About the Author

Monier Williams was the son of colonel Monier Williams, surveyor general in the Bombay presidency. His surname was Williams until 1887 when he added his Christian name to his surname to create the hyphenated Monier-Williams. Monier Williams taught Asian languages at the East India company college from 1844 until 1858, when the company rule in India ended after the mutiny. He came to national prominence when he competed with Max Muller for the Boden Chair of Sanskrit at Oxford University, following the death of Horace Hayman in 1860.