Charles Philip Brown (10 November 1798 – 12 December 1884) was a British official of the East India Company. He worked in what is now Andhra Pradesh, and became an important scholarly figure in Telugu language literature. Background Telugu literature was in a dormant phase in the 18th century, for a number of social and political reasons - a lack of creative Telugu poets, prevailing illiteracy and the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire as patrons of Telugu literature. Brown, as official in the region, collected and edited works. He believed he had saved the heritage of the Telugu language. In his own words, "Telugu literature was dying out; the flame was flickering in the socket. In 1825, I found Telugu literature dead. In 30 years I raised it to life". Janamaddi Hanumath Sastri, who has researched Brown's life, established a library in Kadapa in his memory. Biography Charles Brown was born in Calcutta on 10 November 1798. His father David Brown was a manager of an orphanage and a missionary and scholar in many languages including Sanskrit. Charles Brown moved back to England in 1812 after his father's death, to obtain training from Haileybury College for a civil service position in India. He returned to Madras on 4 August 1817 In 1820, Thomas Munro, governor of Madras had ordered that every official should learn a local language. Brown chose Telugu, under the guidance of Velagapudi Kodandarama Panthulu, and passed a Telugu examination as well as the civil service examination that year. He became deputy to John Hanbury, the collector of Kadapa. Hanbury was fluent in Telugu and Brown continued to study. He was transferred to Machilipatnam in 1822 and then to Rajahmundry in 1825. Moved to Guntur at the beginning of the famine of 1832–3, he employed active methods, while dealing with sceptical superiors in Madras. Brown was relieved from his duties in 1834. He went back to London and stayed there from 1835 to 1838. Brown returned to Madras again in 1837 as a translator of Persian for the East India Company and joined as a member of the Madras College Board. He retired in 1854 because of health reasons and went back to London again. He worked at London University as Telugu Professor for some time. Legacy While Brown concentrated on Telugu, he was a polyglot. Other languages Brown is said to have known were Greek, Latin, Persian