Atmaram Sadashiv Grandin/Grovindin Jayakar (1844–1911), known also as

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

i, was an Indian

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

, military physician, and

colonial administrator Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

in the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. Jayakar, who was of

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

Pathare Prabhu origin, began his studies 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 ...

where he earned his

Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

, and then went to England to complete his medical studies. Later, he returned to India to work in the

Indian Medical Service The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officer ...

, in which he ultimately achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1873, he was sent by the

to the Sultanate of

Muscat and Oman The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman (), also known briefly as the State of Muscat and Oman () during the rule of Taimur bin Feisal, was a sovereign state that encompassed the present-day Sultanate of Oman and parts of present-day United Arab Emir ...

(an Arab country that was under a British

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

) to deal with the health of the people of

, in which capacity he also served as a personal physician to Sultan

Turki bin Said Sultan Turki bin Said bin Sultan Al Busaidi (; 1832 – 4 June 1888), was Sultan of Muscat and Oman from 30 January 1871 to 4 June 1888. He acceded following his victory over his cousin, Iman Azzan bin Qais at the Battle of Dhank. On Turki's d ...

. He was the acting

political agent Political Agent or political agent may refer to: *Political Resident, a representative with consular duties and political contacts with local chiefs * Political officer (British Empire), an officer of the British imperial civil administration, also ...

from 2 March 1889 to 30 March 1889, and again from 29 March 1890 to 30 November 1890, and the acting

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

from 14 October 1891 to 27 November 1892, again from 19 April 1895 to 22 May 1895, and yet again from 12 June 1897 to 15 September 1897. Stationed in Oman, he then began to take an interest in animal life, and for nearly thirty years studied and identified many species, including a species of

tahr Tahrs ( , ) or tehrs ( ) are large artiodactyl ungulates related to goats and sheep. There are three species, all native to Asia. Previously thought to be closely related to each other and placed in a single genus, ''Hemitragus'', Genetics, ge ...

which now bears his name, ''

Arabitragus jayakari The Arabian tahr (''Arabitragus jayakari'') is a species of tahr native to eastern Arabia. Until recently, it was placed in the genus '' Hemitragus'', but genetic evidence supports its removal to a separate monotypic genus, ''Arabitragus''. Desc ...

'', as well as twenty-two new species of fishes (including the eponymous '' Hippocampus jayakari)'', two species of snakes (including the eponymous ''

Eryx jayakari ''Eryx jayakari'', known commonly as the Arabian sand boa or Jayakar's sand boa, is a species of snake in the family Boidae. The species is endemic to the Arabian Peninsula and Iran where it spends the day buried in the sand. Etymology Both th ...

)'',Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Jayakar, p. 134). as well as lizards (including the eponymous ''

Omanosaura jayakari ''Omanosaura jayakari'', also known Common name, commonly as the Jayakar lizard, Jayakar's lizard, and Jayakar's Oman lizard, is a species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Lacertidae. The species is native to Oman and the United Arab Emi ...

)'' and

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s (including the eponymous '' Hottentotta jayakari)''. He also made contributions to

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, contributing a two-part grammatical sketch and lexicon of

Omani Arabic Omani Arabic (; also known as Omani Hadari Arabic) is a variety of Arabic spoken in the Al Hajar Mountains of Oman and in a few neighboring coastal regions. It is the easternmost traditional Arabic dialect. It was formerly spoken by colonists ...

, "The O'mánee Dialect of Arabic", to the ''

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society The ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'' is an academic journal which publishes articles on the history, archaeology, literature, language, religion and art of South Asia, the Middle East (together with North Africa and Ethiopia), Central Asia ...

'' in 1889, and a grammatical sketch of

Shihhi Arabic Shihhi Arabic (, also known as Shehhi, Khasabi, Musandam Arabic, or Ruʾūs al-Jibāl Arabic) is a variety of Arabic primarily spoken in the Musandam Governorate of Oman and Ras al Khaimah emirate of UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), o ...

, "The Shahee dialect of Arabic", to ''The Journal of the

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 ...

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 ...

'' in 1904, as well as a collection titled ''Omani Proverbs'' in 1900 (published posthumously as a book in 1987). He also contributed to Indian government publications with medical reports such as a "Medical Topography of Muscat" in 1877, and a "Report on the Recent Epidemic of Cholera in Maskat and Matrah" in 1900.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayakar, Atmaram Sadashiv 19th-century Indian medical doctors 19th-century Indian zoologists 1844 births 1911 deaths Indian naturalists Indian Medical Service officers Marathi people British colonial governors and administrators in Asia