Sir Monier Monier-Williams (;
né
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth reg ...
Williams; 12 November 1819 – 11 April 1899) was a British scholar who was the second
Boden Professor of Sanskrit
The position of Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford was established in 1832 with money bequeathed to the university by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Boden, a retired soldier in the service of the East India Company. He wished ...
at
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 ...
, England. He studied, documented and taught
Asian languages
A wide variety of languages are spoken throughout Asia, comprising different language families and some unrelated isolates. The major language families include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Caucasian, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Tu ...
, especially
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
,
Persian and
Hindustani.
Early life
Monier Williams was born in
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
, the son of Colonel Monier Williams,
surveyor-general
A surveyor general is an official responsible for government surveying in a specific country or territory. Historically, this would often have been a military appointment, but it is now more likely to be a civilian post.
The following surveyor gen ...
in the
Bombay presidency
The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...
. His surname was "Williams" until 1887, when he added his given name to his surname to create the hyphenated "Monier-Williams". In 1822, he was sent to England to be educated at private schools at Hove, Chelsea and Finchley. He was educated at
King's College School,
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...
(1838–40), the
East India Company College
The East India Company College, or East India College, was an educational establishment situated at Hailey, Hertfordshire, nineteen miles north of London, founded in 1806 to train "writers" (administrators) for the Honourable East India Company ( ...
(1840–41) and
University College, Oxford
University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...
(1841–44). He took a fourth-class honours degree in
Literae Humaniores in 1844.
He married Julia Grantham in 1848. They had six sons and one daughter. He died, aged 79, in
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
In 1874 he bought and lived in Enfield House,
Ventnor
Ventnor () is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, from Newport. It is situated south of St Boniface Down, and built on steep slopes leading down to the sea. ...
, on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...
where he and his family lived until at least 1881. (The 1881 census records the occupant was 61-year-old Professor Monier Monier-Williams; his wife, Julia; and two children, Montague (20) and Ella (22).)
Career
Monier Williams taught Asian languages at 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 Sou ...
College from 1844 until 1858 when
company rule in India
Company rule in India (sometimes, Company ''Raj'', from hi, rāj, lit=rule) refers to the rule of the British East India Company on the Indian subcontinent. This is variously taken to have commenced in 1757, after the Battle of Plassey, whe ...
ended after the
1857 rebellion. He came to national prominence during the
1860 election campaign for the
Boden Chair of Sanskrit at
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 ...
, in which he stood against
Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic disciplines of Indian ...
.
The vacancy followed the death of
Horace Hayman Wilson in 1860. Wilson had started the university's collection of
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
manuscripts upon taking the chair in 1831, and had indicated his preference that Williams should be his successor. The campaign was notoriously acrimonious. Müller was known for his liberal religious views and his philosophical speculations based on his reading of Vedic literature. Monier Williams was seen as a less brilliant scholar, but had a detailed practical knowledge of India itself, and of actual religious practices in modern Hinduism. Müller, in contrast, had never visited India.
[ Nirad C. Chaudhuri, ''Scholar Extraordinary, The Life of Professor the Right Honourable Friedrich Max Muller'', P.C., Chatto and Windus, 1974, pp. 221–231.]
Both candidates had to emphasise their support for Christian evangelisation in India, since that was the basis on which the professorship had been funded by its founder. Monier Williams' dedication to Christianisation was not doubted, unlike Müller's.
Monier Williams also stated that his aims were practical rather than speculative. "Englishmen are too practical to study a language very philosophically", he wrote.
After his appointment to the professorship Williams declared from the outset that the conversion of India to the Christian religion should be one of the aims of
orientalist scholarship.
[Terence Thomas, ''The British: their religious beliefs and practices, 1800–1986'', Routledge, 1988, pp. 85–88.] In his book ''Hinduism'', published by
SPCK in 1877, he predicted the demise of the Hindu religion and called for Christian evangelism to ward off the spread of Islam.
According to Saurabh Dube this work is "widely credited to have introduced the term Hinduism into general English usage"
while David N. Lorenzen cites the book along with ''India, and India Missions: Including Sketches of the Gigantic System of Hinduism, Both in Theory and Practice : Also Notices of Some of the Principal Agencies Employed in Conducting the Process of Indian Evangelization''
Writings and foundations
When Monier Williams founded the University's
Indian Institute in 1883, it provided both an academic focus and also a training ground for the
Indian Civil Service. Since the early 1870s Monier Williams planned this institution. His vision was the better acquaintance of England and India. On this account he supported academic research into
Indian culture
Indian culture is the heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, artifacts and technologies that originated in or are associated with the ethno-linguistically diverse India. The term ...
. Monier Williams travelled to India in 1875, 1876 and 1883 to finance his project by fundraising. He gained the support of
Indian native princes. In 1883 the
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...
laid the foundation stone; the building was inaugurated in 1896 by
Lord George Hamilton. The Institute closed on
Indian independence in 1947.
In his writings on Hinduism Monier Williams argued that the
Advaita Vedanta
''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta. The term ''Advaita'' ...
system best represented the Vedic ideal and was the "highest way to salvation" in Hinduism. He considered the more popular traditions of
karma
Karma (; sa, कर्म}, ; pi, kamma, italic=yes) in Sanskrit means an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively ...
and
bhakti
''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...
to be of lesser spiritual value. However, he argued that Hinduism is a complex "huge polygon or irregular multilateral figure" that was unified by
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 ...
. He stated that "no description of Hinduism can be exhaustive which does not touch on almost every religious and philosophical idea that the world has ever known."
Monier-Williams compiled a
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
–English dictionary, based on the earlier ''
Petersburg Sanskrit Dictionary'', which was published in 1872. A later revised edition was published in 1899 with collaboration by
Ernst Leumann and Carl Cappeller (
sv).
Honours
He was
knighted in 1876, and was made
KCIE in 1887, when he adopted his given name of Monier as an additional surname. He was elected as a member of the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1886.
He also received the following academic honours: Honorary DCL, Oxford, 1875; LLD,
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...
, 1876; Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, 1880; Honorary PhD, Göttingen, 1880s; Vice-President,
Royal Asiatic Society
The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...
, 1890; Honorary Fellow of University College, Oxford, 1892.
Published works
Translations
Monier-Williams's translations include that of
Kālidāsa
Kālidāsa (''fl.'' 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on the Vedas, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata and ...
's plays ''
Vikramorvasi'' (1849) and ''
Śākuntala'' (1853; 2nd ed. 1876).
* Translation of ''
Shakuntala
Shakuntala (Sanskrit: ''Śakuntalā'') is the wife of Dushyanta and the mother of Emperor Bharata. Her story is told in the ''Adi Parva'' of the ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata'' and dramatized by many writers, the most famous adaption bei ...
'
(1853)* ''Hindu Literature: comprising the Book of Good Counsels, Nala and Damayanti, the Rámáyana and Śakoontalá''
Original works
*
''Original papers illustrating the history of the application of the Roman alphabet to the languages of India: Edited by Monier Williams'' (1859)Modern Reprint
*
*
*
* ''Translation of Shikshapatri'' – The manuscript of the principal scripture Sir John Malcolm received from Swaminarayan on 26 February 1830 when he was serving as the Governor of Bombay Presidency, Imperial India. Currently preserved at Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...
.
* ''Brahmanism and Hinduism'' (1883)
* ''Buddhism, in its connexion with Brahmanism and Hinduism, and in its contrast with Christianity'' (1889)
* ''Sanskrit-English Dictionary'', .
''A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European languages''
Monier Monier-Williams, revised by E. Leumann, C. Cappeller, et al. 1899, Clarendon Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, Oxford
* ''A Practical Grammar of the Sanskrit Language, Arranged with Reference to the Classical Languages of Europe, for the Use of English Students'', Oxford: Clarendon, 1857, enlarged and improved Fourth Edition 1887
Notes
References
*
;Attribution
*
External links
SpokenSankrit Online Free Dictionary
(Searchable)
Biography of Sir Monier Monier-Williams Dr. Gillian Evison, Digital Shikshapatri
Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary Searchable
Monier-Williams Shikshapatri manuscript Digital Shikshapatri
The Oxford Centre for Hindu StudiesMonier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary: DICT and HTML versions*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monier-Williams, Monier
1819 births
1899 deaths
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Alumni of University College, Oxford
English Indologists
Knights Bachelor
Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire
People educated at King's College School, London
Translators of Kalidasa
English translators
Linguists from England
Boden Professors of Sanskrit
Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford
19th-century British translators
Members of the American Philosophical Society