Arthur Coke Burnell
Encyclopedia
Arthur Coke Burnell English
scholar in Sanskrit
, was born at St. Briavels, Gloucestershire
.
He was sent to King's College, London, where he met Professor V. Fausböll of Copenhagen, who seems to have turned towards Indian studies a mind that had already shown a keen interest in languages and linguistic science. His father was an official of the British East India Company
, and in 1860 he himself went out to Madras as a member of the Indian Civil Service. Here he utilized every available opportunity to acquire or copy Sanskrit manuscripts. In 1870 he presented his collection of 350 manuscripts to the India Office library.
In 1874, Burnell published a Handbook of South Indian Palaeography, characterized by Max Müller
as indispensable to every student of Indian literature
, and in 1880 issued for the Madras government his greatest work, the Classified Index to the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Palace at Tanjore. He was also the author of a large number of translations from, and commentaries on, various other Sanskrit manuscripts, being particularly successful in grouping and elucidating the essential principles of Hindu
law.
In addition to his exhaustive acquaintance with Sanskrit, and the southern India vernaculars, he had some knowledge of Tibetan
, Arabic
, Kawi
, Javanese
and Coptic
. Burnell originated with Sir Henry Yule
the well-known dictionary of Anglo-Indian words and phrases, Hobson-Jobson
.
His constitution, never strong, broke down prematurely through the combined influence of overwork and the Madras climate, and he died at West Stratton
, Hampshire
. A further collection of Sanskrit manuscripts was purchased from his heirs by the India Office library after his death.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
scholar in 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...
, was born at St. Briavels, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
.
He was sent to King's College, London, where he met Professor V. Fausböll of Copenhagen, who seems to have turned towards Indian studies a mind that had already shown a keen interest in languages and linguistic science. His father was an official of the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
, and in 1860 he himself went out to Madras as a member of the Indian Civil Service. Here he utilized every available opportunity to acquire or copy Sanskrit manuscripts. In 1870 he presented his collection of 350 manuscripts to the India Office library.
In 1874, Burnell published a Handbook of South Indian Palaeography, characterized by Max Müller
Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller , more regularly known as Max Müller, was a German philologist and Orientalist, one of the founders of the western academic field of Indian studies and the discipline of comparative religion...
as indispensable to every student of Indian literature
Indian literature
Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Republic of India has 22 officially recognized languages....
, and in 1880 issued for the Madras government his greatest work, the Classified Index to the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Palace at Tanjore. He was also the author of a large number of translations from, and commentaries on, various other Sanskrit manuscripts, being particularly successful in grouping and elucidating the essential principles of 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...
law.
In addition to his exhaustive acquaintance with Sanskrit, and the southern India vernaculars, he had some knowledge of Tibetan
Tibetan language
The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
, Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Kawi
Kawi language
Kawi is a literary and prose language on the islands of Java, Bali, and Lombok, based on Old Javanese, a language with a sizable vocabulary of Sanskrit loanwords. Kawi is the ancestor language of modern Javanese. The name "kawi" is derived from the root ku, which in Sanskrit means “poet”, and, in...
, Javanese
Javanese language
Javanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
and Coptic
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
. Burnell originated with Sir Henry Yule
Henry Yule
Sir Henry Yule was a Scottish Orientalist.He was born at Inveresk, Scotland, near Edinburgh, the son of Major William Yule , translator of the Apothegms of Ali. Henry Yule was educated at Edinburgh, Addiscombe, and Chatham, and joined the Bengal Engineers in 1840...
the well-known dictionary of Anglo-Indian words and phrases, Hobson-Jobson
Hobson-Jobson
Hobson-Jobson is the short title of Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive, a historical dictionary of Anglo-Indian words and terms from Indian languages which came into use during the...
.
His constitution, never strong, broke down prematurely through the combined influence of overwork and the Madras climate, and he died at West Stratton
West Stratton
West Stratton is a village in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. The village lies close to the M3, which has separated West Stratton from East Stratton. Its nearest town is Winchester, which lies approximately 7.8 miles south-west from the village....
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. A further collection of Sanskrit manuscripts was purchased from his heirs by the India Office library after his death.