teenth Century' in an English translation. After leaving India, in 1864, he published 'The Gospel of the Afghans, being a Critical Examination of a Small Portion of the New Testament in Pushtu'; in 1871 a translation of ’Æsop's Fables' into Pushtu, and in 1880 a 'Pushtu Manual.' Between 1881 and 1888 he issued in four instalments his ponderous work 'Notes on Afghanistan and Baluchistan,' in which he describes as many as three and twenty routes in those countries. Besides its geographical and topographical information, the book contains an important contribution to the ethnology of those regions, and much concerning the manners and customs of the tribes and clans. The 'Notes' were prepared at the request of the marquis of Salisbury when secretary of state for India in 1875–6.
Simultaneously Raverty was working at his translation of the 'Tabakat i Nasiri,' which was published in 1881. It is a rendering from Persian into English of Minhaj ibn Siraj's work on general history, with special reference to the Muhammadan dynasties of Asia, and particularly those of Ghur, Ghaznah (now parts of Afghanistan), and Hindustan. By his critical remarks and copious illustrative notes derived from his wide reading of other native authors, Raverty vastly enhanced the historical value and completeness of Minhaj's work.
Other of Raverty's valuable studies appeared chiefly in the 'Journal of the Asiatic Society,' Bengal. Among these papers were 'Remarks on the Origin of the Afghan People' (1854); 'Notes on Kafiristan and the Siah - Posh Kafir Tribes' (1858); 'On the Language of the Siah-Posh Kafirs of Kafiristan' (1864); 'An Account of Upper Kashghar and Chitral' (1864); 'Memoir of the Author of the Tabakat i Nasiri' (1882); 'The Mihran of Sind and its Tributaries — a Geographical Study' (1892); and 'Tibbat three hundred and sixty-five Years ago ' (1895). 'Muscovite Proceedings on the Afghan Frontier' was reprinted from the 'United Service Gazette' in 1885.
Raverty died at Grampound Road, Cornwall, on 20 Oct. 1906. He married in 1865 Fanny Vigurs, only daughter of Commander George Pooley, R.N. She survived him without issue.
Raverty, whose frankness in controversy cost him many friends, received small recognition in his lifetime from his fellow-countrymen, but his immense labours gave him a high reputation among foreign Oriental scholars. At his death Raverty had seven important works either completed in manuscript or in preparation, viz.:
- 'A History of Herat and its Dependencies and the Annals of Klhurasan from the earliest down to modern Times,' based upon the works of native historians, which are treated with critical acumen; the six bulky quarto volumes of MS., the result of fifty years' research, are now at the India office.
- 'A History of the Afghan People and their Country' (the whole material collected and the composition just commenced).
- 'A brief History of the Rise of the Isma'iliah Sect in Africa.'
- 'A History of the Mings and Hazarahs of Afghanistan and other Parts of Central Asia.'
- 'A Translation of the Ta'rikh i Alfi from the Persian.'
- 'The Gospels in Pushtu' (completed).
- 'An Engliah-Pushto Dictionary' (not completed).
[The Times, 26 Oct. 1906; Buckland's Dict. of Indian Biog.; Journal of the Royal Asiatic Soc, 1907, pp. 251–3; papers kindly lent by Major Raverty's widow.]
RAWLINSON, GEORGE (1812–1902), canon of Canterbury, writer on ancient history, born on 23 Nov. 1812, at Chadlington, Oxfordshire, was third son of Abraham Tysack Rawlinson by his wife Eliza Eudocia Albinia, daughter of Henry Creswicke, of Morton, Worcester. Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson [q. v.], was his brother. Educated at Swansea grammar school and at Ealing school, he matriculated in 1834 at Trinity College, Oxford, as a commoner, and in 1838 took a first class in the final school of classics, graduating B.A. in that year and proceeding M.A. in 1841. He played for Oxford in the first cricket match with Cambridge in 1836 and was president of the Union in 1840. He was elected fellow of Exeter College in 1840 and tutor in 1841. In 1841 and 1842 he was ordained deacon and priest, and gained the Denyer prize for a theological essay twice — in 1842 and 1843. In 1846 he vacated his tutorship on his marriage, and for a short time (1846–7) was curate of Merton, Oxfordshire. But he soon found ways of renewing his activities and interests in Oxford. He served on the committee of the Tutors' Association, a body formed to consider the proposals of the University Commission of 1852, with Church, Marriott, Osborne Gordon, Mansel, and others. In 1853, with Dean Lake, he laid before Gladstone the views of the Tutors' Association, and thus had an important influence in shaping the Oxford University Act of 1854. Gladstone's
