Most of the Indological dictionaries are copied heavily from ShabdaKalpadruma by राजा राधाकान्तदेवः।
Initial ‘Indologists’ deployed an army of “pundits” to do the ‘grunt work’ & taking credit without any referencing
Would be pretty much plagiarism under modern standards
The origin of Sanskrit dictionaries in the west is quite interesting
HH Wilson published the first one in 1838
Pretty much ‘copied’ the entire ShabdaKalpadrumah
Petersburger Worterbuch also relied heavily on शब्दकल्पद्रुमः & sources referenced in this magnum opus
HH Wilson has been explicitly acknowledged to fully ‘incorporate’ शब्दकल्पद्रुमः।
The initial review in the Asiatic Journal is useful
‘has, of course been carefully reproduced by the learned lexicographer, who was in possession of 3 volumes’
Mr Davis ‘uses’ it in his ‘essays’
William Jones deploying a ‘Pundit’ to create his works referenced here
Delicately phrased as ‘taking assistance of’ 🤣
Within 2-3 iterations, by late 1800s, Indologists had started the process of creating their own ‘interpretations’ without any connection to traditional Indian sources
Which continue till today, all the while appropriating & twisting native beliefs & epistemological categories
Given this appropriative & racist enterprise masquerading as an academic subject, tough questions need to be asked & a minimum standard expected from these folks
The free passes need to ✋
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.