Max Arthur Macauliffe

Max Arthur Macauliffe was an Irish officer of the Indian Civil Service who devoted the second half of his working life to the Sikh scriptures. His magnum opus, The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors, appeared in six volumes from the Clarendon Press, Oxford, in 1909. He was born at Newcastle West, County Limerick; the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism gives 10 September 1841, while Wikipedia, following the Dictionary of Irish Biography, gives 11 September 1838.

He joined the Indian Civil Service in 1862 and arrived in India in February 1864. He became a Deputy Commissioner in 1882 and a Divisional Judge in 1884. The Encyclopaedia says his interest began at a Diwali celebration in Amritsar, where he was moved by the hymns of the Gurus, and his first studies appeared in the Calcutta Review between 1875 and 1881.

How the translation was made

• 1893: the Khalsa Diwan offered financial support and he left the service. He called it a resignation; a colleague, E. D. Maclagan, objected to the word in 1908, since Macauliffe had retired and drew a pension (Wikipedia).
• He worked with Sikh scholars. His closest helper was Bhai Kahn Singh of Nabha, lent by Maharaja Ripudaman Singh; the Encyclopaedia also names Bhai Nihal Singh, Bhai Ditt Singh and Bhai Bhagvan Singh. Between 1901 and 1903 several Sikh scholars read his proofs, and a committee of scholars certified the translation as accurate (Wikipedia).
• He reportedly spent about two lakh rupees of his own money, and the rulers of Nabha, Patiala and Jind helped. The Punjab government recommended a grant of Rs 15,000, but after objections on grounds of religious neutrality it was cut to Rs 5,000 by Lord Morley, and Macauliffe declined it.
• 1909: The Sikh Religion is published. He had criticised Ernest Trumpp's earlier translation, which Sikhs widely rejected, for ignoring traditional interpretation.
• 15 March 1913: he died at his home in West Kensington, London. His Punjabi servant reported that he had recited the Japji shortly before he died.

How Sikhs received him: with respect and some reserve. In 1911 the Sikh Educational Conference at Rawalpindi rejected a resolution praising his work, though it passed a condolence resolution when he died. A memorial fund raised Rs 3,245, which paid for a medal at Khalsa College, Amritsar. The copyright of The Sikh Religion passed to Kahn Singh of Nabha.

Remembered for: a six-volume English translation of the Gurus' hymns with a life of each Guru, made with Sikh scholars rather than against them.