Quotes:Kennedy, Major-General Vans

Zirkoff, Boris

Kennedy, Major-General Vans. Scottish scholar, b. at Pinmore, parish of Ayr, Scotland, 1784; d. at Bombay, Dec. 29, 1846. Mother was daughter of John Vans of Bambarroch, Wigtonshire. Father was ruined by the failure of Ayr bank; dying soon after, the burden of raising the family fell on the mother, a woman of great strength and worth. Vans was educated at Edinburgh and Monmouth and showed studious habits. At 18, obtained cadetship and sailed for Bombay, 1800. Wounded in the neck in an engagement of his corps in Malabar district; suffering all his life from the effects. Became outstanding scholar of Sanskrit and Persian; appointed, 1807, Persian interpreter to the Peshwa’s subsidiary force at Sirur. In 1817 he became Judge-Advocate-General to the Bombay army, holding this position until 1835. Elphinstone appointed him as Marathi and Gujarati translator of the Government regulations, and in 1835 Oriental translator to the Government, which he remained until his death. He was a recluse and a self-denying scholar, working 16 hours a day; spent money on MSS. and in relieving the wants of others. In 1824, he published at Bombay a Maratha Dictionary. Other works: *Researches into the Origin and Affinity of the principal Languages of Asia and Europe. London, 1828, 4to.—Researches into the Nature and Affinity of ancient and Hindu Mythology. London, 1831. 4to.

Kennedy’s ideas concerning early Buddhist influence on nascent Christianity are strongly supported by General J. G. R. Forlong’s essay entitled “Through what Historical Channels did Buddhism Influence Early Christianity,” published in The Open Court, for Aug. 18, and Sept. 1 and 18, 1887.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 9, p. 438

Kennedy, Major-General Vans (1784-1846), *Researches into the Origin and Affinity of the Principal Language of Asia and Europe, London, 1828. — *Researches into the Nature and Affinity of Ancient and Hindu Mythology, London, 1831.

See Vol. IX, Bibliogr. Index, for biogr. sketch.

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 11, p. 580