FORSTER, Henry Pitts. 1766? (or 1761) — Calcutta (?) 10.9.1815. British Civil Servant in India and a Pioneer of Indology. Possibly studied at Oxford. In 1783 joined the Bengal Civil Service, from 1793 Collector of Tipperah, from 1794 Registrar of the Sadr Diwani Adalat of 24 Parganas. From 1803 in…
FORSTER, George. 1752 — Nagpur 5.1.1792. British Civil Servant and Traveller in India. Served in Madras as early as 1776. In 1782 he travelled from India using the unusual route through Kashmir, Afghanistan, Herat, by the Caspian Sea to Baku, then to Astrakhan and Moscow and by ship from St.Petersburg…
FORBES, James. London 19.5.1749 — Aix-la-Chapelle 1.8.1819. British (Scottish) Civil Servant in India. In 1765 he came to Bombay as a writer, 1775 private secretary to colonel Keating. After a visit to England in 1780 collector and resident in Dabhoy. In 1781 visited Taj Mahal and made the first European…
FITZCLARENCE, George Augustus Frederick, First Earl of Munster. London 29.1.1794 — London 20.3.1842. British Officer and Traveller. Illegitimate son of William IV and Dorothea Bland (née Jordan, from Ireland). Served as officer in Napoleonic wars and 1815-18 in India. Major-General. Earl and Privy Councillor 1833. Married 1819 Mary Wyndham (1792–1842),…
FERRAND, Paul Joseph Gabriel. Marseille 22.1.1864 — Paris 31.1.1935. French Diplomat, Oriental (esp. Arabic) Scholar and a Specialist of Asian Historical Geography. Studies at É.L.O.V.. Served in administrative offices in French Somaliland (Djibouti) and 1887-96 in Madagascar, then as French Consul in Thailand (1896-98), Iran (1898-1900), Indonesia, Germany, and New…
FERGUSSON, John. 17?? — Cape of God Hope 4.9.1773 (?). British Colonial Officer in India. Captain. The author of the first English Hindustani dictionary in 1773, describing the colloquial speech of soldiers for the use of officers, mixing together different forms of language (but with some preponderance of Magahī). Early…
FAURIEL, Claude. Saint-Étienne (Loire) 21.10.1772 — Paris 14/15.7.1844. French Linguist interested in Sanskrit. Professor in Paris. Son of Joseph F., a carpenter, and Anne, lost early his mother. Studied at his uncle’s expense in Tournon and Lyon. With revolution became a civil servant and a soldier. In 1799 moved to…
FAUCHE, Hippolyte. 23.5.1795 (or 1797) — Juilly (Seine-et-Marne) 28.2.1869. French Author and Translator of Sanskrit Classics. Born in Juilly or Auxerre, spent most of his life in Juilly. He attended Burnouf’s classes, developed a great interest in Sanskrit literature and spent the last 20 years of his life translating its…
FABRICIUS, Johann Philipp. Kleeberg, Hessen 22.1.1711 — Madras 23.1.1791. German Missionary and Tamil Scholar. In India from 1740 until his death. Son of Reinhard F., an official of Hessen-Darmstadt, a Pietist family. Studies at Giessen (law) and Halle (now also theology). In 1732-36 worked as tutor in his elder brother’s…
ERSKINE, William. Edinburgh 8.11.1773 — Edinburgh 20.5.1852. British (Scottish) Civil Servant and Lawyer. 1804-23 in India. Son of David E., a lawyer, and Jean Melvin. Educated at Royal High School and Edinburgh University (dr. iuris). He “was a lawyer’s apprentice, 1792-9, went to India in 1803-4 with Sir James Mackintosh”,…