Dear friends,

most of us have either used or are familiar with the PTS Pali-English
Dictionary by Rhys Davids. Here is an article of the author.

http://lakdiva.com/coins/media/cdn_1998.07.15_rhys_davids.htm

Rhys Davids: His contribution to Pali and Buddhist studies
By Dr. Lorna S. Dewaraja

Having had to face several challenges due to intense Christian
missionary activity and the withdrawal of state patronage, the
indigenous religions in Sri Lanka suffered a severe set back by the
mid-nineteenth century. Buddhism in particular had lost its pristine
vitality, its cohesiveness and its self-respect, but not to the point
of becoming moribund.

Hence there arose a strong Buddhist response to the missionary
challenge. The revivalist movement manifested itself in many ways,
one of which was a spectacular reawakening in Buddhist and Pali
studies spearheaded by the Sri Lankan scholar monks.

This intellectual upheaval was contemporaneous with a similar
interest in Pali and Buddhist studies in Europe and the two movements
fuelled and inspired one another.

At this juncture three British Civil Servants who were posted to Sri
Lanka, George Turnour, R. D. Childers (1838-1876) and T. W. Rhys
Davids (1843-1922) took an abiding interest in the language, religion
and culture of the island and by their indefatigable efforts
introduced to the English speaking world the wealth of Buddhist
scholarship hitherto unknown to the West. This monograph will deal
with the activities of T.W. Rhys Davids who spent his entire life
labouring for this cause.

It was an administrative requirement that all Civil Servants should
be familiar with the language, literature and culture of the land in
which they were posted. Thus in order to acquire this knowledge
within a short time and pass their efficiency bar examinations both
Childers and Rhys Davids sought the guidance of eminent scholar monks
such as Yatramulle Dhammarama, Hikkaduwve Sri Sumangala and Waskaduve
Sri Subhuti.

Under their tutelage the young British officers not only grasped the
intricacies of Sinhala, Pali and Buddhism but it became with them not
an administrative requirement but a life long obsession which
resulted in significant developments in oriental scholarship both
here and in Europe.

It has to be mentioned that British Christian clergymen such as Rev.
D. J. Gogerly (1792-1862) had made an intensive study of Sinhala,
Pali and Buddhism and wrote extensively on their areas of study.
However, their missionary zeal prevailed and the sole objective of
their studies was to further their evangelical purpose. Rhys Davids
on the other hand was essentially a scholar and the aim of his
intellectual exercise was to make the Western world aware of Buddhism
and its civilising influence.

Caroline Rhys Davids named her husband the "Max Muller of Buddhism,"
but though Muller is well known, his friend and contemporary Rhys
Davids is less famous even among scholars. The explanation to this
lies in the fact that India was the jewel in the British Crown and
hence Sanskrit and Hinduism were the star attractions; while Buddhism
confined to the periphery of the Raj - to Sri Lanka and Burma
received less attention.

Hence as the exponent of Buddhism Rhys Davids was little known even
in England, the country of his birth. In Sri Lanka he is known
specially by Westernised Buddhists whose knowledge of Buddhism was
derived from English writings on the subject.

Since of late, however, one of his works, Buddhist India 'has been
translated in to Sinhala as Bauddha Bharataya and the Rhys Davids
Memorial Volume (1965)' was brought out in Sinhala with a few
articles in English. As a result, he is known to a certain extent
among Sinhala educated Buddhists of Sri Lanka specially the Buddhist
clergy.

Like R. C. Childers, T. W. Rhys Davids was the son of a clergyman. He
was born in Colchester in Essex in 1843 as the eldest son of Reverend
Thomas William David, a Welshman who had settled in Colchester. He
was a popular minister who had a flair for preaching. In addition he
was a scholar of ecclesiastical history and Rhys Davids inherited
from his father, his eloquence, indefatigable energy and patience.

His mother Louisa Winter a devout Christian was the daughter of a
London solicitor. A Sunday School attached to her husband's church
was so efficiently managed by her that it was regarded as a model
school. So competent was she in her task that the treatise she wrote
on the management of Sunday schools was published and ran into
several editions. She died in 1854 when Rhys Davids was barely ten
years old. This was the first of a series of tragedies that he had to
face throughout his life.

Rhys David's early education was at the Brighton School which was
situated close to his home and run by his uncle Robert Winter. At the
age of seventeen he went to London and attended the school now called
New College in Finchley Road. Here he studied Latin under the famous
scholar, Sir William Smith. Rhys Davids undoubtedly inherited the
academic inclinations of his parents, yet motherless at a tender age
and lacking in family fortunes he realised that he had to rely on his
own sweat and toil. While at New College he decided to join the
Indian civil Service.

With his devoutly Christian background and sound knowledge of Latin
what attracted him to the Indian Civil Service is difficult to say.
In the heyday of the British Raj the Indian Civil Service must have
been an exotic dream for the educated young Englishman with no
financial resources, or was it a Karmic call which led him to aspire
for a career in India.

Rhys Davids realised that to achieve his ambition he had to have an
University education which his father could not afford. Therefore he
left for Germany where he could earn his expenses by giving tuition
in English. He soon realised that there were many English students
who paid for their education in this way.

He selected Breslau where there were not many English students. He
became a very popular English teacher and earned sufficient money to
pay his university fees. He moved easily with all strata of German
society and made friends very easily. In Breslau he had the
opportunity of studying Sanskrit under A.F. Stenzler, a distinguished
scholar and Professor of Sanskrit at Breslau from 1833 till 1868. The
philological training that Rhys Davids received under Stenzler could
be regarded as a landmark on the road to Pali scholarship.

He returned to England in 1863 and appeared for the examination of
the Civil Service Commissioners offering Sanskrit, German, French and
English. Although his ambition was a posting in India he was
appointed to Ceylon and this became the turning point of his life. He
was attached to the Colonial Secretary's Office in Colombo and was
expected to learn the local languages.

"With his philological training he was able to learn Sinhala and
Tamil very quickly and a certain incident directed his interest to
Pali and Buddhism. As Magistrate of Galle a case was brought before
Rhys Davids involving questions of ecclesiastical law.

A document written in a language that no one could read was tabled in
court. Inquiries revealed that the language was Pali in which the
sacred books of Buddhism was written. Accomplished linguist that he
was, he immediately resolved to make himself acquainted with it.

He was put in touch with Yatramulle Unnanse under whose tutelage he
made rapid progress. Later in life Rhys Davids paid a striking
tribute to his teacher. "When he first came to me the hand of death
was already upon him. He was sinking into the grave from the effects
of a painful and incurable malady. I had heard of his learning as a
Pali scholar, and of his illness, and was grateful to him for leaving
his home under such tragic circumstances, to teach a stranger. There
was a strange light in his sunken eyes, and he was constantly turning
away from questions of Pali to questions of Buddhism."

Having worked for short periods in Colombo, Kandy, Avissawella and
Matale, Rhys Davids was transferred to Galle as Police Magistrate. In
1871 he was posted as Assistant Government Agent of Nuwarakalaviya of
which Anuradhapura was the administrative centre.

The Governor Sir Hercules Robinson aware of the young civil servant's
special talents wanted to make use of him in archaeological work for
which Anuradhapura presented innumerable opportunities. The
Governor's aspirations were realised for Rhys Davids loved
Anuradhapura and its ruins and spent much of his time among them.

Unlike his predecessor, who was overcome by melancholia and
depression by the dead city and its silent stones, Rhys Davids found
them eloquent monuments which sang the saga of the once glorious city
and inspired him to unravel the religion and culture which these
stones mysteriously represented. He loved to move with the peasants
of Nuwarakalaviya, learnt their language and did away with
interpreters. In the field of archaeology his superiors gave him
encouragement and freedom of action. His stay in Ceylon coincided
with the setting up of an Archaeological Commission in 1868 by the
Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson.

This was only a modest beginning and the work was confined to
clearing and taking photographs. Further progress was hampered by the
lack of funds and a permanent labour force. To the young Rhys Davids
this kind of work was a labour of love unlike the routine duties of
administration. A number of notable sites were cleared namely,
Ruwanvelisaya, Jetavana, Abhayagiri and Isurumuniya. These
excavations provided him with the material to write his future
research papers to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.

In the course of his travel Rhys Davids had discovered a number of
inscriptions in places such as Galle, Matara, Dambulla, Matale,
Tamankaduwa, Anuradhapura and Padawiya. He realised that Ceylon was
exceedingly rich in inscriptions and these if deciphered would unveil
the drama of the island's past. For the successful deciphering of the
inscriptions as many should be collected. In an article to the Ceylon
Branch of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society:

He appealed to all readers for copies of inscriptions, even eye
copies and suggested methods of sending facsimiles of inscriptions.
He wrote a series of articles for the Ceylon Branch of the Royal
Asiatic Society Journal from 1870-72, relating to several
inscriptions found in Sri Lanka. These prove how well he was
acquainted with the traditional literature of the island as well as
with the philological works of the Ceylonese contemporaries like
James de Alwis and Louis de Zoysa.

The Governor, who had taken a keen interest in oriental research was
very impressed. The Governor had decided to collect books and ancient
manuscripts lying in temple libraries with a view to establishing an
oriental library in Colombo. Rhys Davids wished to enhance the scope
of the work by adding them to his collection the island's
epigraphical resources.

He had seen how valuable epigraphs were destroyed by the ravages of
man and nature. He noticed that inscriptions were destroyed by chena
cultivation, while at Dondra, writings were going under water due to
sea erosion.

Meanwhile Sir Hercules Robinson had been succeeded as governor by Sir
William Gregory who like his predecessor was an admirer of the
island's ancient heritage. Soon after his appointment Gregory made an
extensive tour of the Anuradhapura district in the company of Rhys
Davids.