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James Prinsep

British scholar, orientalist and antiquary (1799-1840) · Writers · Died at 40

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James Prinsep was an English scholar, orientalist and antiquary. He was the founding editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and is best remembered for deciphering the Kharosthi and Brahmi scripts of ancient India.

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Young James drawn by his sister EmilyYoung James drawn by his sister EmilyA Preacher Expounding The Poorans. In The Temple of Unn Poorna, Benares. Lithograph by Prinsep (1835)A Preacher Expounding The Poorans. In The Temple of Unn Poorna, Benares. Lithograph by Prinsep (1835)Lithograph of Kupuldhara Tulao, Benares by Prinsep (1834)Lithograph of Kupuldhara Tulao, Benares by Prinsep (1834)Bairat inscription, on which Prinsep worked to decipher Brahmi. On display in the Asiatic Society. See commemorative plate in honour of James Prinsep.Bairat inscription, on which Prinsep worked to decipher Brahmi. On display in the Asiatic Society. See commemorative plate in honour of James Prinsep.Prinsep used bilingual Indo-Greek coins to decipher Kharoshthi. Obverse and reverse legends in Greek "Basileos Sotēros Menandroy" and Kharosthi "Maharaja Tratasa Menandrasa": "Of The Saviour King Menander".Prinsep used bilingual Indo-Greek coins to decipher Kharoshthi. Obverse and reverse legends in Greek "Basileos Sotēros Menandroy" and Kharosthi "Maharaja Tratasa Menandrasa": "Of The Saviour King Menander".The last two letters at the end of this inscriptions in Brahmi were guessed to form the word "dǎnam" (donation), which appears at the end of most inscriptions at Sanchi and Bharhut. This hypothesis permitted the complete decipherment of the Brahmi script by James Prinsep in 1837.[11][12][13]The last two letters at the end of this inscriptions in Brahmi were guessed to form the word "dǎnam" (donation), which appears at the end of most inscriptions at Sanchi and Bharhut. This hypothesis permitted the complete decipherment of the Brahmi script by James Prinsep in 1837.[11][12][13]Consonants of the Brahmi script, and their evolution down to modern Devanagari, according to James Prinsep, as published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, in March 1838.[14]Consonants of the Brahmi script, and their evolution down to modern Devanagari, according to James Prinsep, as published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, in March 1838.[14]

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Fellow of the Royal Society

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James Prinsep was an English scholar, orientalist and antiquary. He was the founding editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and is best remembered for deciphering the Kharosthi and Brahmi scripts of ancient India. He studied, documented and illustrated many aspects of numismatics, metallurgy, and meteorology apart from pursuing his career in India as an assay master at the mint in Benares.

Category
Writers
Type
Writer / Author
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1799 to 1840 · aged 40

Writers born in the 1790s 6

Willibald Alexis50.8Mariano Gomes50.6John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham50.9John Keble50.5Felicia Hemans51.0Mariano Melgar50.4

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