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Barun De

2023-08-07T22:48:40Z

2402:3A80:1CD4:E65B:578:5634:1232:5476: /* Early life and education */

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}

{{Infobox person
| name =Barun Dey
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1932|10|30}}
| birth_place=[[Calcutta]], [[Bengal]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2013|07|16|1932|10|30}}({{lang-bn|৮১}})
| death_place = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| occupation =Historian
| years active =1961-2001
|spouse = Romabai De ({{lang-bn| রমাবাঈ দে}}) (nee Datta Gupta) ({{lang-bn|দত্তগুপ্ত}})
|children = 2
}}

'''Barun Dey''' ({{lang-bn|'''বরুণ দে (দেব সরকার)'''}}) (30 October, 1932 – 16 July, 2013) ({{lang-bn|১৩ কার্তিক, ১৩৩৯ - ৩১ আষাঢ়, ১৪২০}}) was an Indian historian and institution builder.

==Early life and education==
Dey, a member of a Bengali (বাঙালি) Hindu (হিন্দু) Uttar Rarhi Kayastha (উত্তর রার্হি কায়স্থ)-Brahmo (ব্রাহ্ম) family of Calcutta<ref name="telegraphindia">{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130718/jsp/calcutta/story_17126553.jsp |title=Historian Barun De dead |date=18 July 2013 |accessdate=2016-08-15}}</ref><ref name="HT20130718">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/kolkata/Historian-Barun-De-passes-away/Article-1094187.aspx |date=18 July 2013 |title=Historian Barun Dey passes away |publisher=Hindustan Times |accessdate=4 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010131755/http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/kolkata/Historian-Barun-De-passes-away/Article-1094187.aspx |archivedate=10 October 2013 }}</ref>, was the son of [[Draft: Basanta Kumar De|Basanta Kumar Dey]]<ref name="frontline1">[http://www.frontline.in/other/obituary/historian-and-administrator/article4995294.ece "Historian and Administrator" - Aniruddha Ray] Retrieved 2015-03-03</ref> and Pramila Dey (nee Gupta). His grandfather was [[Brajendranath De|Brajendranath Dey]].<ref name="vmh">[http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/official_info/victoria_newsletter_feb2014.pdf Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, 'Obituary' in the ''Victoria Memorial Newsletter'', 2014]</ref> He studied at St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Calcutta. He completed his I.A. & B.A. (Honours) in History at Presidency College, Calcutta, where he was a student of [[Susobhan Sarkar|Susobhan Chandra Sarkar]]. He was a debate secretary of the student's union of the college.

Dey completed his 2nd B.A. (Honours School) at St. Catherine's Society, Oxford, where his tutors were George Holmes and Wilfred Knapp. He completed his D.Phil. thesis on "Henry Dundas and the Government of India, 1784-1801" under the supervision of Colin Cuthbert Davies<ref name="telegraphindia1">
{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130718/jsp/opinion/story_17126533.jsp#.vOvi_Tb9nIU |title=Clio's Disciple |first=Rudrangshu|last=Mukherjee |date=18 July 2013 |accessdate=2015-02-24}}</ref> on a Beit studentship at Nuffield College, Oxford. As the holder of this scholarship he took classes in the college. He was awarded the Curzon Memorial Prize for his essay "Macaulay and India". He was secretary, treasurer and president of the Oxford India Majlis.<ref name="thestatesman1">[http://www.thestatesman.com/news/6074-Historian-Barun-De-dead.html "Historian Barun De dead" - The Statesman, 18 July 2013] Retrieved 2015-03-05.</ref>

After returning from Oxford, he formed a lasting friendship with [[Saiyid Nurul Hasan]].<ref name="thetelegraphindia">{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150405/jsp/opinion/story_12677.jsp#.V7E5UjgkrIU |title=State of Abounding Grace |first=Gopal Krishna|last=Gandhi |date=2015 |accessdate=2016-08-15}}</ref>

==Career==
Dey was a lecturer at the University of Calcutta, a reader at the University of Burdwan, an associate professor and programme director of the Post-Graduate Programme (later Post-Graduate Diploma in Management) and then professor and senior professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta,<ref name="timesofindia1"/><ref name="businessstandard">[https://www.business-standard.com Rudrangshu Mukherjee, 'Ashok Mitra (1928-2018): A Voice of Dissent with a Tender Heart', Business Standard, 2 May, 2018]</ref> a professor and the founder-director of the [[Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta]], and the honorary state editor of the West Bengal District Gazetteers.<ref name="ihr1">[http://ihr.sagepub.com/content/41/1/147.full.pdf+html "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" - Sabyasachi Bhattacharya] Indian Historical Review. Retrieved 2015-03-15.</ref>

He has taught and worked at various universities in India and abroad, such as Duke University as visiting associate professor, the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, [[Shimla]], as senior fellow,<ref name="thestatesman1"/> ''Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme'', Paris as ''directeur'', and University of Sydney and University of Milan as visiting professor. He was a delegate to several conferences of the United Nations University held at Madrid, Tokyo, Caracass, Mexico City and Berlin.<ref name="changingidentities"> Barun De, 'Imperialism, Nationalism and the Dialectics of Changing Identity in the Indian Subcontinent', in Joachim Heidrich, (ed.), 'Changing Identities: The Transformation of Asian and African Societies under Colonialism', Papers of a symposium held at the Centre for Modern Oriental Studies, Berlin, 21-22 October, 1993, Studien 1, (Berlin: Verlag Das Arabische Buch, 1994), pp. 61-78</ref>

He was a member of the [[Indian Council of Historical Research]], New Delhi, the Indian Council for Social Science Research, New Delhi, the Executive Council (''Karma Samity'') of Vishva Bharati University, Santiniketan, the West Bengal Higher Education Commission and the Executive Council of the A.N. Sinha Institute, Patna. He was secretary, sectional president and general president of the Indian History Congress.<ref name="frontline1"/>

Dey formally retired from service in 1993.

==Post-retirement==

Soon after his retirement De was once again appointed as director of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Calcutta. From 1997-1998, he was Maulana Abul Kalam Azad fellow
of this institute.<ref name="telegraphindia1"/> He was a member of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations in this period. From 1998-2001 he held the India Chair (in the rank of minister-counsellor), with attachment to the Indian Embassy of Uzbekistan, at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent.<ref name="businessstandard1">[http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/historian-barun-de-dies-at-80-113071700809_1.html "Historian Barun De dies at 80" - Business Standard] Retrieved 2015-03-06.</ref>

After returning to India he was made a member of the textbook review committee of the National Council for Educational Research and Training (2004).<ref>[http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/arjun-singh-appoints-panel-to-review-ncert-textbooks/1/196584.html ''India Today'', 2004]</ref> He became chairman of the West Bengal State Archives, Calcutta,<ref name="businessstandard1"/> vice president of the Center for Archaeology and Training, Calcutta, vice president of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,<ref name="frontline1"/>
member of the Board of Trustees of the Indian Museum, Calcutta,<ref name="frontline1"/>, and member of the Court of Vishva Bharati University, Santiniketan.

He was a member of the Heritage Conservation Committee of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, in which capacity he contributed to the preparation of a list of heritage buildings of West Bengal.<ref>[https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/downloads/Graded_List_of_Heritage_Buildings_Grade_I_IIA_IIB.pdf "Heritage Conservation Committee"] p. 3. Retrieved 2015-03-23</ref> ''[[The Times of India]]'' has described him as "a pioneer of the heritage movement of West Bengal".<ref name="timesofindia1">[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Historian-scholar-Barun-De-dies-at-80/articleshow/21156245.cms "The Times of India" - Staff Reporter] Retrieved 2015-02-27.</ref> From 2001-2008 he was member of the West Bengal Heritage Commission, of which he was the honorary chairman (in the rank of minister-of-state) from 2008-2011.<ref name="businessstandard1"/>

He was nominated for a Padma award in 2010, which he did not accept. From 2011-2013 he was the Tagore national fellow, which he held at the Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta.<ref name="victoriamemorialnewsletter1">[http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/official_info/victoria_newsletter_feb2014.pdf "Obituary" in the ''Victoria Memorial Newsletter'' - Sabyasachi Bhattacharya] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226153443/http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/official_info/victoria_newsletter_feb2014.pdf |date=2015-02-26 }} Retrieved 2015-0317.</ref>

==Research==
Dey's research spanned from early to late modern period of Indian history. In the early half of his career he wrote on Henry Dundas and the conquest of India. Later, he addressed the Marxist critique of the colonial context of the Bengal renaissance.<ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/a-great-conversationalist-intellectual/article4925060.ece "A Conversationalist Intellectual - Sugata Bose"] Retrieved 2015-03-27.</ref>

He was also concerned with India's national movement. His popular textbook, ''Freedom Struggle'', co-authored with [[Bipan Chandra]] and Amalesh Tripathi,<ref name="telegraphindia1"/> was censored by the Indian government in 1977,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4DlMSrtOGLIC&pg=PA272 "Censorship of Historical Thought: A World Guide" - Antoon de Baets] Retrieved 2015-02-21.</ref> although he was well-known for his criticism of India's first emergency.<ref name="proceedingsoftheindianhistorycongress">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156392?seq=1&loggedin=true#page_scan_tab_contents Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress'', Vol. 73, 2012, p. 1554]</ref> This book has been translated into Bengali by Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya.<ref>[http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article4385.html "Historian Barun De passes away - Panchanan Chattopadhyay"]. ''Mainstreamweekly''. Retrieved 2015-03-23.</ref>

In 1975, he edited a volume in honour of Susobhan Chandra Sarkar, in which he wrote the main essay that reveals his preference for objectivity and critical analysis.<ref name="proceedingsoftheindianhistorycongress1">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156392?seq=2&loggedin=true#page_scan_tab_contents Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress'', Volume 73, 2012, p. 1554]</ref> He edited the 24 Parganas and Darjeeling ''District Gazetteers''<ref name="districtgazetteers">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/44156392?loggedin=true&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Irfan Habib, "Professor Barun De (1932-2013)" in ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress'', Volume 73, 2012, pp. 1553-1555]</ref> and contributed to the editing of the Jalpaiguri District Gazetteers too.<ref name="districtgazetteers1">[https://books.google.com/books?id=UfToffd1KxMC&pg=PA201&lpg=PA201&dq=Barun+De,+Jalpaiguri+district+gazetteers&source=bl&ots=LCjhrE6fY2&sig=Rw9AXjtY445QnVTRA6XHXnuaZpU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWy5HlxfzaAhXIqo8KHROuAZMQ6AEIQzAF#v=onepage&q=Barun%20De%2C%20Jalpaiguri%20district%20gazetteers&f=false Abani Mohan Kusari, West Bengal District GazetteersL Jalpaiguri, Gazetteer of India, Calcutta, Barun De, Honorary State Editor, West Bengal District Gazetteers, Calcutta, 1981 in Michael Lampert, Discipline and Debate: The Language of Violence in Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012].</ref>

==Awards==
*D.Litt. (''Honouris Causa''), North Bengal University, 2000.<ref name="jagranjosh">[http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/barun-de-the-renowned-historian-and-academician-passed-away-at-80-1377577861-1 Akanksha Sharma, 'Barun De, The Renowned Historian and Academician Passed Away at 80' in ''Jagran Josh'', 17 July 2013]</ref>

*Banga Samman, 2008-09

==Legacy==

After Dey's death the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Calcutta had instituted a memorial lecture in his name.<ref>[http://makaias.gov.in/Programme_BarunDe_Memorial_Lecture1.pdf Barun De Memorial Lecture] Retrieved 2015-02-27.</ref> The Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta has renamed its auditorium at the Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre after him.<ref name="jadunathbhavan">[http://jbmrc.cssscal.org/remembering-professor-barun-de/ Barun De Auditorium, CSSSC]</ref>

==Publications==

*''Secularism at Bay: Uzbekistan at the Turn of the Century'' (New Delhi, 2006)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books/about/Secularism_at_Bay.html?id=TjE74t1I9NsC&redir_esc=y "Secularism at Bay: Uzbekistan at the Turn of the Century" - Barun De] Retrieved 2015-02-17.</ref>
*(ed.) ''State, Development and Political Culture: Bangladesh and India'', (New Delhi, 1997) (co-edited with Ranabir Samaddar)
*(সম্পাদক) 'মুক্তি সংগ্রামে বাংলার ছাত্র-সমাজ' (কলকাতা, পশ্চিমবঙ্গ ইতিহাস সংসদ, ১৯৯২) (''Students of Bengal in the Struggle of Liberation'', Paschim Banga Itihas Samsad, 1992)
*(ed.) ''West Bengal District Gazetteers, 24 Parganas'', (Calcutta, 1983)
*(ed.) ''West Bengal District Gazetteers, Jalpaiguri'', (Calcutta, 1981) (co-edited with Abani Mohan Kusari).
*(ed.) ''West Bengal District Gazetteers, Darjeeling'', (Calcutta, 1980)
*''The Dialectics Between Response to Exogenous and Autochthonous Innovation in India in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, with Special Reference to Modern Bengal'', (Tokyo: United Nations University, 1979)<ref name="unu">[https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/1713550 The Dialectics Between Response to Exogenous and Autochthonous Innovation in India in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, with Special Reference to Modern Bengal - Barun De] Retrieved 2018-01-12.</ref>
*(ed.) ''Perspectives in Social Sciences, 1: Historical Dimensions'' (New Delhi, 1977)<ref name="perspectivesinsocialscienceihistoricaldimensions">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/2055079?seq=1 David L.Curley (reviewer), ''Perspectives in Social Sciences I: Historical Dimension'', in ''The Journal of Asian Studies'', Vol. 40, No. 1, (Nov. 1980), pp. 158–60]</ref><ref name="perspectivesinsocialscienceshistoricaldimensions1">[https://books.google.com/books?id=GHxJDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT234&lpg=PT234&dq=Barun+De&source=bl&ots=X75XMnufBq&sig=zpY72FIOO7UfU3rH8I71SAT1GPc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi1qJrP29vZAhXHPo8KHZP4DMM4FBDoAQhDMAg#v=onepage&q=Barun%20De&f=false Chandak Sengoopta, ''The Rays before Satyajit: Creativity and Modernity in Colonial India'', (New Delhi, Oxford, 2016)]</ref>
* "A Biographical Perspective on the Political and Economic Ideas of Rammohun Ray", in V.C.Joshi, (ed.), ''Rammohun Roy and the Process of Modernisation in India'', New Delhi, 1975<ref name="indianpoliticalthought">[https://books.google.com/books?id=yP59iDghcIkC&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=Barun+De&source=bl&ots=JEIKcyzgDB&sig=bHJMaKGdoWOXXD6JRAzKMD9DZLY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiKyazs3tvZAhUUTo8KHXDCCMM4HhDoAQg1MAQ#v=onepage&q=Barun%20De&f=false Amiya P. Sen, "Rammohan Roy", in Mahendra Prasad Singh and Himanshu Roy, ''Indian Political Thought: Themes and Thinkers'', (Delhi, Pearson, 2011), p. 68]</ref>
*(ed.) ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress'', (Calcutta: Jadavpur Session, 1974)
*(ed.) ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress'', (Aligarh: Aligarh Session, 1975)
*(et al. eds.) ''Essays in Honour of Professor Sushobhan Chandra Sarkar'' (New Delhi, 1975)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xJgDawlnknwC&pg=PA190 "Peasant Labour and Colonial Capital: Rural Bengal since 1770" - Sugata Bose] 2015-02-19.</ref>
*''Freedom Struggle'' (New Delhi, 1972), (co-authored with [[Bipan Chandra]] and Amalesh Tripathi)<ref>[https://www.amazon.in/Freedom-Struggle-Bipan-Chandra/dp/8123702493 "Freedom Struggle" - Bipan Chandra, Amalesh Tripathi and Barun De] Retrieved 2015-02-18.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.cssscal.org/ Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta]
*[http://www.makaias.gov.in/ Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Calcutta]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:De, Barun}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2013 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Alumni of Nuffield College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Bengali historians]]
[[Category:Brahmos]]
[[Category:Economic historians]]
[[Category:Historians of South Asia]]
[[Category:Indian Marxist historians]]
[[Category:Indian Institute of Management Calcutta faculty]]
[[Category:Indian institute directors]]
[[Category:Presidency University, Kolkata alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta faculty]]

Brajendranath De

2023-08-07T22:43:43Z

2402:3A80:1CD4:E65B:578:5634:1232:5476: /* Early life and education */

{{more citations needed|date=September 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Brajendranath Dey
| image = 
| alt = 
| caption =
| birth_name = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1852|12|23}}
| birth_place = [[Calcutta]] (now [[Kolkata]]), [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1932|09|20|1852|12|23}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]] (now [[Kolkata]]), [[West Bengal]], [[India]]
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = Orientalist
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse = Nagendranandini Dey (নগেন্দ্রনন্দিনী দে) (nee Bose) (বসু)
| children = 12
}}

'''Brajendranath Dey''' ({{lang-bn|'''ব্রজেন্দ্রনাথ দে (দেব সরকার)'''}}) (23 December 1852 – 20 September 1932) ({{lang-bn|৮ পৌষ ১২৫৯ - ৫ আশ্বিন ১৩৩৯}}) was an early Indian member of the [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Indian Civil Service]].<ref name="indiasagawhoswho">[http://indiansaga.com/whoswho/brajendra.html Indiasaga Who's Who]</ref>

==Early life and education==
Dey, who was born in a Bengali (বাঙালি) Hindu (হিন্দু) Uttar Rarhi Kayastha (উত্তর রার্হি কায়স্থ)-Brahmo (ব্রাহ্ম) family, was the son of Durgadas Dey (দুর্গাদাস দে (দেব সরকার)), a Junior Scholar of Hindu College (later Presidency College) Calcutta (1847-1849) and a registrar in Lucknow, and Trailokyamohini Debi (ত্রৈলোক্যমোহিনী দেবী) (nee Basu). His paternal family, which was settled in Bhowanipur in Calcutta from the 18th century, were originally members of the Vaishnavite sect but, influenced by the Bengal Renaissance, joined the Brahmo movement from the middle of the 19th century. His maternal family, popularly called the ''garhkata Basu paribar'' of Anarpur in Barasat, was settled in Maniktala in Calcutta, where he was born.<ref name='reminiscences'>Brajendranath De, "Reminiscences of an Indian Member of the Indian Civil Service", Calcutta, 1925-29</ref>

Dey studied at [[Hare School]], [[Calcutta]], and then Canning Collegiate School and [[Lucknow University|Canning College, Lucknow]]. Always ranking at the top of his class in school, he was placed in the first division in all his final examinations. He came first from his school in the Entrance examination of Calcutta University and fourth in the first division in the First Arts (F.A.) examination of [[Calcutta University]]. A student of English (Honours), he ranked sixth in the first division in his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) examination. Since he was a first divisioner, he was allowed to take the Master of Arts (M.A.) examination of the Calcutta University soon after the completion of his B.A. (Honours) examination. He was ranked second in the M.A. examination and was awarded the silver medal of Calcutta University.<ref name="Full Text of 'Tabaqat-i-Akbari'">[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.116007/2015.116007.The-Tabaqat-i-akbari-Of-Khwajah-Nizamuddin-Ahmad-Voliii_djvu.txt Full Text of 'Tabaqat-i-Akbari']</ref>

Later, he travelled to England for his higher studies, on the advice of his maternal grand-uncle, [[Peary Charan Sarkar]] and his father's mentor, [[Raja]] [[Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee]], the taluqdar of Shankarpore, [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]]{{dubious|date=February 2020|reason=United Provinces didn't exist until 1902}} and for some time assistant commissioner of [[Lucknow]]. In England, he joined University College, London to appear in the Open Competitive Services examination. Having taken the examination successfully, he joined the [[Indian Civil Service]] in 1873, emerging 17th in a batch of 35 successful probationers selected from a total of 360 candidates.<ref>{{cite book |last=India Office, Great Britain |date=1905 |title=The India List and India Office List 1905 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b2NPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA447 |publisher=Harrison and Sons |page=447}}</ref> He was the 8th Indian member of the [[Indian Civil Service|ICS]].<ref name="womenofindia">{{cite book |last=Forbes |first=Geraldine Hancock |author-link=Geraldine Forbes |date=1996 |title=Women in Modern India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hjilIrVt9hUC&pg=PA28 |series=The New Cambridge History of India |volume=IV.2 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=28–29 |isbn=978-0-521-65377-0 |quote="As one of the first eight Indians appointed to the Indian Civil Service (ICS), Brajendra Nath ... He insisted on educating his daughters and one of them, Saroj Nalini Dutt, led the way in organizing rural women's organizations in the years immediately following World War I."}}</ref> Subsequently, he was called to the [[bar association|Bar]] by the [[Honourable Society of the Middle Temple]] on 7 June 1875.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150213145353/http://hosted.law.wisc.edu/wordpress/sharafi/files/2010/07/Middle-2.0.pdf University of Wisconsin Law Library]</ref> He was admitted to [[St. Mary's Hall, Oxford]] (later merged with [[Oriel College, Oxford]] in 1902), where he spent one year, from 1874 to 1875, on a [[Boden Sanskrit Scholarship]], having attended the lectures of [[Sir]] [[Monier Monier-Williams]], who was then the [[Boden Sanskrit Professor]], [[Professor]] [[Max Mueller]] and Mr. Goldstucker and Mr. Ruslan.<ref name="oxforduniversitycalender">Oxford University Calendar, 1875, p. 366</ref> He was the first Indian ICS officer to have studied in a college in Oxford.<ref>Renu Paul (in consultation with Mitra Sharafi), 'South Asians at the Inns of Court: Middle Temple, 1863-1944', compilation based on H. A. C. Sturgess, (eds.) Register of Admissions to the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. From the Fifteenth Century to the Year 1944 (London: published for the Hon. Society of the Middle Temple by Butterworth & Co., 1949), volumes II (1782-1909) and III (1910-44), p. 2.</ref>

His second son-in-law was [[Sir]] [[Sarat Kumar Ghosh]], [[Indian Civil Service|ICS]], Chief Justice of Jaipur and Kashmir and the only interim Chief Justice of the High Court of Rajasthan, his fifth daughter and son-in-law were the social reformer [[Saroj Nalini Dutt]], [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]],<ref name="womenofindia"/> and [[Gurusaday Dutt]], [[Indian Civil Service|ICS]], Secretary, Local Self Government and Public Health, Government of Bengal, his sixth son-in-law was Lieutenant Colonel Jyotish Chandra De, [[Indian Medical Service|IMS]],<ref name="livesless forgotten">[http://rajsaday.com/?p=2089 Lives Less Forgotten: Lieutenant Colonel Jyotish Chandra De]</ref> 2nd Indian Principal of the [[Calcutta Medical College]], his seventh son-in-law was Captain (Hon.) Dr. Paresh Chandra Datta, first Chief Medical Officer of the B.R. Singh Memorial Hospital, Calcutta then of the East Bengal Railway and Director of Public Health, Government of West Bengal and his third son was Major (Hon.) [[Basanta Kumar De|Basanta Kumar Dey]], Traffic Superintendent General and then Commercial Traffic Manager of the [[Bengal Nagpur Railway|BNR]].

Two of his grandsons were Ranajit Datta, chairman and managing director of Braithwaite, Burn and Jessop Limited and the historian [[Barun De|Barun Dey]], chairman, West Bengal Heritage Commission. Two of his great-grandchildren were the singer [[Uma Bose]]<ref name="liveslessforgotten1">[https://rajsaday.com/?p=2108 Lives Less Forgotten: Uma Bose]{{Dead link|date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and the cameraman [[Subrata Mitra]].<ref name="liveslessforgotten2">[http://rajsaday.com/?p=2001 Lives Less Forgotten: Subrata Mitra]</ref>

==Career==
===Administrative===
He took up his first posting in the civil service as assistant magistrate and collector of Arrah, Behar in 1875. He served in districts where the rulers of erstwhile zamindari estates, such as Darbhanga and Dumrao, had a strong presence. After serving in a number of districts in Behar, he was posted in Raniganj, Bengal in 1881.<ref>[http://www.mocavo.com/The-New-Annual-Army-List-Militia-List-and-Indian-Civil-Service-List-1881-Volume-1881/393337/783 Military and ICS Manual]</ref> He officiated as the district magistrate and collector of [[Bankura]], [[Burdwan]] and [[Faridpur District|Faridpore]]. He served as the full district magistrate and collector of [[Khulna]], where he was befriended by Dr. Krishnadhan Ghosh, the civil surgeon of the district, and the father of [[Aurobindo Ghosh]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Heehs |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Heehs |title=The Lives of Sri Aurobindo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EZTFrMZFOvcC&pg=PA33 |year=2008 |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |pages=33 |isbn=978-0-231-14098-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=6 August 1893 |title=Govt. Notifications: Orders by the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3KopAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT298 |journal=The Liberal and the New Dispensation |volume=XII |issue=30 |location=Calcutta |publisher=R.S. Bhattacharji |pages=9}}</ref> He became the magistrate and collector of [[Balasore district|Balasore]] in [[Orissa]] and then of [[Malda district|Malda]] and [[Hooghly district|Hooghly]].<ref name="Bengalee">"Mr. B. De", in ''Bengalee'', 7 September 1910; see also ''Indian Daily'' News, 3 September 1910</ref> He was the first Indian to be elected as chairman of the Hooghly Municipal Corporation. He was an (acting) commissioner of the [[Burdwan]] Division.<ref name="socialthoughtofrabindranathtagore">{{cite book |last=Gupta |first=Tapati Dutta |date=1993 |title=Social Thought of Rabindranath Tagore: A Historical Analysis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0HrBJJBFutsC&pg=PA122 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |page=122|isbn=9788170173021}}</ref><ref name="liberty">"Late Mr. B. De.: Passing Away of an Old Civilian" in ''Liberty'', Friday, 30 September 1932</ref>

As the district officer of Hooghly, he started the Duke Club there which was meant to be exclusively for Indians.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Mrinalini |last=Sinha |title=Britishness, Clubbability, and the Colonial Public Sphere: The Genealogy of an Imperial Institution in Colonial India |journal=The Journal of British Studies |volume=4 |issue=44 |date=October 2001 |pages=489–521 |doi=10.1086/386265 |jstor=3070745 |s2cid=143900100 }}</ref> One of his Commissioners once told him not to entertain the thought of wanting to join a British club in the district.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Tony |last1=Ballantyne | authorlink1= Tony Ballantyne (historian) |first2=Antoinette M. |last2=Burton | authorlink2 = Antoinette Burton |year=2005 |title=Bodies in Contact |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YEWulnOX_TgC&pg=PA193 |publisher=Duke University Press |page=193 |isbn=0-8223-3467-4}}</ref>

After retirement he remained actively involved in the work of the Calcutta Improvement Trust.<ref name="latemrbdepassingawayofanoldcivilian">'Late Mr. B.De: Passing Away of An Old Civilian' in ''Liberty'', Friday, 30 September 1932</ref><ref name="latemr.b.decalcuttacorporationtributes">"Late Mr. B. De, Calcutta Corporation Tributes", in ''Liberty'', Saturday, 1 October 1932</ref>

===Academic===
While still in service he translated [[Kalidas]]'s 'Vikramarvasi' and 'Manichudabadana' from Sanskrit to English.<ref name="latemrbdepassingawayofanoldcivilian"/> He edited an English-Bengali dictionary<ref name="liberty"/> and published an article on inter dining in the Madras Social Reformer (1910).

In his post-retirement years he served as a vice-president of the council of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta.<ref name="birthcentenaryofbdecelebrated">"Birth Centenary of B.De Celebrated" in ''The Statesman'', Wednesday, 24 December 1952</ref><ref name="latemrbdecelebration">"He Rehabilitated Persian in Bengal: Tributes to Late B.De: Birthday Celebration" in ''Amrita Bazar Patrika'', Wednesday, 24 December 1952</ref>

He was the translator and editor, in two volumes, [[Nizamuddin Ahmad]]'s ''Tabaqat-i-Akbari''. The third volume, which he had left fully prepared, was published posthumously by Baini Prasad and also M. Hidayat Hosain.<ref name="mr.b.dedeadretiredmemberofthecivilservice">"Mr.B.De Dead Retired Member of the Civil Service" in ''The Statesman'', 30 September 1932</ref><ref name="thestatusofmuslimwomeninmedievalindia">[https://books.google.com/books?id=yF4lDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT120&lpg=PT120&dq=Tabaqat+i+Akbari+-+Beni+Prasad&source=bl&ots=jpsDUeBIsE&sig=9Z1X7kHfL-B_-mTgLvZz8RuvAiU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjJn-XwhNnOAhXLNo8KHV7XDlgQ6AEIITAB#v=onepage&q=Tabaqat%20i%20Akbari%20-%20Beni%20Prasad&f=false Sudha Sharma, ''Status of Muslim Women in Medieval India'', Allahabad]</ref><ref name="Full Text of 'Tabaqat-i-Akbari'"/>

==Legacy==
A road in Chinsura, Hooghly is named after him.<ref name="mapofchinsura">[https://www.google.com/maps/place/B.Dey+Rd,+Hooghly,+West+Bengal+712101/@22.9025053,88.3949378,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x39f893f96abb29e3:0x854c02d1d9d97a7d!8m2!3d22.9025053!4d88.3971265 Map of Chinsura, Hooghly, Bengal]</ref>

At the time of his centenary celebration in 1952, his second son, [[Basanta Kumar De|Basanta Kumar Dey]], [[esq.]], a senior officer of the [[Bengal Nagpur Railway|BNR]]<ref name="liveslessforgotten">[http://rajsaday.com/?p=1950 Lives Less Forgotten: Basanta Kumar De]</ref> took the initiative to publish in three articles sections of his reminiscences in the ''[[Calcutta Review]]''. This work was entrusted to [[Tapan Raychaudhuri]], then of the Department of Islamic History and Culture of the University of Calcutta.<ref name="feministpostcolonialisttheory">[https://books.google.com/books?id=ccFuGe-hBt0C&pg=PA456&lpg=PA456&dq=Brajendranath+De+-+Presidency+College&source=bl&ots=K2kq_JjbhL&sig=V-I5vHvmGjlu79Vk2GPSfn-c9QY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiD0cvf8u7ZAhVMo48KHYq3CRU4ChDoAQgyMAM#v=onepage&q=Brajendranath%20De%20-%20Presidency%20College&f=false Mrinalini Sinha, "Reconfiguring Hiararchies: The Ilbert Bill Controversy, 1883-84", in Reina Lewis and Sarah Mills, ''Feminist Post-Colonialist Theory: A Reader'', New York and London, Routledge, 2003, p. 456]</ref>

In 2001, approximately 2,000 photographs of himself and his family members were given in loan by one of his grandsons, [[Barun De|Barun Dey]],<ref name="epw1">[http://thankstoepw.blogspot.in/2013/09/barun-de-situating-eminent-historian.html "Situating an Eminent Historian Eminently" – Sabyasachi Bhattacharya]. Retrieved 2015-03-21.</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}}<ref name="liveslessforgotten3">[http://rajsaday.com/?p=1958 Lives Less Forgotten: Barun De]</ref> to the photographic archives of the [[Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta]]. Later, when the archive was shifted to the newly established Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre, CSSSC, Calcutta, the photographs too were deposited there.<ref name="jsrchr">Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre, (Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, 2009), p. 7</ref>

==Publications==

A member of a Kayastha family of Bengal, he was a scholar of Persian and Sanskrit. He edited and translated a few works from those languages into English. They were as follows:

*(ed. & tran.), [[Kālidāsa]]'s play [[Vikramōrvaśīyam|Vikramorvasi]], 'Vikramorvaçi', Canto I., in ''[[Calcutta Review]]'', Oct. 1884, pp. 440–2.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Schuyler, Jr.|first=Montgomery|title=Bibliography of Kālidāsa's Mālavikāgnimitra and Vikramorvaçī|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|date=1902|volume=23|pages=93–101|jstor=592384|doi=10.2307/592384}}</ref>
* (ed. & tran.), ''The Tabaqat-i-Akbari of Khwaja Nizamuddin Ahmad: A History of India from the Early Musalman Invasions to the Thirty-eighth year of the Reign of Akbar'' (in 3 Vols.), (Calcutta, reprint, 1973)<ref>[http://www.lppindia.com/servlet/lppgetbiblio?bno=000476 Tabaqat-i-Akbari by Khwaja Nizamuddin Ahmed]</ref>
* "Reminiscences of an Indian Member of the Indian Civil Service", in ''Calcutta Review'', (1953–5).<ref>[http://dspace.wbpublibnet.gov.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/10689/12810/10/Bibliography.pdf Reminiscences of an Indian Member of the Indian Civil Service' in the Calcutta Review]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.asiaticsocietycal.com/ The Asiatic Society, Calcutta]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:De, Brajendranath}}
[[Category:1852 births]]
[[Category:1932 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of St Mary Hall, Oxford]]
[[Category:Bengali historians]]
[[Category:19th-century Bengalis]]
[[Category:20th-century Bengalis]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:Brahmos]]
[[Category:Historians of South Asia]]
[[Category:Indian barristers]]
[[Category:Indian civil servants]]
[[Category:Indian Civil Service (British India) officers]]
[[Category:Indian orientalists]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:People from Hooghly district]]
[[Category:Persian–English translators]]
[[Category:Sanskrit–English translators]]
[[Category:Hare School alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:University of Lucknow alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Scholars from Kolkata]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:Members of the Middle Temple]]
[[Category:19th-century translators]]