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John MuirScottish Sanskrit and Indologist.
Date of Birth: 05.02.1810
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
Biography of John Muir
John Muir, a Scottish Sanskritologist and Indologist, was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He received his education at the University of Glasgow and the East India Company College in Haileybury. In 1829, he arrived in India and was appointed a government official in Bengal, holding various positions including Assistant Secretary in the Financial Department of Allahabad, Tax Collector in Azimgarh, and Civil Judge in Fatehpur.
In 1844, Muir was appointed as the first Principal of the Victoria College in Benares. He left the Indian civil service in 1853 and returned to Edinburgh. In 1862, he founded the Sanskrit Chair at the University of Edinburgh.
Main Works
One of Muir's notable works is "Original Sanskrit texts on the origin and history of the people of India, their religion and institutions" (1858-1870). This work is an exploration of the most important sources on the cultural and religious history of India, translated into English. The first volume, published in 1858, discussed the origin of the caste system, arguing that it did not exist during the Vedic period. The second volume (1860) delved into the origin and racial characteristics of the Hindus, establishing their connection with other Indo-European peoples in terms of language, social, and political life.
The third volume, released in 1861, focused on the Vedas. The fourth volume (1863) compared Vedic and later conceptions of the main Hindu deities, tracing the evolution from the major gods of the Vedas to the concept of the Trimurti. The final, fifth volume was published in 1870 and dealt with Vedic mythology.
Muir was also the author of metric translations from Sanskrit, several works on Sanskrit, and numerous articles in the journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.
