''An Oriental Biographical Dictionary'' (original title ''The Oriental Biographical Dictionary'') was an important biographical dictionary of the Islamic, Persian and Indian worlds by Thomas William Beale, published posthumously by

The Asiatic Society of Bengal The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...

in 1881. A new edition, revised and enlarged, was published in London by W. H. Allen in 1894. The book has since been reprinted several times and is now out of copyright. Both editions were edited by Henry Keene, Fellow of 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 ...

and a contributor to the

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

. Little is known of Beale, other than that he was a clerk in the office of the Board of Revenue of the North West Provinces and evidently a knowledgeable amateur historian. According to Keene's preface to the 1894 edition of the work, Beale had never been in Europe and died at an advanced age in

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

, 1875. s:Dictionary of Indian Biography/Beale, Thomas William He was also the author of a historical work in Persian, ', published in 1867.

Editions

*''The Oriental Biographical Dictionary. By the late Thomas William Beale ...'' Calcutta: The Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1881. Edited by the Asiatic Society of Bengal, under the superintendence of Henry George Keene. *
An Oriental Biographical Dictionary, Founded on Materials Collected by the late Thomas William Beale ...
' New edition revised and enlarged. London: W.H. Allen & Co., 1894. Edited by Henry George Keene.

References

Bibliography

* 1881 non-fiction books Biographical dictionaries W. H. Allen & Co. books {{bio-dict-stub