Varma, Siddeshwar (18871985)K Karttunen, University of Helsinki,
Helsinki, Finland
2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Born in Rawalpindi in 1887 into a well-to-do Nandafamily of the
Panjab, as a son of Ram Das Nanda andJamna Dev, Siddheswar Varma
was originally calledPin.d. Das Nanda. As a P.W.D. contractor, his
fatherhad to move from place to place and thus the son waseducated
in various schools in Kaimalpur, Gujrat,
Central Hindi Directorate, Ministry of Education,Delhi. In 1960
he became head of the ChandigarhCentre of Vishveshwaranand Vedic
Institute. Hereceived an honorary doctor of literature from
PanjabUniversity in 1967, and, in 1982, from Jammu Uni-versity. In
his later years he prepared a three-volumesummary of G. A.
Griersons large Linguistic surveyof India (19721976) and a series
of linguistic ana-lyses of major Indian languages and language
groups(1978). Siddheswar Varma died in Delhi on August
nand Indological Series 5. Hoshiarpur: VishveshvaranandVedic
Research Institute.
Varma S (1978). Pan. ini and elision. Panjab University
Varma, Siddeshwar (18871985) 395Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Gujranwala,
and Miyanwali(all now in Pakistan). Educated in Urdu, he learnedat
home, Hindi and Sanskrit. He received a B.A. fromGaudan College in
Rawalpindi, then pursued studiesat Forman Christian College (of
Panjab University)in Lahore, earning his M.A. in history in
1911.
Varma then worked at Shahpur Durbar as privatesecretary to the
Raja and as tutor of his son. Hepassed the Shastri examination in
Sanskrit in 1913,began teaching, and then in 1915, was
appointedHeadmaster of Hindu High School in Gujranwala.In the same
year, he became Lecturer of Sanskritat Prince of Wales College (now
Gandhi MemorialCollege) in Jammu. During this time, he workedmainly
on Sanskrit and published some text editions.In 1924 he furthered
his studies of Sanskrit and lin-guistics at the School of Oriental
Studies in London,earning a doctor of literature in 1927. His
disserta-tion dealt with ancient Indian phonetics, the Pratisa-khya
and Siks. a texts. He also visited Paris and wasdeeply influenced
by J. Bloch. From 1915 to 1943 hetaught (first as Lecturer, then
Professor of Sanskrit) atPrince of Wales College in Jammu. From
Jammu heconducted much fieldwork on languages of WesternHimalaya,
mostly at his own expense.
During his retirement from 1943 to 1948 heworked at
Vishveshwaranand Vedic Institute inLahore, participating in the
preparation of the Vedicword-concordance. From 1948 to 1951, he was
at theInstitute of International Culture in Nagpur, collabo-rating
with Raghu Vira on a Hindi dictionary project.Then, from 19521960
he was General Editor in the Indological Series 12. Hoshiarpur:
Panjab University.Varma S (1963). Scientific and technical
presentation asreflected in the Mahabhashya of Patanjali.
Vishveshvar-anand Indological Journal 1, 136.18, 1985, at the age
of 97.
See also: Bloch, Jules (18801953); Panini; Patanjali (2nd
Century B.C.).
Bibliography
Bandhu V (1967). Dr. Siddheshwar Varma. Vishveshvar-anand
Indological Journal 5(1), 112.
Sharma D D (1978). Dr. Siddheshwar Varma. Vishvesh-varanand
Indological Journal 16, 209218.
Varma S (1929). Phonetic observations of Indian grammar-ians.
London: Royal Asiatic Society.
Varma S (1936a). The phonetics of Lahnda. Journal of theAsiatic
Society of Bengal (3rd S. Letters) 2, 47118.
Varma S (1936b). The Rudhar dialect (High Rudhar).Indian
Linguistics 6, 439517.
Varma S (1938). The dialects of Khasal group. Journal ofthe
Asiatic Society of Bengal (3rd S. Letters), 165.
Varma S (1941). Studies in Burushaski dialectology.Journal of
the Asiatic Society of Bengal (3rd S. Letters)7, 133173.
Varma S (1948). The Bhales dialect. Asiatic Society Mono-graphs
4. Calcutta: Asiatic Society.
Varma S (1953). The etymologies of Yaska. Vishveshvara-
Varma, Siddeshwar (1887-1985)Bibliography
