Arthur Berriedale Keith (5 April 1879 – 6 October 1944) was a Scottish constitutional lawyer, scholar of Sanskrit and Indologist. He became Regius Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology and Lecturer on the Constitution of the British Empire in the University of Edinburgh. He served in this role from 1914 to 1944.

Biography

Arthur Berriedale Keith was born in Edinburgh, the fourth child and third son of Davidson Keith (1842–1921), an advertising agent, and Margaret Stobie Keith, née Drysdale (1851–1911). All his five siblings were associated with the British Empire in Burma and India: Sir William John Keith KCSI, ICS, was acting governor of Burma in 1925, Steuart Keith (died 1925) was a sessions judge in Burma, Alan Davidson Keith (died 1928) was a barrister in Burma. Both of his sisters married British expatriates in the region.

Keith was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, the University of Edinburgh (MA 1897; DLitt 1914), and Balliol College, Oxford (BA 1900; BCL 1905; DCL 1911). At Oxford he took firsts in Classical Moderations (1899), in Sanskrit and Pali (1900), and in Literae humaniores (1901). He was called to the bar by the Inner Temple in 1904 and became a member of the Faculty of Advocates in 1921.

He joined the Colonial Office as a clerk in 1901, having ranked first in the Home and Indian civil service examinations; he was said to have received the highest marks ever. He remained in the department until 1914, except for a period with the Crown Agents from 1903 to 1905. From 1912 to 1914 he was private secretary to the permanent under-secretary, Sir John Anderson.

In 1914, he became Regius Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology at the University of Edinburgh. In 1927 he additionally became Lecturer on the Constitution of the British Empire.

Keith was elected an International Member of the American Philosophical Society in 1935.^[1] Keith was awarded an honorary LLD from the University of Leeds in 1936. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1935, but resigned in 1939.

He is buried in Grange Cemetery in Edinburgh with his wife, Margaret Balfour Allan (died 1934). The grave lies on the south side of the central vaults, adjacent to the central archway through the vaults.

Works

Constitutional law and history

• The Theory of State Succession. London: Waterlow and Sons, Ltd. 1907. OCLC 69121153.
• Responsible Government in the Dominions (First ed.). London: Stevens and Sons. 1909. OCLC 457838788. (Revised Edition, 1912 Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3) (Second Edition, 1928 Volume 1, Volume 2)
• Imperial Unity and the Dominions. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1916. OCLC 457838770.
• Selected Speeches and Documents on Colonial Policy 1763–1917. London: Oxford University Press. 1918. OCLC 641437855. Volume 1, Volume 2
• The Belgian Congo and the Berlin Act. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1919. OCLC 1084237980.
• Dominion Home Rule in Practice. London: Oxford University Press. 1921. OCLC 4649952.
• War Government of the British Dominions. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1921. OCLC 845085048.
• Speeches & Documents on Indian Policy, 1750-1921. London: Oxford University Press. 1922. OCLC 560897263. Volume 1, Volume 2
• The Constitution, Administration, and Laws of the Empire. The British Empire. Vol. 3. London: W. Collins Sons. 1924. OCLC 722528181.
• The Sovereignty of the British Dominions. London: Macmillan. 1929. OCLC 493007073.
• An Introduction To British Constitutional Law. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1931. OCLC 837623861.
• The Constitutional Law of the British Dominions. London: Macmillan. 1933. OCLC 1097779579.
• Letters on Imperial Relations, Indian Reform, Constitutional and International Law 1916-1935. London: Oxford University Press. 1935. OCLC 603611422.
• The Governments of the British Empire. London: Macmillan and Co. 1935. OCLC 1132185788.
• Speeches and Documents on the British Dominions 1918–1931. London. 1936. OCLC 1153913162.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• The King and the Imperial Crown. 1936. OCLC 317917752.
• A Constitutional History of India (1600–1935). London: Methuen. 1936. OCLC 1027483598.
• The Privileges and Rights of the Crown. London: C.A. Pearson. 1936. OCLC 752904914.
• The Dominions as Sovereign States. Edinburgh: R. & R. Clark. 1938. OCLC 238797062.
• The British Cabinet System, 1830-1938. London: Stevens and Sons. 1939. OCLC 150636893.
• The Constitution of England from Queen Victoria to George VI. London: Macmillan. 1940. OCLC 901374797. Volume 1, Volume 2
• The British Commonwealth of Nations. Its Territories and Constitutions. London: Longmans. 1940. OCLC 771587983.
• The Causes of the War. London: Thomas Nelson. 1940. OCLC 715831343.

Indian culture and literature

• MacDonell, Arthur Anthony; Keith, Arthur Barriedale (1912). Vedic Index of Names and Subjects. Vol. 1. London: John Murray. OCLC 877534019.
• MacDonell, Arthur Anthony; Keith, Arthur Barriedale (1912). Vedic Index of Names and Subjects. Vol. 2. London: John Murray. OCLC 877534019.
• Indian. The Mythology of All Races. Vol. VI. Boston: Marshall Jones Company. 1917. OCLC 238853775.
• The Samkhya System: A History of the Samkhya Philosophy. London: Oxford University Press. 1918. OCLC 462820516. (Second Edition, 1924 at Google Books)
• A History of Sanskrit Literature. London: Oxford University Press. 1920. OCLC 859848475.
• Indian Logic and Atomism; an exposition of the Nyāya and Vaiçeṣika systems. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1921. OCLC 903532131.
• The Karma-Mīmāṃsā. The Heritage of India Series. Calcutta: Association Press. 1921. OCLC 316189716.
• 'The Period of the Later Samhitās, the Brahmaņas, the Āraņyakas, and the Upanishads' in The Cambridge History of India, vol. i (Cambridge: University Press, 1922).
• Classical Sanskrit Literature. The Heritage of India Series. Calcutta: Association Press. 1923. OCLC 977736919.
• Buddhist Philosophy in India and Ceylon. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1923. OCLC 867882745.
• The Sanskrit Drama in its Origin, Development, Theory & Practice. London: Oxford University Press. 1924. OCLC 459743237.
• The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads; The first half. Harvard Oriental Series. Vol. 31. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1925. OCLC 421332456.
• The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads; The second half. Harvard Oriental Series. Vol. 32. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1925. OCLC 421332456.

Translations

• The Śāṇkhāyana Āraṇyaka With An Appendix On The Mahāvrata. Oriental Translation Fund New Series. Vol. XVIII. London: Royal Asiatic Society. 1908. OCLC 163251299.
• The Aitareya Āraṇyaka. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1909. OCLC 316147619.
• The Veda of the Black Yajus School, entitled Taittiriya Sanhita; Part 1: Kāṇḍas I-III. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1914. OCLC 478924520.
• The Veda of the Black Yajus School, entitled Taittiriya Sanhita; Part 2: Kāṇḍas IV-VII. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1914. OCLC 478924520.
• Rigveda Brahmanas: the Aitareya and Kauśītaki Brāhmaṇas of the Rigveda. Harvard Oriental Series. Vol. 25. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1920. OCLC 882698644.