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Indology
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Indology is the academic study of the languages, texts, history and cultures of the Indian subcontinent, and as such a subset of Asian studies.
Indology may also be known as Indic studies or Indian studies, or South Asian studies, although scholars and university administrators sometimes have only partially overlapping interpretations of these terms.
Indology would not typically include the study of contemporary economy, government, or politics of South Asia, except insofar as these express issues that are deeply embedded in South Asian history, and may be illuminated by indological methods and insights.
he South Asian case.
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Encyclopedia
Indology is the academic study of the languages, texts, history and cultures of the Indian subcontinent, and as such a subset of Asian studies.
Indology may also be known as Indic studies or Indian studies, or South Asian studies, although scholars and university administrators sometimes have only partially overlapping interpretations of these terms.
Indology would not typically include the study of contemporary economy, government, or politics of South Asia, except insofar as these express issues that are deeply embedded in South Asian history, and may be illuminated by indological methods and insights.
Overview
Indology overlaps to some extent with many other areas of study, applying their techniques
to the South Asian case. These include
cultural or
social anthropology,
cultural studies,
historical linguistics,
philology,
textual criticism,
literary history,
history,
philosophies and the
study of the
religions of South Asia, such as the Vedic religion,
Hinduism, including Shaivism and Vaishnavism (both of which are versions of what is commonly called "Hinduism"), Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, folk and tribal religions, etc., besides the indigenous forms of Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam in South Asia.
Finally it may include the study of South Asian sciences, arts, architecture, agriculture , martial arts, etc.
Scholars who call themselves Indologists often place special value on a thorough
knowledge of the languages of India, especially the classical languages such as Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, or classical Kannada, Tamil, Telugu,or Persian, and they consider a knowledge of one or more
of these languages, coupled with a knowledge of the methods of philology, to be a prerequisite for contributing meaningfully to the indological research and a characteristic feature of Indology
as a field.
Thus, Indology is the intellectual pursuit of all things Indic, with a focus on the interpretation of the past and its outcomes in the present. Some scholars distinguish Classical Indology from
Modern Indology, the former more focussed on Sanskrit and other ancient language sources, the
latter making more use of contemporary language sources and sociological approaches.
The term Indology or (in German) Indologie is often associated with German scholarship, and is used more commonly in departmental titles in German and continental European universities than in the anglophone academy. In the Netherlands the term Indologie was used to designate the study of Indonesian history and culture in preparation for colonial service in the Dutch East Indies.
History
The beginnings of Indology date back to the Iranian anthropologist and historian Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (973-1048). In his Kitab fi Tahqiq ma l'il-Hind (Researches on India), he not only recorded the political history of India and military history of India, but also covered India's cultural, scientific, social and religious history in detail. He was also the first to study the anthropology of India, engaging in extensive participant observation with various Indian groups, learning their languages and studying their primary texts, and presenting his findings with objectivity and neutrality using cross-cultural comparisons.
In the wake of 18th century pioneers like Henry Thomas Colebrooke or August Wilhelm Schlegel, Indology as an academic subject emerges in the 19th century, in the context of British India, together with Asian studies in general affected by the romantic Orientalism of the time. The Société Asiatique was founded in 1822, the Royal Asiatic Society in 1824, the American Oriental Society in 1842, and the German Oriental Society (Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft) in 1845, the Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies in 1949.
Systematic study and editorial activity of Sanskrit literature became possible with the St. Petersburg Sanskrit-Wörterbuch during the 1850s to 1870s. Translations of major Hindu texts in the Sacred Books of the East began in 1879. Otto von Bohtlingk's edition of Panini's grammar appeared in 1887. Max Müller's edition of the Rigveda appeared in 1849-75. In 1897, Sergey Oldenburg launched a systematic edition of key Sanskrit texts, "Bibliotheca Buddhica".
Professional literature and associations
Indologists typically attend conferences such as the American Association of Asian Studies, the American Oriental Society annual conference, the World Sanskrit Conference, and national-level meetings in the UK, Germany, India, Japan, France and elsewhere.
They may routinely read and write in journals such as 'Indo-Iranian Journal ,
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society ,
Journal of the American Oriental Society ,
Journal asiatique ,
the Journal of the German Oriental Society (ZDMG) ,
Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens ,
Journal of Indian Philosophy ,
Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute,
"Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies" (Indogaku Bukkyogaku Kenkyu),
Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême Orient ,
and others.
They may be members of such professional bodies as the American Oriental Society, the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the Société Asiatique, the Deutsche Morgenlandische Gesellschaft and others.
List of Indologists
The following is a list of prominent academically-qualified Indologists.
Deceased
Living
- Ram Sharan Sharma (b. 1919), Founding Chairperson of Indian Council of Historical Research; Professor Emeritus, Patna University
- George L. Hart, University of California, Berkeley
- Bhadriraju Krishnamurti (b. 1928), Osmania University
- Romila Thapar (b. 1931), Jawaharlal Nehru University (emerita)
- Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson(b.1941)
- Iravatham Mahadevan, Indian Council of Historical Research
- Koenraad Elst
- Asko Parpola (b. 1941), University of Helsinki (emeritus)
- Michael Witzel (b. 1943), Harvard University
- Stanley Wolpert UCLA (emeritus)
- Dr.Surendra Kaur Varshney (b.1944)
- Axel Michaels (b.1949), University of Heidelberg
- Alexis Sanderson, All Souls College, Oxford University
Further reading
- Heinz Bechert, Georg von Simson -
Einführung in die Indologie. Stand, Methoden, Aufgaben - ISBN 3-534-05466-0.Jean Filliozat and Louis Renou - L'inde classique - ISBN B0000DLB66.Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde, Berlin und Leipzig, Vereinigung wissenschaftlicher verleger, 1920
- Bryant, Edwin. The Quest for the origins of Vedic culture. (2001) Oxford University Press
- Chakrabarti, Dilip: Colonial Indology, 1997, Munshiram Manoharlal: New Delhi.
- Halbfass, W. India and Europe: An Essay in Understanding. SUNY Press, Albany: 1988
- Edmund Leach. "Aryan Invasions Over Four Millennia
. In"Culture Through Time (edited by Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, Stanford University Press, 1990)Gauri Viswanathan, 1989, Masks of ConquestPollock, Sheldon. Deep Orientalism?: Notes on Sanskrit and Power Beyond the Raj. In: Orientalism and the Postcolonial Predicament: Perspectives on South Asia, eds. Carol A. Breckenridge and Peter van der Veer. Philadelphia:University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993.Trautmann, Thomas. 1997. Aryans and British India, University of California Press, Berkeley.Vogel, C. (ed.). Literatur und Kultur, zur Geschichte der Sanskritphilologie, Wiesbaden 1977Windisch, E. Geschichte der sanskrit-philologie und indischen altertumskunde. Strassburg. Trübner, K.J., 1917-1920
Publication series
- Sri Garib Dass Oriental Serie (Sri Satguru Publications)
- Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica Series (Sri Satguru Publications),
etc.
See also
External links
-
- http;//www.indianbookscentre.com
- http;//www.indologystudies.blogspot.com
- http;//www.srisatgurupublications.blogspot.com
- (Gifford Lectures Online)
Institutes
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