Sándor Korösi Csoma
Encyclopedia
Sándor Kőrösi Csoma born Csoma Sándor, also known as Alexander Csoma de Kőrös, was a Hungarian philologist and orientalist, author of the first Tibetan
-English
dictionary and grammar book. He was born in Kőrös, Grand Principality of Transylvania (today Chiuruş, Romania
). His birth date is often credited as April 4, which is actually his baptism
day.
Hoping that he would be able to trace the origin of the Magyar ethnic group, he set out for the East in 1820, and after much hardship along the way, arrived in Ladakh
. Under great privation there, despite being aided by the British
government, he devoted himself to the study of the Tibetan language
. He made the first English-Tibetian Dictionary while living at Zangla Monastery
in Zanskar
in 1823. The dictionary was published a year later in 1824.
In 1831, he settled in Calcutta, where he compiled his Tibetan Grammar and Dictionary and catalogued the Tibetan works in the library of the Asiatic Society
. He died in Darjeeling just as he was setting out for fresh discoveries. He is said to have been able to read in seventeen languages. De Kőrös is widely seen as the founder of Tibetology
.
family, as the sixth child of András Csoma and his wife, Krisztina Getse. His father served with the Border Guard.
who encouraged him to study Tibetan
for the East India Company
. Soon after he moved to the isolated valley of Zanskar
(he was the first European to visit the valley), and started on an intense initial sixteen-month immersion in study of the Tibetan language and the Buddhist culture which was the essence of its literature with a local lama, Sangs-rgyas-phun-tshogs. From May 1827 to October 1830 he resided in Kanum in Upper Bashahr
in the Simla Hill States where he studied the collection of Tibetan manuscripts he had amassed in Ladakh, living on a monthly stipend of Rs. 50/- from the British. With his dictionary and grammar complete Csoma went to Calcutta to oversee its publication.
of Bengal in Calcutta. In 1833 he was unanimously elected as Honorary member of the Asiatic Society. In 1834 he was made an honorary member of the Royal Asiatic Society. From 1837 to 1841, he worked as Librarian of the Asiatic Society. In 1842 he planned to travel to Lhasa
. But before its materialization, he contracted Malaria in Darjeeling and died there.
He was declared as a Bodhisattva
in 1933 in Japan.
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,...
-English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
dictionary and grammar book. He was born in Kőrös, Grand Principality of Transylvania (today Chiuruş, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
). His birth date is often credited as April 4, which is actually his baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
day.
Hoping that he would be able to trace the origin of the Magyar ethnic group, he set out for the East in 1820, and after much hardship along the way, arrived in Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...
. Under great privation there, despite being aided by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
government, he devoted himself to the study of the Tibetan language
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,...
. He made the first English-Tibetian Dictionary while living at Zangla Monastery
Zangla Monastery
Zangla Monastery is a Buddhist monastery in the village of Tsa-zar near Zangla, Zanskar, Kargil district, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, northern India....
in Zanskar
Zanskar
Zanskar is a subdistrict or tehsil of the Kargil district, which lies in the eastern half of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The administrative centre is Padum...
in 1823. The dictionary was published a year later in 1824.
In 1831, he settled in Calcutta, where he compiled his Tibetan Grammar and Dictionary and catalogued the Tibetan works in the library of the Asiatic Society
Asiatic Society
The Asiatic Society was founded by Sir William Jones on January 15, 1784 in a meeting presided over by Sir Robert Chambers, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the Fort William in Calcutta, then capital of the British Raj, to enhance and further the cause of Oriental research. At the time of...
. He died in Darjeeling just as he was setting out for fresh discoveries. He is said to have been able to read in seventeen languages. De Kőrös is widely seen as the founder of Tibetology
Tibetology
Tibetology refers to the study of things related to Tibet, including its history, religion, language, politics and the collection of Tibetan articles of historical, cultural and religious significance...
.
Youth in Transylvania
He was born into a poor SzékelySzékely
The Székelys or Székely , sometimes also referred to as Szeklers , are a subgroup of the Hungarian people living mostly in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania, Romania...
family, as the sixth child of András Csoma and his wife, Krisztina Getse. His father served with the Border Guard.
- He is baptized on 1784 April.
- In 1790, he begins attending the local elementary school.
- In 1799, he walked to NagyenyedAiudAiud is a city located in Alba county, Transylvania, Romania. The city has a population of 28,934 people. It has the status of municipality and is the second-largest city in the county, after county seat Alba Iulia. The Aiud administrative region is 142.2 square kilometres in area.- Administration...
(present day AiudAiudAiud is a city located in Alba county, Transylvania, Romania. The city has a population of 28,934 people. It has the status of municipality and is the second-largest city in the county, after county seat Alba Iulia. The Aiud administrative region is 142.2 square kilometres in area.- Administration...
) with his father to join the boarding school Bethlen Kollégium. He has worked small jobs in order to earn his tuition and support himself. - He finished his high school studies in 1807, and continued at the university level.
- In 1815 he finishes his studies at the Bethlen Kollégium. Travels to ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, and - as it was usual at the time - continues his studies in GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. After a short stay in HeidelbergHeidelberg-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, Csoma carries on to GöttingenGöttingenGöttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
.
Studies in Göttingen
- Between 1816 and 1818 he studies oriental languages under Johann Gottfried EichhornJohann Gottfried EichhornJohann Gottfried Eichhorn was a German Protestant theologian of Enlightenment and early orientalist.-Education and early career:...
. In Göttingen, he was noted for being literate in 13 languages.
Eastward bound
- In 1818 he returns to his native TransylvaniaTransylvaniaTransylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, brewing plans about a great journey to the East. - Csoma sets out towards BucharestBucharestBucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
on 1819 November. - Leaves Bucharest for SofiaSofiaSofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
in 1820 January.
Middle East, Central Asia
- He arrives in ConstantinopleConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
on February 7, 1820, but has to leave soon due to an epidemic. He sails to AlexandriaAlexandriaAlexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, where he stays with a blacksmithBlacksmithA blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
named Schaffer of AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n origin. He wants to study Arabic in EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, but is forced again to leave due to the spread of the epidemic. - On March 15, 1820, he sails to LatakiaLatakiaLatakia, or Latakiyah , is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages...
via CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, BeirutBeirutBeirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
and TripoliTripoli, LebanonTripoli is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in Lebanon. Situated 85 km north of the capital Beirut, Tripoli is the capital of the North Governorate and the Tripoli District. Geographically located on the east of the Mediterranean, the city's history dates back...
. From Latakia, he continues on foot. - On April 13, Csoma arrives in AleppoAleppoAleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
, where he stays for a month. - Joining a caravanCaravan (travellers)A caravan is a group of people traveling together, often on a trade expedition. Caravans were used mainly in desert areas and throughout the Silk Road, where traveling in groups aided in defence against bandits as well as helped to improve economies of scale in trade.In historical times, caravans...
, he arrives in MosulMosulMosul , is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some northwest of Baghdad. The original city stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial...
on May 19, and continues to BaghdadBaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, arriving there on June 21. - In Baghdad, he stays for six weeks as he guest of Anton Swoboda, a SlovakSlovaksThe Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
living there. Swoboda supports Csoma with money and clothing. - On October 14, he arrives in TehranTehranTehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, where he stays for a longer period, perfecting his EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and PersianPersian languagePersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
. As his sporadic correspondence with Hungary stops here, his friends presume him lost. He leaves his documents in Tehran, and travels under the Turkish name of Skender bey. - He arrives in Meshed on April 18, 1821 and is unable to continue for six months due to the war. He leaves for BukharaBukharaBukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
on October 20. - Csoma crosses the Hindu KushHindu KushThe Hindu Kush is an mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The highest point in the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir in the Chitral region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and is a...
mountains on January 6, reaches KabulKabulKabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, where he turns south. He meets FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
officers in the Khyber PassKhyber PassThe Khyber Pass, is a mountain pass linking Pakistan and Afghanistan.The Pass was an integral part of the ancient Silk Road. It is mentioned in the Bible as the "Pesh Habor," and it is one of the oldest known passes in the world....
and joins them to PeshawarPeshawarPeshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
and LahoreLahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
. Finally, he arrives in SrinagarSrinagarSrinagar is the summer seasonal capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in Kashmir Valley and lies on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus. It is one of the largest cities in India not to have a Hindu majority. The city is famous for its gardens, lakes and houseboats...
, after visiting AmritsarAmritsarAmritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
and JammuJammuJammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
.
In Ladakh
Near the Kashmir border he attached himself to William MoorcroftWilliam Moorcroft (explorer)
William Moorcroft , English explorer, was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire, the illegitimate son of Ann Moorcroft, daughter of a local farmer...
who encouraged him to study 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,...
for the 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...
. Soon after he moved to the isolated valley of Zanskar
Zanskar
Zanskar is a subdistrict or tehsil of the Kargil district, which lies in the eastern half of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The administrative centre is Padum...
(he was the first European to visit the valley), and started on an intense initial sixteen-month immersion in study of the Tibetan language and the Buddhist culture which was the essence of its literature with a local lama, Sangs-rgyas-phun-tshogs. From May 1827 to October 1830 he resided in Kanum in Upper Bashahr
Bashahr
Bashahr was a princely state in pre-independence India, located in the hilly western Himalaya promontory in the northern part of colonial Punjab that is now the Indian republic's state of Himachal Pradesh and traversed by the Sutlej river...
in the Simla Hill States where he studied the collection of Tibetan manuscripts he had amassed in Ladakh, living on a monthly stipend of Rs. 50/- from the British. With his dictionary and grammar complete Csoma went to Calcutta to oversee its publication.
In Calcutta and Darjeeling
In 1831 Csoma joined the Royal Asiatic SocietyAsiatic Society
The Asiatic Society was founded by Sir William Jones on January 15, 1784 in a meeting presided over by Sir Robert Chambers, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the Fort William in Calcutta, then capital of the British Raj, to enhance and further the cause of Oriental research. At the time of...
of Bengal in Calcutta. In 1833 he was unanimously elected as Honorary member of the Asiatic Society. In 1834 he was made an honorary member of the Royal Asiatic Society. From 1837 to 1841, he worked as Librarian of the Asiatic Society. In 1842 he planned to travel to Lhasa
Lhasa
Lhasa is the administrative capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China and the second most populous city on the Tibetan Plateau, after Xining. At an altitude of , Lhasa is one of the highest cities in the world...
. But before its materialization, he contracted Malaria in Darjeeling and died there.
The memory of Kőrösi Csoma
There is a project under way with the aim to restore the monastery from Zangla where Csoma de Kőrösi lived and compiled his Tibetan-English dictionary. Anyone can get involved, and by paying a small donation one can have his/her name written on a brick and incorporated in the new monastery.He was declared as a Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...
in 1933 in Japan.
Works of de Kőrös
- Essay towards a dictionary, Tibetan and English, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1984.
- Grammar of the Tibetan language, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1984.
- Sanskrit-Tibetan-English vocabulary: being an edition and translation of the Mahāvyutpatti, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1984.
Works About de Kőrös
- Life and works of Alexander Csoma de Kőrös a biography compiled chiefly from hitherto unpublished data : with a brief notice of each of his unpublished works and essays, as well as of his still extant manuscripts, Theodore Duka. London: Trübner, 1885.
- Hermit-hero from Hungary, Alexander Csoma de Koros, the great Tibetologist, Hirendra Nath Mukerjee. New Delhi: Light & Life Publishers, 1981.
- Alexandre Csoma de Kőrös, Bernard Le Calloch̓. Paris: La nouvelle revue tibétaine, 1985.
- The Hungarian Who Walked to Heaven (Alexander Csoma de Koros 1784-1842), Edward Fox. Short Books, 2001.
- A Guest of Life, a film by Tibor Szemző, 2006. IMDB
- Zangla - Path of Csoma, a film by Zoltán BontaZoltán BontaZoltán Bonta is a Hungarian filmmaker, videographer, indoman. From 1985 to 1987, he was member of Directory in Béla Balázs Studio . Since 1979 assistant to Gábor Bódy among other filmdirectors, az Ferenc András, Ferenc Kardos, Sándor Simó, Lajos Koltay, Pál Sándor, János Dömölky, Tamás Sas, Fabio...
, 2008.
Catalogue of the de Kőrös Collection
- Collection of Tibetan mss. and xylographs of Alexander Csoma de Kőrös. József Terjék. Budapest : Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Könyvtára, 1976.
External links
- Biography
- Biography
- Biography
- Biography and List of Writings on Lotsawa School
- 1911 Encyclopedia article about Csoma de Kőrös
- Alexander Csoma de Kőrös, founder of Tibetan studies, and his legacy in the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
- Himalayablue, Tibetan Red - pilgrimage in the footsteps of Alexander Csoma de Kőrös, 2007
- Himalayablues (2009) - An Audiovisual Meditation on the Ten Transcendent Virtues of the Bodhisattva / Dedicated to Alexander Csoma de Koros