William Jones (philologist)
Sir William Jones was a British philologist, orientalist and a puisne judge on the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal, and a scholar of ancient India. He is particularly known for his proposition of the existence of a relationship among European and Indo-Aryan languages, which later came to be known as the Indo-European languages.
A steel engraving of Sir William Jones, after a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds
Tomb of William Jones in South Park Street Cemetery, Kolkata.
Statue of Jones in St Paul's Cathedral, London
Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studies and Asian studies. Traditional Oriental studies in Europe is today generally focused on the discipline of Islamic studies; the study of China, especially traditional China, is often called Sinology. The study of East Asia in general, especially in the United States, is often called East Asian studies.
Ancient Assyrian antiquities in the British Museum. In the 19th century, the placing of spectacular antiquities in the new museums brought unusual interest from the general public to Oriental studies.
Hayton of Corycus remits his report on the Mongols to Pope Clement V in 1307.
Matteo Ricci (left) and Xu Guangqi (徐光啟) (right) in the Chinese edition of Euclid's Elements (幾何原本) published in 1607
The old building of the Asiatic Society, in Calcutta, founded by William Jones in 1784
