CHARDIN, Jean-Baptiste (1681 Sir John Chardin). Paris 16.11.1643 (Julian 6.11.) — Chiswick, London 5.1.1713 (25.12.1712). French Huguenot Jeweller and Traveller. Sent to the east by his father, the wealthy Parisian jeweller Daniel Chardin, in 1664 he visited Persia (entering the service of Shah Abbas II in Isfahan), then Surat and…
CASTANHEDA, Fernão Lopes de. Santarem c. 1500 — Coimbra 23.3. or 6.6.1559. Portuguese Historian of Colonial India. Illegitimate son of Lopo Fernandez de Castanheda, royal officer, of an old family. In 1528 he accompanied his father to Goa. During ten years in India he visited Portuguese bases as far as…
CARRÉ, Barthélémy. 1636 — after 1699. Abbé. French Traveller. Of Blois, educated by Jesuits, took religious career and was ordained priest. From 1662 served in the navy, apparently as chaplain, in Atlantic, Mediterranian and Levant. Sent by Colbert with F. Caron to Madagascar, they arrived at Surat in 1669. Carré…
CALAND, Willem. Brielle (Den Briel), Zuid Holland 27.8.1859 — Utrecht 23.3. 1932. Dutch Indologist. Professor in Utrecht. Son of the water engineer Pieter Caland (1826–1902) and Helena Carolina de Jonge (1828–1893). Educated in the Hague. Studied from 1877 classical philology under Cobet at Leiden, became interested in Kern’s lectures. In…
CABRAL, Pedro Álvarez (born Pedro Álvarez de Gouveia). Belmonte, Portugal 1467/68 — Santarém? 1520. Portuguese Sailor. Son of a minor nobleman, Fernão Cabral and Isabel Gouveia, himself in high positions at the court of king Manuel. In 1500 he was given the command of the second Portuguese Indian expedition, a…
BURTON, Richard Francis. Barnham House, Elstree, Hertfordshire 19.3.1821 — Trieste 20.10.1890 (Dingle & Garrett: born in Torquay, Devon, Penzer explains: born in Toquay, baptised in Elstree, Herts). Sir. British (partly of Irish origin) Oriental Scholar, Pioneer of Anthropology, Traveller and Diplomat. Son of colonel Joseph Netterville Burton (1782–1857) and Martha…
BURNES, Alexander. Montrose, Angus 16.5.1805 — Kabul 2.11.1841. Sir. British (Scottish) Colonial Officer (Lieutenant-Colonel) and Traveller in India, Afghanistan and Central Asia. Son of James Burnes (1760–1852, provost and a cousin of the poet Robert Burns) and Elizabeth Glegg, brother of —> James Burnes (1801–1862). After attending the famous college…
BURNELL, Arthur Coke. St.Briavels, Gloucestershire 11.7.1840 — West Stratton, Hampshire 12. or 16.10.1882. British Civil Servant and Indologist in India. Son of Arthur Burnell, of E.I.C.’s marine service, and Mary Agnes Coke. Educated at Bedford School, studies at King’s College in London (met Fausbøll there who aroused his interest in…
BUCHANAN-HAMILTON, Francis (until 1815 Francis Buchanan, then Francis Hamilton). Branziet, Callander, Pertshire 15.2.1762 — Callander 15.6.1829. British (Scottish) Physician in India, Traveller and Naturalist, a Pioneer of Burmese Studies and of Indian Archaeology. Son of Thomas B., a physician, and Elizabeth Hamilton, took himself a M.D. at Edinburgh in 1783…
BRIGGS, Henry George. Bombay 20.10.1824 — Bombay 4.7.1872. British Merchant, Traveller, and Orientalist. Son of Henry Briggs. In 1843 travelled in South Africa, in 1845 in China. In 1846 settled at the office of Briggs & Co. in Bombay. For a while lived in Karachi (1854/55), then from 1856 Assistant…