Adriaan Reland (also known as Adriaen Reeland/Reelant, Hadrianus Relandus) (17 July 1676 – 5 February 1718[1]) was a noted Dutch
Orientalist scholar,
cartographer and
philologist.[2] Even though he never left the Netherlands,[3] or visited the Holy Land, he made significant contributions to Middle Eastern and Asian linguistics and cartography, including Persia, Japan and the Holy Lands.[4][page needed]
Early life
Reland was the son of Johannes Reland, a Protestant minister, and Aagje Prins in the small
North Holland village of De Rijp. Adriaan's brother, Peter (1678–1714), was an influential lawyer in
Haarlem.[1] Reland first studied
Latin language in
Amsterdam at age 11, and enrolled at
University of Utrecht in 1693, at age 17, to study theology and philosophy. Initially interested in
Hebrew and
Syriac, he later began studying
Arabic. In 1699, after obtaining his
doctorate in Utrecht, Reland moved to
Leiden and tutored the son of
Hans Willem Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland.[5] The latter invited him to move to England, but Reland declined because of his father's deteriorating health.
Academic career
In 1699, Reland was appointed Professor of Physics and Metaphysics at the
University of Harderwijk. By this point, he had achieved a good knowledge of
Arabic,
Hebrew, and other
Semitic languages.[6] In 1701, at age 25, he was appointed Professor of Oriental Languages at the University of Utrecht. Beginning in 1713, he also taught Hebrew Antiquities.[4] This was extended with a chair in Jewish Antiquity.[7]
Reland gained renown for his research in
Islamic studies and linguistics; his work being an early example of
comparative linguistics. Additionally, he studied
Persian and was interested in the relation of Eastern myths to the
Old Testament. He published a work concerning East Asian myths, Dissertationum miscellanearum partes tres, in 1708. Moreover, he discovered the link for the
Malay language to the Western Pacific dictionaries of
Willem Schouten and
Jacob Le Maire.
Research on Middle East
Reland, through compiling Arabic texts, completed De religione Mohammedica libri duo in 1705. This work, extended in 1717, was considered the first objective survey of Islamic beliefs and practices.[8] It quickly became a reference work throughout Europe and was translated into Dutch, English, German, French and Spanish.
Reland also extensively researched Middle Eastern locations and biblical geography, taking interest in Palestine. He published Antiquitates Sacrae veterum Hebraeorum (1708) and Palaestina ex monumentis veteribus illustrata (1714), in which he described and mapped the biblical peoples , and ancient geography of Palestine.[4]
Reland retained his professorship for his entire life, and additionally became a noted poet. In 1718, at age 41, he died of
smallpox in Utrecht.[1]
Dutch Translation Verhandeling van de godsdienst der Mahometaanen, als mede van het krygs-regt by haar ten tyde van oorlog tegens de christenen gebruykelyk. Utrecht 1718
English translation: Of the Mahometan Religion, Two books. London 1712
German translation: Zwey Bücher von der Türkischen oder Mohammedischen Religion. Hannover 1716, 1717
French translation: La Religion des Mahometans exposée par leurs propres Docteurs, avec des éclaircissemens sur les opinions qu'on leur a Faussement attribuées. The Hague 1721
De natuurlijke wijsgeer – a Dutch translation of
Ibn Tufail's Arabic novel Hayy ibn Yaqdhan. Printed by Pieter van der Veer. Amsterdam 1701
Galatea. Lusus poetica – a collection of Latin love-elegies, which brought Reland some fame as a
Neo-Latin poet. Amsterdam 1701
Gallery
Map of Western Java, 1718.
Bibliography
Jaski, Bart, et al., editors. The Orient in Utrecht: Adriaan Reland (1676-1718), Arabist, Cartographer, Antiquarian and Scholar of Comparative Religion. Brill, 2021,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctv1v7zb8g. Accessed 15 May 2022.
References
^
abcJohn Gorton, A General Biographical Dictionary, 1838, Whittaker & Co.
^Power And Religion in Baroque Rome: Barberini Cultural Policies, P. J. A. N. Rietbergen, p.321