(i) Warren Hastings, William Jones and Jonathan Duncan popularised the view that India had a glorious past which has subsequently degenerated. These scholars and administrators were called Orientalists.
(ii) They were keen to learn and propagate Indian languages and traditions. They believed that this would ensure a better understanding of India which would eventually strengthen their rule over this country. The Orientalists depicted India's past in a way that was in consonance with the needs of the colonial administration.
(iii) Some of the important institutions that came to be identified with their efforts were the Calcutta Madrassa founded by Warren Hastings (1781), the Asiatic Society of Bengal founded by William Jones (1784) and the Sanskrit College at Benaras founded by Jonathan Duncan (1794).
(iv) William Jones learnt Indian classical languages and found an important linguistic connection between Sanskrit and classical western languages like Greek and Latin.
(v) For around fifty years, the Asiatic Society was an important centre of learning and a rare institution to undertake translations of notable Sanskrit texts. The Asiatick Researches was an important journal published by it.
(vi) Warren Hastings held the view that Hindus possessed laws which continued unchanged for centuries. Therefore, the British should master these laws and the Sanskrit language in which these texts were written if they wished to establish their governance in the country. To provide a precise idea of the customs
and manners of Hindus, N.B. Halhed published A Code of Gentoo Laws in 1776.
(vii) There was a strong urge to make local British administrators familiar with Indian culture and tradition. Wellesley founded Fort William College in 1801. The college was to train the young British recruits to the civil service in India. This college became an important centre for producing knowledge on and about India. It had many departments devoted exclusively to research on Indian languages and literature.
