Jones, William (1746–1794)

Sir William Jones was a British polymath whose scholarly research and vision were critical to both modern linguistics and Indology. In his founding [Page 1350]of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta in 1784 and the journal Asiatic Researches, Jones set forth a broad, interdisciplinary program of research in Indian languages, religions, history, law, natural history, medicine, and botany that represent anthropology at its finest, and that deeply challenged colonial attitudes of the times.

Jones received a classical education in England, which he supplemented with studies of Arabic and Persian. In his early 20s, he became known for his translations from Persian poets and his grammar of Persian. He did not inherit wealth, so he supported himself as a tutor to the son of the Spencer family, and then studied law. His plan was to obtain a position as a judge in India where he could both conduct scholarly work and save enough money to support his later studies; however, Jones differed with the leadership in England on the American War—he was a friend of Benjamin Franklin—and so was relegated to work as a barrister riding legal circuits until the American War was over, when he finally received his appointment to the Supreme Court of Bengal, one of the three British-run provinces in India. He requested and obtained knighthood just before he left for India. His legal training and interest in comparative law were to affect his understanding of culture, presaging the importance of the comparative study of law for anthropology.

When his ship entered the Indian Ocean near the end of the 5-month voyage to India, Jones had a vision of the vastness of Asia, its sciences and arts, its great diversity and geniuses, all largely unexplored by Europeans. Jones arrived in India in 1783, and in early 1784 founded the Asiatic Society to begin to remedy this lack of knowledge through broad, interdisciplinary study. As Jones put it in his initial address to the Society, “Our objectives are Man and Nature: Whatever is performed by the one, or produced by the other.” A more succinct focus for anthropology is hard to imagine.

Jones saw that instead of just taking from India, the British could also make contributions through scholarship. He recognized the need for interaction among scholars and for cooperation and learning from local scholars. In colonial times, the thought that Europe could learn from India, let alone Indian scholars, was radical. Jones studied with local scholars on a daily basis, worked to have their research read at Asiatic Society meetings, and established an award for their finest work—all to encourage cooperation and change in attitude among fellow Europeans.

It was Jones's legal work in India that led to his study of Sanskrit. He believed that the local Hindus and Muslims should be tried according to their own laws and customs. Jones's opinion lined up with the policy of the East India Company, which also understood non-interference in local ways to be in their best interest. But in carrying out local law, British justices were forced to depend on local pundits for understanding of Muslim and Hindu law, a practice which invited corruption. Jones's knowledge of Persian and Arabic provided a sound basis for his scholarship on Muslim law, but for Hindu law he needed Sanskrit. In his first year in India he began study of classical Indian music and Hindu deities and texts, translated through Persian. When he finally decided that he must study Sanskrit himself, it was not easy, for many Indians did not think it appropriate for a Westerner to study their sacred language.

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