British orientalist and the first Boden professor of Sanskrit at Oxford University H.H. Wilson was born on this day.

After studying medicine in England, he arrived in India and joined the British East India Company in Bengal as assistant-surgeon.

He learnt Sanskrit and in 1811 was appointed secretary to the Asiatic Society of Bengal. He published a translation of the Rigveda into English and also of Kalidasa’s Meghaduta. He compiled the first Sanskrit-English dictionary. He wrote several volumes on Hindu religion, the Puranas, Hindu and Islamic law, Indian theatre, on Burma and Afghanistan. He prepared a catalogue of oriental manuscripts.

In 1832, he was selected to be the first Boden chair of Sanskrit at Oxford University. He was a fellow of Royal Society of London and director of Royal Asiatic Society till his death.

In Calcutta, he had studied Ayurveda and local medical practices to treat cholera and leprosy. He had superintended the work of Sanskrit College and was a strong critic of the British intention of making English the sole medium of instruction for Indian school students.

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