Enlightenment · South Asia · Culture

1784

Asiatic Society of Bengal Founded

January 15, 1784

Sir William Jones, a Welsh judge and prodigious linguist recently arrived in Calcutta, founded the Asiatic Society to study the languages and histories of 'Asia.' Within two years he would announce that Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin came from a common source. Indo-European linguistics and modern Orientalism were born in the same meeting.

More from 1784 Enlightenment

In context

Also in 1784 (3 other events on record)

Cartwright Invents the Power Loom · Europe · Science
Pitt's India Act · South Asia · Politics
Herschel's Catalog of Nebulae · Europe · Science

Before and after in South Asia

Before: 1770: Raja Ram Mohan Roy Born
After: 1785: Warren Hastings Recalled from India

Before and after in Culture

Before: 1781: Kant's Critique of Pure Reason
After: 1788: Mozart's Last Three Symphonies

Era

Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.

Sources

Wikipedia: The Asiatic Society