Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay
| Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay রাখালদাস বন্দোপাধ্যায় |
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| Born | April 12, 1885 Berhampore, Murshidabad, Bengal, India |
| Died | May 23, 1930 (aged 45) Calcutta, Bengal, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Ethnicity | Bengali |
| Occupation | Historian |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Spouse | Kanchanmala Debi |
Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay (Bengali: রাখালদাস বন্দোপাধ্যায়) (12 April 1885 – 23 May 1930), also known as R. D. Banerji, was an Indian historian and a native Indian pioneer in the fields of Indian archaeology, epigraphy and palaeography. He was the Manindra Chandra Nandy Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture at the Banaras Hindu University from 1928-30. He is mostly known as the discoverer of Mohenjo-daro, the principal site of the Harappa culture.
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[edit] Life
Bandyopadhyay was born on 12 April 1885 in Berhampore of Murshidabad district to Matilal and Kalimati. He passed his entrance examination from the Krishnanath College School in Berhampore in 1900. Soon he married Kanchanmala (1891-1931), the daughter of Narendranath Mukhopadhyay. He passed his F.A. examination in 1903 and graduated from Presidency College, Kolkata with Honours in History in 1907. He obtained his M.A. in History from the Calcutta University in 1910.[1]
Bandyopadhyay joined the Indian museum in Calcutta as an Assistant to the Archaeological Section in 1910. He joined the Archaeological Survey of India as Assistant Superintendent in 1911, and was promoted to the rank of Superintending Archaeologist of the Western Circle in 1917. In 1924, he was transferred to the Eastern Circle and took part in the excavations at Paharpur. He took voluntary retirement in 1926. After teaching at the University of Calcutta, he later joined the Banaras Hindu University in 1928 and held the post till his premature death on 23 May 1930.[2]
[edit] Professional career
Bandyopadhyay's first major independent professional work was in the fields of palaeography and epigraphy. He won the Jubilee Research Prize of the Calcutta University for The Origin of the Bengali Script published in 1919 (and reprinted in 1973). Rakhaldas was the first to study the proto-Bangla script, the original form of Bangla script. He wrote the classic historical works on medieval Indian coins, and the standard works on the iconography of Indian art, in particular Gupta sculpture and architecture. His best known work was Eastern Indian Medieval School of Sculpture, published posthumously in 1933.
[edit] Discovery of Mohenjodaro
Bandyopadhyay is most famous for the discovery of Mohenjodaro, the principal site of the Harappa culture dating from 3000 BC. His interpretations of this civilization were published in a number of articles and books: "An Indian City Five Thousand Years Ago" (Calcutta Municipal Gazette, November 1928); "Muhen-jodaro" (in Bangla, Basumati, 1331 BS); Prehistoric, Ancient and Hindu India (posthumously published, 1934) and Mahenjodaro - A Forgotten Report (1984).
[edit] Works
Bandyopadhyay wrote two textbooks for Calcutta University, namely, History of India (1924) and A Junior History of India (1928). His The Age of the Imperial Guptas (1933) is a collection of lectures delivered by him in 1924. His standard two-volume Bangalar Itihas (History of Bengal) in Bengali (1914 and 1917) was one of the first attempts at writing a scientific history of Bengal. He also wrote two volumes on the history of Orissa, titled History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period (1930 and 1931).
His other significant non-fiction works include, Prachin Mudra (1915), The Palas of Bengal (1915), The Temple of Siva at Bhumara (1924), The Paleography of Hati Gumpha and Nanaghat Inscriptions (1924), Bas Reliefs of Badami (1928) and The Haihayas of Tripuri and their Monuments (1931).
Except three novels, Pakshantar (1924), Byatikram (1924) and Anukram (1931), rest of his literary works in Bengali language were historical fictions. The setting of his Pashaner Katha (1914) is Kushana period. His three other novels, namely, Dhruba, Karuna (1917) and Shashanka (1914) are set in the different phases of the Gupta period. His Dharmapala (1915) narrates the story of the Pala emperor Dharmapala. Mayukh (1916) describes the Portuguese atrocities in Bengal during the reign of Shahjahan. Asim (1924) narrates the condition of Bengal during the reign of Farrukhsiyar. His last novel, Lutf-Ulla is set in Delhi at the time of the invasion by Nadir Shah. His another fictional work, Hemkana (incomplete) was published in Prabasi magazine from 1911-12.[3] A number of his novels were translated into other Indian languages.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.caluniv.ac.in/Introducing%20CU%20JPEG/index.html
- ^ Sengupta, Subodh Chandra (ed.) (1988) Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan (in Bengali), Kolkata: Sahitya Sansad, p.465
- ^ Sen, Sukumar (1999). Bangala Sahityer Itihas, Vol.V, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers, ISBN 81-7215-950-1, pp.210-11
[edit] Further reading
- Bhattacharya, Asok K. (1999). Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay, Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 81-260-0848-2
- Dasgupta, Kalyankumar (ed.) (1990). Shatabarsher Aloy Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay (in Bengali), Kolkata: Sharat Samiti.
