Professor Johann Georg Bühler (19 July 1837 – 8 April 1898) was a German scholar of ancient Indian languages and law.

Early life and education

Bühler was born to Rev. Johann G. Bühler in Borstel,

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, attended grammar school in Hanover, where he mastered

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and

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, then university as a student of theology and philosophy at

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

, where he studied classical

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

Zend Zend or Zand () is a Zoroastrian term for Middle Persian or Pahlavi versions and commentaries of Avestan texts. These translations were produced in the late Sasanian period. ''Zand'' glosses and commentaries exist in several languages, including ...

, Persian,

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

, and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. In 1858 he received his doctorate in eastern languages and

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

; his thesis explored the suffix ''-tês'' in Greek grammar. That same year he went to

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to study Sanskrit manuscripts, and in 1859 onwards to

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, where he remained until October 1862. This time was used mainly for the study of the

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...

manuscripts at the India Office and the

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. While in England, Bühler was first a private teacher and later (from May 1861) assistant to the Queen's librarian in

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Academic career

In Fall 1862 Bühler was appointed assistant at the

library; he moved there in October. While settling in, he received an invitation via Prof.

Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born British comparative philologist and oriental studies, Orientalist. He was one of the founders of the Western academic disciplines of Indology and religious s ...

to join the Benares Sanskrit College in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Before this could be settled, he also received (again via Prof. Müller) an offer of Professor of Oriental Languages at the Elphinstone College,

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

(now

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

). Bühler responded immediately and arrived in Bombay on 10 February 1863. Noted Sanskrit and legal scholar Kashinath Trimbak Telang was then a student at the college. In the next year Bühler became a Fellow of

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

and member of the Bombay Branch of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society, was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encourag ...

. He was to remain in India until 1880. During this time he collected a remarkable number of texts for the Indian government and the libraries of

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, and

. In the year 1878 he published his translations of the Paiyalachchhi, the oldest

Prakrit Prakrit ( ) is a group of vernacular classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 5th century BCE to the 12th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Ind ...

dictionary, with glossary and translation. He also took responsibility for the translation of the

Apastamba ''Āpastamba Dharmasūtra'' (Sanskrit: आपस्तम्ब धर्मसूत्र) is a Sanskrit text and one of the oldest Dharma-post vedic smriti related texts of Hinduism that have survived into the modern age from the 1st millenniu ...

, Dharmasutra etc. in Professor

's monumental compilation and translation, 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 ...

'', vols. 2, 14, and 25. In 1880 he returned to Europe and taught as a professor of Indian philology and archeology at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, where he worked until the end of his life. On 8 April 1898 Bühler drowned in

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, under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Contemporary accounts mostly attributed it to an accident, but it has been speculated that it was a suicide motivated by Bühler's connections to a scandal involving his former student Alois Anton Führer.

Selected publications

* Prakrit dictionary ''Paiyalacchinamamala'' (" Beiträge zur Kunde der indogermanischen Sprachen", Göttingen 1878) * ''Erklärung der Ashokainschriften'' ("

Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft The ''Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft'' () is a peer-reviewed academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relatin ...

", 1883–1893) * ''The roots of the Dhatupatha not found in literature'' ("Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes", 1894) * ''On the origin of the Kharosthi alphabet'' (ibid. 1895) * ''Digest of Hindu law cases'' (1867–1869; 1883) * ''Panchatantra with English notes'' ("The Bombay sanscrit series", 1868; 1891) * ''Apastambiya Dharmasutra'' (1868–1871; 1892–1894) * ''Catalogue of Sanskrit manuscripts from Gujarat'' (4 vol., 1871–1873) * ''Dachakumaracharita, with English notes ''("Sanscrit series" no. 10, 1873, 1887; II, with P. Peterson) * ''Vikramankacharita with an introduction'' (1875) * ''Detailed report of a tour in Kashmir'' (1877) * ''Sacred laws of the Aryas'' (I, 1879; II, 1883; vols. 2 and 14, "The

") * ''Third book of sanscrit'' (1877; 1888) * ''Leitfaden für den Elementarcursus des Sanskrit'' (1883) * ''Inscriptions from the caves of the Bombay presidency'' ("Archaeological reports of Western India", 1883) * ''Paleographic remarks on the Horrinzi palmleaf manuscript'' ("Anecdota oxoniensia", 1884) * ''The laws of Manu translated'' ("The

", vol. 25, 1886) * ''Translation of the Dhauli and Jaugada versions of the Ashoka edicts'' ("Archeological reports of Southern India", vol. I, 1887) * ''On the Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet'' (German 1895, English 1898) In the ''Schriften der Wiener Akademie der Wissenschaften'': * ''Über eine Sammlung von Sanskrit- und Prakrit-Handschriften'' (1881) * ''Über das Zeitalter des Kashmirischen Dichters Somadeva'' (1885) * ''Über eine Inschrift des Königs Dharasena von Valabhi'' (1886) * ''Über eine neue Inschrift des Gurjara königs Dadda II'' (1887) * ''Über eine Sendrakainschrift'' * ''Über die indische Sekte der Yainas'' * ''Über das Navasahasankacharita des Padmagupta'' (1888, with Th. Zachariae) * ''Über das Sukrtasamkirtana des Arisimha'' (1889) * ''Die indischen Inschriften und das Alter der indischen Kunstpoesie'' (1890) * ''Indian studies: I. The Jagaducarita of Sarvananda, a historical romance from Gujarat'' (1892); II. ''Contributions to the history of the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

'' (with J. Kirste); III. ''On the origin of the Brahmi alphabet'' (1895)

References

Bibliography

* Kirfel, Willibald (1955)
Bühler, Johann Georg
In: Neue Deutsche Biographie ( NDB) Vol. 2, Berlin: , , S. 726 f. * Winternitz, Moritz (1903)
Bühler, Georg
In:

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

, Vol. 47, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 339–348. * Jolly, Julius (1899)
Georg Bühler 1837 - 1898
Grundriss der Indo-Arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde, 1. Band, 1. Heft, A; Strassburg : Trübner * Natu, Amruta Chintaman (2020)

Georg Bühler's Contribution to Indology, In: Harvard Oriental Series: Opera Minora, Piscataway: Gorgias Press, pp. 255.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buhler, Georg 1837 births 1898 deaths 19th-century German non-fiction writers 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German writers University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Academic staff of the University of Vienna German Indologists University of Mumbai alumni Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Deaths by drowning German male non-fiction writers German Sanskrit scholars German expatriates in Austria People from Diepholz (district)