SSC 10th Maharashtra, History,
2. Historiography : Indian Tradition
Explain the following concepts.
(1) Orientalist historiography.
Answer:
i. Many European scholars felt curious about civilisations and countries of the East. Some of those scholars felt admiration and respect for them. These scholars were known as ‘Orientalists’.
ii. The orientalists studied the similarities between Sanskrit and some of the European languages. They focused more on Vedic tradition and Sanskrit literature.
iii. Their studies resulted into formulating the notion of an ancient language that could be the mother of all Indo-European languages.
iv. In 1784, Sir William Jones founded Asiatic society in Kolkata. It opened the doors for research in ancient Indian literature and history.
v. Among the Orientalist scholars, Friedrich Max Muller deserves a special mention. In his opinion, Sanskrit was the most ancient language of the Indo- European languages.
vi. He was deeply interested in Sanskrit literature. He first translated the Sanskrit text of ‘Hitopadesh’. He was the editor of 50 volumes of ‘The Sacred Books of the East’. He also compiled ‘Rigveda’, which has been published in six volumes. He translated Rigveda in German.
vii. Lately, Edward Said, a scholar who has re- evaluated the orientalist writings, has thrown light on imperialist interests of orientalist scholars.
