GEIGER, WILHELM, German scholar of Iranian and Indian philology (b. Nuremberg 21 July 1856, d. Neubiberg 2 September 1943; AYĀDGĀR Ī ZARĒRĀN).
Geiger’s magnum opus in the Iranian field is his Ostiranische Kultur im Altertum, a clear, fascinating, and reliable survey of the “Avestan people” (Geiger’s term) based on the entire text of the Avesta supplemented by the information gained from classical Greek and Latin texts as well as from modern anthropological sources. He, however, did not deal here in detail with the problem of the home and the age of the Avesta. This became the subject of an article (“Vaterland…”), where he argued on the basis of information (especially toponyms) given in the text that the home of the “Avestan people” was in eastern Iran, but not in Bactria, as de Harlez maintained. As for the age of Avesta, he refers to it only as the great antiquity antecedent to the Median and Persian empires. The lively style and the wealth of information that this book contains make it unmatched even today.
In the years 1889-95 Geiger published five articles on Balūčī and three articles on Paṧtō, based on the materials published by other scholars. His last contributions to the Iranian studies were his articles in the Grundriss, where he describes and gives brief grammatical sketches of modern Iranian languages.
Geiger was also interested in anthropology and politics. He published a number of articles on the latter subject in newspapers and journals, especially on the Russian policy in Central Asia.
Bibliography
Works (only in the field of Iranian studies): Die Pehleviversion des Ersten Capitels des Vendidâd herausgegeben nebst dem Versuch einer ersten Übersetzung und Erklärung, Erlangen, 1877.
Aogemadaêcâ, ein Pârsentractat, Altbaktrisch und Sanskrit, herausgegeben, übersetzt, erklärt und mit Glossar versehen, Leipzig and Erlangen, 1878; repr. Hildesheim, 1971.
Handbuch der Awestasprache, Grammatik, Chrestomathie und Glossar, Erlangen, 1879. “Das dritte Capitel des Vendidâd,” ZDMG 34, 1880, pp. 415-27.
“Das Yātkār-i Zarēr und sein Verhältnis zum Šāh-nāme,” Sb Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, philos.-philol.-hist. Kl., 1890, pp. 43-84.
“Vaterland und Zeitalter des Avesta und seiner Kultur,” ibid., 1884, pp. 315-85; Eng. tr. appended to the tr. of the Ostiranische Kultur II, pp. 85-164; publ. separately as The Age of Avesta and Zoroaster, London, 1886.
Ostiranische Kultur im Alterum, Erlangen, 1882; repr. Aalen, 1972; tr. D. Dastur Peshotan Sanjana as Civilization of the Eastern Iranians in Ancient Times I: Ethnography and Social Life, London, 1885; II: The Old Iranian Polity and the Age of the Avesta, London, 1887.
Die Pamirgebiete: Eine geographische Monographie, Wien, 1887.
“Die Sprache der Afghānen” in Grundriss I/2, pp. 201-30.
“Die Sprache der Balūtschen,” ibid., pp. 231-48.
“Kleinere Dialekte und Dialektgruppen I. Die Pāmirdialekte,” ibid., pp. 288-344; II. “Die kaspischen Dialekte,” ibid., pp. 344-80; III. “Centrale Dialekte,” ibid., pp. 381-406.
“Bemerkungen über das Tādschikī,” ibid., pp. 407-08.
“Bemerkungen über das Judenpersisch,” ibid., pp. 408-12.
“Allgemeine Übersicht über die Dialekte und ihre Gruppierung,” ibid., pp. 412-23.
Among his obituaries may be mentioned: H. von Glasenapp, “Wilhelm Geiger als Indologe,” ZDMG 98, 1944, pp. 181-88.
W. Wüst in Sb. Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften,phil.-hist. Abt. 11, 1943, pp. 17-24.
Idem, “Geleitwort,” ZDMG 98, 1944, pp. 169-71.
See also H. Bechert in Neue Deutsche Biographie VI, Berlin, 1964, pp. 142-43.
Idem, ed., W. Geiger. Kleine Schriften, Wiesbaden, 1973 (only indological articles), pp. XI-XXXIII.
R. F. Merkel, “W. Geiger als Religionshistoriker,” in ed. W. Wüst, ed., Studia Indo-Iranica Ehrengabe für W. Geiger, Leipzig, 1931, pp. 324-27.
H. H. Schaeder, “Wilhelm Geiger als Iranist” ZDMG 98, 1944, pp. 171-80.
K. G. Zistl in Yoga 1, 1931, pp. 107-19.