STACK, George A. 1819? — ?.12.1853. British Colonial Officer in India, Pioneer of Sindhi Studies. One Internet source claims that he was a missionary, but the Preface of his 1855 dictionary shows this an error. He was Captain and Deputy Collector in Hyderabad, Sindh, when he fell ill in 1851. After a furlough he returned to Sindh, but succumber soon to his illness. The second source states that he came to India in 1843, learned Sanskrit and Hindi and was posted in Hyderabad. But probably 1843 is for Hyderabad as Captain Stack is mentioned in Bombay Times as early as 1839. Another Mr. George A. Stack was Professor at Presidency College and editor of CR in 1887.
Stack did important pioneer work with Sindhi. He used Devanāgarī characters for Sindhi, but explained this stating that this was the easiest for his official colleagues, for whom the books were meant. He was also keenly interested in botany.
Publications: A Grammar of the Sindhí Language. 153 p. Haiderabad 1847 / Bombay 1849.
– A Dictionary English and Sindhi. 238 p. Bombay 1849; A Dictionary, Sindhí and English. 6+437 p. Bombay 1855.
Sources: B.H. Ellis, Preface to the 1855 dictionary; vol. 3 of The Comprehensive Sindhi Dictionary; birth year in krjsalb.org.pk.
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