Indology is the academic study of the
languages and literature,
history and
cultures of the
Indian subcontinent (most specifically including the modern-day states of
India,
Sri Lanka,
Bangladesh and
Pakistan), and as such a subset of
Asian studies.
Indology may also be known as
Indic studies or
Indian studies, or
South Asian studies, although scholars and university administrators sometimes have only partially overlapping interpretations of these terms.
The term
Indology or (in German)
Indologie is often associated with German scholarship, and is used more commonly in departmental titles in German and continental European universities than in the anglophone academy. In the Netherlands the term
Indologie was used to designate the study of Indonesian history and culture in preparation for colonial service in the Dutch East Indies.
Specifically, Indology includes the study of
Sanskrit literature and
Hinduism along with the other
Indian religions,
Jainism,
Buddhism and
Pāli literature, and
Sikhism.
Dravidology is the separate branch dedicated to the
Dravidian languages of South India.
Some scholars distinguish
Classical Indology from
Modern Indology, the former more focussed on Sanskrit and other ancient language sources, the
latter on contemporary
India, its
politics and
sociology.
History
The beginnings of Indology date back to the
Persian anthropologist and historian
Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī (973-1048).
[Zafarul Islam Khan, , The Milli Gazette.] In his
Kitab fi Tahqiq ma l'il-Hind (
Researches on India), he not only recorded the political
history of India and
military history of India, but also covered India's
cultural,
scientific, social and
religious history in detail.
[M. S. Khan (1976). "al-Biruni and the Political History of India", Oriens 25, p. 86-115.] He was also the first to study the
anthropology of India, engaging in extensive
participant observation with various Indian groups, learning their languages and studying their primary texts, and presenting his findings with
objectivity and
neutrality using
cross-cultural comparisons.
[Akbar S. Ahmed (1984), "Al-Beruni: The First Anthropologist", RAIN 60: 9-10]In the wake of 18th century pioneers like
Henry Thomas Colebrooke or
August Wilhelm Schlegel, Indology as an academic subject emerges in the 19th century, in the context of
British India, together with
Asian studies in general affected by the romantic
Orientalism of the time. The
Société Asiatique was founded in 1822, the
Royal Asiatic Society in 1824, the
American Oriental Society in 1842, and the German Oriental Society (
Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft) in 1845, the Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies in 1949.
Systematic study and editorial activity of
Sanskrit literature became possible with the St. Petersburg
Sanskrit-Wörterbuch during the 1850s to 1870s. Translations of major Hindu texts in the
Sacred Books of the East began in 1879.
Otto von Bohtlingk's edition of
Panini's grammar appeared in 1887.
Max Müller's edition of the
Rigveda appeared in 1849-75. In 1897,
Sergey Oldenburg launched a systematic edition of key Sanskrit texts, "Bibliotheca Buddhica".
Professional literature and associations
Indologists typically attend conferences such as the American Association of Asian Studies, the American Oriental Society annual conference, the World Sanskrit Conference, and national-level meetings in the UK, Germany, India, Japan, France and elsewhere.
They may routinely read and write in journals such as 'Indo-Iranian Journal
,
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society ,
Journal of the American Oriental Society ,
Journal asiatique
,
the Journal of the German Oriental Society (ZDMG) ,
Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens
,
Journal of Indian Philosophy
,
Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
,
"Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies" (Indogaku Bukkyogaku Kenkyu),
Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême Orient'' ,
and others.
They may be members of such professional bodies as the American Oriental Society, the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the Société Asiatique, the Deutsche Morgenlāndische Gesellschaft and others.
List of Indologists
The following is a list of prominent academically-qualified Indologists.
Deceased
Living
