Chapter Test: The Revolt of 1857-58 - CTET & State TET MCQ

Sir William Jones was an Anglo-Welsh phiologist and scholar of ancient India, particularly known for his proposition of the existence of a relationship among Indo-European languages. he postulated the common ancestry of Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek, his findings providing the impetus for the development of comparative linguistics in the early 19th century.

It was necessary to study Indian history, philosophy, and law. William Jones, an expert in law and a linguist, took this task. He began to study ancient Indian texts on law, philosophy, religion, morality, arithmetic, medicine and the other sciences.

Englishmen like Henry Thomas Colebrooke and Nathaniel Halhed were also busy discovering the ancient Indian heritage, mastering Indian languages and translating Sanskrit and Persian works into English.

A linguist is someone who studies language. Linguists study every aspect of language, including vocabulary, grammar, the sound of language, and how words evolve over time.

The study of language is called linguistics, and people who study linguistics are linguists.

Henry Thomas Colebrookewas a Sanskrit scholar and orientalist. He held administrative, legal and academic posts whilst in India during which time he learnt Sanskrit. He was thus able to translate “Digest of Hindu Laws”, unfinished by Sir William Jones. He translated the two treatises, the Mitacshara of Vijnaneshwara and the Dayabhaga of Jimutavahana  under the title Law of Inheritance. During his residence at Calcutta he wrote his Sanskrit Grammar (1805), some papers on the religious ceremonies of the Hindus, and his Essay on the Vedas (1805).

In January 1784 Sir William Jones sent out a circular-letter to a selected number of British residents of Calcutta with a view to establish a society for the Asiatic studies.

An Orientalist is someone from the West who studies the language, culture, history, or customs of countries in eastern Asia.

It is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated madrasah, medresa, madrassa, madraza, medrese, etc.

A madrasa was set up in Calcutta in 1781 to promote the study of Arabic, Persian and Islamic law; and the Hindu College was established in Benaras in 1791 to encourage the study of ancient Sanskrit texts that would be useful for the administration of the country.

William Jones was a British linguist who arrived at Calcutta, India, in 1783. Initially, he was appointed as a junior judge in the Supreme Court established by the Company in India. Jones had knowledge of Greek, Latin, French, Arabic and Persian.

Varanasi, also called Benares, Banaras, or Kashi, city, southeastern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. It is located on the left bank of the Ganges (Ganga) River and is one of the seven sacred cities of Hinduism. Pop. (2001) city, 1,091,918; urban agglom., 1,203,961; (2011) city, 1,198,491; urban agglom., 1,432,280.
Banaras Hindu University, formerly Central Hindu College, is a public central university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. It was established jointly in 1916 by the Maharaja of Darbhanga Rameshwar Singh, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Sir Sunder Lal and British Theosophist and Home Rule League founder Annie Besant.