Julius Jolly (Indologist)

Professor Julius Jolly (28 December 1849 – 24 April 1932) was a German scholar and translator of

Indian law The legal system of India consists of civil, common law and customary, Islamic ethics, or religious law within the legal framework inherited from the colonial era and various legislation first introduced by the British are still in effect in ...

and medicine. Jolly was born in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, the son of physicist Philipp Johann Gustav von Jolly (1809–1884), and studied comparative linguistics,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian languages in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. His doctoral thesis was ''Die Moduslehre in den alt-iranischen Dialekten'' ("Moods in Ancient Iranian Dialects"). Jolly became a Professor in the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

in 1877, in the fields of comparative linguistics and

. In 1882–1883 he visited

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

as Tagore professor of law,

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 ...

, where he gave twelve lectures later published as ''Outlines of an History of the Hindu Law of Partition, Inheritance and Adoption'' (1885). In 1896, Jolly contributed to ''Grundriss der Indo-arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde'' ("Encyclopedia of Indo-Aryan Research"), later revised by Jolly and in 1928 translated by Balakrishna Ghosh under the title ''Hindu Law and Custom''. In this volume, Jolly discussed family law and heirship, the law of things and obligations, offences and penalties, court procedure and customs and traditions. In 1901 he also contributed a study of Indian medicine, still considered one of the most complete and reliable studies of the history of Indian medical literature. Jolly edited the law books of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

Narada Narada ( sa, नारद, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage divinity, famous in Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of mind-created children of Brahma, the creator god. He ...

, and

Manu Manu may refer to: Geography * Manú Province, a province of Peru, in the Madre de Dios Region **Manú National Park, Peru ** Manú River, in southeastern Peru * Manu River (Tripura), which originates in India and flows into Bangladesh *Manu Tem ...

, and translated the first two for the ''

Sacred Books of the East The ''Sacred Books of the East'' is a monumental 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious texts, edited by Max Müller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910. It incorporates the essential sacred texts ...

'' (Vol. 7, ''The Institutes of Visnu'', 1880; and Vol. 33, ''The Minor Law-Books: Brihaspati'', 1889). He retired in 1922, when he became co-editor of the ''Journal of Indian History'', but continued to give lectures in Würzburg till 1928. He published a new critical edition of

Kautilya Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य; IAST: ', ; 375–283 BCE) was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭilya o ...

's ''

Arthashastra The ''Arthashastra'' ( sa, अर्थशास्त्रम्, ) is an Ancient Indian Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, political science, economic policy and military strategy. Kautilya, also identified as Vishnugupta and Chanakya, is ...

'' in collaboration with R. Schmidt in the "Panjab Sanskrit Series", 1923–1924. Jolly was an honorary doctor of medicine of

Georg August University of Göttingen Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: People * George (given name) * G ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jolly, Julius 1849 births 1932 deaths German Indologists Jurists from Heidelberg Academic staff of the University of Würzburg People from the Grand Duchy of Baden German male non-fiction writers