John Muir (indologist)

John Muir (February 5, 1810 – March 7, 1882) was a Scottish Sanskrit scholar and Indologist.

Muir was born in Glasgow, Scotland, one of four brothers amongst whom was William Muir, and educated at the grammar school of Irvine, the University of Glasgow, and the East India Company College at Haileybury. He arrived in India in 1829 as a civil servant in Bengal, and served in various offices, as assistant secretary to the board of revenue, Allahabad, as collector at Azamgarh and as civil and session judge at Fatehpur. In 1844, he was appointed to be the first principal of Victoria College, Benaras, that later evolved into the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. He left the Indian Civil Service in 1853 and returned to Edinburgh. In 1862 he endowed the chair of Sanskrit in the University of Edinburgh, and was the main agent in founding the Shaw fellowship in moral philosophy. He was a D.C.L. of Oxford, LL.D. of Edinburgh and PhD of Bonn, and was one of the first to receive the distinction of Companion of the Indian Empire.

Muir died unmarried, on 7 March 1882, at 10 Merchiston Avenue, Edinburgh.

He is buried in the Grange Cemetery against the western wall of the original cemetery, adjacent to the entrance to the 20th century extension.