Thomas Maurice
The History of Hindostan; Its Arts, and Its Sciences, as Connected with the History of the Other Great Empires of Asia, During the Most Ancient Periods of the World
Thomas Maurice, The History of Hindostan; Its Arts, and Its Sciences, as Connected with the History of the Other Great Empires of Asia, During the Most Ancient Periods of the World, London: Printed by W. Bulmer and Co. for the Author, and sold by R Faulder, 1795–1798
2 Volumes
Volume I (1795): [6], xlii, [2], 591 pp.
Volume II (1798): [4], 705 pp.
Contemporary-style period-inspired mottled calf, panelled in blind and bordered in gilt; sympathetically rebacked in later polished calf to style; spines in six compartments with raised bands; gilt-ruled and tooled with gilt floral devices; contrasting black morocco lettering-pieces titled in gilt and volume numbers; marbled edges (each)
11.25 x 8.75 in (28.5 x 22.5 cm) (each)
LIST OF PLATES
Volume I:
Plate I: Isis Omnia, or universal nature personified, the Indian Isa, and Grecian Ceres.– Full-page frontispiece (faces the title page)
Plate II: Asiatic Devices, allusive to the Cosmogony.– Full-page plate (facing p. 48). This plate contains three emblematic figures: (1) the bull of Japan butting the mundane egg, (2) the egg of creation encircled by the Agathodaimon, and (3) the mundane egg adored at Heliopolis.
Plate III: Veeshnu in the form of Creeshna, the Apollo Nomius of India, in the eighth Avatar, charming with his pipe the shepherds and flocks of Mathura.– Full-page plate.
Plate IV: Ancient Zodiac of Egypt, with the original asterisms, consisting, among others, of the eight Dii Majores of Egypt, and their symbols; from the Museum of the Barberini family at Rome. – Double-page engraved plate.
Plate V: Oriental, or Indian Zodiac; with the planets designated riding on animals, symbolical of their tardy or rapid revolutions.– Double-page or large-format plate. (This chart depicts the Indian zodiac with each planet shown riding an animal – e.g. Mercury on an eagle, Venus on a camel, Saturn on an elephant – and the Earth represented as a flat center with a central mountain)
Plate VI: Veeshnu, the supreme deity of India, reposing during a Calpa on the serpent Ananta (Infinite), whose thousand heads hang over and guard the sleeping god.– Full-page plate.
Plate VII: Matsya Avatar, or first incarnation of Veeshnu, in the form of a fish, to preserve a virtuous family during the incursion of a great deluge. – Full-page plate. (The god Brahma appears above, and his four sons – heads of the four primeval tribes – stand below in supplication.)
Plate VIII: Vara Avatar, or second incarnation of Veeshnu, in a human form but with the head of a boar, who, plunging into the ocean, raises aloft on his tusks the Earth from the abyss of waters in which it had been submerged.– Full-page plate.
Plate IX: Gourma Avatar, or third incarnation of Veeshnu, in the form of a tortoise, the Hindoo symbol of strength, which supports on its back the Earth, sinking in the waters and convulsed by the assaults of daemons.– Full-page plate.
Plates VII, VIII and IX are copied directly from paintings in Indian pagodas and retain their original eccentric perspective)
Volume II:
Plate I: Creeshna trampling on the Serpent. – Full-page frontispiece plate (facing the Volume II title page). This plate depicts the god Creeshna (Krishna) triumphing over the serpent (first illustration of this scene)
Plate II: Hindoo Lunar Mansions.– Folding plate (inserted at the start of Part I of Vol. II) illustrating the 28 lunar nakshatras or mansions of the Hindoo zodiac. (This large astronomical chart was meant to be folded out; contemporary copies note it as a folding plate.
Plate III: Nara-Sing, or Lion Avatar. – Full-page plate. (Depicts the Man-Lion incarnation (Nara-Simha) of Veeshnu tearing apart a blaspheming monarch, as described in the text.
Plate IV: Bahmun, or Dwarf Avatar.– Full-page plate. (Depicts the Vámana incarnation of Veeshnu as a dwarf Brahmin, who subjugates the demon-king Bali.)
Plate V: Parasu?Rama, or Sixth Avatar.– Full-page plate (Illustrates Parashurama, the warrior with the axe, sixth avatar of Veeshnu.)
Plate VI: Ravan, or Seventh Avatar.– Full-page plate. (Illustrates the Rama incarnation of Veeshnu – the hero of the Ramayana – in his conflict with the demon king Ravan of Lanka. The plate is titled for Ravana, the adversary whom Rama vanquishes in this seventh avatar.
Plate VII: The Serpent biting Creeshna’s heel.– Full-page plate. This is the second plate of Creeshna and the serpent, showing a later moment in the same episode (the multi-headed serpent Ananta/Kaliya entwines Creeshna’s foot) – placed as a frontispiece to “The Life of Creeshna” section.
Plate VIII: Creeshna encircled by the Serpent. – Full-page plate (Another scene of Creeshna with the serpent; likely depicting Creeshna subdued in the coils of the great serpent, as described in the legends.)
Plate IX: The Buddha, or Tenth Avatar.– Full-page plate (Depicts Buddha as the ninth full avatar of Veeshnu in some traditions – here termed the tenth avatar because Maurice treats Creeshna as an incarnation in this series.
Plate X: The Calci, or Final Avatar.– Full-page plate. (Depicts Kalki – here spelled Calci – the prophesied final avatar of Veeshnu, shown riding a white horse and wielding a sword, as per tradition.)
CREESHNA, CALCI, AND THE COSMOS: AN ENLIGHTENMENT JOURNEY THROUGH HINDU MYTH
In The History of Hindostan, Thomas Maurice—Orientalist, poet, and Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum—undertook one of the earliest British attempts to reconstruct the civilisational antiquity of India through a comparative lens of religion, mythology, science, and art. Issued between 1795 and 1798, and printed handsomely by William Bulmer on fine wove paper, this two-volume first edition was intended to stand as both a literary monument and an illustrated archive of India's perceived place within global antiquity.
Part history, part cosmography, and part speculative theology, Maurice's text traces parallels between Hindu cosmology and the sacred traditions of Egypt, Persia, Chaldaea, and Greece. Drawing on a range of classical, Persian, and Sanskrit sources (albeit largely via secondary translations), Maurice positions the Hindu deities—Veeshnu, Creeshna, and the avatars—as analogues to classical gods, while weaving in comparative astrology, theosophy, and early astronomical speculation.
The volumes are richly illustrated with engraved plates—many drawn from Indian temple iconography, mythological cycles, and cosmological charts—executed with notable finesse. These include The Isis Omnia of Egypt, the Ancient Zodiac of Egypt, and a suite of plates depicting the avatars of Veeshnu, including Matsya, Varaha, Kurma, Rama, Buddha, and Calci. Particularly striking is the pair of serpent-conquest plates depicting Creeshna’s mythic battle with Kaliya, which Maurice interprets as an allegory of moral struggle and cosmic renewal.
Unlike later Orientalist compendia, Maurice’s tone blends Christian typology with reverence for Indian antiquity—a combination that deeply influenced Romantic-era thinkers and poets. While later scholars have criticised his speculative methods, The History of Hindostan remains a foundational and ambitious early British engagement with India’s sacred past.
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