Arthur Coke Burnell

Arthur Coke Burnell (11 July 1840 – 12 October 1882) was an English civil servant who served in the Madras Presidency who was also a scholar in Sanskrit and Dravidian languages.

He was educated at Bedford School, and then went to King's College, London, where a meeting with Professor Viggo Fausböll of Copenhagen led him to an early interest in Indology.

He took the examination for the Indian Civil Services in 1857 and after studies in Sanskrit and Telugu with Theodor Goldstücker went to take up a post in the Madras Presidency in 1860.

He was also the author of a large number of translations from, and commentaries on, various other Sanskrit manuscripts, being particularly successful in grouping and elucidating the essential principles of Hindu law.

[1] In addition to his exhaustive acquaintance with Sanskrit, and the southern Indian languages, he had some knowledge of Tibetan, Arabic, Kawi, Javanese and Coptic.

[3] A list of his publications included his own books as well as notes and translations in the works of other collaborators:[4] Media related to Arthur Coke Burnell at Wikimedia Commons