Charles Hamilton (1753?–1792) was a British orientalist, known for his English translation of ''

Al-Hidayah ''Al-Hidayah fi Sharh Bidayat al-Mubtadi'' (d. 593 AH/1197 CE) (, ''al-Hidāyah fī Sharḥ Bidāyat al-Mubtadī''), commonly referred to as ''al-Hidayah'' (lit. "the guidance", also spelled ''Hedaya'' Charles Hamilton (trans.) ''The Hedaya: Comm ...

''.

Life

Born in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

about 1753, he was the only son of Charles Hamilton (died 1759), merchant, by Katherine Mackay (died 1767). After spending two years in the office of a Dublin merchant, he obtained a cadetship on the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

's establishment at

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

, and went to India in 1776. He gained his first commission on 24 October that year, and was promoted lieutenant on 10 July 1778. Hamilton studied oriental languages, and became one of the first members 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 returned to England for his major work of translation, completed and published in 1791. He was appointed resident at the court of the grand vizier at

Oudh The Kingdom of Awadh (, , also Oudh State, Kingdom of Oudh, Awadh Subah, or Awadh State) was a Mughal subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a British protectorate in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the Br ...

, and prepared to leave England. Symptoms of

consumption Consumption may refer to: * Eating *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically known as consumption * Consumer (food chain), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of n ...

, however, appeared, and he was recommended to take a voyage to

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

; but he died at

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

on 14 March 1792, aged 39, and was buried in

Bunhill Fields Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London. What remains is about in extent and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the City of London Cor ...

. A monument to his memory was later erected in Belfast by his sisters, who included Elizabeth Hamilton.

Works

While engaged in an expedition against the

Rohilla Rohillas are a community of Pashtuns, Pashtun heritage, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region ...

s he collected the materials ''Historical Relation of the Origin, Progress, and Final Dissolution of the Government of the Rohilla Afgans in the Northern Provinces of Hindostan'', 1787, compiled from a Persian manuscript and other original papers. In 1786 he obtained permission to return home for five years in order to translate from Persian the ''Al-Hidayah'', published as the ''Hedaya, or Guide'', a work of ''

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

''; he was selected for the task by the governor-general and council of Bengal. The work appear in four quarto volumes, in 1791. A second edition of the ''Hedaya'', by Standish Grove Grady, was published in 1870.

References

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Charles 1750s births 1792 deaths British East India Company Army officers British orientalists Writers from Belfast Burials at Bunhill Fields 18th-century British translators