Who among the following translated the Manusmriti into English for the

Who among the following translated the Manusmriti into English for the first time?

Sir William Jones
Charles Wilkins
N. B. Halhed
Warren Hastings
This question was previously asked in
UPSC CISF-AC-EXE – 2019
Sir William Jones translated the Manusmriti into English for the first time.
– Sir William Jones (1746-1794) was a British philologist, jurist, and scholar of ancient India. He founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784.
– He was a pioneer in the study of Sanskrit and translated several important Indian texts.
– His translation of the *Manu Smriti* (or *Laws of Manu*) titled “Institutes of Hindu Law, or, the Ordinances of Menu” was published in 1794. This was the first complete English translation of this ancient legal and social treatise.
– Charles Wilkins translated the Bhagavad Gita and the Hitopadesha into English. N. B. Halhed translated the Code of Gentoo Laws (a compilation of Hindu laws based on various texts) into English. Warren Hastings encouraged such translations and studies but did not perform the translation himself.
Sir William Jones’s work was crucial in introducing ancient Indian literature, philosophy, and legal systems to the Western world and played a significant role in the development of Oriental studies. He is also known for observing the linguistic similarities between Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin, laying the foundation for comparative linguistics.