As far as nineteenth-century Indology goes, the French missionary Abbe Dubois (1765-1848) has something of a reputation. Dubois is known to be the author of a book published in the early 1800’s – Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies. An extensive work that delved into the caste system, festivals, rituals, and the Ashrama categorisation of the Hindu life, it was long regarded as an authentic text to understand Hinduism.
In 1816, Dubois published an English translation of the book and followed up with a revised version in 1825. But there’s a catch; this was not Dubois’ original work – it’s said to be a copy. At the very least, he failed to acknowledge his considerable debt of gratitude to an earlier work, written by another Frenchman, Gaston-Laurent Coeurdoux.
Ordained in 1792, Jean-Antoine Dubois arrived in Pondicherry in the same year. In Pondicherry, Dubois came across Coeurdoux’s work from which he drew much of the material on which he based his book – Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies.
Sylvia Murr, a French research scholar studying Dubois’ work, discovered that there was an earlier version of this manuscript dated to 1777. It was written by Jacques Desvaulx, an officer of the French army stationed at Pondicherry, much before Dubois had come to India.
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