The Origins of Himalayan Studies

Brian Hodgson lived in Nepal from 1820 to 1843 during which time he wrote and published extensively on Nepalese culture, religion, natural history, architecture, ethnography and linguistics. Contributors from leading historians of Nepal and South Asia and from specialists in Buddhist studies, art history, linguistics, ornithology and ethnography, critically examine Hodgson's life and achievement within the context of his contribution to scholarship. Many of the drawings photographed for this book have not previously been published.

David Waterhouse was raised during his early years in Portsmouth, UK, and attended Southern Grammar School for Boys. On leaving school, he attended Highbury Catering College, graduating with City and Guilds to start his career in catering and hospitality. He joined large catering companies, eventually rising to the position of area catering manager, and eventually becoming operations director. He moved to Wales in 1994 settling in Aberdare before eventually moving to Carmarthen in order to run a small inn in a village called Caio. He is currently living in Cyprus, having moved there from Carmarthenshire in 2019.

List of Illustrations  Preface  Acknowledgements  Abbreviations and Technical Note  Details of Contributors  Foreword  1. Brian Hodgson - A Biographical Sketch  2. The Political Role of Brian Hodgson  3. Brian Hodgson - The Unsung Story  4. The Ambivalent Exegete - Hodgson's Contribution to the Study of Buddhism  5. The Architectural Monuments of Buddhism - Hodgson and the Buddhist Architecture of the Kathmandu Valley  Appendix - B.H.Hodgson's Essay: Architectural Illustrations of Buddhism  6. Zoology Amuses Me Much  7. Brian Hodgson and the Mammals and other Animals of Nepal  8. A Pioneer of Himalayan Ornithology  9. Hodgson, Hooker and the Himalayan Frontier  10. Brian Hodgson as Ethnographer and Ethnologist  11. Hodgson's Tibeto-Burman and Tibeto-Burman Today  12. Hodgson's Legacy  Bibliography  Index