why was the movement of 'rediscovery of past' started by William Jones in India?

The movement for the rediscovery of the past was started by William Jones in India because he was fascinated by India's history and had a genuine respect for India's past. He was also struck by the resemblance that Sanskrit had with Latin and Greek and wanted to investigate if these languages had a common origin. For this, he required a greater knowledge of India's past.