DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16243#0041
PHYSICAL TYPES
Nearly twenty years ago, when the ethnographic survey of
Bengal was in progress, the late Professor _. , _
lv/r A/r-ii i i ... • Language and Race.
Max Muller sent me a long letter, since
published in his collected works, in which he protested against
"the unholy alliance" of the two sciences of ethnology and
comparative philology. At first sight it is hard to understand
why two lines of research, dealing with different subjects and
working towards different ends, should be charged with
nefarious collusion for the purpose of perverting the truth.
A clue to the grounds of the accusation is, however, furnished
by Sir Henry Maine's remark that the study of the sacredJ.
languages of India has given to the world " the modern science
of Philology and the modern theory of Race." The study
of Sanskrit received its first impetus from the publication by
Sir William Jones of translations of Kalidasa's Sakuntala in
1789 and of the Institutes of Manu in 1794.* The discovery
was announced and its importance emphasised in Friedrich von
Schlegel's treatise on the Language and Wisdom of the Hindus ;
but even with this assistance the fresh ideas took more than
a generation to spread beyond the narrow circle of Orientalists
and to impress themselves upon the main current of European
thought. The birth of a new science, based upon an ancient
language of which most people then heard for the first time,
was inaugurated by Friedrich Bopp's Comparative Grammar
of the Indo-European languages. The editions of this work
extend over the period 1833—1852, so that the beginnings of
Comparative Philology coincide in point of time with the
popular upheaval which found expression in the revolutionary
movements of 1848. The belief that linguistic affinities prove
community of descent was one which commended itself alike
to populations struggling for freedom and to rulers in search
of excuses for removing a neighbour's landmark. The old
idea of tribal sovereignty seemed almost to have revived
when Napoleon III. assumed the title of Emperor of the
French and justified his annexation of Savoy by the plea that
territory where French was spoken ought to belong to France.
As the principle gained strength and was invoked on a larger
[* Professor A. A. Mac'donell points out that "the first impulse to the study of Sanskrit
was given by the practical administrative needs of our Indian possessions. Warren
Hastings, at that time Governor-General, clearly seeing the advantage of ruling the Hindus
as far as possible according to their own laws and customs, caused a number of Brahmins
to prepare a digest based on the best ancient legal authorities. An English version of this
Sanskrit compilation, made through the medium of a Persian translation, was published
1,1 i77o." (A History of Sanskrit Literature, 1900, p. 8.)]
Nearly twenty years ago, when the ethnographic survey of
Bengal was in progress, the late Professor _. , _
lv/r A/r-ii i i ... • Language and Race.
Max Muller sent me a long letter, since
published in his collected works, in which he protested against
"the unholy alliance" of the two sciences of ethnology and
comparative philology. At first sight it is hard to understand
why two lines of research, dealing with different subjects and
working towards different ends, should be charged with
nefarious collusion for the purpose of perverting the truth.
A clue to the grounds of the accusation is, however, furnished
by Sir Henry Maine's remark that the study of the sacredJ.
languages of India has given to the world " the modern science
of Philology and the modern theory of Race." The study
of Sanskrit received its first impetus from the publication by
Sir William Jones of translations of Kalidasa's Sakuntala in
1789 and of the Institutes of Manu in 1794.* The discovery
was announced and its importance emphasised in Friedrich von
Schlegel's treatise on the Language and Wisdom of the Hindus ;
but even with this assistance the fresh ideas took more than
a generation to spread beyond the narrow circle of Orientalists
and to impress themselves upon the main current of European
thought. The birth of a new science, based upon an ancient
language of which most people then heard for the first time,
was inaugurated by Friedrich Bopp's Comparative Grammar
of the Indo-European languages. The editions of this work
extend over the period 1833—1852, so that the beginnings of
Comparative Philology coincide in point of time with the
popular upheaval which found expression in the revolutionary
movements of 1848. The belief that linguistic affinities prove
community of descent was one which commended itself alike
to populations struggling for freedom and to rulers in search
of excuses for removing a neighbour's landmark. The old
idea of tribal sovereignty seemed almost to have revived
when Napoleon III. assumed the title of Emperor of the
French and justified his annexation of Savoy by the plea that
territory where French was spoken ought to belong to France.
As the principle gained strength and was invoked on a larger
[* Professor A. A. Mac'donell points out that "the first impulse to the study of Sanskrit
was given by the practical administrative needs of our Indian possessions. Warren
Hastings, at that time Governor-General, clearly seeing the advantage of ruling the Hindus
as far as possible according to their own laws and customs, caused a number of Brahmins
to prepare a digest based on the best ancient legal authorities. An English version of this
Sanskrit compilation, made through the medium of a Persian translation, was published
1,1 i77o." (A History of Sanskrit Literature, 1900, p. 8.)]