l'Astronomie Indienne et Orientale," by the late learned M. Bailly. * Yet it is within little more than these thirty years past, that really authentic proofs have been procured, of the political state and learning in general, of the Indians in the remote ages we have alluded to. Till then, the want of a complete knowledge of the Sanscrit, with numerous other circumstances, obstructed inquiry; happily those obstacles have since been removed. The conquests of the Mohammedans were not merely suggested by ambition, but excited by the wish of propagating their doctrines, which was exercised with fanatic fury. Every true Musalman thought it a pious duty to subdue infidels, and force them to adopt his faith. The subversion of the Hindū religion was considered as a sacred obligation, the execution of which might sometimes be suspended from political motives, or modified by the disposition of particular chiefs, but it was never renounc * Published at Paris, in 1787. c2 ed; and notwithstanding instances of toleration that may be produced, as during the reign of that enlightened prince, Akber, and some of his successors, it is evident that the Hindūs were ever regarded by the Mohammedans in general, with abhorrence and contempt.* The practices of those invaders naturally inspired the natives with suspicions of their subsequent English rulers. The Brahmins, sole depositories of the Hindu laws and doctrines, were also the Brakur.. tion and re appointed G possessions i his particula fears. He mation of t excited to t the more la means for b his importan welfare of th ed the adva and Hindist course of so the principa gaining their posed. A c dū laws, by pose; a Pers their inspect * The desire of converting all the inhabitants of Hindūstan, seems to have excited Tippoo Sultan to the projects which terminated so fatally for him, even more than his inveteracy to the English, or his desire of encreasing his dominions. In his correspondence with Zimman Shah, king of Cabul, and other Mohammedan princes, which was found in the palace of Seringapatam after the capture of the place, this appears to be the grand object he had in view; and he speaks of the destruction of the English but as a measure necessary to accomplish it. In the countries conquered by him, and even in Mysore, he caused many Hindūs to be forcibly circumcised. His father Hyder Ali, on the contrary, left his subjects to practise the doctrines in which they were educated, or which they voluntarily chose to adopt. the sole interpreters of them. Some endeavours to obtain information on those subjects, had not only proved fruitless, but had even tended to encrease the distrust of the Brahmins, and with that, their caution and reserve. Mr. Hastings on being appointed Governor-General of the British possessions in India, made it an object of his particular attention, to remove their fears. He wished to obtain precise information of their institutions. He was not excited to this by mere curiosity, but, by the more laudable motive of acquiring means for better discharging the duties of his important station, in promoting the welfare of the people at large. He enjoyed the advantage of knowing the Persian and Hindūstanee languages; and in the course of some personal conferences with the principal Brahmins, he succeeded in gaining their approbation to what he proposed. A compilation of a code of Hindū laws, by Pundits convened for the purpose; a Persian version of it made under their inspection; a translation from that vernor-Gez of the trie having des sons to the the instatatt of condu purposes of was unanim. office. At t he in his c the subjects the mode of the Preside year, relativ done and wh future inquir be able to ex began assidu and from his ing language space of time into English, by Mr. Halhed, and one of the Bhagvat-Geeta, from the Sanscrit language, by Mr. (now Dr.) C. Wilkins, were all executed and published under his patronage.* The work thus begun by Mr. Hastings, was successfully prosecuted under the auspices of the late Sir William Jones, who had early been distinguished at Oxford, not only for his taste and knowledge in Greek and Roman literature, but also for his knowledge of the languages and history of the East. To attain the objects proposed, it was necessary for him to call to his aid the united efforts of all who were qualified and disposed to join with him in his labours. He therefore devised an institution, declared to be on the plan of the Royal Society of London. This institution, sanctioned by government, met for the first time in January, 1784, when it was resolved, as a just tribute of respect to the Go * The Bhagvat-Geeta is the first work, I believe, that was ever translated from Sanscrit into any European language. * See Asiatic P ciety at Calcutta. vernor-General, to solicit his acceptance of the title of President; but Mr. Hastings, having desired leave to resign his pretensions to the person whose genius had planned the institution, and who was the most capable of conducting it to the attainment of the great purposes of its formation, Sir William Jones was unanimously requested to accept that office. At the next meeting of the Society, he in his capacity of President, unfolded the subjects proposed for its inquiries; and the mode of pronouncing a discourse by the President at the first meeting in each year, relative to what had already been done and what was proposed as subjects of future inquiry, has been continued.* To be able to execute what he had in view, he began assiduously to study the Sanscrit, and from his extraordinary facility in learning languages, he in an astonishingly short space of time, attained a complete know * See Asiatic Researches, or Transactions of the Society at Calcutta. |