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Indology



 
 
Indology is the academic study of the languages, texts, history
HIStory

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is a double album by Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995, and is Jackson's ninth. The first disc, named "HIStory Begins" consists of a selection of Jackson's greatest hits from the singer's past fifteen years, while the second, named "HIStory Continues" features new songs, with the...
 and culture
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
s of the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
, and as such a subset of Asian studies
Asian studies

Asian studies, a term that has largely replaced the older Oriental studies, is concerned with the Asian peoples, their cultures, languages, history and politics....
.

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 Asia
South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
n case.






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Encyclopedia


Indology is the academic study of the languages, texts, history
HIStory

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is a double album by Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995, and is Jackson's ninth. The first disc, named "HIStory Begins" consists of a selection of Jackson's greatest hits from the singer's past fifteen years, while the second, named "HIStory Continues" features new songs, with the...
 and culture
Culture

Culture is difficult to define. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions....
s of the Indian subcontinent
Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent is a large section of the Asian continent consisting of the land lying substantially on the Indian Plate. The subcontinent includes parts of various countries in South Asia, including those on the continental crust , an Island#Continental islands country on the continental shelf , and an Island#Oceanic islands countr...
, and as such a subset of Asian studies
Asian studies

Asian studies, a term that has largely replaced the older Oriental studies, is concerned with the Asian peoples, their cultures, languages, history and politics....
.

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 Asia
South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
n case. These include cultural
Cultural anthropology

Cultural anthropology is one of four fields of anthropology as it developed in the United States. It is the branch of anthropology that has developed and promoted "culture" as a meaningful scientific concept, studied cultural variation among humans, and examined the impact of global economic and political processes on local cultural realiti...
 or social anthropology
Social anthropology

Social anthropology is the branch of anthropology that studies how currently living human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long term, intensive Fieldwork , the social organization of a particular people: Convention , economics and Politics organization, law and conflict resolutio...
, cultural studies
Cultural studies

Cultural studies is an academic discipline which combines political economy, communication, sociology, social theory, literary theory, Media influence, film theory, cultural anthropology, philosophy, museum studies and art history/art criticism to study culture phenomena in various societies....
, historical linguistics
Historical linguistics

Historical linguistics is the study of language change. It has five main concerns:* to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages;...
, philology
Philology

Philology, derived from the Greek language considers both morphology and Meaning in linguistic expression, combining linguistics and literary studies....
, textual criticism
Textual criticism

Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the Writing of manuscripts....
, literary history, history
HIStory

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is a double album by Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995, and is Jackson's ninth. The first disc, named "HIStory Begins" consists of a selection of Jackson's greatest hits from the singer's past fifteen years, while the second, named "HIStory Continues" features new songs, with the...
, philosophies
Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
 and the study of the religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
s of South Asia
South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
, such as the Vedic religion
Historical Vedic religion

The religion of the Vedic period is the historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the Mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit....
, Hinduism
Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
, including Shaivism
Shaivism

Shaivism,names the oldest of the four sects of Hinduism. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas," and also "Saivas" or "Saivites," revere Shiva as the Supreme Being....
 and Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism

Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu or his associated avatars, principally as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God....
 (both of which are versions of what is commonly called "Hinduism"), Jainism
Jainism

Jainism is one of the oldest Indian religions that originated in India. Jains believe that every soul is divine and has the potential to achieve God-consciousness....
, Buddhism
Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
, Sikhism
Sikhism

Sikhism , founded on the teachings of Guru Nanak and ten successive Sikh Gurus in fifteenth century Punjab region, is the Major religious groups organized religion in the world....
, folk and tribal religions, etc., besides the indigenous forms of Judaism
Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
, Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is the religion and philosophy based on the teachings ascribed to the prophet Zoroaster, after whom the religion is named. The term Zoroastrianism is in general usage, essentially synonymous with Mazdaism, i.e., the worship of Ahura Mazda, exalted by Zoroaster as the supreme divine authority....
, Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
 and Islam
Islam

Islam is a Monotheism, Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of the Prophets of Islam Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure....
 in South Asia.

Finally it may include the study of South Asian science
Science

In its broadest sense, science refers to any systematic knowledge or practice. In its more usual restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method, as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research....
s, art
Art

Art is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music and literature....
s, architecture
Architecture

The term architecture can refer to a process, a profession or documentation.As a process, architecture is the activity of designing and construction buildings and other physical structures by a person or a computer, primarily to provide shelter....
, agriculture , martial arts, etc.

Scholars who call themselves Indologists often place special value on a thorough knowledge of the languages of India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, especially the classical languages such as Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
, Pali
Páli

P?li is a village in Gyor-Moson-Sopron county, Hungary.External links...
, Prakrit
Prakrit

Prakrit refers to the broad family of the Indic languages and dialects spoken in ancient India. The Prakrits became literary languages, generally patronized by kings identified with the Kshatriya caste, but were regarded as illegitimate by the Brahmin orthodoxy....
, or classical Kannada, Tamil
Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has Official language in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore....
, Telugu
Telugu language

Telugu or Telegu is one of the four classical languages of India. It is a South-Central Dravidian languages mostly spoken in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where it is the official language....
,or Persian
Persian language

name=Persian|nativename=|pronunciation=[f??r'si]|image=|caption=Farsi in Perso-Arabic script |states= Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Bahrain....
, and they consider a knowledge of one or more of these languages, coupled with a knowledge of the methods of philology
Philology

Philology, derived from the Greek language considers both morphology and Meaning in linguistic expression, combining linguistics and literary studies....
, 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
History of India

The known history of India begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, from c....
 and military history of India
Military history of India

India has a long military history dating back several millennia. The first reference of armies is found in the Vedas and the epics Ramayana and Mahabaratha.There were many powerful dynasties in India such as the Magadha empire, Shishunaga dynasty, Nanda dynasty, Maurya Dynasty, Satavahana dynasty, Kushan empire, Gupta dynasty, Harsha's empire, Pan...
, but also covered India's cultural
Culture of India

File:Kathakali of kerala.jpgFile:Cultural regional areas of India.pngThe culture of India has been shaped by the long history of India, its unique Geography of India and the absorption of customs, traditions and ideas from some of its neighbors as well as by preserving its ancient heritages, which were formed during the Indus Valley Civili...
, scientific
Science and technology in ancient India

The history of science and technology in India details scientific study undertaken in India as a part of which Architecture of India, Indian astronomy, Cartography of India, History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent, Indian logic, Indian mathematics, History of measurement systems in India and Mining in India were am...
, social and religious
Religion in India

Indian religions, also called Dharmic religions, are the related religious traditions that originated in the Indian subcontinent, namely Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Ayyavazhi, inclusive of their sub-schools and various related traditions....
 history in detail. He was also the first to study the anthropology
Anthropology

Anthropology is the study of humans and humanity in its totality. Anthropology has origins in the natural sciences, and the humanities. In Great Britain it was originally divided into physical anthropology and cultural anthropology, which itself was divided into archaeology, technology, ethnology and sociology ....
 of India, engaging in extensive participant observation
Participant observation

Participant observation is a type of research strategy. Its aim is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals and their practices through an intensive involvement with people in their natural environment, often though not always over an extended period of time....
 with various Indian groups, learning their languages and studying their primary texts, and presenting his findings with objectivity and neutrality using cross-cultural comparisons
Cross-cultural studies

Cross-cultural comparisons take several forms. One is comparison of case studies, another is controlled comparison among variants of a common derivation, and a third is comparison within a sample of cases....
.

In the wake of 18th century pioneers like Henry Thomas Colebrooke
Henry Thomas Colebrooke

Henry Thomas Colebrooke was an England orientalist....
 or August Wilhelm Schlegel, Indology as an academic subject emerges in the 19th century, in the context of British India, together with Asian studies
Asian studies

Asian studies, a term that has largely replaced the older Oriental studies, is concerned with the Asian peoples, their cultures, languages, history and politics....
 in general affected by the romantic Orientalism
Orientalism

Orientalism refers to the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, and can also refer to a sympathetic stance towards the region by a writer or other person....
 of the time. The Société Asiatique
Société Asiatique

The Soci?t? Asiatique is a France learned society dedicated to the study of Asia.The society was founded in 1822 with the mission of developing and diffusing knowledge of Asia....
 was founded in 1822, the Royal Asiatic Society
Royal Asiatic Society

The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was, according to its Royal Charter of 11 August 1824, established to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia." From its incorporation the Society has been a forum, through lectures, its jour...
 in 1824, the American Oriental Society
American Oriental Society

The American Oriental Society was chartered under the laws of Commonwealth of Massachusetts on September 7, 1842. It is one of the oldest learned societies in United States, and is the oldest devoted to a particular field of scholarship....
 in 1842, and the German Oriental Society (Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft
Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft

The Deutsche Morgenl?ndische Gesellschaft , in English the German Oriental Society, is a scholarly organization dedicated to studies of Asia and the broader The Orient....
) in 1845, the Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies in 1949.

Systematic study and editorial activity of Sanskrit literature
Sanskrit literature

Indian literature in Sanskrit begins with the Vedas, and continues with the Sanskrit Epics of Iron Age India; the golden age of Classical Sanskrit literature dates to late Antiquity ....
 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
Sacred Books of the East

The Sacred Books of the East is a monumental 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious writings, edited by Max M?ller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910....
 began in 1879. Otto von Bohtlingk
Otto von Bohtlingk

Otto von B?htlingk was a Germany Indologist and Sanskrit grammarians, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia.Having studied Oriental languages, particularly Arabic language, Persian language and Sanskrit, at the University of Saint Petersburg, he continued his studies in Germany, first in Berlin and then in Bonn....
's edition of Panini's grammar appeared in 1887. Max Müller
Max Müller

Friedrich Max M?ller , more commonly known as Max M?ller, was a German Confederation philologist and Orientalist, one of the founders of the western academic field of Indology and the discipline of comparative religion....
's edition of the Rigveda
Rigveda

The Rigveda is an ancient Indian subcontinent sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns dedicated to the Rigvedic deities . It is counted among the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism known as the Vedas....
 appeared in 1849-75. In 1897, Sergey Oldenburg
Sergey Oldenburg

Sergey Fyodorovich Oldenburg was a Russian orientalism who specialized in Buddhism studies. He is remembered as the founder of Russian Indology and the teacher of Fyodor Shcherbatskoy....
 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

  • Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (973–1048)
  • Anquetil Duperron (1731-1805)
  • William Jones
    William Jones (philologist)

    Sir William Jones was an England Philology and student of ancient India, particularly known for his proposition of the existence of a relationship among Indo-European languages....
     (1746-1794)
  • Charles Wilkins
    Charles Wilkins

    Sir Charles Wilkins, Royal Guelphic Order , was an England typographer and Orientalist, notable as the first translator of Bhagavad Gita into English, and as the creator of the first Devanagari typeface....
     (1749-1836)
  • Colin Mackenzie
    Colin Mackenzie

    Colonel Colin Mackenzie was Surveyor General of India, and an art collector and orientalism.Mackenzie was born in Stornoway, Outer Hebrides, Scotland....
     (1753-1821)
  • Henry Thomas Colebrooke
    Henry Thomas Colebrooke

    Henry Thomas Colebrooke was an England orientalist....
     (1765-1837)
  • August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767-1845)
  • James Mill
    James Mill

    James Mill was a Scotland historian, economist, political theorist, and philosopher. He was the father of influential philosopher of classical liberalism, John Stuart Mill....
     (1773-1836).
  • Horace Hayman Wilson
    Horace Hayman Wilson

    Horace Hayman Wilson was an English orientalism.He studied medicine at St Thomas's Hospital, and went out to India in 1808 as assistant-surgeon on the Bengal establishment of the British East India Company....
     (1786-1860)
  • Franz Bopp
    Franz Bopp

    Franz Bopp was a Germany linguistics known for extensive comparative work on Indo-European languages....
     (1791-1867)
  • John Muir (indologist)
    John Muir (indologist)

    John Muir was a Scottish Sanskrit language scholar and Indologist ....
     (1810-1882)
  • Edward Balfour
    Edward Balfour

    Edward Green Balfour was a Scottish surgeon, orientalist and pioneering environmentalist in India best known for the Cyclopaedia of India several editions of which were published after 1857....
     (1813-1889)
  • Robert Caldwell
    Robert Caldwell

    Bishop Robert Caldwell was an Orientalism who pioneered the study of the Dravidian languages with his work Comparative Grammar of Dravidian Languages ....
     (1814 -1891)
  • Alexander Cunningham
    Alexander Cunningham

    Sir Alexander Cunningham was a United Kingdom archaeologist and army engineer, known as the father of the Archaeological Survey of India. Both his brothers, Francis Cunningham and Joseph Cunningham became well-known for their work in British India....
     (1814-1893)
  • Hermann Gundert
    Hermann Gundert

    Rev. Dr. Hermann Gundert was a Germany missionary and scholar, who compiled a Malayalam grammar book, Malayalabhaasha Vyakaranam , the first Malayalam-English language dictionary , and translated the Bible into Malayalam....
     (1814-1893)
  • Robert Caldwell
    Robert Caldwell

    Bishop Robert Caldwell was an Orientalism who pioneered the study of the Dravidian languages with his work Comparative Grammar of Dravidian Languages ....
     (1815-1891)
  • Otto von Bohtlingk
    Otto von Bohtlingk

    Otto von B?htlingk was a Germany Indologist and Sanskrit grammarians, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia.Having studied Oriental languages, particularly Arabic language, Persian language and Sanskrit, at the University of Saint Petersburg, he continued his studies in Germany, first in Berlin and then in Bonn....
     (1815-1904)
  • Monier Monier-Williams
    Monier Monier-Williams

    Sir Monier Monier-Williams studied, documented and taught Asian languages in England, and compiled one of the most widely-used Sanskrit-English dictionaries....
     (1819-1899)
  • Rudolf Roth
    Rudolf Roth

    Rudolf Roth was a Germany Indologist, founder of the Vedas philology. His book On the Literature and History of the Veda was a ground-breaking work on Vedic scholarship and research....
     (1821-1893)
  • Max Müller
    Max Müller

    Friedrich Max M?ller , more commonly known as Max M?ller, was a German Confederation philologist and Orientalist, one of the founders of the western academic field of Indology and the discipline of comparative religion....
     (1823-1900)
  • Albrecht Weber
    Albrecht Weber

    Albrecht Friedrich Weber was a Germans Indologist and historian.He was born on February 17th, 1825, at Breslau, where his father was a Professor of Political Economy....
     (1825-1901)
  • Ralph T. H. Griffith (1826-1906)
  • Ferdinand Kittel
    Ferdinand Kittel

    Reverend Ferdinand Kittel was a priest and indologist with the Basel Mission in south India and worked in Mangalore, Madikeri and Dharwad in Karnataka....
     (1832-1903)
  • Edwin Arnold
    Edwin Arnold

    Sir Edwin Arnold, Order of the Star of India, Order of the Indian Empire , was an England poet and journalist, who most known for his work, The Light of Asia....
     (1832-1904)
  • Georg Bühler
    Georg Bühler

    Professor Johann Georg B?hler was a scholar of ancient Indian languages and law.B?hler was born to Rev. Johann G. B?hler in Borstel, Hanover, Germany, attended high school in Hanover where he mastered Greek language and Latin, then university as a student of theology and philosophy at Georg August University of G?ttingen, where he studie...
     (1837-1898)
  • Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar
    Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar

    Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, also spelt Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, and known as R.G. Bhandarkar , was a scholar, orientalist and social reformer....
     (1837-1925)
  • Julius Eggeling
    Julius Eggeling

    Hans Julius Eggeling was Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Edinburgh from 1875 to 1914, second holder of its Regius Chair of Sanskrit, and Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society, London....
     (1842-1918)
  • Vincent Arthur Smith
    Vincent Arthur Smith

    Vincent Arthur Smith was born in Dublin, Ireland. He was an Indologist and a historian....
     (1848-1920)
  • Paul Deussen
    Paul Deussen

    Paul Jakob Deussen was a Germany Orientalist and Sanskrit scholar. He was influenced by Arthur Schopenhauer. He was also a friend of Friedrich Nietzsche and Swami Vivekananda....
     (1845-1919)
  • Hermann Jacobi
    Hermann Jacobi

    Hermann Georg Jacobi was an eminent German Indologist.Jacobi was born in K?ln on 1 February 1850. After leaving school he went to Berlin, where initially he studied mathematics, but later, probably under the influence of Albrecht Weber, switched to Sanskrit and comparative linguistics....
      (1850-1937)
  • K. A. Nilakanta Sastri
    K. A. Nilakanta Sastri

    Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri was an Indian historian and Dravidologist who is generally regarded as the greatest and most prolific among professional historians of South India....
     (1892-1975)
  • Kashinath Trimbak Telang
    Kashinath Trimbak Telang

    Kashinath Trimbak Telang was an Indian judge and Indologist....
     (1850-1893)
  • Frederick Eden Pargiter (1852-1897)
  • Hermann Oldenberg
    Hermann Oldenberg

    Hermann Oldenberg was a German scholar of Indology, and Professor at Kiel and G?ttingen .His 1881 study on Buddhism, entitled Buddha: Sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde, based on Pali texts, popularized Buddhism and have remained continuously in print since their first publication....
     (1854-1920)
  • Arthur Anthony McDonell (1854-1930)
  • Maurice Bloomfield
    Maurice Bloomfield

    Maurice Bloomfield, Ph. D., LL.D. was an United States philologist and Sanskrit scholar.Bloomfield was born in Bielitz, in what was at that time Austrian Silesia ....
     (1855-1928)
  • Mark Aurel Stein (1862-1943)
  • Moriz Winternitz
    Moriz Winternitz

    Moriz Winternitz was an eminent Austrian Orientalist.He received his earliest education in the gymnasium of his native town, and in 1880 entered the University of Vienna, receiving the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1886....
     (1863-1937)
  • Fyodor Shcherbatskoy
    Fyodor Shcherbatskoy

    Fyodor Ippolitovich Shcherbatskoy or Stcherbatsky was a Russian Indologist who, in large part, was responsible for laying the foundations in the Western world for the scholarly study of Buddhist philosophy....
     (1866-1942)
  • John Hubert Marshall (1876-1958)
  • Arthur Berriedale Keith (1879-1944)
  • Pandurang Vaman Kane
    Pandurang Vaman Kane

    Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane was a notable Indologist and Sanskrit scholar. He was born in a conservative Chitpavan Brahmin family in the Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, India....
     (1880-1972)
  • Pierre Johanns
    Pierre Johanns

    Pierre Johanns was a Luxembourg Jesuit priest, missionary in India and Indology....
     (1882-1955)
  • Heinrich Zimmer
    Heinrich Zimmer

    Heinrich Zimmer was an Indologist and historian of South Asian art. He was born in Greifswald, Germany.Zimmer began his career studying Sanskrit and linguistics at the University of Berlin where he graduated in 1913....
     (1890-1943)
  • Ervin Baktay
    Ervin Baktay

    Ervin Baktay was an author noted for popularizing Indian culture in Hungary.He had started his career as a painter and he encouraged his niece Amrita Sher-Gil to pursue art....
     (1890-1963)
  • Mortimer Wheeler
    Mortimer Wheeler

    Brigadier Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler Order of the Companions of Honour, Order of the Indian Empire, Military Cross, British Academy, Society of Antiquaries of London , was one of the best-known British archaeologists of the twentieth century....
     (1890-1976)
  • James Darmesteter
    James Darmesteter

    James Darmesteter , France author and antiquarian, was born of Jewish parents at Ch?teau Salins, in Alsace.The family name had originated in their earlier home of Darmstadt....
     (1849-1894)
  • Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan (1893-1963)
  • Dasharatha Sharma
    Dasharatha Sharma

    Professor Dasharatha Sharma was an Indologist and a noted expert in the history of the Rajasthan region in India. He was born in the Rajasthani city of Churu and studied at Churu, the city of Bikaner in Rajasthan and at the University of Delhi....
     (1903-1976)
  • Joseph Campbell
    Joseph Campbell

    Joseph John Campbell was an United States mythologist, writer, and lecturer best known for his work in the fields of comparative mythology and comparative religion....
     (1904-1987)
  • Murray Barnson Emeneau
    Murray Barnson Emeneau

    Murray Barnson Emeneau was an emeritus professor of linguistics at the Department of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, which he also founded....
     (1904-2005)
  • Paul Thieme
    Paul Thieme

    Paul Thieme was a scholar of Vedic Sanskrit. He received his doctorate in Indology in 1928 in G?ttingen, and habilitated there in 1932. From 1932 to 1935 he taught German and French at the University of Allahabad....
     (1905-2001)
  • Jean Filliozat
    Jean Filliozat

    Jean Filliozat was a French author. He studied medicine and was a physician between 1930 and 1947. He learned Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan language and Tamil language....
     (1906-1982)
  • Alain Danielou
    Alain Daniélou

    Alain Dani?lou was a France historian, intellectual, musicologist, Indologist, and a noted western convert to and expert of Shaivism Hinduism....
     (1907-1994)
  • F B J Kuiper
    F B J Kuiper

    Franciscus Bernardus Jacobus Kuiper was a distinguished scholar in Indology, and "one of the last great Indologists of the past century ... His very innovative work covers virtually all the fields of Indo-Iranian and Indo-Aryan philology, linguistics, mythology and theater, as well as Indo-European, Dravidian, Munda and Pan-Indian linguistic...
     (1907-2003)
  • Thomas Burrow
    Thomas Burrow

    Thomas Burrow was an Indologist and the Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford from 1944 to 1976. His work includes Dravidian Etymological Dictionary, The Problem of Shwa in Sanskrit and The Sanskrit Language....
     (1909-1986)
  • Arthur Llewellyn Basham
    Arthur Llewellyn Basham

    Professor Arthur Llewellyn Basham was a noted historian and indologist and author of a number of books....
     (1914-1986)
  • Kamil Zvelebil
    Kamil Zvelebil

    Kamil Vaclav Zvelebil was a distinguished Czechs scholar in India literature and linguistics, notably Sanskrit, Dravidian linguistics and literature and philology....
     (1927-2009)
  • D.C.Varshney (1933-2000)
  • V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar
    V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar

    Vishnampet R. Ramachandra Dikshitar was a historian, Indologist and Dravidologist from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was a professor of history and archaeology in the University of Madras and is the author of standard text books on Indian history....
     (1896-1953)
  • P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar
    P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar

    P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar was an Indian historian, linguist and educationist regarded as one of the greatest Dravidology of the 20th century....
    (1863-1931)
  • S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar
    S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar

    Rao Bahadur Sakkottai Krishnaswamy Aiyangar was an Indian historian, academician and Dravidologist. He chaired the Department of Indian History and Archaeology at the University of Madras from 1914 to 1929....
     (1871-1947)
  • Ahmad Hasan Dani
    Ahmad Hasan Dani

    Ahmad Hassan Dani Fellows of the Royal Asiatic Society, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Hilal-e-Imtiaz was a Pakistani archaeologist, historian, and linguistics who was among the foremost authorities on South Asian archaeology and History of South Asia....
     (1920-2009)


Living

  • Ram Sharan Sharma
    Ram Sharan Sharma

    Ram Sharan Sharma is Emeritus Professor, Department of History, Patna University specializing on Ancient India.He has taught at Delhi University and Toronto University Universities....
     (b. 1919), Founding Chairperson of Indian Council of Historical Research
    Indian Council of Historical Research

    Indian Council of Historical Research is an autonomous organization, located in Delhi, India. Founded in 1972, its objective is to promote, through funding and academic guidance, historical research and writing in India....
    ; Professor Emeritus, Patna University
  • George L. Hart
    George L. Hart

    George L. Hart is a professor of Tamil language at the University of California, Berkeley.Hart received his Ph.D. in Sanskrit from Harvard University and taught at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before joining the faculty at Berkeley....
    , University of California, Berkeley
    University of California, Berkeley

    The University of California, Berkeley is a public university research university located in Berkeley, California, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines....
  • Bhadriraju Krishnamurti
    Bhadriraju Krishnamurti

    Bhadriraju Krishnamurti is an eminent Dravidian languages and the most respected Indian linguist of his generation. He was a former Vice Chancellor of the Hyderabad Central University and was a professor of linguistics at the Department of Linguistics at the Osmania University , which he also founded....
     (b. 1928), Osmania University
    Osmania University

    Osmania University is a public university situated in the city of Hyderabad, India in Andhra Pradesh, India. It is one of the oldest modern universities in India....
  • Romila Thapar
    Romila Thapar

    Romila Thapar is an Indian historian whose principal area of study is History of India....
     (b. 1931), Jawaharlal Nehru University
    Jawaharlal Nehru University

    Jawaharlal Nehru University , also known as JNU or Nehru University, is located in New Delhi, the capital of India. Named after Jawaharlal Nehru , it is among the premier universities in India....
     (emerita)
  • Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
    Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

    Dr. Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson is an United States author, residing in New Zealand. Masson is known for his conclusions about Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis....
    (b.1941)
  • Iravatham Mahadevan
    Iravatham Mahadevan

    Iravatham Mahadevan is a Tamil people Indian epigraphist, specializing on the Indus script and Tamil Brahmi....
    , Indian Council of Historical Research
    Indian Council of Historical Research

    Indian Council of Historical Research is an autonomous organization, located in Delhi, India. Founded in 1972, its objective is to promote, through funding and academic guidance, historical research and writing in India....
  • Koenraad Elst
    Koenraad Elst

    Koenraad Elst is a Demographics of Belgium writer and orientalist .He was an editor of the New Right Flemish nationalist journal TeKoS from 1992 to 1995, focusing on criticism of Islam, various other conservative and Flemish separatist publications such as Nucleus, t Pallieterke, Secessie and The Brussels Journal....
  • Asko Parpola
    Asko Parpola

    Asko Parpola is a professor emeritus of Indology and South Asian Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He specializes in the Indus script....
     (b. 1941), University of Helsinki
    University of Helsinki

    The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku....
     (emeritus)
  • Michael Witzel (b. 1943), Harvard University
    Harvard University

    Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
  • Stanley Wolpert
    Stanley Wolpert

    Stanley Wolpert is an American historian who specializes in the history of India and Pakistan. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Pennsylvania....
     UCLA (emeritus)
  • Dr.Surendra Kaur Varshney (b.1944)
  • Axel Michaels (b.1949), University of Heidelberg
  • Alexis Sanderson
    Alexis Sanderson

    Alexis G.J.S. Sanderson is the Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics and a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford University. He is a Sanskrit and scholar of Indian religions, especially of Shaivism and esoteric Shaiva Tantra ....
    , 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 Conquest
  • Pollock, 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 1977
  • Windisch, 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

  • Dravidian studies
    Dravidian studies

    Dravidian studies is the academic field devoted to the Dravidian languages, Dravidian literature and Dravidian culture. It is a superset of Tamil studies, and a subset of South Asian studies....
  • Greater India
    Greater India

    The term Greater India refers to the historical spread of the Culture of India beyond the Indian subcontinent proper. This concerns the spread of Hinduism in Southeast Asia in particular, introduced by the Indianized kingdoms of the 7th to 15th centuries, but may also extend to the earlier spread of Buddhism from India to Central Asia and C...
  • Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
    Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

    The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute is located in Pune, Maharashtra, India. It was founded on July 6, 1917 to honor the life and work of Dr....
    , Pune
  • Sanskrit
    Sanskrit

    Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
  • Sanskrit in the West
    Sanskrit in the West

    At the end of the introduction to the World as Will and Representation, Arthur Schopenhauer claimed that the rediscovery of the ancient Indian tradition would be one of the great events in the history of the West....
  • Buddhism in the West
    Buddhism in the West

    Buddhism in the West broadly encompasses the knowledge and practice of Buddhism outside of Asia. Occasional intersections between Western civilization and the Buddhist world have been occurring for thousands of years, but it was not until the era of European colonization of Buddhist countries in Asia during the 19th century that detailed know...
  • Sinology
    Sinology

    Sinology in general use is the study of China and things related to China, but, especially in the American academic context, refers more strictly to the study of classical language and literature, and the philological approach....
  • Indomania
    Indomania

    Indomania and Indophilia refer to the special interest India, or the Indian subcontinent, has generated in the Western world. During the initial period of colonialism everything about India had an aspect of novelty, especially in United Kingdom....


External links

  • http;//www.indianbookscentre.com
  • http;//www.indologystudies.blogspot.com
  • http;//www.srisatgurupublications.blogspot.com
  • (Gifford Lectures Online)


Institutes