Freidrich Max Muller (1823 - 1900) is generally considered one of the greatest minds of 20th century who have studied India with open minds and open hearts. He was born in Germany and learned Sanskrit in Germany and later joined Oxford university as Professor of Comparative Philology. He produced and edited some great works on India including "The Rig Veda", "The Sacred Books of the East", "India What can it teach us" etc.
'India what can it teach us' was published in 1883, it contains 7 lectures given to Indian Civil Service aspirants of Cambridge University. He advocates the case of India with great passion and zeal and tries his best to destroy the ugly stereotypes about India and Indians created by the likes of Macaulay and James Mill. He was a firm believer in the Aryan Invasion Theory and considered the Britons, Teutons, Slavs, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Indians etc members of great Aryan family. He teaches his audience the great contribution made by Indians to the human civilization, talks about the impact of climate on the unique civilization of India, objectively discusses the Vedic Gods etc. In nut shell he encourages aspiring officers to go India with open mind and to go without any stereotypes and the feeling of superiority though he never visited in his lifetime.
Its a great book even now though outdated in its 'Aryan Invasion Theory' concept.
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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