Kashinath Trimbak Telang
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Kashinath Trimbak Telang (20 August 1850 – 1 September 1893), better known as K. T. Telang, was an Indian indologist, politician, and
judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
at the
Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...
.


Early life and education

Telang was born in a Gaud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) family. At the age of five Telang was sent to the Amarchaud Wadi
vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...
school, and in 1859 entered the high school in Bombay which bears the name of Mountstuart Elphinstone. Here he came under the influence of Narayan Mahadev Purmanand, a teacher of intellect and force of character, afterwards one of Telang's most intimate friends. As a student, Telang won the Bhugwandas scholarship in
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 ...
, and in this language his later studies were profound. From this school he passed to the Elphinstone College, of which he became a fellow, and after taking the degree of M.A. and LL.B., decided to follow the example of Bal Mangesh Wagle, the first Indian admitted by the judges to practise on the original side of the high court, a position more like the status of a
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
than a ''vakil'' or pleader. He passed the examination and was enrolled in 1872.


Career


Legal career

By profession an
advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...
of the high court, he also took a vigorous share in literary, social, municipal and political work, as well as in the affairs of the
University of Bombay University of Mumbai is a public university, public List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, state university in Mumbai. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest univ ...
, over which he presided as vice-chancellor from 1892 until his death. His learning and other gifts soon brought him an extensive practice. He had complete command of the
English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
, and his intimacy with
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 ...
enabled him to study and quote the
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
law-books with an ease not readily attained by
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
an counsel. He was one of the counsel for the defendant,
Rukhmabai Rukhmabai (22 November 1864 – 25 September 1955) was an Indian physician and feminist. She is best known for being one of the first practicing women doctors in colonial India (the first being Dr. Kadambini Ganguly who started practicing in ...
in the famous restitution of conjugal rights brought by her husband. Telang, finding his career assured, declined an offer of official employment. But in 1889 he accepted a seat on the high court bench, where his judgments are recognized as authoritative, especially on the
Hindu law Hindu law, as a historical term, refers to the code of laws applied to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs in British India. Hindu law, in modern scholarship, also refers to the legal theory, jurisprudence and philosophical reflections on the na ...
.


Educationalist

He was
syndic ''Syndic'' (; Greek: ) is a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a university, institution or other corporation, entrusted with special functions or p ...
of the university from 1881, and
vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...
from 1892 until his death. In that year also he was elected President of the Bombay 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 ...
. These two offices had never been held by a native of India before. The decoration of C.I.E. conferred on him in the 1884 Birthday Honours was a recognition of his services as a member of Hunter Commission appointed by the colonial government to deal with the educational system of India.


Politics

Telang was active in politics from 1872 to 1889. He was nominated to the Bombay legislative council in 1884, but declined a similar position on the viceroy's council. He and fellow Bombay lawyers, Pherozshah Mehta, and Badruddin Tyabji were the founders of the Bombay Presidency Association. He was the secretary of reception committee for the inaugural meeting of the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
in 1885.


Sanskrit scholar

His translation of the
Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu texts, Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the Hindu epic, epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Ind ...
into English prose and verse is a standard work, and available in
Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born British comparative philologist and oriental studies, Orientalist. He was one of the founders of the Western academic disciplines of Indology and religious s ...
's monumental compilation, the ''
Sacred Books of the East The ''Sacred Books of the East'' is a monumental 50-volume set of English translations of Asian religious texts, edited by Max Müller and published by the Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910. It incorporates the essential sacred texts ...
'', volume 8, as the ''Bhagavadgita With the Sanatsugâtiya and the Anugitâ'' (published 1882). Also notable is his publication, in 1884, of the historical Sanskrit play, '' Mudrarakshasa'' of '' Vishakhadatta'' under the auspices of the Education Department and the Government Central Book Depot, Bombay. He criticized Albrecht Weber's hypothesis that the story of the
Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...
was influenced by the
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
ic epics. While devoted to the sacred classics of the Hindus, Telang did not neglect his own vernacular, Marathi literature being enriched by his translation of Lessing's '' Nathan the Wise'', and an essay on ''Social Compromise''.


Works

*
The Bhagavadgîtâ With the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ
' (1882) *
Rise of the Maráthá Power
' (1900) *
Mudrarakshasa With the Commentary of Dhundiraja
' (1915)


Notes


References

* * *


External links

* *''Mudrarakshasa'' of ''Vishakhadatta'' (critical notes and introduction in English) includes 1713 CE commentary of Dhundhiraj; at google book

*The ''Bhagvadgita'' with the '' Sanatsugatiya'' and ''Anugita'' Vol.8, The Sacred Books of the East. Translated by Kashinath Trimbak Telan


Brief biography at Bombay High Court
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telang, Kashinath Trimbak Writers from Mumbai 19th-century Indian judges Indian Indologists 1850 births 1893 deaths Hindu law jurists University of Mumbai alumni Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Judges of the Bombay High Court 20th-century Indian judges Members of the Bombay Legislative Council People from British India