Louis Jacolliot
Encyclopedia
Louis Jacolliot was a French barrister, colonial judge, author and lecturer.
Born in Charolles
, Saône-et-Loire
, he lived several years in Tahiti
and India
during the period 1865-1869.
Jacolliot's Occult science in India was written during the 1860s and published 1875 (English translation 1884). Jacolliot was searching for the "Indian roots of western occultism" and makes reference to an otherwise unknown Sanskrit text he calls Agrouchada-Parikchai, and which is apparently Jacolliot's personal invention, a "pastiche" of elements taken from Upanishads, Dharmashastras and "a bit of Freemasonry
".
Jacolliot also expounds his belief in a lost Pacific continent, and was quoted on this by Helena Blavatsky in Isis Unveiled
in support of her own Lemuria
.
In Jacolliot's book La Bible dans l'Inde, Vie de Iezeus Christna (1869) (The Bible in India, or the Life of Iezeus Christna), he compares the accounts of the life of Bhagavan Krishna
with that of Jesus Christ in the Gospels and concludes that it could not have been a coincidence, so similar are the stories in so many details in his opinion. He concludes that the account in the Gospels is a myth based on the mythology of ancient India. Jacolliot does not claim that Jesus was in India as some have claimed. "Christna" is his way of spelling "Krishna" and he wrote that Krishna's disciples gave him the name 'Iezeus" which means "pure essence" in Sanskrit.
He has been described as a "prolific but unreliable" writer. During his time in India he collected Sanskrit
myths
, which he popularized later starting in his Histoire des Vierges. Les Peuples et les continents disparus (1874). Among other things, he claimed that Hindu
-writings (or unspecified "Sanskrit tablets") would tell the story of a sunken land called Rutas in the Indian Ocean
. However, he relocated this lost continent
to the Pacific Ocean
and linked it to the Atlantis
-myth. Furthermore his 'discovery' of Rutas is somehow similar to the origin of the Mu
-Story.
Among his works is a translation of the Manu Smriti
, which has since been deemed unreliable by numerous scholars including Ann-Marie Etter. This work influenced Friedrich Nietzsche
: see Tschandala
.
He died in Saint-Thibault-des-Vignes
, Seine-et-Marne
.
Born in Charolles
Charolles
Charolles is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.-Geography:Charolles is located at the confluence of the Semence and the Arconce rivers, . W.N.W. of Mâcon.-History:...
, Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire is a French department, named after the Saône and the Loire rivers between which it lies.-History:When it was formed during the French Revolution, as of March 4, 1790 in fulfillment of the law of December 22, 1789, the new department combined parts of the provinces of southern...
, he lived several years in Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
during the period 1865-1869.
Jacolliot's Occult science in India was written during the 1860s and published 1875 (English translation 1884). Jacolliot was searching for the "Indian roots of western occultism" and makes reference to an otherwise unknown Sanskrit text he calls Agrouchada-Parikchai, and which is apparently Jacolliot's personal invention, a "pastiche" of elements taken from Upanishads, Dharmashastras and "a bit of Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
".
Jacolliot also expounds his belief in a lost Pacific continent, and was quoted on this by Helena Blavatsky in Isis Unveiled
Isis Unveiled
Isis Unveiled, published in 1877, is a book of esoteric philosophy, and was Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's first major work.The book discusses or quotes, among others, Plato, Plotinus, the Chaldean Oracles, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Bible, Pythagoras, Ammonius Saccas, Porphyry, Iamblichus,...
in support of her own Lemuria
Lemuria (continent)
Lemuria is the name of a hypothetical "lost land" variously located in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The concept's 19th century origins lie in attempts to account for discontinuities in biogeography; however, the concept of Lemuria has been rendered obsolete by modern theories of plate tectonics...
.
In Jacolliot's book La Bible dans l'Inde, Vie de Iezeus Christna (1869) (The Bible in India, or the Life of Iezeus Christna), he compares the accounts of the life of Bhagavan Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
with that of Jesus Christ in the Gospels and concludes that it could not have been a coincidence, so similar are the stories in so many details in his opinion. He concludes that the account in the Gospels is a myth based on the mythology of ancient India. Jacolliot does not claim that Jesus was in India as some have claimed. "Christna" is his way of spelling "Krishna" and he wrote that Krishna's disciples gave him the name 'Iezeus" which means "pure essence" in Sanskrit.
He has been described as a "prolific but unreliable" writer. During his time in India he collected Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
myths
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
, which he popularized later starting in his Histoire des Vierges. Les Peuples et les continents disparus (1874). Among other things, he claimed that Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
-writings (or unspecified "Sanskrit tablets") would tell the story of a sunken land called Rutas in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. However, he relocated this lost continent
Lost lands
Lost lands can be continents, islands or other regions supposedly existing during prehistory, having since disappeared as a result of catastrophic geological phenomena or slowly rising sea levels since the end of the last Ice Age. Lost lands, where they existed, are supposed to have subsided into...
to the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
and linked it to the Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
-myth. Furthermore his 'discovery' of Rutas is somehow similar to the origin of the Mu
Mu (lost continent)
Mu is the name of a hypothetical continent that allegedly existed in one of Earth's oceans, but disappeared at the dawn of human history.The concept and the name were proposed by 19th century traveler and writer Augustus Le Plongeon, who claimed that several ancient civilizations, such as those of...
-Story.
Among his works is a translation of the Manu Smriti
Manu Smriti
' , also known as Mānava-Dharmaśāstra , is the most important and earliest metrical work of the Dharmaśāstra textual tradition of Hinduism...
, which has since been deemed unreliable by numerous scholars including Ann-Marie Etter. This work influenced Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
: see Tschandala
Tschandala
Tschandala is a term Friedrich Nietzsche borrowed from the Indian caste system, where a Tschandala is a member of the lowest social class...
.
He died in Saint-Thibault-des-Vignes
Saint-Thibault-des-Vignes
Saint-Thibault-des-Vignes is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-References:*-External links:* * * *...
, Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne
Seine-et-Marne is a French department, named after the Seine and Marne rivers, and located in the Île-de-France region.- History:Seine-et-Marne is one of the original 83 departments, created on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution in application of the law of December 22, 1789...
.
Works
- La Devadassi (1868)
- La Bible dans l'Inde, ou la Vie de Iezeus Christna (The Bible in India or The life of Iezeus Christna) (1869)
- Les Fils de Dieu (God's Sons) (1873)
- Christna et le Christ (Christna and Christ) (1874)
- Histoire des Vierges. Les Peuples et les continents disparus (History of the Virgins. Vanished People and Continents) (1874)
- La Genèse de l'Humanité. Fétichisme, polythéisme, monothéisme (Genesis of Mankind. Fetichism, polytheism, monotheism) (1875)
- Le Spiritisme dans le monde, L'initiation et les sciences occultes dans l'Inde et chez tous les peuples de l'antiquité, Paris: Lacroix, 1875, 1879, reprint Geneve, Paris: Slatkine 1981.
- translated into English as Occult science in India and among the ancients, with an account of their mystic initiations, and the history of spiritism, New York: Lovell/ London 1884, reprinted 1901, 1919; New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books 1971.
- Les Traditions Indo-européennes et Africaines (Indo-European and African Traditions) (1876)
- Pariah dans l'Humanité (The Outcasts in the History of Mankind)(1876)
- Les Législateurs religieux : Manou, Moïse, Mahomet (Religious Lawmakers : Manu, Moses, Muhammad) (1876)
- La Femme dans l'Inde (Women in India) (1877)
- Rois, prêtres et castes (Kings, Clergy and Castes) (1877)
- L'Olympe brahmanique. La mythologie de Manou (The Brahmanic Pantheon. Manu's Mythology) (1881)
- Fakirs et bayadères (Fakirs and Devadasi)(1904)
- Voyage au pays des Bayadères (Journey to the Land of the Devadasi) (1873)
- Voyage au pays des perles (Journey to the Land of the Pearls) I (1874)
- Voyage au pays des éléphants (Journey to the Land of the Elephants)II (1876)
- Second voyage au pays des éléphants III (Second Journey to the Land of the Elephants) (1877)
- Voyage aux ruines de Golconde et à la cité des morts - Indoustan I (Journey to the ruins of Golkonda and the City of the Dead)(1875)
- Voyage au pays des brahmes II (Journey to the Land of Brahmans)(1878)
- Voyage au pays du Hatschisch III (Journey to the Land of Hachisch)(1883)
- Voyage au pays de la Liberté : la vie communale aux Etats-Unis (Journey to the Land of Freedom: Community Life in the United-States of America)(1876)
- Voyage aux rives du Niger, au Bénin et dans le Borgou I (Journey to the Banks of the Niger River, Benin and Borgu)(1879)
- Voyage aux pays mystérieux. Du Bénin au pays des Yébous ; chez les Yébous - Tchadé II (1880)
- Voyage au pays des singes III (1883)
- Voyage au pays des fakirs charmeurs (1881)
- Voyage au pays des palmiers (1884)
- Voyage humoristique au pays des kangourous I (1884)
- Voyage dans le buisson australien II (1884)
- Voyage au pays des Jungles. Les Femmes dans l'Inde (1889)
- Trois mois sur le Gange et le Brahmapoutre. Ecrit par Madame Louis Jacolliot née Marguerite Faye (1875)
- Taïti, le crime de Pitcairn, souvenirs de voyages en Océanie (1878)
- La Côte d'Ebène. Le dernier des négriers I (1876)
- La Côte d'Ivoire. L'homme des déserts II (1877)
- La Cité des sables. El Temin III (1877)
- Les Pêcheurs de nacre IV (1883)
- L'Afrique mystérieuse I, II, III (1877) ; I,II, III, IV (1884)
- Les Mangeurs de feu (The Fire Eaters) (1887)
- Vengeance de forçats (The Convict's Revenge) (1888)
- Les Chasseurs d'esclaves (Slave Hunter) (1888)
- Le Coureur des jungles (1888)
- Les Ravageurs de la mer (1890)
- Perdus sur l'océan (Lost upon the Ocean) (1893)
- Les Mouches du coche (1880)
- Le Crime du moulin d'Usor (1888)
- L'Affaire de la rue de la Banque. Un mystérieux assassin (1890)
- Scènes de la vie de mer. Le capitaine de vaisseau (1890)
- Un Policier de génie. Le mariage de Galuchon (1890)
- Scènes de la vie de mer. Mémoires d'un lieutenant de vaisseau (1891)
- L'Affaire de la rue de la Banque. Le Père Lafouine (1892)
- La vérité sur Taïti. Affaire de la Roncière (1869)
- Ceylan et les Cinghalais (1883)
- La Genèse de la terre et de l'humanité I (1884)
- Le Monde primitif, les lois naturelles, les lois sociales II (1884)
- Les Animaux sauvages (1884)
Further reading
- Daniel Caracostea, Louis-François Jacolliot (1837 – 1890) : A biographical essay (1997)
- Christian Gaillard, L'orientalisme anticlérical de Louis Jacolliot (1837 – 1890) (2001)
External links
- Works by or about Louis Jacolliot at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
(scanned books original editions color illustrated) - French site on Jacolliot
- Another French site on Jacolliot
- American site with Jacolliot's biography
- Jacolliot's genealogy