MUIR, JOHN (1810-1882)

This article appears in Volume V18, Page 958 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MOS-NAN

MUIR, JOHN (1810-1882) , Scottish Orientalist, was born on the 5th of February 1810 in Glasgow, where his father, William Muir (d. 1821), was a merchant. He was educated at the grammar school of Irvine, the university of Glasgow, and the

East

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

India Company's College at Haileybury. He went to India in 1829, and served with distinction in various offices, as assistant secretary to the board of revenue,

Allahabad

ALLAHABAD

, as collector at Azimgarh, as principal of the Victoria College, Benares, and as civil and session judge at Fatehpur. He encouraged the study of Sanskrit, and furthered schemes for the enlightenment and amelioration of the Hindus. In 1853 he retired and settled in Edinburgh, where he continued his Indian labours. In 1862 he endowed the chair of Sanskrit in the university of Edinburgh, and was the main agent in

founding

FOUNDING (from Lat. fundere, to pour)

the Shaw fellowship in moral philosophy. He was a D.C.L. of

Oxford

, LL.D. of Edinburgh and Ph.D. of

Bonn

BONN

, and was one of the first to receive the distinction of C.I.E. He died on the 7th of

March

1882.
In 1858 appeared vol. i. of his

Original

ORIGINAL

Sanskrit Texts (2nd ed., 1868) ; it was on the origin of caste, an inquiry intended to show that it did not exist in the Vedic age. Vol. ii. (1st ed., 1860; and, 1871) was concerned with the origin and racial affinities of the Hindus, exhibiting all the then available evidences of their connexion, their linguistic, social and political kinship, with the other branches of the Indo-European stock. Vol. iii. (1st ed., 1861; and, 1868) was on the Vedas, a full inquiry as to the ideas of their origin, authority and

inspiration

INSPIRATION (Lat. inspirare, breathe upon or into)

held both by the Vedic and later Indian writers. Vol. iv. (1st ed., 1863; and, 1873) was a comparison of the Vedic with the later representations of the principal Indian deities, an exhibition of the process by which three gods hardly known to the Vedic hymns became the deities of the former Hindu Trimurti. Vol. v, (187o) was on the Vedic mythology. Dr Muir was also the author of a volume of Metrical Translations from the Sanskrit, an

anonymous

ANONYMOUS

work

WORK

Inspiration

INSPIRATION (Lat. inspirare, breathe upon or into)

, several works in Sanskrit, and many essays in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society and elsewhere.

End of Article: MUIR, JOHN (1810-1882)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/MOS_NAN/MUIR_JOHN_1810_1882_.html">
MUIR, JOHN (1810-1882)
</a>

(Previous)
MUHLHAUSEN

(Next)
MUIR, SIR WILLIAM (1819-1905)

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email