NIKITIN, Afanasij. Tver 1433 (?) — Smolensk 1472 or 1475 (?). Russian Traveller in India. A merchant from Tver, he visited Persia and India, and wrote a good account of these countries. Probably he had travelled much even before, in Baltic and Caucasian countries and Ottoman Empire. The chronology of…
NIEUHOFF, Johan. Uelsen, Grafschaft Bentheim (Germany) 22.7.1618 — Madagascar 8.10.1672. Dutch Traveller in India in the middle of the 17th century. Son of the mayor of Uelsen, Jan van Nijhoff, of Zwolle, and Egberta Picardt. In 1640-49 in Brazil during the Dutch attempt to establish a colony there, then in…
NIEDERMANN, Max Jakob. Winterthur 19.5.1874 — Neuchâtel 12.1.1954. Swiss Linguist (Classical and IE). Professor in Basel and Neuchâtel. Son of merchant Jakob Niedermann and Regula Susanna Stolz. Educated in Winterthur. Studies at Zürich (1893-94) and Basel (1894-97, especially under Wackernagel), Ph.D. 1897 Basel. Then further studies in Paris (Meillet and L.…
NIEBUHR, Carsten. Lüdingworth near Cuxhaven 17.3.1733 — Meldorf, Holstein 26.4.1815. German Traveller, Geographer and Engineer in Danish Service. Son of Barthold Niebuhr (1704–1749), a free farmer, and Caecilie von Duhn (1706–1733). Father’s death interrupted school, but he studied privately mathematics, surveying, and Arabic, then as student at Göttingen. Selected by…
NICHOLSON, B. A. R. 1??? — 1???. British Physician in Bombay Medical Service. M.D. Active as early as 1832, serving in Bhooj (1836), Surat (1840) and Rajkote (1843/48). Married Catherine (d. 1843). Publications: Brief papers in Transactions of Bombay Geogr. Soc. 1844, 108f., JBRAS 1, 1844, Tr. of Linnean Soc.…
NICHOLL, George Frederick. Tipton, Staffordshire 5.11.1832 — 28.7.1913. British Semitic Scholar also interested in Indology. Son of John Nicholls (1811–1893, his sons dropped the final s), a colliery clerk and composer. Studies at Balliol College, Oxford, M.A. 1878, Hon. Fellow 1888. As a schoolteacher in London he taught Sanskrit to…
NEWALL, David John Falconer. Kensington, London 1825 — Isle of Wight 8.3.1901. British Colonial Officer in India. Son of David Rae Newall (1789–1874) and Charlotte Janetta Falconer (1801–1831). Educated at Rugby. From c. 1842 served in Bengal Artillery. Lieutenant-Colonel, retired as Major-General. In 1882 living in the Isle of Wight.…
NEVILL, Hugh. Tottenham, Middlesex (London) 19.6.1847 — Hyères, France 10.4.1897. British Civil Servant in Sri Lanka. Son of William Nevill (1808–1874), an amateur geologist), and Mary Oridge (1818–1857), grew up in Godalmig, Surrey. Came to Ceylon when 17 as private secretary to Chief Justice and served 27 years there, finally…
NÈVE, Félix-Jean-Baptiste-Joseph. Ath 13.6.1816 — Leuven 23.5.1893. Belgian Indologist and Oriental Scholar. Professor in Louvain (Leuven). Son of merchant Auguste Nève and Marie Delwarde, the family moved early to Lille where he went to school. From 1834 among the first students at Louvain, just reestablished as a Catholic French-speaking university…
NEUMANN, Karl Friedrich (originally Justus Lazarus Bamberger). Reichmannsdorf near Bamberg 28.12.1793 (?) — Berlin 17.3. or 28.3.1870. German Oriental Scholar and Historian. Professor in Munich. Son of a poor Jewish merchant, Lippmann Bamberger, after Jewish school worked himself in the shop. Date of birth is his own statement, which has…