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			{{Short description\|British linguist (1762-1824)}}
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	'''Alexander Hamilton''' (1762–1824) was a British linguist who was one of the first Europeans to study the [[Sanskrit]] language.<ref name="K. John pp. 79–83">T. K. John, "Research and Studies by Western Missionaries and Scholars in Sanskrit Language and Literature," in the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Vol. III, Ollur [Trichur] 2010 Ed. George Menachery, pp. 79–83</ref> He taught the language to most of the earliest European scholars of Indo-European linguistics. He became the first professor of Sanskrit in Europe.		'''Alexander Hamilton''' (1762–1824) was a British linguist who was one of the first Europeans to study the [[Sanskrit]] language.<ref name="K. John pp. 79–83">T. K. John, "Research and Studies by Western Missionaries and Scholars in Sanskrit Language and Literature," in the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Vol. III, Ollur [Trichur] 2010 Ed. George Menachery, pp. 79–83</ref> He taught the language to most of the earliest European scholars of Indo-European linguistics. He became the first professor of Sanskrit in Europe.

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'''Alexander Hamilton''' (1762–1824) was a British linguist who was one of the first Europeans to study the [[Sanskrit]] language.<ref name="K. John pp. 79–83">T. K. John, "Research and Studies by Western Missionaries and Scholars in Sanskrit Language and Literature," in the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Vol. III, Ollur [Trichur] 2010 Ed. George Menachery, pp. 79–83</ref> He taught the language to most of the earliest European scholars of Indo-European linguistics. He became the first professor of Sanskrit in Europe.

==In India==
Hamilton seems to have been born in India, but Scotland is not impossible. He was the first cousin of his namesake, the American statesman [[Alexander Hamilton]].<ref>Ron Chernow, ''Alexander Hamilton'', Penguin, 2004, p. 527</ref> He became a lieutenant in the navy of the [[East India Company]] and arrived in 1783.<ref name="Linguistics p. 67">History of Linguistics. History of Linguistics. Vol. IV, p. 67. Nineteenth-Century Linguistics by Giulio Lepschy, Anna Morpurgo Davies</ref> While stationed in India he joined the [[Asiatic Society of Bengal]] founded by [[William Jones (philologist)|William Jones]] and [[Charles Wilkins]]. He also married a Bengali woman.<ref>Hermione De Almeida, George H. Gilpin, ''Indian Renaissance: British romantic art and the prospect of India'', Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2005, p. 60.</ref>

==In France==
After the death of Jones in India, Wilkins and Hamilton were the only Europeans who had studied Sanskrit. Both returned to Europe around 1797.<ref name="Linguistics p. 67"/> Wilkins remained in England but Hamilton went to France after the [[Treaty of Amiens]] (1802) to collate Sanskrit manuscripts held at the [[Bibliothèque Nationale]] in Paris.

After war broke out between Britain and France in 1803 Hamilton was interned as an enemy alien, but was released to carry on his researches at the insistence of the French scholar [[Constantin-François Chassebœuf|Constantine Volney]]. Hamilton taught Sanskrit to Volney and others, including [[Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel|Friedrich Schlegel]] and [[Jean-Louis Burnouf]], the father of [[Eugene Burnouf]]. Hamilton spend most of his time compiling a catalogue of Indian manuscripts in the library which was published in 1807.<ref name="Linguistics p. 67"/> Hamilton lived in Schlegel's house, the former house of [[Baron d'Holbach]] in Rue de Clichy, together with [[Sulpiz Boisserée]] and his brother.<ref>Behler, E. (1966) Friedrich Schlegel, p. 94</ref>

In 1806 he was appointed at [[Hertford College]], becoming the first Sanskrit professor in Europe.<ref name="Linguistics p. 67"/> In 1808 Hamilton was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]]. He became professor of "Sanscrit and Hindoo literature" at [[Haileybury College]].<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Hamilton, Alexander (1762-1824)}}</ref> He assisted Wilkins with his revisions to his translation of the ''[[Hitopadesha]]''.<ref name="K. John pp. 79–83"/><ref name = "chap">Rosane Rocher, ''Alexander Hamilton, 1762–1824; a chapter in the early history of Sanskrit philology'', American Oriental Society (1968).</ref>

In 1813,{{citation needed|reason=Or already in 1807?|date=June 2015}} Hamilton completed his catalogue of the Bibliothèque Nationale manuscripts. Following the end of the [[Napoleonic wars]] many German scholars came to study with him, notably [[Franz Bopp]], [[Othmar Frank]] and [[August Wilhelm Schlegel]].

He died at [[Liscard]] on 30 December 1824.<ref>{{ODNBweb|id=12044|title=Hamilton, Alexander|first=Rosane|last=Rocher}}</ref>

==Works==
Hamilton published:<ref name="DNB"/>

* ''The Hitopadesa in the Sanscrit Language'', London, 1811;
* ''Terms of Sanscrit Grammar'', London, 1815; and
* ''A Key to the Chronology of the Hindus'', 1820.

He also wrote magazine articles on ancient Indian geography. The catalogue was translated, annotated, and published by [[Louis-Mathieu Langlès]] in the ''Magasin Encyclopédique'', 1807.<ref name="DNB"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

;Attribution
{{DNB|wstitle=Hamilton, Alexander (1762{{nat|-}}1824)|display=Hamilton, Alexander (1762–1824)}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Alexander}}
[[Category:1762 births]]
[[Category:1824 deaths]]
[[Category:English orientalists]]
[[Category:English Indologists]]

Alexander Hamilton (linguist) - Revision history

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