GURNER, Cyril Walter. London 18.1.1888 — 14.8.1960. Sir. British Civil Servant and Indologist in India. Educated at Merchant Taylor’s School, studies at Oriel College, Oxford, and London University. M.A. Passed the I.C.S. examination in 1910 and went to Bengal. District Magistrate in Mymensingh. From 1918 Deputy Chairman of the Calcutta Corporation, in 1925-29 Secretary to Local Government Department. From 1940 Special Officer in Revenue Department, from 1943 in Public Health Department. Retired in 1947. In 1947-51 Regional Controller in Ministry of Town and Country Planning. C.S.I. 1946. Married Phyllis Mills Carver, children.
Publications: A great number of reviews in JRAS, e.g. of the critical Mahābhārata in JRAS 1956, 108f. & 1958, 211f.
– “Some textual notes on Aśvaghoṣa’s Buddhacarita”, JASB 22, 1926, 1-5; “The word ‘vasthānam’ in Aśvaghoṣa”, JRAS 1927, 322f.; “Aśvaghoṣa and the Rāmāyaṇa”, JASB 23, 1927, 347-367; “Two Notes on Bhavabhūti”, JASB 24, 1928, 455-460; “Development of the Ṛtusaṁhāra Theme in the Rāmāyaṇa”, JASB 26, 1930, 161-173; “Psychological simile in Aśvaghoṣa”, JASB 26, 1930, 175-180; “Personification of Night as Woman in Kālidāsa”, D. R. Bhandarkar Vol. 1940, 323f.; “The Fortress Policy in Kauṭilīya’s Arthaśāstra”, IC 8, 1941-42, 251f.; “Psychological imagery in Kālidāsa”, JASB 3rd S. Letters 9, 1943, 191-199; “Kālidāsa’s use of the incarnation theme”, B. C. Law Vol. 1., 1945, 58-65; “Note on Mahābhārata II 28”, JRAS 1956, 201f.; further articles and short notes.
– Translated: A Century of Passion, being a rendering into English verse of the “Śṛiṅgāraśatakam” of the Sanskrit poet Bhartṛhari. 5+42 p. Calcutta & Simla 1927.
– Also wrote on colonial history, e.g. “The Merchant Zemindars”, Bengal Past & Present 29, 1925, 56-67.
Sources: Briefly JRAS 1961, 71; a few stray notes in Internet.
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