperialists’ ego and justifications for their rule, it was indubitably meant to be this way. However, this also drew negative connotations of Indian culture. It must be said that on certain fronts, the imperialists’ opinions hold true: for instance, the allegation that Indians lacked a sense of history, that particularly chronology was not much valued upon. But when one gauges the wounds inflicted and juxtaposes it with the professed positive aspects of their interpretations, a grim picture does it show indeed.