Rajendralal Mitra

Raja Rajendralal Mitra
Raja Rajendralal Mitra
Native name রাজা রাজেন্দ্রলাল মিত্র
Born (1824-02-15)15 February 1824
Kolkata, Bengal, British India
Died 26 July 1891(1891-07-26) (aged 67)
Kolkata, Bengal, British India
Nationality Indian
Occupation Orientalist

Raja Rajendralal Mitra (15 February 1824 – 26 July 1891) was the first modern Indologist of Indian origin, and was a key figure in the Bengal Renaissance.[1] He was pioneer in scientific study of history and contributed substantially in the field of archaeology.[2] Eminent Historian Professor R.S. Sharma writes that he was: "A great lover of ancient heritage, he took a rational view of ancient society and produced a forceful tract to show that in ancient times people ate beef."[3] He was the author of Antiquities of Orissa (1872). In 1846 he was appointed librarian of the Asiatic Society, and to that society the remainder of his life was devoted—as philological secretary, as vice-president, and as the first Indian president in 1885.[4]

In 1876 the University of Calcutta honoured Mitra with a honorary doctorate degree.

Works

Apart from very numerous contributions to the society's journal, and to the series of Sanskrit texts entitled "Bibliotheca indica," he published four separate works:

  • The Antiquities of Orissa (2 vols, 1875 and 1880), illustrated with photographic plates
  • Buddha Gaya : the hermitage of Sakya Muni (1878), a description of a holy place of Buddhism where Buddha attained Enlightenment.
  • a similarly illustrated work on Bodh Gaya (1878), the hermitage of Sakya Muni.
  • Indo-Aryans (2 vols, 1881), a collection of essays dealing with the manners and customs of the people of India from Vedic times.
  • The Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal (1882), a summary of the avadana-literature.

References

  1. ↑ Imam, Abu (2012). "Mitra, Raja Rajendralal". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  2. ↑ Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), 1976/1998, Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Biographical dictionary) Vol I, (in Bengali), p. 471, ISBN 81-85626-65-0
  3. ↑ Sharma, R.S. (2005). India's Ancient Past. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-568785-9.
  4. ↑ "HISTORY". The Asiatic Society.
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