Pioneer of Jaina Studies at SOAS: Robert Hamilton Blair Williams (1915-1975)

Flügel, Peter

Abstract

Hardly anything is known about the life of one of
the pioneers of Jaina Studies in the 20th century:
Dr Robert Hamilton Blair Williams, born 21.8.1915 in
Buckland, East Tilbury, Essex, deceased at an unknown
location in 1975. His second book Jaina Yoga: A Survey of the Medieval Śrāvakācāras became highly influential, particularly after the advent of field studies of the religious culture of Jaina laity in the 1980s, and is now widely used in research and teaching. Some of the few biographical traces that are preserved in the archives of SOAS and the British Library are presented in the following through his own and the voices of his contemporaries.

Citation

Flügel, P. (2014). Pioneer of Jaina Studies at SOAS: Robert Hamilton Blair Williams (1915-1975). Jaina studies, 9, 22-26

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Mar 19, 2014
• Deposit Date: Mar 26, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 12, 2025
• Print ISSN: 2059-4151
• Electronic ISSN: 2059-416X
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Pages: 22-26
• Keywords: Robert H. B. Williams (1915-1975), Jaina Studies, SOAS, India Office Library, Maṇipaticarita, Jaina Yoga
• Publisher URL: http://www.soas.ac.uk/jainastudies/newsletter/file91517.pdf