Sir William Jones (1746–1794) is one of the pioneers of modern Indology and the founder of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
Jones arrived in Calcutta from England in 1783 as a Supreme Court judge under Warren Hastings' governorship, which is regarded as one of the founding fathers of the British Empire in India.
He worked for the East India Company, which gained political influence over portions of India in the pursuit of commerce and profit.
Jones began studying Sanskrit right once, partly to learn more about old Hindu law, since the East India Company's overall policy was to let diverse religious groups to be regulated by their own customary laws.
Jones was a linguist who was fluent in modern and classical European languages, as well as Persian.
He immediately identified Sanskrit as a distant cousin of Greek and Latin, and the serious study of Sanskrit writings started as a result of his influence.
His most significant achievement from a legal standpoint was a translation of Manu's laws (Manu Smrti).
This was one of the most important writings in the dharma canon, including ideal principles and laws for all types of human behavior.
This translation was meant to offer the British a concept of traditional Hindu law, but they overlooked the fact that this document was written as a guide to devotional living rather than a legal treatise.
Jones died of a liver illness at the age of forty-eight.
His translation was released after his death.
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