Translation from Sanskrit as a source of knowledge production in the Asiatic society of Bengal and the two cases of the Sanskrit renaissance

The Asiatic Society of Bengal is one of the oldest British-established learning institutions in India. Historically, it has contributed in the knowledge production on Indian history through Sanskrit translations, a project often discursively framed as sparking a "Sanskrit renaissance”. Sir William Jones envisioned it as a hub for Asian studies, using translation as a key tool. From the lens of 19th-century British Orientalism, scholars systematically studied Sanskrit to classify and control Indian knowledge systems, embedding this within colonial dominance. They portrayed Sanskrit as a relic of a decayed yet once-great civilization, positioning themselves as its restorers to legitimize rule.This paper examines two cases of "Sanskrit renaissance." The first is the colonial project led by Orientalists like H.T. Colebrooke, Horace Hayman Wilson, William Jones, Fitzedward Hall, and E.B. Cowell, who translated key texts such as the Bhagavad Gita (1785) and Abhijnanasakuntalam (1789), imposing a modern historical perspective on Sanskrit literature. They assumed India—and Sanskrit—possessed vast literature but no indigenous historiographical tradition, akin to its prolonged history without formal history-writing.The second case critiques this narrative. Radhavallabh Tripathi, in "Decolonizing the History of Sanskrit Literature," argues the 19th century was mislabeled a "renaissance" or "new awakening," as Westerners retrofitted their historical concepts onto Sanskrit, ignoring its organic continuity. Sheldon Pollock further criticizes British philology as politically motivated, cataloging Sanskrit as a "classical" language in terminal decline. This framing justified colonial intervention by creating loyal native intermediaries educated in Sanskrit classics.