live of Brian Houghton Hodgson

Brian Hutton Hodgson is widely known for the great advances he made in describing the birds and mammals of Nepal, and in recognition of this, his name is associated with the names of many mammals and birds. Realizing that Nepal was virtually unknown to Europeans, Hodgson dedicated the 23 years he spent there to studying its people, customs, architecture, languages, religion, and natural history. In natural history, Hodgson focused on the birds and mammals of Nepal, the Himalayas in general, and northern India. He wrote over 140 papers in zoology, ranging from descriptions of individual species to checklists of animals, and submitted to ZSL notes and drawings of his manuscripts. Very diverse and with a range of interests, Hodgson was drawn to zoology and in a letter he sent to his sister Fanny in 1833 he said "Zoology in the branches of birds and quatrains amuses me very much". * Nepal's rich biodiversity is a tribute to its diverse climate, high variance and geography. In total, 118 ecosystems have been identified, the country is home to some of the world's most famous species of plants and animals, and Hodgson had a great opportunity to collect and describe the animals found there. Hodgson was successively between 1820 and 1843 Assistant Resident, then Acting Resident and then from 1833 Resident. Once he left Nepal, he spent another 13 years in India, where he lived in a bungalow called Brianstone in Darjeeling. He was in Darjeeling from 1845 to 1858, when he returned to England. ZSL is fortunate to have six volumes of manuscripts of original bird drawings and extensive notes and two other volumes relating to mammals: some 1,078 pages on birds and 456 on mammals as well as much of his correspondence including letters from Joseph Dalton Hooker, Lord Stanley, PL. Sclatter, J. E. Gray, Archibald Campbell. Hodgson submitted his manuscripts to the ZSL in 1874. Hodgson trained Nepalese artists to paint watercolors of animals in the style of zoological illustrations and to create a phenomenal visual reference for images. Rajman Singh made many sketches in the Mammals volumes and accompanied Hodgson in Darjeeling. While some of the panels are being completed, the manuscripts also contain sketches, notes, and measurements such as a field sketchbook; However, these talented artists almost always managed to produce great pictures, which were then expounded by Hodgson with scientific and generic names, indicating the region and the reference number. They often include some text in the Devangari script.