Canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 Edward Sell (24 January 1839 – 15 February 1932) was an Anglican orientalist

Orientalism

Orientalism is a term used for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, as well as having other meanings...

, writer and missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 in 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...

.

Biography

Sell was born on 24 January 1839 in Wantage

Wantage

Wantage is a market town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The town is on Letcombe Brook, about south-west of Abingdon and a similar distance west of Didcot....

 in Berkshire. He was educated at the Church Missionary College in Islington, London, completing his studies in 1862. In 1874 Sell was appointed as a fellow of Madras University and he received a Bachelor of Divinity

Bachelor of Divinity

In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies....

 from Lambeth in 1881. Sell received an honorary Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....

 from Edinburgh University in 1907. He was a member of the Royal Asiatic Society

Royal Asiatic Society

The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was established, according to its Royal Charter of 11 August 1824, 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...

 and was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind

Kaiser-i-Hind

The Kaisar-i-Hind was a medal awarded by the British monarch between 1900 and 1947, to civilians of any nationality who rendered distinguished service in the advancement of the interests of the British Raj....

 Gold Medal in 1906. He was also appointed "Chairman of the Arabic, Persian, and Hindustani Studies".

After finishing his studies in 1862, Sell was ordained deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

 and in 1867, priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

. Sell served as the examining chaplain for the Bishop of Madras

Bishop of Madras

The Bishop of Madras was the Ordinary of the Anglican Church in Madras from its inception in 1835 until the foundation of the Church in India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon in 1927; and since then head of one of its most prominent Dioceses.-External links:*...

 and in 1889 he was appointed canon

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 at St. George's Cathedral, Madras. He is commemorated by a plaque in the Cathedral.

In 1865 Sell became the principal of the Harris High School for Muslims in Madras in which capacity he continued until 1881. It was also during this time that he was secretary of the Church Missionary Society for the dioceses of Madras and Travancore

Travancore

Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...

. He officially retired from the CMS in 1923, but continued to live in India, involving himself in scholarship and ministry. When he died in Bangalore

Bangalore

Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

on 15 February 1932, he was working on fiftieth book.
Sell wrote extensively on Islam and biblical subjects, in particular, the Old Testament. His works include:

• The Faith of Islam, London, 1880
• ʼIlm-I-Tajwīd; or, The Art of Reading the Qurān With an Account of the Rules for the Rasm-Ul-Khat, and a List of the Various Readings of the Last Sura, 1882
• Jāmi'-Ul-Qavānīn. An Urdu Grammar, with Chapters on Rhetoric and Prosody, 1885
• The Historical Development of the Quran, 1897
• Essays on Islam, 1901
• Islam: its Rise and Progress, 1907
• The Religious Orders of Islam, 1908
• The Khulafar-Rashidun, 1909
• The Cult of Ali, 1909
• The Battles of Badr and Uhud, 1909
• Al-Quran, 1909
• Sufiism, 1910
• The Druses, 1910
• Ghazwas and Sariyas, 1911
• The Hanífs, 1912
• Outlines of Islám, 1912
• The Life of Muhammad, 1913
• The Historical Development of the Quran
• Manʹaziruʹl-qawaʹid; a Persian grammar, with chapters on rhetoric and prosody, 1911.
• Baháism, 1912
• Muslims in China, 1913
• Steadfast and Abounding, 1914
• Muslim Conquests in North Africa, 1914
• Muslim Conquests in Spain, 1914
• The Mamluks in Egypt, 1914
• The Umayyad and the ʻAbbasid Khalifates, 1914
• The Ottoman Turks, 1915
• The Minor Prophets, 1922
• The Songs of the Outlaw and Other Songs, Being an Exposition of Some Historical Psalms, 1922
• Daniel, 1923
• After Malachi, 1923
• The Making of a Nation (Judges),1923
• Isaiah (I-XXXIX), 1923
• The Life and Times of Jeremiah, 1923
• Ithna ʻAsharíyya, or, The Twelve Shiʻah Imams, 1923
• The Megilloth, 1924
• Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, 1924
• Deuteronomy, 1924
• The Book of Job, 1924
• The Kingdom of Israel, 1925
• The Book of Genesis, 1925
• Exodus and Numbers, 1925
• Leviticus, 1925
• The Apocalypses, 1925
• The Kingdom of Judah, 1926
• The Undivided Kingdom, 1926
• The Samaritan and Other Jewish Sects, 1927
• A Guide to the Study of the Canon of the Old and New Testaments, 1927
• The Talmud, Mishnah, and Midrash, 1928
• Studies in Islam, 1928
• Islam in Spain, 1929
• The Áyyub and Mamluk Sultans, 1929
• Messianic Hope, 1929
• Inspiration, 1930
• The Exile, 1931
• Covenants: The Day of the Lord, 1931
• The Glorious Company of the Apostles and Other Sermons, n.d.