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Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures,
languages Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of
Asian studies Asian studies is the term used usually in North America and Australia for what in Europe is known as Oriental studies. The field is concerned with the Asian people, their cultures, languages, history and politics. Within the Asian sphere, Asian ...
. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is often associated with German scholarship, and is used more commonly in departmental titles in German and continental European universities than in the anglophone academy. In the Netherlands, the term ''Indologie'' was used to designate the study of Indian history and culture in preparation for colonial service in the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
. Classical Indology majorly includes the linguistic studies of
Sanskrit literature Sanskrit literature broadly comprises all literature in the Sanskrit language. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as s ...
, Pāli and Tamil literature, as well as study of
Dharmic religions Indian religions, sometimes also termed Dharmic religions or Indic religions, are the religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent. These religions, which include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism,Adams, C. J."Classification of ...
(like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, etc.). Some of the regional specializations under South Asian studies include: * Bengali studies — study of culture and languages of Bengal * Dravidology — study of Dravidian languages of Southern India **
Tamil studies Tamilology, a subset of the larger field of Dravidian studies, denotes study of the Tamil language, Tamil literature and the culture of the Tamil people Definition The term denotes the process of examining the study and contributions of Tamil la ...
*
Pakistan studies Pakistan studies curriculum (Urdu: ') is the name of a curriculum of academic research and study that encompasses the culture, demographics, geography, history, International Relations and politics of Pakistan. The subject is widely research ...
* Sindhology — the study of the historical Sindh region Some scholars distinguish ''Classical Indology'' from ''Modern Indology'', the former more focussed on Sanskrit, Tamil and other ancient language sources, the latter on contemporary India, its politics and sociology.


History


Precursors

The beginnings of the study of India by travellers from outside the subcontinent date back at least to Megasthenes (ca. 350–290 BC), a Greek ambassador of the Seleucids to the court of Chandragupta (ruled 322-298 BC), founder of the
Mauryan Empire The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...
. Based on his life in India Megasthenes composed a four-volume ''Indica'', fragments of which still exist, and which influenced the classical geographers
Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...
,
Diodor Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ;  1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
and
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
. Islamic Golden Age scholar Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Al-Biruni (973–1048) in Tarikh Al-Hind (''Researches on India'') recorded the political and military history of India and covered India's
cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...
, scientific, social and religious history in detail. He studied the anthropology of India, engaging in extensive
participant observation Participant observation is one type of data collection method by practitioner-scholars typically used in qualitative research and ethnography. This type of methodology is employed in many disciplines, particularly anthropology (incl. cultural an ...
with various Indian groups, learning their languages and studying their primary texts, and presenting his findings with
objectivity Objectivity can refer to: * Objectivity (philosophy), the property of being independent from perception ** Objectivity (science), the goal of eliminating personal biases in the practice of science ** Journalistic objectivity, encompassing fairne ...
and
neutrality Neutral or neutrality may refer to: Mathematics and natural science Biology * Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity Chemistry and physics * Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction ...
using cross-cultural comparisons.


Academic discipline

Indology as generally understood by its practitioners began in the later Early Modern period and incorporates essential features of modernity, including critical self-reflexivity, disembedding mechanisms and globalization, and the reflexive appropriation of knowledge. An important feature of Indology since its beginnings in the late eighteenth century has been the development of networks of academic communication and trust through the creation of learned societies like the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and the creation of learned journals like the ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' and ''Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute''. One of the defining features of Indology is the application of scholarly methodologies developed in European
Classical Studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
or "Classics" to the languages, literatures and cultures of South Asia. In the wake of eighteenth century pioneers like William Jones,
Henry Thomas Colebrooke Henry Thomas Colebrooke FRS FRSE (15 June 1765 – 10 March 1837) was an English orientalist and mathematician. He has been described as "the first great Sanskrit scholar in Europe". Biography Henry Thomas Colebrooke was born on 15 June ...
,
Gerasim Lebedev Gerasim Stepanovich Lebedev (russian: Гера́сим Степа́нович Ле́бедев; 1749 – July 27, 1817), also spelled Herasim Steppanovich Lebedeff ( bn, হেরাসিম স্তেপানোভিচ লেবেদ ...
or August Wilhelm Schlegel, Indology as an academic subject emerged in the nineteenth century, in the context of British India, together with
Asian studies Asian studies is the term used usually in North America and Australia for what in Europe is known as Oriental studies. The field is concerned with the Asian people, their cultures, languages, history and politics. Within the Asian sphere, Asian ...
in general affected by the romantic
Orientalism In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...
of the time. The Asiatic Society was founded in Calcutta in 1784, Société Asiatique founded in 1822, the Royal Asiatic Society in 1824, the American Oriental Society in 1842, and the German Oriental Society ( Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft) in 1845, the Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies in 1949. Sanskrit literature included many pre-modern dictionaries, especially the '' Nāmaliṅgānuśāsana'' of Amarasiṃha, but a milestone in the Indological study of
Sanskrit literature Sanskrit literature broadly comprises all literature in the Sanskrit language. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as s ...
was publication of the St. Petersburg ''Sanskrit-Wörterbuch'' during the 1850s to 1870s. Translations of major Hindu texts in the Sacred Books of the East began in 1879. Otto von Böhtlingk's edition of Pāṇini's grammar appeared in 1887. Max Müller's edition of the Rigveda appeared in 1849–75.
Albrecht Weber Friedrich Albrecht Weber (; 17 February 1825 – 30 November 1901) was a Prussian - German Indologist and historian who studied the history of Jainism in India. Some older sources have the first and middle names interchanged. Weber was born in B ...
commenced publishing his pathbreaking journal ''Indologische Studien'' in 1849, and in 1897 Sergey Oldenburg launched a systematic edition of key Sanskrit texts, "Bibliotheca Buddhica".


Professional literature and associations

Indologists typically attend conferences such as the American Association of Asian Studies, the American Oriental Society annual conference, the
World Sanskrit Conference The World Sanskrit conference is an international conference organised at various locations globally. It has been held in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The Delhi International Sanskrit Conference of 1972 is considered to be the first W ...
, and national-level meetings in the UK, Germany, India, Japan, France and elsewhere. They may routinely read and write in journals such as '' Indo-Iranian Journal'', '' Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', ''
Journal of the American Oriental Society The ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' is a quarterly academic journal published by the American Oriental Society The American Oriental Society was chartered under the laws of Massachusetts on September 7, 1842. It is one of the olde ...
'', '' Journal asiatique'', the ''
Journal of the German Oriental Society A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...
'' (ZDMG), ''
Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens Wiener (from German: "Viennese") may refer to: Food * A Polish sausage (kielbasa) or "wenar" * A Vienna sausage of German origin, named after the capital of Austria * A hot dog, a cooked sausage, traditionally grilled or steamed and served i ...
'', ''
Journal of Indian Philosophy The ''Journal of Indian Philosophy'' (print: , online: ) is an academic journal on modern and premodern Indian philosophy published by Springer. The editor in chief is Diwakar Acharya. See also * List of philosophy journals This is a list of ...
'', '' Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute'', ''
Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: * Bullet journal, a method of personal organization * Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal ...
'' (Indogaku Bukkyogaku Kenkyu), ''
Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême Orient The French School of the Far East (french: École française d'Extrême-Orient, ), abbreviated EFEO, is an associated college of PSL University dedicated to the study of Asian societies. It was founded in 1900 with headquarters in Hanoi in wh ...
'', and others. They may be members of such professional bodies as the American Oriental Society, the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the Société Asiatique, the Deutsche Morgenlāndische Gesellschaft and others.


List of indologists

The following is a list of prominent academically qualified Indologists.


Historical scholars

* Megasthenes (350-290 BC) * Al-Biruni (973-1050) *
Gaston-Laurent Cœurdoux Gaston-Laurent Coeurdoux (; french: Cœurdoux ; 18 December 1691, Bourges, France – 15 June 1779, Pondicherry, French India) was a French Jesuit missionary in South India and a noteworthy Indologist. Early training Cœurdoux entered the novitia ...
(1691–1779) *
Anquetil Duperron Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron (7 December 173117 January 1805) was the first professional French Indologist. He conceived the institutional framework for the new profession. He inspired the founding of the École française d'Extrême-Orien ...
(1731–1805) * William Jones (1746–1794) * Charles Wilkins (1749–1836) * Colin Mackenzie (1753–1821) *
Dimitrios Galanos __NOTOC__ Dimitrios Galanos or Demetrios Galanos ( el, Δημήτριος Γαλανός; 1760–1833) was the earliest recorded Greek Indologist. His translations of Sanskrit texts into Greek made knowledge of the philosophical and religious ideas ...
(1760–1833) *
Henry Thomas Colebrooke Henry Thomas Colebrooke FRS FRSE (15 June 1765 – 10 March 1837) was an English orientalist and mathematician. He has been described as "the first great Sanskrit scholar in Europe". Biography Henry Thomas Colebrooke was born on 15 June ...
(1765–1837) *
Jean-Antoine Dubois Abbé J. A. Dubois or Jean-Antoine Dubois (January 1765 – 17 February 1848) was a French Catholic missionary in India, and member of the '' Missions Etrangères de Paris''; he was called Dodda Swami by the local people. In his work on Hindu ma ...
(1765–1848) * August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845) * James Mill (1773–1836). * Horace Hayman Wilson (1786–1860) * Franz Bopp (1791–1867) *
Duncan Forbes (linguist) Duncan Forbes (28 April 1798 – 17 August 1868) was a Scottish linguist. Forbes was born in Kinnaird, Perthshire and was brought up by his grandfather from the age of three after his parents and younger brother emigrated to the United States. ...
(1798–1868) *
James Prinsep James Prinsep FRS (20 August 1799 – 22 April 1840) was an English scholar, orientalist and antiquary. He was the founding editor of the ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'' and is best remembered for deciphering the Kharosthi and B ...
(1799-1840) * Hermann Grassmann (1809-1877) *
John Muir (indologist) John Muir CIE FRSE DCL LLD (5 February 1810 – 7 March 1882) was a British Sanskrit scholar, Indologist and judge in India. Biography Muir was born in Glasgow, the son of William Muir (1783–1820), a merchant of Kilmarnock and magistr ...
(1810–1882) * Edward Balfour (1813–1889) * Robert Caldwell (1814–1891) *
Alexander Cunningham Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Engineer Group who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly ...
(1814–1893) * Hermann Gundert (1814–1893) * Otto von Bohtlingk (1815–1904) * Monier Monier-Williams (1819–1899) * Henry Yule (1820-1889) *
Rudolf Roth Rudolf von Roth (born Walter Rudolph Roth, 3 April 1821 – 23 June 1895) was a German Indologist, founder of the Vedic philology. His chief work is a monumental Sanskrit dictionary, compiled in collaboration with Otto von Böhtlingk. Biography R ...
(1821–1893) * Theodor Aufrecht (1822–1907) * Max Müller (1823–1900) *
Albrecht Weber Friedrich Albrecht Weber (; 17 February 1825 – 30 November 1901) was a Prussian - German Indologist and historian who studied the history of Jainism in India. Some older sources have the first and middle names interchanged. Weber was born in B ...
(1825–1901) *
Ralph T. H. Griffith Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith (1826–1906) was an English Indologist, a member of the Indian education service and among the first Europeans to translate the Vedas into English. He lived in the UK (Oxford) and in India (Benares and Nilgiris). ...
(1826–1906) * William Dwight Whitney (1827-1894) *
Ferdinand Kittel Reverend Ferdinand Kittel was a Lutheran priest and indologist with the Basel Mission in south India and worked in Mangalore, Madikeri and Dharwad in Karnataka. He is most famous for his studies of the Kannada language and for producing a Kannada ...
(1832–1903) * Edwin Arnold (1832–1904) *
Johan Hendrik Caspar Kern Johan Hendrik Caspar Kern (6 April 1833 – 4 July 1917) was a Dutch linguist and Orientalist. In the literature, he is usually referred to as H. Kern or Hendrik Kern; a few other scholars bear the same surname. Life Hendrik Kern was born to ...
(1833–1917) * Gustav Solomon Oppert (1836–1908) * Georg Bühler (1837–1898) *
Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya (18 October 1861– 20 April 1938) was a Marathi language, Marathi-language historian and writer from Maharashtra, India. He was Chief Justice of Gwalior State for a period. He was born in a Chitpavan Brahmin family. In 19 ...
(1861–1938) * Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar (1837–1925) * Arthur Coke Burnell (1840-1882) *
Julius Eggeling Hans Julius Eggeling (1842–1918) was Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Edinburgh from 1875 to 1914, second holder of its Regius Chair of Sanskrit, and Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society, London. Eggeling was translator and edito ...
(1842–1918) *
Paul Deussen Paul Jakob Deussen (; 7 January 1845 – 6 July 1919) was a German Indologist and professor of philosophy at University of Kiel. Strongly influenced by Arthur Schopenhauer, Deussen was a friend of Friedrich Nietzsche and Swami Vivekananda. In 1 ...
(1845–1919) * Vincent Arthur Smith (1848–1920) *
James Darmesteter James Darmesteter (28 March 184919 October 1894) was a French author, orientalist, and antiquarian. Biography He was born of Jewish parents at Château-Salins, in Lorraine. The family name had originated in their earlier home of Darmstadt. He was ...
(1849–1894) * Hermann Jacobi (1850–1937) * Kashinath Trimbak Telang (1850–1893) *
Alois Anton Führer Alois Anton Führer (26 November 1853 – 5 November 1930) was a German indologist who worked for the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). He is known for his archaeological excavations, which he believed proved that Gautama Buddha was born in ...
(1853–1930) *
Jacob Wackernagel Jacob Wackernagel (11 December 1853 – 22 May 1938) was a Swiss linguist, Indo-Europeanist and scholar of Sanskrit. He was born in Basel, son of the philologist Wilhelm Wackernagel (1806–1869). Biography Jacob Wackernagel was born on 11 ...
(1853-1938) *
Arthur Anthony Macdonell Arthur Anthony Macdonell, FBA (11 May 1854 – 28 December 1930) was a noted Sanskrit scholar. Biography Macdonell was born at Muzaffarpur in the Tirhut region of the state of Bihar in British India, the son of Charles Alexander Macdonell ...
(1854-1930) * Hermann Oldenberg (1854–1920) *
Maurice Bloomfield Maurice Bloomfield, Ph.D., LL.D. (February 23, 1855 – June 12, 1928) was an Austrian-born American philologist and Sanskrit scholar. Biography He was born Maurice Blumenfeld in Bielitz ( pl, Bielsko), in what was at that time Austrian Sil ...
(1855–1928) *
E. Hultzsch Eugen Julius Theodor Hultzsch (29 March 1857 – 16 January 1927) was a German indologist and epigraphist who is known for his work in deciphering the inscriptions of Ashoka. Early life and education Born in Dresden on 29 March 1857, Hultzsch st ...
(1857-1927) *
Mark Aurel Stein Sir Marc Aurel Stein, ( hu, Stein Márk Aurél; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at ...
(1862–1943) *
P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar Pillaipundagudi Thiruvengadattaiyangar Srinivasa Iyengar (1863–1931) was an Indian historian, linguist and educationist who wrote books on the history of South India. Academic career Srinivasa Iyengar served as the Principal of A. V. N. Co ...
(1863–1931) * Moriz Winternitz (1863–1937) * Fyodor Shcherbatskoy (1866–1942) * F.W. Thomas (1867–1956) * Jadunath Sarkar (1870-1958) *
S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar Diwan Bahadur Sakkottai Krishnaswamy Aiyangar (15 April 1871 – 26 November 1946) was an Indian historian, academician and Dravidologist. He chaired the Department of Indian History and Archaeology at the University of Madras from 1914 to ...
(1871–1947) * Percy Brown (1872–1955) *
John Hubert Marshall Sir John Hubert Marshall (19 March 1876, Chester, England – 17 August 1958, Guildford, England) was an English archaeologist who was Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1902 to 1928. He oversaw the excavations of Ha ...
(1876–1958) *
Arthur Berriedale Keith Arthur Berriedale Keith (5 April 1879 – 6 October 1944) was a Scottish constitutional lawyer, scholar of Sanskrit and Indologist. He became Regius Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology and Lecturer on the Constitution of the Briti ...
(1879–1944) * Pandurang Vaman Kane (1880–1972) *
Pierre Johanns Pierre Johanns (1 April 1882, Heinerscheid, Luxembourg – 8 February 1955, Arlon, Belgium) was a Luxemburger Jesuit priest, missionary in India and Indologist. Education Johanns was ordained priest on 1 August 1914 at Louvain, three days befo ...
(1882–1955) *
Andrzej Gawronski Andrzej is the Polish form of the given name Andrew. Notable individuals with the given name Andrzej * Andrzej Bartkowiak (born 1950), Polish film director and cinematographer * Andrzej Bobola, S.J. (1591–1657), Polish saint, missionary and ma ...
(1885–1927) *
Willibald Kirfel Willibald Kirfel (29 January 1885 – 16 October 1964) was a German Indologist. He is known for his scholarly work on Indian cosmography, medicine and religion. Biography Kirfel studied Indology in Bonn from 1904 – 1908 and worked as a librar ...
(1885–1964) * Johannes Nobel (1887–1960) *
Betty Heimann Betty Heimann (29 March 1888, Wandsbek, Germany - 19 May 1961, Sirmione, Italy) was the first woman Indologist to habilitate in Germany. After the Nazis banned Jews from holding academic positions in Germany in 1933, she taught at the University ...
(1888-1961) *
Alice Boner Alice Boner (22 July 1889 – 13 April 1981) was a Swiss painter and sculptor, art historian, and an Indologist. In her drawings she used pencil, charcoal, sepia, red chalk, ink, and sometimes pastel. Her early works focused on drawings, sculp ...
(1889–1981) * Heinrich Zimmer (1890–1943) * Ervin Baktay (1890–1963) * Mortimer Wheeler (1890–1976) *
B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...
(1891–1956) *
K. A. Nilakanta Sastri Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri (12 August 1892 – 15 June 1975) was an Indian historian who wrote on South Indian history. Many of his books form the standard reference works on the subject. Sastri was acclaimed for his scholarship and ...
(1892–1975) *
Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan Rahul Sankrityayan (born Kedarnath Pandey; 9 April 1893 – 14 April 1963) was an Indian writer and a polyglot who wrote in Hindi. He played a pivotal role in giving travelogue a 'literary form'. He was one of the most widely travelled scholars ...
(1893–1963) * Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi (1893–1985) * V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar (1896–1953) * Dasharatha Sharma (1903–1976) *
Shakti M. Gupta In Hinduism, especially Shaktism (a theological tradition of Hinduism), Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; lit. "Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability") is the primordial energy (esotericism), cosmic energy, fema ...
(1927- * S. Srikanta Sastri (1904-1974) *
Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the ...
(1904–1987) *
Murray Barnson Emeneau Murray Barnson Emeneau (February 28, 1904 – August 29, 2005) was the founder of the Department of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. Early life and education Emeneau was born in Lunenburg, a fishing town on the east coast ...
(1904–2005) * Jan Gonda (1905–1991) * Paul Thieme (1905–2001) *
Jean Filliozat Jean Filliozat (4 November 1906 in Paris – 27 October 1982 in Paris) was a French writer. He studied medicine and was a physician between 1930 and 1947. He learned Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan and Tamil. He wrote some important works on the history ...
(1906–1982) *
Alain Danielou Alain may refer to: People * Alain (given name), common given name, including list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Alain (surname) * "Alain", a pseudonym for cartoonist Daniel Brustlein * Alain, a standard author abbreviation u ...
(1907–1994) * F B J Kuiper (1907–2003) * Thomas Burrow (1909–1986) * Jagdish Chandra Jain (1909–1993) *
Ramchandra Narayan Dandekar Ramchandra Narayan Dandekar (1909–2001) was an Indologist and Vedic scholar from Maharashtra, India. He was born in Satara on 17 March 1909 and died in Pune on 11 December 2001. Education Dandekar earned an M.A. in Sanskrit in 1931, and an ...
(1909-2001) * Arthur Llewellyn Basham (1914–1986) * Richard De Smet (1916–1997) *
P. N. Pushp P. is an abbreviation or acronym that may refer to: * Page (paper), where the abbreviation comes from Latin ''pagina'' * Paris Herbarium, at the ''Muséum national d'histoire naturelle'' * ''Pani'' (Polish), translating as Mrs. * The ''Pacific Repo ...
(1917–1998) * Ahmad Hasan Dani (1920–2009) *
Frank-Richard Hamm Frank-Richard Hamm (8 October 1920 — 11 November 1973) was a 20th-century Indologist and Tibetologist. Frank-Richard Hamm was born on 8 October 1920 in Königsberg. His family moved to Hamburg two years later where he graduated from the Kirc ...
(1920—1973) * Madeleine Biardeau (1922–2010) *
Awadh K. (AK) Narain Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...
(1925-2013) *
V. S. Pathak Vishwambhar Sharan Pathak (1926–2003) was a historian, Sanskrit scholar and an Indologist who authored several books. Pathak was born at Narmadapuram in 1926. He completed his first PhD from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in the mid fifties ...
(1926–2003) * Kamil Zvelebil (1927–2009) * J. A. B. van Buitenen (1928–1979) *
Tatyana Elizarenkova Tatyana Yakovlevna Elizarenkova (September 17, 1929, Saint Petersburg - September 5, 2007, Moscow) was a distinguished Soviet Russian Indologist and linguist, known for her study of the Vedas. She was described by Wendy Doniger as "the greatest li ...
(1929–2007) *
Bettina Baumer Bettina Sharada Bäumer (born 12 April 1940) is an Austrian-born Indian scholar of religion. Vandana Parthasarathy, writing in The Hindu, described Baumer as a "renowned Indologist, one of the foremost expounders of Kashmir Saivism and a well- ...
(1940–) * Anncharlott Eschmann (1941–1977) *
William Dalrymple William Dalrymple may refer to: * William Dalrymple (1678–1744), Scottish Member of Parliament * William Dalrymple (moderator) (1723–1814), Scottish minister and religious writer * William Dalrymple (British Army officer) (1736–1807), Scott ...
(1965–present) *
Arvind Sharma Arvind Sharma is the Birks Professor of Comparative Religion at McGill University. Sharma's works focus on Hinduism, philosophy of religion. In editing books his works include ''Our Religions'' and ''Women in World Religions,'' ''Feminism in W ...
(1940–present) *
Harilal Dhruv Harilal Harshadrai Dhruv (10 May 1856 – 19 June 1896) ( gu, હરિલાલ ધ્રુવ) was a lawyer, poet, editor, indologist and scholar of Sanskrit literature. Educated in Arts and Law, he served as a teacher and later as a judge of Ba ...
(1856—1896) *
Ram Swarup Ram Swarup (Hindi: राम स्वरूप ; – ), born Ram Swarup Agarwal, was an Indian author and one of the most important thought leaders of the Hindu revivalist movement.Adelheid Herrmann-Pfandt: Hindutva zwischen „Dekolonisierung ...
(1920–1998) *
Mikhail Konstantinovich Kudryavtsev Mikhail Konstantinovich Kudryavtsev (russian: Михаил Константинович Кудрявцев, translit=Mikhail Konstantinovich Kudryavtsev; January 12, 1911 – March 4, 1992) was a Soviet ethnographer and Indologist. He began his ...
(1911–1992) *
Daniel H. H. Ingalls, Sr. Daniel Henry Holmes Ingalls Sr. (May 4, 1916 – July 17, 1999) was the Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University. Early life Ingalls was born in New York City and raised in Virginia. He received his A.B. in 1936, at Harvard majori ...
(1916-1999), Wales Professor of Sanskrit, Harvard University *
Sita Ram Goel Sita Ram Goel (16 October 1921 – 3 December 2003) was an Indian historian, religious and political activist, writer, and publisher in the late twentieth century. He had Marxist leanings during the 1940s, but later became an outspoken anti-co ...
(1921–2003) *
Natalya Romanovna Guseva Natalya Romanovna Guseva (russian: Наталья Романовна Гусева, translit=Natalya Romanovna Guseva; March 21, 1914 – April 21, 2010) was a Russian ethnographer, historian, Indologist and writer. Born at a village in the Kiev ...
(1914–2010) * Ram Sharan Sharma (1919–2011), Founding Chairperson of
Indian Council of Historical Research The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is a captive body of the Ministry of Education, Government of India established by an Administrative Order. The body has provided financial assistance to historians and scholars through fellowshi ...
; Professor Emeritus, Patna University * Bhadriraju Krishnamurti (1928–2012), Osmania University * Fida Hassnain (1924-2016)
Sri Pratap College, Srinagar Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanese, ...
* Heinrich von Stietencron (1933–2018), University of Tübingen, Germany * Iravatham Mahadevan (1930–2018)-
Indian Council of Historical Research The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is a captive body of the Ministry of Education, Government of India established by an Administrative Order. The body has provided financial assistance to historians and scholars through fellowshi ...
*
Stanley Wolpert Stanley Wolpert (December 23, 1927 – February 19, 2019) was an American historian, Indologist, and author on the political and intellectual history of modern India and PakistanDr. Stanley Wolpert's UCLA Faculty homepage and wrote fiction and ...
(1927–2019)- University of California, Los Angeles (emeritus) * Karel Werner (1925–2019) *
Stanley Insler Stanley Insler (June 23, 1937 – January 5, 2019) was an American philologist. Early life He was born in New York City on June 23, 1937, to parents Clara and Frank, and attended the Bronx High School of Science until the age of sixteen, when he ...
(1937–2019), Edward E. Salisbury Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology, Yale University *
Bannanje Govindacharya Bannanje Govindacharya (3 August 1936 – 13 December 2020) was an Indian philosopher and Sanskrit scholar versed in Veda Bhashya, Upanishad Bhashya, Mahabharata, Puranas and Ramayana. He wrote Bhashyas (commentaries) on Veda Suktas, Upanishads, S ...
(1936–2020), scholar in Tatva-vada school of philosophy and Vedic tradition


Contemporary scholars with university posts

* Romila Thapar (1931–present), Professor of Ancient History, Emerita, at the Jawaharlal Nehru University * Hermann Kulke (1938–present) * Asko Parpola (1941–present)- Professor Emeritus of Indology and South Asian Studies at the University of Helsinki * Michael Witzel (1943–present)-
Wales Professor of Sanskrit The position of Wales Professorship of Sanskrit in Harvard University is the first endowed chair for Sanskrit studies established in the United States. Henry Ware Wales (18181856; Harvard, 1838) by a will dated April 24, 1849, provided for the en ...
at Harvard University * Ronald Inden- Professor Emeritus of History, South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago *
George L. Hart George Luzerne Hart, III (born c. 1942) is Professor Emeritus of Tamil language at the University of California, Berkeley. His work focuses on the classical Tamil language, Tamil literature and on identifying the relationships between the Tamil ...
(1945–present)- Professor Emeritus of Tamil at the University of California, Berkeley *
Stephanie Jamison Stephanie Wroth Jamison (born July 17, 1948) is an American linguist, currently at University of California, Los Angeles and an Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. She did her doctoral work at Yale University as a student of ...
(1948–present), Distinguished Professor of Asian Languages and Cultures and of Indo-European Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles *
Alexis Sanderson Alexis G. J. S. Sanderson (born 1948) is an indologist and Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College at the University of Oxford. Early life After taking undergraduate degrees in Classics and Sanskrit at Balliol College from 1968 to 1971, Alexis Sande ...
(1948–present) Emeritus Fellow and former Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at
All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...
*
Patrick Olivelle Patrick Olivelle is an Indologist. A philologist and scholar of Sanskrit Literature whose work has focused on asceticism, renunciation and the dharma, Olivelle has been Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions in the Department of Asian Studi ...
(1942–present) Professor Emeritus of Asian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin *
Michael D. Willis Michael Willis is an Indologist and historian based in London, England. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Willis took his B.A. degree at the University of Victoria where he studied with Siri Gunasinghe and ...
( The British Museum) * Edwin Bryant (1957–present) Rutgers University, New Jersey *
Gérard Fussman Gérard Fussman (17 May 1940 – 14 May 2022) was a French indologist who was a professor at the Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by Franço ...
(1940–present) Collège de France * Wendy Doniger (1940-) University of Chicago Divinity School, as Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions *
Thomas Trautmann Thomas Roger Trautmann is an American historian, cultural anthropologist, and Professor Emeritus of History and Anthropology at the University of Michigan. He is considered a leading expert on the ''Arthashastra'', the ancient Hindu text on sta ...
(1940-), former Head of the Center for South Asian Studies, University of Michigan *
Kapil Kapoor Kapil Kapoor (born 17 November 1940) is an Indian scholar of linguistics and literature and an authority on Indian intellectual traditions. He is former Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and served as professor at the Centre ...
, well known scholar of English Literature, Linguistics, Paninan Grammar, Sanskrit Arts and Aesthetics, Director of Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla *
Shrivatsa Goswami __NOTOC__ Shrivatsa Goswami (born 27 October 1950) is an Indian Indologist scholar as well as Gaudiya Vaishnava religious leader. He was born in the holy Vaishnava pilgrimage site of Vrindavan, into a brahmin family whose members were caretak ...
, Indian scholar of Hindu philosophy and art ( Banaras Hindu University), as well as Vaishnava acharya


Other indologists

*
Michel Danino Michel Danino (born 4 June 1956) is a French-born Indian writer. He is a guest professor at IIT Gandhinagar and has been a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research. In 2017, Government of India conferred Padma Shri, the fourth-highest ...
, French-Indian author and
historical negationist Historical negationism, also called denialism, is falsification or distortion of the historical record. It should not be conflated with ''historical revisionism'', a broader term that extends to newly evidenced, fairly reasoned academic reinterp ...
* Koenraad Elst (1959–present), Hindutva author and, supporter of the
Out of India Indigenous Aryanism, also known as the Indigenous Aryans theory (IAT) and the Out of India theory (OIT), is the conviction that the Aryans are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, and that the Indo-European languages radiated out from a homel ...
theory *
Georg Feuerstein Georg Feuerstein (27 May 1947 – 25 August 2012) was a German Indologist specializing in the philosophy and practice of Yoga. Feuerstein authored over 30 books on mysticism, Yoga, Tantra, and Hinduism. He translated, among other traditional texts ...
* David Frawley, American Hindutva author, astrologer, and
historical revisionist In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or times ...
* Rajiv Malhotra, Indian-American Hindutva author and activist *
Shrikant Talageri Indigenous Aryanism, also known as the Indigenous Aryans theory (IAT) and the Out of India theory (OIT), is the conviction that the Aryans are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, and that the Indo-European languages radiated out from a homela ...
,
Out of India Indigenous Aryanism, also known as the Indigenous Aryans theory (IAT) and the Out of India theory (OIT), is the conviction that the Aryans are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, and that the Indo-European languages radiated out from a homel ...
proponent and Hindu nationalist *
Hans T. Bakker Hans T. Bakker (born 1948) is a cultural historian and Indologist, who has served as the Professor of the History of Hinduism and Jan Gonda Chair at the University of Groningen. He currently works in the British Museum as a researcher in project ...
*
Steven J. Rosen Steven J. Rosen, also known as Satyaraja Das (; born 1955), is an American author. He is the founding editor of '' The Journal of Vaishnava Studies'' and an associate editor of ''Back to Godhead'', the magazine of the Hare Krishna movement. ...
, American ISKCON author, founding editor of ''The
Journal of Vaishnava Studies The ''Journal of Vaishnava Studies'', also known as ''Journal of Vaiṣṇava Studies'', is an academic journal that was established in 1992 by Steven J. Rosen (Satyaraja Dasa), a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. It i ...
''


Indology organisations

*
Faculty of Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vigyan, Banaras Hindu University Faculty of Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vijnan is a faculty of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in the city of Varanasi in India. The Faculty of Sanskrit Vidya Dharma Vijnan, also called SVDV, or the Faculty of SVDV, offers bachelor's, master's and doct ...
*
Adyar Library The Adyar Library and Research Centre was founded in 1886 by theosophist Henry Steel Olcott. The library is at the Theosophical Society Adyar in Adyar, near Chennai. History Henry Steel Olcott founded the "library Olcott" in December 1886. Olco ...
and Research Centre, Chennai * Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune * Oriental Research Institute Mysore *
Oriental Research Institute & Manuscripts Library The Oriental Research Institute & Manuscripts Library, University of Kerala, is one of the leading centres of Indology in India. It is located at Kariavattom, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The institute carry out researches on Indian language ma ...
, Thiruvananthapuram *
Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute of Indology Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum, abbreviated L. D. Museum, is a museum of Indian sculptures, bronzes, manuscripts, paintings, drawings, miniature paintings, woodwork, bead work and ancient and contemporary coins in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Histor ...
along with
Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum, abbreviated L. D. Museum, is a museum of Indian sculptures, bronzes, manuscripts, paintings, drawings, miniature paintings, woodwork, bead work and ancient and contemporary coins in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Histo ...
which is adjacent to the Institute, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India * American Institute of Indian Studies * French Institute of Pondicherry
The Oxford Centre For Hindu Studies


See also

* Buddhism in the West *
History of India According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...
*
Greater India Greater India, or the Indian cultural sphere, is an area composed of many countries and regions in South and Southeast Asia that were historically influenced by Indian culture, which itself formed from the various distinct indigenous cultures ...
*
Bibliography of India This is a bibliography of notable works about India. India history books Single volume works Primary sources ;Ancient India * Diodorus Siculus, 1st century BC.Book II: The East" Pp. 35–60 in '' Bibliotheca historica''. * ''Ashokav ...
* Sanskrit *
Sanskrit studies Sanskrit has been studied by Western scholars since the late 18th century. In the 19th century, Sanskrit studies played a crucial role in the development of the field of comparative linguistics of the Indo-European languages. During the British R ...
*
Roja Muthiah Research Library The Roja Muthiah Research Library (RMRL), in Chennai, India, was founded in 1994, and opened to researchers in 1996; it provides research materials for Tamil studies in a variety of fields of the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. The Li ...
* Area studies *
Dreaming of Words ''Dreaming of Words'' is a 2021 Indian documentary film directed and produced by Nandan. ''Dreaming of Words'' has received numerous accolades including National Film Award for Best Educational/Motivational/Instructional Film (2020) awarded to ...


References


Further reading

*Balagangadhara, S. N. (1994). "The Heathen in his Blindness..." Asia, the West, and the Dynamic of Religion. Leiden, New York: E. J. Brill. * Balagangadhara, S. N. (2012). Reconceptualizing India studies. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. * Vishwa Adluri, Joydeep Bagchee: ''The Nay Science: A History of German Indology''. Oxford University Press, New York 2014,
''Introduction,''
p. 1–29). * Joydeep Bagchee, Vishwa Adluri:
The passion of Paul Hacker: Indology, orientalism, and evangelism
" In: Joanne Miyang Cho, Eric Kurlander, Douglas T McGetchin (Eds.), ''Transcultural Encounters Between Germany and India: Kindred Spirits in the Nineteenth Century''. Routledge, New York 2013, p. 215–229. * Joydeep Bagchee:
German Indology
" In: Alf Hiltebeitel (Ed.), ''Oxford Bibliographies Online: Hinduism''. Oxford University Press, New York 2014. *Chakrabarti, Dilip K.: Colonial Indology, 1997, Munshiram Manoharlal: New Delhi. * Jean Filliozat and Louis Renou – ''L'inde classique'' – ISBN B0000DLB66. * Halbfass, W. India and Europe: An Essay in Understanding. SUNY Press, Albany: 1988 * Inden, R. B. (2010). Imagining India. Bloomington, Ind: Indiana University Press. * Vishwa Adluri, Joydeep Bagchee: The Nay Science: A History of German Indology. Oxford University Press, New York 2014, * Gauri Viswanathan, 1989, Masks of Conquest * Rajiv Malhotra (2016), '' Battle for Sanskrit: Dead or Alive, Oppressive or Liberating, Political or Sacred?'' (Publisher: Harper Collins India; ) * Rajiv Malhotra (2016), Academic Hinduphobia: ''A Critique of Wendy Doniger's Erotic School of Indology'' (Publisher: Voice of India; ) * Antonio de Nicolas, Krishnan Ramaswamy, and Aditi Banerjee (eds.) (2007), '' Invading the Sacred: An Analysis Of Hinduism Studies In America'' (Publisher: Rupa & Co.) * Shourie, Arun. 2014. Eminent historians: their technology, their line, their fraud. HarperCollins. * Trautmann, Thomas. 1997. Aryans and British India, University of California Press, Berkeley. * Windisch, Ernst. Geschichte der Sanskrit-Philologie und Indischen Altertumskunde. 2 vols. Strasbourg. Trübner, K.J., 1917–1920 * Zachariae, Theodor. Opera minora zur indischen Wortforschung, zur Geschichte der indischen Literatur und Kultur, zur Geschichte der Sanskritphilologie. Ed. Claus Vogel. Wiesbaden 1977, .


External links


Omilos Meleton

www.indology.info
– since 1995, with associated discussion forum since 1990
Italian blog with many links to indological websites

Books related to Indology
(commercial publisher's website)
The Veda as Studied by European Scholars
(Gifford Lectures Online) Institutes
Vienna

Heidelberg

Halle

Mainz



Tübingen

Zürich

Oxford


Library guides

* * * * * * * {{Authority control Asian studies