Sir Monier Monier-Williams

author

Sir Monier Monier-Williams

1819–1899

A pioneering Sanskrit scholar of the Victorian era, he helped generations of readers approach Indian languages and literature through teaching, translation, and a landmark Sanskrit-English dictionary. His work also shaped how Hinduism and Indian traditions were studied in Britain.

1 Audiobook

Buddhism, in Its Connexion with Brahmanism and Hinduism, and in Its Contrast with Christianity

Buddhism, in Its Connexion with Brahmanism and Hinduism, and in Its Contrast with Christianity

by Sir Monier Monier-Williams

About the author

Born in Bombay in 1819, Monier Monier-Williams became one of the best-known British Sanskrit scholars of the 19th century. He studied at Oxford and later succeeded Horace Hayman Wilson as the Boden Professor of Sanskrit there, a post he held for decades.

He is remembered above all for his Sanskrit-English dictionary, which became a standard reference work, as well as for books on Indian religion, literature, and language. His career was closely tied to Oxford's growing study of India, and he also played an important part in the founding of the Indian Institute at the university.

Monier Monier-Williams died in Cannes in 1899. Although some of his writing reflects the attitudes of his time, his scholarship had a lasting influence on the study and teaching of Sanskrit in the English-speaking world.