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CONTRIBUTION OF GERMAN SCHOLARS TO PRAKRIT STUDIES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE
ΤΟ
A. WEBER
Dr. B. K. Khadabadi
The first German scholar who showed special interest in and regard for India and its literature and culture is Herder (1744-1803) the poet, It was he who introduced Kālidāsa's Sākuntalam drama to the great poet Gaite (1749-1832). Such interest and regard developed and spread among German scholars on a large scale within a short period i. e. by the close of the first half of the 19th century A. D. and created in them an impression and conviction that for the interpretation and explanation of the history of mankind, adequate study of Indian culture is inevitable. Then soon subjects like Sanskrit (Vedic), Indology and Comparative Linguistics prominently appeared among the various subjects or courses then provided at German Universities.1
As early as 1818, the first Indology Chair was instituted at the University of Bonn. Such second chair came into existence in 1820 at the University of Berlin. Later, several other Universities in Germany instituted such chairs or created Readers' posts for Indological subjects according to their needs and convenience. Today, on the whole, there is provision for at least one or two branches of Indology chosen from Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pāli, or the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain religion, history, culture, modern Indian languages, literature, philology etc. Moreover, the German Oriental Society (Deutsche Morgenlaendische Gesellschaft) has been doing commendable work in this field. At the beginning German Scholars gave much more importance to the study of Vedic culture, but later on they also studied on historical and scientific lines, the Brāhmaṇas, the Upanisads, Scriptures, Grammar, Purāņas, History etc. and held their eminence among all European countries. In the field of Pali and Buddhism, however, their contribution stands rather second to that of the British and French scholars. But their contribution to Prakrit and Jainological studies, barring the work of just a few French, Italian and British scholars, is the
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