Duncan Forbes (28 April 1798 – 17 August 1868) was a Scottish

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

. Forbes was born in Kinnaird, Perthshire and was brought up by his

grandfather Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetic ...

from the age of three after his parents and younger brother emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Illiterate until 13, he showed no early signs of linguistic ability but despite this late start, at age 17 he was appointed schoolmaster of the village of Stralock. Shortly after this he attended Kirkmichael school followed by

Perth Grammar School Perth Grammar School is a secondary school in Perth, Scotland. It is located in the Muirton district of Perth at the junction of Bute Drive and Gowans Terrace. The catchment serves the area to the north of Perth between Murthly and Methven whi ...

and the

University of St. Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, gaining a master's degree from the latter. In 1823 he took a post at

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 ...

Academy, but because of poor health he was forced to return to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

in 1826. In 1837 he became professor of Oriental languages at King's College London and stayed at this post until his retirement in 1861. During his time at King's College London he also worked at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, cataloguing the collection of

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

manuscripts. During his lifetime he wrote a number of books and it is for these that he is most remembered. He had a hand in translating or editing a number of books in Urdu, Persian and Arabic, including a translation of Mir Amman's Urdu '' Bagh o Bahar, or Tales of the Four Darweshes'', (which is itself a translation from the Persian of

Amir Khusro Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian culture, Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural his ...

), and of the Persian ''Adventures of

Hatim Tai Hatim al-Tai ( ar, حاتم الطائي, ''Hatim of the Tayy tribe''; died 578), full name Ḥātim bin ʿAbd Allāh bin Saʿd aṭ-Ṭāʾiyy ( ar, حاتم بن عبد الله بن سعد الطائي) was the ruling prince and poet of the T ...

''.

Selected works

* * * * * * *
''Adventures of Hatim Tai''
(1830 translation)
''The Hindustani Manual''
(1845)

(

The Tale of the Four Dervishes ''The Tale of the Four Dervishes'' ( fa, قصه چهار درویش ''Qissa-ye Chahār Darvēsh''), known as ''Bāgh o Bahār'' (, "Garden and Spring") in Urdu, is a collection of allegorical stories by Amir Khusro written in Persian in the earl ...

) by

Mir Amman Mir Amman (1748–1806) was an employee of Fort William College at Calcutta, variously also known as ''Mir Amman of Delhi'', ''Mir Amman of Dilhi'', ''Mir Amman Dihlavi'', and ''Meer Ummun''. He was best known for his translation of Amir Khu ...

(1857 translation) * ''A History of Chess'' (1860) * ''The Bengali Reader'' (1862) * ''Arabic Reading Lessons'' (1864)

External links

* * *
''Bagh-O-Bahar, or Tales of the Four Darweshes''
at Columbia.edu – text of 1857 translation by Forbes, and more * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Duncan Scottish orientalists Scottish Indologists Chess historians 1798 births 1868 deaths Academics of King's College London Christian Hebraists Scottish linguists 19th-century Scottish people Alumni of the University of St Andrews Scottish curators Scottish translators Translators from Urdu Translators from Arabic 19th-century linguists 19th-century British translators

Selected works

See also

External links