III.

Impact on Europe

After the 16th century, European missionaries acquired some familiarity with the Sanskrit language and literature. The first Sanskrit grammar was published in Europe in 1790. The discovery by Western scholars of the existence of Sanskrit, and of Indian methods of teaching it, led both to the identification of the Indo-European language family and, under the stimulation of Panini's methodology, to the establishment of the science of comparative linguistics or comparative philology. Sanskrit writings profoundly influenced the study of comparative mythology and religion and that of comparative jurisprudence. See also Indian Languages; Phonetics; Sanskrit Literature.