[1] Scottish dominance within British orientalism at the end of the 18th century—the period after the death of Sir William Jones in 1794—was almost complete: the only leading exception was Henry Thomas Colebrooke.
[2] Rendall has identified a group of Scottish oriental scholars, under the influence of Dugald Stewart and his view of "philosophical history".
They bridge the gap between William Robertson who warned of the ethnocentrism into which the approach of stadial history could betray Europeans, and James Mill who in The History of British India embraced the assumption of European superiority, in the case of Hindu culture.
These men all had contact with Edinburgh University, and comprise:[3] Michael Fry has argued that there was a "Scottish orientalist regime", including Elphinstone.
[4] The views of Scottish administrators derived from the contemporary Moderate church party, and Scottish intellectuals including Robertson and Adam Ferguson, leading to an accepting line on Indian custom and culture.