Kabul: his discovery of Russia's intrigues, and the arrival of a Russian agent at Kabul, led to his advice, that Dost Muhammad, the reigning Amir, should be supported: but this advice was not accepted, the Amir's requests were rejected, and, by the second Afghan war. Shah Shuja was to be reinstated. Burnes was sent to Sind and Beluchistan, to prepare the way of the British Army: he was made, later, Political Agent at Kabul under the Envoy Sir W. H. Macnaghten: Shah Shuja was re-made Amir: Burnes was knighted, made Lt-Colonel: and C.B.: for 2 years, at Kabul, he had a subordinate position: the Afghan mob rose, not without warning, on Nov. 2, 1841; and Burnes was assassinated. It came to light, in 1861, that some of Burnes' despatches from Kabul, in 1839, had been altered, so as to convey opinions opposite to his. The matter was brought before Parliament, on an application for an inquiry: but Lord Palmerston's Government resisted the motion, which was defeated on the ground of the interval of time that had passed since the occurrence.
BURNES, JAMES (1801–1862)
Elder brother of Sir Alexander Burnes, (q.v.): born Feb. 12, 1801: educated at Edinburgh University and London hospitals: went out to Bombay with his brother, 1821: was Residency Surgeon at Cutch: in the expedition of 1825 against Sind: invited, in 1827, by the Amirs to Sind: from 1837, he held medical and other scientific appointments at Bombay, and was Secretary and Member of the Medical Board and, finally, Physician-General, retiring in 1849: President of the Medical and Physical Society: Vice-President of the Bombay Asiatic Society: was LL.D. of Glasgow, 1834: F.R.C.P. of Edinburgh: F.R.S. and a Knight of the Guelphic Order: wrote a Narrative of a Visit to Sind, and a History of Cutch: died Sep. 19, 1862.
BURNEY, HENRY ( ? –1846?)
Captain: attached to the 20th (Marine) N.L: on duty at Prince of Wales' Island: learnt Malay: acquired knowledge of the Archipelago and Malacca: appointed Military Secretary of the Penang Government: employed to negotiate with Malay and Siamese Chiefs: Political Agent to Siamese States, 1825: Envoy to Siam: obtained the release of 1,400 Burmans and Peguese: Deputy Commissioner of Tenasserim, 1827–9: Resident at the Court of Ava, 1829–38: contributed papers to the J.A.S.B., about Ava: wrote a Historical Review of the Political Relations between British India and Ava: had a Dictionary of Pali compiled: returned to India, 1842: died there in 1845–6.
BURNOUF, EMILE LOUIS (1821–)
Born at Valognes, Aug. 25, 1821: cousin of the Orientalist, Eugene Burnouf (q.v.): studied at Paris: appointed Professor of Oriental studies at Nancy, 1854: in 1867, Director of the Ecole Francaise at Athens: returned to France in 1875, and settled at Paris: as an Indian scholar, his chief works are:—his Sanskrit Grammar, brought out in collaboration with Leupol, 1859: a Sanskrit and French Dictionary, 1863–5: Essai sur le Veda, 1863: Bhagavad-Gita, translation, 1861, 1895.
BURNOUF, EUGENE (1801–1852)
Born at Paris, Aug. 12, 1801: son of Jean Louis Burnouf, grammarian: a pupil of Chezy: studied at the College of Louis-le-Grand: scholar: gave up his profession, the law, and took to Oriental languages: gave instruction in Sanskrit, 1824: published in 1826, with Lassen of Bonn, the Essai sur le Pali: appointed Professor of General and Comparative Grammar in the Normal School at Paris, 1829–33: and of Indian Languages and Literature at the College de France, 1832: a founder of the Societe Asiatique in Paris: published, 1833, a commentary on the Yacna, dealing with the language, literature, and history of the Parsis: brought out his Etudes sur la langue et les textes Zendes, 1840–50: the earliest to study Zend MSS. at first hand, giving a great impulse to the study of that language, and assistance in the decipherment of the old Persian cuneiform inscriptions: wrote 3 vols, of his work on the text and translation of the Bhagavat Purana, 1840–4: and began an introduction to the History of Indian Buddhism, 1844: translated a Sanskrit work on Le Lotus de la Bonne Loi, 1852, and the Vendidad Sade, 1829: and wrote on the Buddhist inscriptions on pillars and rocks: left other Zend works and a Pali grammar and dictionary nearly complete: Permanent
