Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Boden, after whom the scholarship is named, served in the Bombay Native Infantry of the East India Company from 1781 until his retirement in 1807.
He died on 21 November 1811, and his will provided that his estate should pass to the University of Oxford after his daughter's death to establish a professorship in Sanskrit.
[1] Boden's bequest is also used to provide scholarships "for the encouragement of the study of, and proficiency in, the Sanskrit Language and Literature".
[2] Under arrangements sanctioned by the Court of Chancery in 1830 and 1860, the scholarships (two at first, later increased to four) were open to students at the university under the age of 25, and were tenable for four years.
[2] The number of scholars and the value of the award are no longer set and are decided by the university's Faculty of Oriental Studies.