RAS question
The Asiatic Society of Bengal, which promoted study of Indian history and culture, was founded in 1784 by:
Correct answer: (B) Sir William Jones.
The Asiatic Society of Bengal was founded by Sir William Jones on 15 January 1784 in Calcutta.
Explanation
Sir William Jones is the founder because the official history of the Asiatic Society records that he founded the institution on 15 January 1784 at a meeting in the Grand Jury Hall of the Supreme Court, Calcutta. Jones, a puisne judge of the Calcutta Supreme Court and a major Orientalist scholar, wanted a regular organisation for Oriental studies. The same account explains why the proposal moved smoothly: Warren Hastings, then Governor-General, had a strong interest in Indian classical languages and literature, and several Company officials were already active in Oriental studies. This makes Hastings a patron and enabling figure, but not the founder.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Warren Hastings supported the project as Governor-General, but the founding proposal and institution are credited to Sir William Jones.
- (C) Max Mueller is associated with Vedic scholarship, but he worked later from Germany and England and was not connected with founding the society in Calcutta in 1784.
- (D) Charles Wilkins was a Sanskrit scholar and member of the Orientalist circle, but the society's founding is attributed to Sir William Jones, not Wilkins.
Concept
This tests the Orientalist phase of modern Indian history, especially early British scholarly institutions that shaped the study of India's past. RAS repeatedly asks such founder-institution links because they connect colonial administration, language study and historical reconstruction.