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Thomas William Rhys Davids FBA
Born	(1843-05-12)12 May 1843 Colchester, Essex, England
Died	27 December 1922(1922-12-27) (aged 79) Chipstead, Surrey, England
Occupation	Scholar
Known for	Founder of thePali Text Society
Notable work	One of the first translations of early Buddhist texts

Thomas William Rhys DavidsFBA^[1] (12 May 1843 – 27 December 1922) was a Welsh scholar of thePāli language and founder of thePali Text Society. He took an active part in founding theBritish Academy and London School for Oriental Studies.

Thomas William Rhys Davids was born atColchester inEssex, England, the eldest son of aCongregational clergyman^[2] from Wales, who was affectionately referred to as the Bishop ofEssex. His mother, who died at the age of 37 following childbirth, had run the Sunday school at his father's church.

Deciding on a Civil Service career, Rhys Davids studiedSanskrit underA.F. Stenzler, a distinguished scholar at theUniversity of Breslau. He earned money in Breslau by teachingEnglish.

In 1863 Rhys Davids returned to Britain, and on passing his civil service exams was posted toSri Lanka (then known asCeylon). When he was Magistrate ofGalle and a case was brought before him involving questions of ecclesiastical law, he first learned of thePāli language when a document in that language was brought in as evidence.

In 1871 he was posted as Assistant Government Agent of Nuwarakalaviya, whereAnuradhapura was the administrative centre. The governor was SirHercules Robinson, who had founded the Archaeological Commission in 1868.

Rhys Davids became involved with the excavation of the ancient Sinhalese city of Anuradhapura, which had been abandoned after an invasion in 993 CE. He began to collect inscriptions and manuscripts, and from 1870-1872 wrote a series of articles for the Ceylon branch of theRoyal Asiatic Society Journal about them. He learned the local language and spent time with the people.

Rhys Davids' civil service career and his residence in Sri Lanka came to an abrupt end. Personal differences with his superior, C. W. Twynham, caused a formal investigation, resulting in a tribunal and Rhys Davids' dismissal for misconduct. A number of minor offenses had been discovered, as well as grievances concerning fines improperly exacted both from Rhys Davids' subjects and his employees.

He then studied for the bar and briefly practised law, though he continued to publish articles about Sri Lankan inscriptions and translations, notably inMax Müller's monumentalSacred Books of the East.

From 1882 to 1904 Rhys Davids was Professor of Pāli at theUniversity of London, a post which carried no fixed salary other than lecture fees.

In 1905 he took up the Chair of Comparative Religion at theUniversity of Manchester.

Rhys Davids attempted to promoteTheravada Buddhism and Pāli scholarship in Britain. He actively lobbied the government (in co-operation with the Asiatic Society of Great Britain) to expand funding for the study of Indian languages and literature, using numerous arguments over how this might strengthen the British hold on India.

In 1894 Rhys Davids marriedCaroline Augusta Foley, a noted Pāli scholar. Unlike his wife, however, Rhys Davids was a critic and opponent ofTheosophy. They had three children. The eldest, Vivien, was involved in theGirl Guide movement and was a friend ofRobert Baden-Powell. Their only son,Arthur Rhys Davids, was aRoyal Flying Corps 25-victory fighter ace who was killed inWorld War I.

Rhys Davids died on 27 December 1922 inChipstead, Surrey.

• Rhys Davids, T. W. (1880).Buddhist Birth Stories (Jataka Tales), London
• Rhys Davids, T. W., trans. (1890–94).Questions of King Milinda,Sacred Books of the East, volumes XXXV & XXXVI, Clarendon/Oxford, reprinted by Motilal Banarsidass, DelhiVol. 1,Vol. 2
• Rhys Davids, T. W. (1903).Buddhist India. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.
• Rhys Davids, T. W., Stede, William (eds.) (1921-5).The Pali Text Society's Pali–English Dictionary. Chipstead:Pali Text Society.Search inside the Pali–English Dictionary, University of Chicago
• Rhys Davids, T. W. (1907).Buddhism Its History And Literature, G. P. Putnam's Sons . New York, Second Edition.
• Rhys Davids, T. W. & C. A., trans. (1899–1921).Dialogues of the Buddha, 3 volumes, Pali Text Society,Vol. 1,Vol. 2,Vol. 3.
• Rhys Davids, T. W.; Oldenberg, Hermann, trans. (1881–85).Vinaya Texts,Sacred Books of the East, volumes XIII, XVII & XX, Clarendon/Oxford; reprint: Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi (Dover, New York)Vol. XIII, Mahavagga I-IV,Vol. XVII, Mahavagga V-X, Kullavagga I-III,Vol. XX, Kullavagga IV-XII
• Rhys Davids, T. W. (1891).The Sects of the Buddhists By T. W. Rhys Davids.The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, pp. 409–422
• Rhys Davids, T. W. (1901).Asoka and the Buddha-Relics By T. W. Rhys Davids.Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, pp. 397–410

• Anonymous (1920-1923).The passing of the Founder,Journal of the Pali Text Society 7, 1-21
• Wickremeratne, Ananda (1984).The Genesis of an Orientalist: Thomas William Rhys Davids and Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.ISBN 0836408675

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• Works by Thomas William Rhys Davids atProject Gutenberg
• Lorna S. Dewaraja."Rhys Davids: His contribution to Pāli and Buddhist studies",Daily News, Sri Lanka, 15–17 July 1998

• 1843 births
• 1922 deaths
• 20th-century Buddhists
• Academics of University College London
• British scholars of Buddhism
• British expatriates in Germany
• British Indologists
• British orientalists
• British people of Welsh descent
• English Theravada Buddhists
• Converts to Buddhism from Protestantism
• Critics of Theosophy
• Fellows of the British Academy
• Linguists of Pali
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• People from British Ceylon
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