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Bühler came to India in 1862 to serve as the first Professor of Sanskrit at Elphinstone College. Although only 26 years old he had not only gotten his doctorate from Göttingen University but also worked in both the Royal Library at Windsor Castle and the University of Göttingen Library. He thus came to the position with all the energies and ambition of youth enhanced by the highest scholarly credentials and complimented by the awareness of librarians to develop well-balanced scholarly collections to support every aspect of research. He must, also, have had the ability to instill great trust and confidence in all whom he met. Being the first Professor of Sanskrit at Elphinstone College, he came to a setting which had totally inadequate resources to support the program he wished to initiate. When he pointed this out to the local Indian community they raised 5,000 rupees so that he might purchase needed works. Bühler also used his initial time in India to become completely fluent in spoken Sanskrit, an ability which gave him great respect among Indians.
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A person of such abilities does not go unrecognized for long and two years after his arrival in India the Government of Bombay appoin ted him to a special committee charged with compiling a digest of Hindu law which would asssit the justice department. Concerned that he should survey the history of law, Bühler soon let it be known to various people that he would be willing to pay any price to get access to needed manuscripts. The plea worked and various individuals began selling him appropriate texts so that he might undertake his work.
In 1866 three things happened to Bühler which provide insight into the contribution which he would make to Sanskrit scholarship. With Franz Kielhorn, Professor of Oriental Languages at Deccan College, he launched the Bombay Sanskrit Series, one of the most prominent nineteenth century series which produced basic editions of Sanskrit texts. To support such work the Government of Bombay sent him on an acquisitions trip to the southern part of the Presidency to acquire Sanskrit manuscripts. Finally Bühler left his position at Elphinstone College to accept the post of Acting Superintendent of Sanskrit Studies and Professor of Ancient History and English at Deccan College in Poona.
The Government of Bombay did not take long to decide that Bühler was the ideal person to work on the Sanskrit program initiated by the Government of India 1868 act. Earlier in 1868 Bühler had accepted the position of Educational Inspector for the northern portion
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