Monier Monier-Williams

Monier Monier-Williams studied at Balliol College, University College, Oxford and King's College School. The recorded working language is English. Employment is recorded with University of Oxford. Distinctions recorded are Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire, honorary doctor of the University of Calcutta and Knight Bachelor.

• Honorific Prefix — Sir • Name — Monier Monier-Williams • Honorific Suffix — KCIE • Birth Name — Monier Williams • Born — 12 November 1819 • Birthplace — Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India • Died — 11 April 1899 • Place of death — Cannes, France • Education — King's College School, Balliol College, Oxford; East India Company College; University College, Oxford • Known for — Boden Professor of Sanskrit; Sanskrit–English dictionary • Awards — Knight Bachelor; Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire

Monier Williams was born in Bombay, the son of Colonel Monier Williams, surveyor-general in the Bombay presidency. His surname was "Williams" until 1887, when he added his given name to his surname to create the hyphenated "Monier-Williams". In 1822, he was sent to England to be educated at private schools at Hove, Chelsea and Finchley. He was educated at King's College School, Balliol College, Oxford (1838–40), the East India Company College (1840–41) and University College, Oxford (1841–44). He took a fourth-class honours degree in Literae Humaniores in 1844. He married Julia Grantham, daughter of Rev. Francis Joseph Faithfull, in 1848. They had six sons and one daughter. He died, aged 79, in Cannes, France.

Monier Williams taught Asian languages at the East India Company College from 1844 until 1858 when company rule in India ended after the 1857 rebellion. He came to national prominence during the 1860 election campaign for the Boden Chair of Sanskrit at Oxford University, in which he stood against Max Müller. The vacancy followed the death of Horace Hayman Wilson in 1860. Wilson had started the university's collection of Sanskrit manuscripts upon taking the chair in 1831, and had indicated his preference that Williams should be his successor. The campaign was notoriously acrimonious. Müller was known for his liberal religious views and his philosophical speculations based on his reading of Vedic literature. Monier Williams was seen as a less brilliant scholar, but had a detailed practical knowledge of India itself, and of actual religious practices in modern Hinduism. Müller, in contrast, had never visited India. Both candidates had to emphasise their support for Christian evangelisation in India, since that was the basis on which the professorship had been funded by its founder. Monier Williams' dedication to Christianisation was not doubted, unlike Müller's. Monier Williams also stated that his aims were practical rather than speculative. "Englishmen are too practical to study a language very philosophically", he wrote. After his appointment to the professorship Williams declared from the outset that the conversion of India to the Christian religion should be one of the aims of orientalist scholarship. In his book Hinduism, published by SPCK in 1877, he predicted the demise of the Hindu religion and called for Christian evangelism to ward off the spread of Islam. According to Saurabh Dube this work is "widely credited to have introduced the term Hinduism into general English usage" while David N. Lorenzen cites the book along with India, and India Missions: Including Sketches of the Gigantic System of Hinduism, Both in Theory and Practice: Also Notices of Some of the Principal Agencies Employed in Conducting the Process of Indian Evangelization.

Monier-Williams's translations include that of Kālidāsa's plays Vikramorvasi (1849) and Śākuntala (1853; 2nd ed. 1876). • Translation of Shakuntala (1853) • Hindu Literature: comprising the Book of Good Counsels, Nala and Damayanti, the Rámáyana and Śakoontalá

• Illustration — Picture with devanagari conjuncts from An Elementary Grammar of the Sanscrit Language, page 25, Monier Monier-Williams (1846). * • Original papers illustrating the history of the application of the Roman alphabet to the languages of India: Edited by Monier Williams (1859) Modern Reprint * * * • Translation of Shikshapatri – The manuscript of the principal scripture Sir John Malcolm received from Swaminarayan on 26 February 1830 when he was serving as the Governor of Bombay Presidency, Imperial India. Currently preserved at Bodleian Library. • Brahmanism and Hinduism (1883) • Buddhism, in its connexion with Brahmanism and Hinduism, and in its contrast with Christianity (1889) • Sanskrit-English Dictionary,. • A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European languages, Monier Monier-Williams, revised by E. Leumann, C. Cappeller, et al. 1899, Clarendon Press, Oxford • A Practical Grammar of the Sanskrit Language, Arranged with Reference to the Classical Languages of Europe, for the Use of English Students, Oxford: Clarendon, 1857, enlarged and improved Fourth Edition 1877

Monier Monier-Williams was recorded at birth as Monier Williams. The authorities additionally record the heading Sir Monier Monier-Williams. His recorded language was English. He was the child of Monier Williams. 2 children are recorded: Montagu Sneade Faithfull Monier-Williams and Ella Monier-Williams.

Monier Monier-Williams is recorded as linguist, indologist, translator, lexicographer and writer.