Charles Hamilton (1753?–1792) was a British orientalist, known for his English translation of ''

Al-Hidayah ''Al-Hidayah fi Sharh Bidayat al-Mubtadi'' (d. 593 AH/1197 CE) ( ar, الهداية في شرح بداية المبتدي, ''al-Hidāyah fī Sharḥ Bidāyat al-Mubtadī''), commonly referred to as ''al-Hidayah'' (lit. "the guidance", also spelle ...

''.

Life

Born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

about 1753, he was the only son of Charles Hamilton (died 1759), merchant, by Katherine Mackay (died 1767). After spending two years in the office of a Dublin merchant, he obtained a cadetship on the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

's establishment at

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, and went to India in 1776. He gained his first commission on 24 October that year, and was promoted lieutenant on 10 July 1778. Hamilton studied oriental languages, and became one of the first members of the

Asiatic Society of Calcutta The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...

. He returned to England for his major work of translation, completed and published in 1791. He was appointed resident at the court of the grand vizier at

Oudh The Oudh State (, also Kingdom of Awadh, Kingdom of Oudh, or Awadh State) was a princely state in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the British in 1856. The name Oudh, now obsolete, was once the anglicized name of ...

, and prepared to leave England. Symptoms of

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

, however, appeared, and he was recommended to take a voyage to

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

; but he died at

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

on 14 March 1792, aged 39, and was buried in

Bunhill Fields Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London. What remains is about in extent and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the City of London Cor ...

. A monument to his memory was later erected in Belfast by his sisters, who included Elizabeth Hamilton.

Works

While engaged in an expedition against the

Rohilla Rohillas are a community of Pashtun ancestry, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region. The Ro ...

s he collected the materials ''Historical Relation of the Origin, Progress, and Final Dissolution of the Government of the Rohilla Afgans in the Northern Provinces of Hindostan'', 1787, compiled from a Persian manuscript and other original papers. In 1786 he obtained permission to return home for five years in order to translate from Persian the ''Al-Hidayah'', published as the ''Hedaya, or Guide'', a work of ''

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...

''; he was selected for the task by the governor-general and council of Bengal. The work appear in four quarto volumes, in 1791. A second edition of the ''Hedaya'', by Standish Grove Grady, was published in 1870.

References

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Charles 1753 births 1792 deaths British East India Company Army officers British orientalists Writers from Belfast Burials at Bunhill Fields 18th-century British translators