Charles Henry Tawney (26 December 1837 – 29 July 1922) was an English educator and scholar, primarily known for his translations of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

classics into English. He was fluent in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

; and in India also acquired

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, and

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 ...

Biography

Tawney was the son of Rev. Richard Tawney, and educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

; where he was a

Cambridge Apostle The Cambridge Apostles (also known as the Conversazione Society) is an intellectual society at the University of Cambridge founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who became the first Bishop of Gibraltar. History Student ...

and worked as a fellow and tutor for four years, until he moved to India for health reasons. He married Constance Catharine Fox in 1867 and had a large family. One of his children, born 30 November 1880 in Calcutta, was Richard Henry Tawney. From 1865 to his retirement in 1892 he held various educational offices, most significantly Principal of Presidency College Calcutta, for much of the period of 1875 to 1892. His translation of ''

Kathasaritsagara The ''Kathāsaritsāgara'' ("Ocean of the Streams of Stories") (Devanagari: कथासरित्सागर) is a famous 11th-century collection of Indian legends and folk tales as retold in Sanskrit by the Shaivite Somadeva from Kashmir. ' ...

'' was printed by the

Asiatic Society of Bengal 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 Will ...

in a small series called

Bibliotheca Indica ''Bibliotheca Indica'' is a series of "books belonging to or treating of Oriental literatures and contains original text editions as well as translations into English, and also bibliographies, dictionaries, grammars, and studies" on Asia-related ...

between 1880 and 1884. One of the professors of Presidency College during Tawney's tenure was

Jagadish Chandra Bose Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (; ; 30 November 1858 – 23 November 1937) was a polymath with interests in biology, physics and writing science fiction. He was a pioneer in the investigation of radio microwave optics, made significant contributions ...

. Initially Tawney, along with the Director of Public Instruction, was reluctant to appoint Bose to the post which in those days was usually reserved for Europeans. Bose worked in a temporary post for the first three years. After this, Tawney, along with the Director of Public Instruction, Sir Alfred Croft, recognized the value of Bose's professorial work and his unyielding principles. Through their efforts Bose's position was made permanent. After retirement, Tawney was made Librarian of the India Office.

Translations from Sanskrit

Tawney translated the '' Mālavikāgnimitra'' of

Kālidāsa Kālidāsa (, "Servant of Kali (god), Kali"; 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 Hindu Puranas and philosophy. ...

whose first edition was published in 1875 and second edition in 1891. His other works include: * Bhavabhūti: ''Uttara-rāma-carita'' (1874) — a play *''Two Centuries of Bhartṛihari'' (1877) — two collections of ethical and philosophico-religious stanzas
online
*Somadeva: ''

Kathā Sarit Sāgara The ''Kathāsaritsāgara'' ("Ocean of the Streams of Stories") (Devanagari: कथासरित्सागर) is a famous 11th-century collection of Indian legends and folk tales as retold in Sanskrit by the Shaivite Somadeva from Kashmir. ' ...

'' (1880-1884) — the massive collection of legends and tales
Vol I online

Vol II online
*''Kathākoça'' (1895) — Jain stories
online
*Merutunga: '' Prabandhacintāmaṇi'' (1899-1901) — Jain stories
online

Notes

References

External links

Online HTML ebook of The Ocean of Story (kathasaritsagara), volume 1-9
proofread, including thousands of notes and extra appendixes. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tawney, Charles Henry 1837 births 1922 deaths Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Sanskrit–English translators Academic staff of Presidency University, Kolkata Translators of Kalidasa Panchatantra British Sanskrit scholars British people in colonial India Writers from British India People educated at Rugby School