Heinrich Blochmann, known as Henry Ferdinand Blochmann (8 January 1838 – 13 July 1878), was a German orientalist and scholar of
Persian language
Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and ...
and literature who spent most of his career in India, where he worked first as a professor, and eventually as the principal at
Calcutta Madrasa
Aliah University (AU; ur, جامعہ عالیہ) is a state government controlled autonomous university in New Town, West Bengal, India. Previously known as Mohammedan College of Calcutta, it was elevated to university in 2008. It offers und ...
, now
Aliah University in present Kolkata. He is also remembered for one of the first major English translations of ''
Ain-i-Akbari'', the 16th-century Persian language chronicle of Mughal emperor
Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
, published in 1873.
Early life and background
Born at
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
on 8 January 1838, he was the son of Ernest Ehrenfried Blochmann, printer, and nephew of
Karl Justus Blochmann. He was educated at the
Kreuzschule
The ''Kreuzschule'' (German for "School of the Cross") in Dresden (also known by its Latin name, ''schola crucis'') is the oldest surviving school in Dresden and one of the oldest in Germany. As early as 1300, a schoolmaster (''Cunradus puerorum re ...
and the
University of Leipzig
Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...
(1855), where he studied oriental languages under
Heinrich Leberecht Fleischer
Heinrich Leberecht Fleischer (21 February 1801 – 10 February 1888) was a German oriental studies, Orientalist.
Biography
He was born at Schandau, Kingdom of Saxony, Saxony. From 1819 to 1824, he studied theology and Oriental languages at Univer ...
, and then (1857) was in Paris.
Career
In 1858 Blochmann came to England, intent on visiting India, and enlisted in the
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...
in 1858 as a private soldier. Soon after his arrival in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
he was set to do office-work in
Fort William, and gave lessons in Persian. After about a year he obtained his army discharge, and for a time entered the service of the
Peninsular and Oriental Company as an interpreter. He was befriended by
William Nassau Lees, the principal of the
Calcutta Madrasa
Aliah University (AU; ur, جامعہ عالیہ) is a state government controlled autonomous university in New Town, West Bengal, India. Previously known as Mohammedan College of Calcutta, it was elevated to university in 2008. It offers und ...
(now
Aliah University), and Blochmann obtained, at the age of 22, his first government appointment (1860) as assistant professor of Arabic and Persian there. In 1861 he graduated M.A. and
LL.D.
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the early ...
at the
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...
, choosing Hebrew for the subject of his examination. In the following year he left the Madrasa to become pro-rector and professor of mathematics, at
Doveton College; but returning to the Madrasa in 1865, he remained there for the rest of his life, and was principal when he died.
Blochmann made archæological tours in India and British Burma, but generally resided in Calcutta. In 1868 he became
philological
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as t ...
secretary to the
Asiatic Society of Bengal. He died on 13 July 1878, and was buried in the Circular Road cemetery, Calcutta.
Works
Blochmann's major work was his translation of the ''
Ain-i-Akbari'' of
Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak; the earlier version of
Francis Gladwin was more in the way of a summary. Blochmann did not live to do more than translate the first volume (Calcutta, 1873), and the work was completed by Henry Sullivan Jarrett. Blochmann's notes dealt with the
Emperor Akbar
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...
and his court, and the administration of the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
; and prefixed to the translation was a life of Abul-Fazl.
This translation was revised, from 1927, by Douglas Craven Phillott and
Jadunath Sarkar
Sir Jadunath Sarkar (10 December 1870 – 19 May 1958) was a prominent Indian historian and a specialist on the Mughal dynasty.
Academic career
Sarkar was born in Karachmaria village in Natore, Bengal to Rajkumar Sarkar, the local Zamindar ...
.
Another significant work was ''The Prosody of the Persians'', Calcutta, 1872.
For the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Blochmann wrote in the ''Journal'' and ''Proceedings''. These papers included his series of ''Contributions to the History and Geography of Bengal''.
Family
Blochmann married an Irish woman, who survived him, and left three children.
Notes
External links
iranicaonline.org/, ''Blochmann, Heinrich Ferdinand''.
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blochmann, Heinrich
1838 births
1878 deaths
German orientalists
People of British India
Writers from Dresden
People educated at the Kreuzschule
Leipzig University alumni
German emigrants to India
University of Calcutta alumni
19th-century philologists
Persian–English translators
19th-century German translators
19th-century German writers
19th-century German male writers
German male non-fiction writers