Write short note : Orientalist Historiography

Answer: Orientalist historiography was the study of ancient Indian culture and texts by European scholars in the 18th and 19th centuries.

• These scholars were attracted to ancient Indian culture and the Sanskrit language.
• Sir William Jones founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784 and pointed out the similarity between Sanskrit and European languages; this led to the idea of a common Indo-European family.
• Friedrich Max Muller translated the ‘Hitopadesh’ into German and edited the 50 volumes of ‘The Sacred Books of the East’.
• Their work brought ancient Indian literature to the world, though it mainly depended on Sanskrit texts.