Aloys Sprenger (born 3 September 1813, in Nassereith,

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

; died 19 December 1893 in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

) was an Austrian Orientalist. Aloys Sprenger born in Nassereith 2015

Sprenger studied medicine,

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

as well as oriental languages 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 ...

. In 1836 he moved to London, where he worked with the Earl of Munster on the latter's ''Geschichte der Kriegswissenschaften bei den mohammedanischen Völkern'', ‘History of Military Science among the Muslim Peoples’, and thence in 1843 to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, where he became principal of Delhi College. In this capacity he had many textbooks translated into Hindustani from European languages. In 1848 he was sent to

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

, to prepare a catalogue of the royal library there, the first volume of which appeared in Calcutta in 1854. This book, with its lists of Persian poets, its careful description of all the chief works of Persian poetry and its valuable biographical material, became a worthy guide for the exploration of

Persian literature Persian literature comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources have been within Greater Iran including present-day ...

. In 1850 Sprenger was named examiner, official government interpreter, and secretary of the

Asiatic Society of Calcutta The Asiatic Society is an 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 philologist Willi ...

. He published many works while holding this latter position, among them "Dictionary of the Technical terms used in the sciences of the Musulmans" (1854) and " Ibn Hajar's biographical dictionary of persons who knew Mohammed" (1856). Sprenger took a position as professor of oriental languages at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (, , ) is a public university, public research university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a br ...

in 1857, moving in 1881 to

. His voluminous collection of Arabic, Persian, Hindustani and other manuscripts and printed material was eventually acquired by the

Berlin State Library The Berlin State Library (; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a universal library in Berlin, Germany, and a property of the German public cultural organization the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (). Founded in ...

Bibliography

* ''Otby’s history of Mahmud of Ghaznah'' (Arabic, Delhi 1847) * ''Notices of some Copies of the Arabic Work Entitled “Rasàyil Ikhwàm al-Cafâ”'' (Arabic, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta 1848)
''El-Mas'ū dī’s Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems'' (Transl., London 1849, Vol. 1)
* ''The Gulistân of Sady'' (Persian, Calcutta 1851) * ''The Life of Muḥammad '' (Presbyterian Mission Press, Allahabad 1851). * ''A Catalogue of the Arabic, Persian and Hindûstâny Manuscripts, of the Libraries of the King of Oudh, Compiled under the Orders of the Govt. of India'' Vol. 1, containing Persian & Hindûstâny poetry. (Calcutta 1854) * ''Dictionary of the Technical Terms used in the Sciences of the Musulmans''. (Calcutta 1854) * ''Soyuti’s Itqân on the Exegetic Sciences of the Qoran in Arabic''. (Calcutta 1856) *''Ibn Hajar’s Biographical Dictionary of Persons Who Knew Mohammed''. (Calcutta 1856) * ''Das Leben und die Lehre des Mohammed. Nach Bisher Größtenteils Unbenutzten Quellen''. (Reprint of the German edition, Berlin 1861; Olms,

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...

2003) # # # # * ''A catalogue of the Bibliotheca Orientalis Sprengeriana.'' (Printed by W. Keller, Gießen 1857) * ''Post- und Reiserouten des Orients''. (Reprint of the German edition, Leipzig 1864; Institut für islamisch-arabische Geschichte, Frankfurt am Main. 1993) * ''Die alte Geographie Arabiens als Grundlage der Entwicklungsgeschichte des Semitismus'' (Bern 1875) * ''Babylonien, das reichste Land in der Vorzeit und das lohnendste Kolonisationsfeld'' (Heidelberg 1886)

Literature

* Norbert Mantl (Editor): ''Aloys Sprenger, der Orientalist und Islamhistoriker aus Nassereith in Tirol''. Selbstverlag der Gemeinde ''(self-published by the municipality)'', Nassereith 1993 * Meyers Konversationslexikon, public-domain encyclopaedia entry on Aloys Sprenger, on which this article (and its German-language counterpart) is based. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sprenger, Aloys 1813 births 1893 deaths Austrian Arabists Scholars from the Austrian Empire Translators to English Scholars from Austria-Hungary Academic staff of Aliah University Quranic studies academics University of Vienna alumni