{"id":172375,"date":"2025-01-21T14:20:59","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T13:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/jacob-var-sidste-ansatte-paa-indologi-heldigvis-findes-der-stadig-steder-i-verden-som-ikke-har-givet-op-paa-historien\/"},"modified":"2025-01-24T10:18:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T09:18:56","slug":"the-last-indologist-fortunately-there-are-still-places-in-the-world-that-havent-given-up-on-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/the-last-indologist-fortunately-there-are-still-places-in-the-world-that-havent-given-up-on-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The last indologist: \u00bbFortunately, there are still places in the world that haven\u2019t given up on history\u00ab"},"content":{"rendered":"

Back in 2016, the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) shut down five small cultural and language programmes<\/a> at its Faculty of Humanities: Finnish, Tibetology, Thai, Indonesian, and Indology.<\/p>\n

Jacob Schmidt-Madsen had just been hired as a PhD student in Indology the year before that. And for years, he was allowed to continue his research in the field at UCPH, even though the programme had been discontinued. In recent years, his work has mostly focussed on winding down research activities in the discipline.<\/p>\n

In December 2024, the media Videnskab.dk<\/a> could report that the massive collection of ancient Indian manuscripts in Sanskrit \u2014 the classical ancient language \u2014 at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at UCPH is moulding and deteriorating.<\/p>\n

UCPH owns an important collection of Sanskrit manuscripts that could have had immense research potential, but that are now going to waste<\/p>\n

Jacob Schmidt-Madsen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

According to Jacob Schmidt-Madsen however \u2014 the last UCPH employee within the field of indology \u2014 the tragedy is not just the traces of mould and decay found in some of the manuscripts.<\/p>\n

The tragedy is the fact that there is no longer anyone at the university who has the skills to read them.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe continued de-prioritization of the humanities has resulted in UCPH owning an important collection of Sanskrit manuscripts that could have had immense research potential, but that are now going to waste,\u00ab says Jacob Schmidt-Madsen. He adds:<\/p>\n

\u00bbAs an Indologist, I find it shocking that there is no investment in researching these manuscripts. Why do we even have them if we don’t intend to use them? I think it\u2019s worth considering whether they should remain in Denmark at all if we aren\u2019t planning to make good use of them.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Manuscripts should be digitized<\/h3>\n

UCPH has recently partnered with the Royal Library in Copenhagen to find a way to restore and preserve the ancient manuscripts, according to Jacob Schmidt-Madsen. He believes the best solution would be to digitize them, giving access to them for researchers worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe issue is that digitizing the manuscripts also requires experts in Sanskrit who know exactly how to handle and treat them. Unfortunately, the Royal Library does not have this expertise, but we hope that bringing someone in to do this will be prioritized,\u00ab says Jacob Schmidt-Madsen.<\/p>\n

He points out that it is challenging to prevent decay in paper manuscripts as old and fragile as those at UCPH, which is why digitization is clearly the preferred option.<\/p>\n

Grammar, yoga, and tantra<\/h3>\n

The ancient manuscript collection is one of the largest outside India, according to Jacob Schmidt-Madsen. It includes over 3,000 texts.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe collection spans nearly all genres of Sanskrit literature: religious texts, philosophical works, grammar, plays, poetry, legal texts, mathematics, science, yoga, and tantric literature \u2014 anything you could imagine,\u00ab he says, adding that part of his work at UCPH consisted in mapping out the collection’s contents.
\n
\n\u00bbWe managed to map out a significant portion of it, but there are still many unknowns. All we can say right now is that it is a large and fascinating collection with immense research potential.\u00ab<\/p>\n

It was a sad task knowing that there would be no one to take over after me. I was constantly shutting things down instead of building things up.<\/p>\n

Jacob Schmidt-Madsen, Indologist<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What makes this particular collection special, explains Jacob Schmidt-Madsen, is that it is often possible to decode exactly where many of the manuscripts originate.<\/p>\n

\u00bbSeveral of the manuscripts can be traced back to specific historical individuals who lived in India in the 19th century. This allows us to create an intellectual historical narrative, something that is rarely achieved with Sanskrit manuscripts,\u00ab says Jacob Schmidt-Madsen. He adds:<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe Royal Library also holds another large collection of 1,500 Indian manuscripts. Combining the two collections would provide a strong foundation for indological research. Unfortunately, they have now abandoned this research.\u00ab<\/p>\n

Last man standing<\/h3>\n

Sanskrit is an ancient Indian language but it is far from extinct, according to the former UCPH researcher.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe language holds enormous cultural significance in India today, and Indian history plays a major role in contemporary Indian society. It is the only culture in the world that draws a direct cultural line from antiquity to the present. Without understanding its history, it is difficult to understand its present,\u00ab he explains.<\/p>\n

The 2016 decision to close the programme has led to a significant loss of knowledge, according to Jacob Schmidt-Madsen.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThere is a Modern India and South Asian Studies programme, but it only deals with historical India to a limited extent,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n

Jacob Schmidt-Madsen worked first as a PhD student and then as a postdoc at UCPH until 2022. It was a unique experience being the last man standing, he recalls.<\/p>\n

\u00bbIt was a sad task knowing that there would be no one to take over after me. I was constantly shutting things down instead of building things up,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n

Today, he works in Berlin at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThere are fortunately still places in the world that haven\u2019t given up on history. I now continue my work on ancient Indian games and gaming cultures in Berlin, but I do wish I could have done it in Copenhagen.\u00ab
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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","name":"zysk-collection_braj-vilas_dilip-1631","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":172336,"date":"2025-01-21 13:01:34","modified":"2025-01-21 13:05:25","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":1707,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/zyskcollection_brajvilas_dilip1631-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/zyskcollection_brajvilas_dilip1631-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/zyskcollection_brajvilas_dilip1631-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/zyskcollection_brajvilas_dilip1631-1280x853.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":853,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/zyskcollection_brajvilas_dilip1631-1536x1024.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/zyskcollection_brajvilas_dilip1631-2048x1365.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/zyskcollection_brajvilas_dilip1631-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/zyskcollection_brajvilas_dilip1631-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/zyskcollection_brajvilas_dilip1631-700x467.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":467,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/zyskcollection_brajvilas_dilip1631-990x660.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":660}},"style":"extended","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"The Kenneth Zysk Indological Manuscript Collection has over 3,000 texts in Sanskrit"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"","text":"This is a story about what will follow","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Back in 2016, <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/ucph-authorised-to-close-study-programmes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) shut down five small cultural and language programmes<\/a> at its Faculty of Humanities: Finnish, Tibetology, Thai, Indonesian, and Indology.<\/p>\n<p>Jacob Schmidt-Madsen had just been hired as a PhD student in Indology the year before that. And for years, he was allowed to continue his research in the field at UCPH, even though the programme had been discontinued. In recent years, his work has mostly focussed on winding down research activities in the discipline.<\/p>\n<p>In December 2024, the media <a href=\"https:\/\/videnskab.dk\/kultur-samfund\/paa-koebenhavns-universitet-staar-utrolig-samling-oldtidsmanuskripter-og-samler-stoev-en-yngleplads-for-mug\/\">Videnskab.dk<\/a> could report that the massive collection of ancient Indian manuscripts in Sanskrit \u2014 the classical ancient language \u2014 at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at UCPH is moulding and deteriorating.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>UCPH owns an important collection of Sanskrit manuscripts that could have had immense research potential, but that are now going to waste<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Jacob Schmidt-Madsen<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>According to Jacob Schmidt-Madsen however \u2014 the last UCPH employee within the field of indology \u2014 the tragedy is not just the traces of mould and decay found in some of the manuscripts.<\/p>\n<p>The tragedy is the fact that there is no longer anyone at the university who has the skills to read them.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe continued de-prioritization of the humanities has resulted in UCPH owning an important collection of Sanskrit manuscripts that could have had immense research potential, but that are now going to waste,\u00ab says Jacob Schmidt-Madsen. He adds:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAs an Indologist, I find it shocking that there is no investment in researching these manuscripts. Why do we even have them if we don’t intend to use them? I think it\u2019s worth considering whether they should remain in Denmark at all if we aren\u2019t planning to make good use of them.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Manuscripts should be digitized<\/h3>\n<p>UCPH has recently partnered with the Royal Library in Copenhagen to find a way to restore and preserve the ancient manuscripts, according to Jacob Schmidt-Madsen. He believes the best solution would be to digitize them, giving access to them for researchers worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe issue is that digitizing the manuscripts also requires experts in Sanskrit who know exactly how to handle and treat them. Unfortunately, the Royal Library does not have this expertise, but we hope that bringing someone in to do this will be prioritized,\u00ab says Jacob Schmidt-Madsen.<\/p>\n<p>He points out that it is challenging to prevent decay in paper manuscripts as old and fragile as those at UCPH, which is why digitization is clearly the preferred option.<\/p>\n<h3>Grammar, yoga, and tantra<\/h3>\n<p>The ancient manuscript collection is one of the largest outside India, according to Jacob Schmidt-Madsen. It includes over 3,000 texts.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe collection spans nearly all genres of Sanskrit literature: religious texts, philosophical works, grammar, plays, poetry, legal texts, mathematics, science, yoga, and tantric literature \u2014 anything you could imagine,\u00ab he says, adding that part of his work at UCPH consisted in mapping out the collection’s contents.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":172334,"id":172334,"title":"Jacob Schmidt-Madsen","filename":"jacobschmidtmadsen.jpg","filesize":574166,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/jacobschmidtmadsen.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/jacob-var-sidste-ansatte-paa-indologi-heldigvis-findes-der-stadig-steder-i-verden-som-ikke-har-givet-op-paa-historien\/jacob-schmidt-madsen-2\/","alt":"","author":"99","description":"","caption":"Jacob Schmidt-Madsen forsker fortsat i sit fag, i dag foreg\u00e5r det p\u00e5 Max Planck-Instituttet i Berlin.","name":"jacob-schmidt-madsen-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":172336,"date":"2025-01-21 12:52:03","modified":"2025-01-21 13:25:11","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2480,"height":1654,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/jacobschmidtmadsen-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/jacobschmidtmadsen-480x320.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":320,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/jacobschmidtmadsen-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/jacobschmidtmadsen-1280x854.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":854,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/jacobschmidtmadsen-1536x1024.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/jacobschmidtmadsen-2048x1366.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1366,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/jacobschmidtmadsen-290x193.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":193,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/jacobschmidtmadsen-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/jacobschmidtmadsen-700x467.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":467,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/jacobschmidtmadsen-990x660.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":660}},"style":"narrow","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Jacob Schmidt-Madsen is still doing research in his field. But it now takes place at the Max Planck Institute in Berlin"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>\u00bbWe managed to map out a significant portion of it, but there are still many unknowns. All we can say right now is that it is a large and fascinating collection with immense research potential.\u00ab<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It was a sad task knowing that there would be no one to take over after me. I was constantly shutting things down instead of building things up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Jacob Schmidt-Madsen, Indologist<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>What makes this particular collection special, explains Jacob Schmidt-Madsen, is that it is often possible to decode exactly where many of the manuscripts originate.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbSeveral of the manuscripts can be traced back to specific historical individuals who lived in India in the 19th century. This allows us to create an intellectual historical narrative, something that is rarely achieved with Sanskrit manuscripts,\u00ab says Jacob Schmidt-Madsen. He adds:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe Royal Library also holds another large collection of 1,500 Indian manuscripts. Combining the two collections would provide a strong foundation for indological research. Unfortunately, they have now abandoned this research.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Last man standing<\/h3>\n<p>Sanskrit is an ancient Indian language but it is far from extinct, according to the former UCPH researcher.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe language holds enormous cultural significance in India today, and Indian history plays a major role in contemporary Indian society. It is the only culture in the world that draws a direct cultural line from antiquity to the present. Without understanding its history, it is difficult to understand its present,\u00ab he explains.<\/p>\n<p>The 2016 decision to close the programme has led to a significant loss of knowledge, according to Jacob Schmidt-Madsen.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThere is a Modern India and South Asian Studies programme, but it only deals with historical India to a limited extent,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n<p>Jacob Schmidt-Madsen worked first as a PhD student and then as a postdoc at UCPH until 2022. It was a unique experience being the last man standing, he recalls.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt was a sad task knowing that there would be no one to take over after me. I was constantly shutting things down instead of building things up,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n<p>Today, he works in Berlin at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThere are fortunately still places in the world that haven\u2019t given up on history. I now continue my work on ancient Indian games and gaming cultures in Berlin, but I do wish I could have done it in Copenhagen.\u00ab<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with our top stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":46,"name":"Science","slug":"science","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":46,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":831,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":7630,"name":"humaiora","slug":"humaiora-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":7630,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":7631,"name":"indien manuskripter","slug":"indien-manuskripter-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":7631,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":7632,"name":"indologi","slug":"indologi-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":7632,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":7633,"name":"kenneth zysk","slug":"kenneth-zysk-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":7633,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":735,"name":"Sm\u00e5fag","slug":"smaafag-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":735,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":14,"name":"Portrait Article","slug":"portrait_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":14,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":796,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":672,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/zyskcollection_brajvilas_dilip1631-1280x853.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172375"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172560,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172375\/revisions\/172560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}