John Faithfull FleetC.I.E(1847 – 21 February 1917) was an English civil servant with theIndian Civil Serviceand became known as a historian,epigraphistand linguist. His research inIndian epigraphyandhistory,conducted inIndiaover a thirty-year period, is published in books includingPali, Sanskrit and Old Canarese Inscriptions,The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of The Bombay Presidency from the earliest historical times to the Musalman Conquest,andThe Inscriptions of The Early Gupta Kings and their Successors.He was a regular contributor to works journals covering Indian history. His published well-regarded works on inscriptions in theSanskrit,PaliandKannadalanguages and on the history of dynasties such as theGuptas,Kadambas,Aulikaras,Chalukyas,RashtrakutasandSeunas.[1]
Early life
editFleet was born to John George Fleet, a London wholesale sugar dealer,[2]and Esther Faithfull ofHeadley, Surrey,England, in 1847. He was educated at theMerchant Taylors' Schoolin London.[1]His five brothers includedVice-AdmiralHenry Louis Fleet (born 1851-1923),Rutland Barrington(1853–1922), a star inGilbert and Sullivanoperas, and actor Duncan Fleet (born 1860, date of death unknown). He also had two sisters.[3]His aunt,Emily Faithfull,was an activist and dramatic reader.
Early career and interests
editFleet was appointed to theIndian Civil Service(ICS) in the year 1865, and to prepare himself for this, he studiedSanskritatUniversity College London.In 1867, he moved to theBombay Presidency(then a British province in western India) and soon held the posts of Assistant Collector and then Magistrate, Educational Inspector, in the Southern Division (1872), Assistant Political Agent inKolhapurand the Southern Maratha Country (1875), and Collector and Magistrate (1882).[1]
Meanwhile, he continued with his interest in Sanskrit and the inscriptions that were abundant on stone and copper plate in the Bombay Presidency. He began publishing articles about the inscriptions in the mid-1860s. His studies soon led him to study another language,Kannada,both in its ancient and modern forms.[1][4]
Eminence
editFleet was soon establishing a reputation through his papers on the epigraphy and history of Southern India in fora such as theBombay Asiatic SocietyandThe Indian Antiquary,founded in 1872 (he later edited it from the 14th to 20th editions (1885–92)). He also published his works on thePali, Sanskrit and old Canarese Inscriptionsfor theIndia Officein 1878. Fleet became the first epigraphist of the Government of India when such a post was created in 1883. After three years as the epigraphist, he was appointed as the Collector and Magistrate of Sholapur in 1886.[1]
One of his greatest works was on the hitherto unchartedGuptaperiod.The Inscriptions of The Early Gupta Kings and their Successors(1889), forming the third volume of theCorpus Inscriptionarum Indicum,was a well-regarded example of his scholarship. Meanwhile, his civil service career progressed. He was appointed the Senior Collector in 1889, Commissioner of the Southern Divisions in 1891, and also Central Divisions in 1892. He was made the Commissioner of Customs in 1893.[1]
In 1895, the best of his works,The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of The Bombay Presidency from the earliest historical times to the Musalman Conquest,was published in theGazetteer of the Bombay Presidency.It was a synthesis of all the data that he had collected over the years through epigraphic and historical sources in his areas of interest. The work deals with a number of dynasties, from theKadambas,Gangas ofOrissaandKarnataka,andLatas,to theChalukyas,Rashtrakutas,andSeunas.The work formed a basis for further studies of the periods covered by these dynasties.[1][5]
Retirement and death
editFleet retired from the ICS in 1897 and returned to England to settle inEaling.He was now able to devote his full time to his epigraphical studies and continued with his valuable contributions to theRoyal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and IrelandandEpigraphia Indica.In 1906, he became the Honorary Secretary of the Society and was awarded its "gold medal" in 1912.
Before his death in 1917 at age 69, he published theBallads of the Peasantrywith its music in theIndian Antiquary.[1]
Fellowships
edit- Hon' Secretary, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
- Member, Bombay Branch of The Royal Asiatic Society.
- Member of theAsiatic Society of Bengal.
- Corresponding Member ofThe Royal Society of Science, Göttingen.
- Fellow ofThe University of Bombay.[6]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^abcdefghBarnett, L. D."Obituary Notice: John Faithfull Fleet, C.I.E."The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland,April 1917, pp. 415–18, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, reprinted at JSTOR, accessed 15 July 2010 (subscription required).
- ^The Times,June 2, 1922, p. 16
- ^The Times, June 7, 1922, p. 9
- ^Fleet (1894), pp. i-ii
- ^Fleet (1894), p. 6 and pp. 511–32
- ^Fleet (1894), pp. 4–5
References
edit- Fleet, J. F. "'The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of the Bombay Presidency" (1894),Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency(Vol-1, Part-II, Book-III)ISBN81-206-0277-3
External links
edit- Biographical sketch of FleetinEminent orientalists, Indian, European, American(1922, reprinted 1991)
- Fleet, J. F."Sanskrit and Old Canarese Inscriptions"inJournal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society(1876)
- Fleet, J. F.The Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts of The Bombay Presidency from the earliest historical times to the Musalman Conquest(1882)
- Fleet, J. F.Indian Epigraphy(1907)