OBITUARY NOTICES

Summary

1. Obituary: F. E. Pargiter, I.C.S. The obituary commemorates F. E. Pargiter, a distinguished member of the Indian Civil Service who died in the previous year (relative to the publication date). He served over thirty years in Bengal, retiring as a Judge of the Calcutta High Court in 1906. Alongside his administrative work, he authored important official manuals such as The Bengal Municipal Acts and The Revenue History of the Sundarbans, 1765–1870. Pargiter was closely associated with the Asiatic Society of Bengal, eventually becoming its President, and after his retirement spent two decades in Oxford engaged in Oriental studies, while also serving as a Vice-President of the Royal Asiatic Society. His scholarly work included contributions to the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, especially on East Bengal and on his English translation of the Markandeya Purāṇa (Bibliotheca Indica, completed in 1905 after 17 years of labour). Later, his research focused on Kṣatriya traditions distinct from Brahmanical narratives and on Purāṇic geography and historical reconstruction. This culminated in two major works: • The Purāṇa Text of the Dynasties of the Kali Age (1913) • The Ancient Indian Historical Tradition (1923) He also edited Kharosthi inscriptions (such as the Wardak Vase), contributed to Epigraphia Indica and The Indian Antiquary, assisted Dr. Hoernle with manuscript remains of Buddhist literature from Eastern Turkestan, and compiled the Centenary Volume of the Royal Asiatic Society listing his papers. The obituary concludes that his death created a significant and enduring void in Indology. 2. Obituary: Bunyu Nanjo (1849–1927) The second obituary records the life and contribution of Bunyu Nanjo, a prominent Japanese Buddhist scholar whose death in 1927 was considered a major loss to Oriental studies. Born 1 July 1849 in Ogaki as the son of an abbot of the Higashi Honganji (Shinshū sect), he grew up in a deeply religious environment. After the Restoration of 1868, he briefly served as a soldier before pursuing advanced Buddhist studies in Kyoto. At age twenty-three, he was adopted as the heir of the abbot of Okumenmi-ji (in Echizen Province), began work as a priest and preacher, and soon joined the headquarters of Higashi Honganji as an official. His hard work earned him selection for overseas study. In 1876, Nanjo was sent to England, where he spent eight years studying Sanskrit at Oxford under Max Müller. During this period he produced his landmark work: • A Catalogue of the Buddhist Tripitaka (Oxford, 1883) This catalog—based on a complete re-examination (in 1880) of the Chinese Tripitaka presented to the India Office—restored Sanskrit titles, listed 1662 texts, compared them with Pali, Tibetan, and Sanskrit sources, and included appendices with biographical notes on Buddhist authors and translators. It became a foundational reference for Buddhist studies, correcting earlier, less accurate catalogues such as Samuel Beal’s 1876 compilation. Returning to Japan in 1884, Nanjo was appointed the first Professor of Sanskrit at the Imperial University of Tokyo (1885). He travelled to India in 1887 (visiting Bodh Gaya), received the degree Bungaku Hakushi (Doctor of Literature), and later travelled to Siam (1900) to receive Buddhist relics on behalf of the Japanese government. In 1901, he attended the International Congress of Orientalists at Hanoi. Nanjo’s major works in foreign languages include: • A Short History of the Twelve Japanese Sects (Tokyo, 1887) • Editions of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka (with H. Kern; Bibliotheca Buddhica) • An edition of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra (published a few years before his death) He also produced numerous Japanese works, including a Japanese translation of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra (1915) and, shortly before his death, Kaikyō Roku, a book of reminiscences. Nanjo died at the age of 79, having witnessed and nurtured over four decades of growth in Japanese Sanskrit scholarship. He is praised for synthesizing traditional Japanese methods with Western critical scholarship, a combination that made him one of the leading Orientalists of his time. The obituary notes that his death caused an irreparable loss to Oriental studies.