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Brajendranath De

2023-07-12T04:18:37Z

2402:3A80:1CD5:C37B:678:5634:1232:5476: /* Legacy */

{{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) Kayastha (কায়স্থ)-Brahmo (ব্রাহ্ম) family, was born to 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). He 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 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 Hall, Oxford]], where he spent one year, from 1874 to 1875, on a [[Boden Sanskrit Scholarship]], having attended the lectures of [[Professor]] [[Max Mueller]] 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]]

Brajendranath De

2023-07-12T04:17:13Z

2402:3A80:1CD5:C37B:678:5634:1232:5476: /* 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) Kayastha (কায়স্থ)-Brahmo (ব্রাহ্ম) family, was born to 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). He 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 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 Hall, Oxford]], where he spent one year, from 1874 to 1875, on a [[Boden Sanskrit Scholarship]], having attended the lectures of [[Professor]] [[Max Mueller]] 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]], [[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]],<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]]

Saroj Nalini Dutt

2023-07-12T04:15:58Z

2402:3A80:1CD5:C37B:678:5634:1232:5476: /* Background */

{{distinguish|Saroj Dutta}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Saroj Nalini Dutt
| image = Saroj Nalini Dutt photo.jpg
| image_size = 175px
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1887|10|9|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Bandel]], [[Hooghly district|Hooghly]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1925|1|19|1887|10|9|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| spouse = [[Gurusaday Dutt]] ({{lang-bn|গুরুসদয় দত্ত}})
| children = 1
}}

'''Saroj Nalini Dutt''' (''née'' '''Dey''' ('''দেব সরকার''')) ({{lang-bn|'''সরোজ নলিনী দত্ত'''}}) '''MBE''', (9 October 1887 – 19 January 1925) ({{lang-bn|২৩ আশ্বিন, ১২৯৪ - ৬ মাঘ, ১৩৩১}}) was an Indian social reformer and feminist.<ref name="womeninmodernindia">Geraldine Forbes, 'Women in Modern India', 'The New Cambridge History of India', Volume: IV.2, ,Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp.28-29</ref><ref name="sarojnalinidutt"> Jayati Gupta, 'Travel Culture, Travel Writing and Bengali Women, 1870-1940', 1st edition, (Routledge, India, 2020), chapter: Saroj Nalini Dutt (1887-1925)</ref>

==Background==
She was born in [[Bandel]], Hooghly in [[Bengal]] to [[Brajendranath De|Brajendranath Dey]] and Nagendranandini Dey. Home-schooled by her parents, she married [[Gurusaday Dutt]] in 1905.<ref name="womeninmodernindia"></ref> Her son, Birendrasaday Dutt (বীরেন্দ্রসদয় দত্ত), was born in 1909.<ref name="awomanofindia">Gurusaday Dutt, 'A Woman of India: Being the Life of Saroj Nalini (Founder of Women's Institute Movement in India' (with a foreword by Rabindranath Tagore), (Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1941)</ref><ref "সরোজনলিনী">রাজীব কুন্ডু, 'সরোজ নলিনী: সংখিপ্ত জীবনি', (অবভাস, কলকাতা, ২০১৪) (Rajib Kundu, Saroj Nalini: Shankhipta Jibani, Ababhash, Kolkata, 2014)</ref>

==Social work==
She was a social reformer and a pioneer of the movement for the uplifting of women in Bengal.<ref name="sarojnalinidutta">'সরোজনলিনী দত্ত', in সুবোধ চন্দ্র সেনগুপ্ত এবং অঞ্জলি বসু, 'সংসদ বাঙালি চরিত্রবিধান', ১, (কলকাতা, শিশু সাহিত্য সংসদ, ২০০২), পৃ: ৫৬৫, ISBN=৮১-৮৫৬২৬-৬৫-০, ('Saroj Nalini Dutta' in Subodhchandra Sengupta and Anjali Basu, 'Samsad Bangali Charitrabidhan', Vol. 1, (Kolkata, Shishu Sahitya Samsad, 2002), p. 565, (Bibliographical Dictionary) ISBN=81-85626-65-0</ref> She pioneered the formation of Mahila Samitis (মহিলা সমিতি) (Women's Institute) in Bengal. She started the first Mahila Samiti in 1913 in Pabna (পাবনা) district with the object of developing friendly cooperation there among the ''purdahnashin'' ladies. Subsequently, she started Mahila Samitis in Birbhum (বীরভূম) (1916), Sultanpur (সুলতানপুর) (1917), and Rampurhat (রামপুরহাট) (1918) districts respectively.<ref name="women'sassociation">[https://ir.nbu.ac.in 'Women's Association of Bengal and it's Interaction with Other Sister Associations of India, Institutional Repository, North Bengal University, p. 245]</ref>

She was the secretary of the Indian Section of the Calcutta League of Women’s Workers (later Bengal Presidency Council of Women), member of the Council of the Nari Siksha Samity (নারী শিক্ষা সমিতি)(Women’s Educational League), and Member of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation’s committee which was to make suitable arrangements for allowing women to elect councillors. She was also the vice president of the Sylhet Union, an association set up for the promotion of female education in Sylhet district.<ref name="socialthoughtsofrabindranathtagore"> Tapati Das Gupta, 'Social Thoughts of Rabindranath Tagore: A Historical Analysis', (Calcutta, 1993)</ref>

==Awards==
*Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE), 1918.

==Legacy==
An association for the upliftment of helpless and needy women, founded in 1925,<ref name="sarojnaliniduttmemorialassociation">[http://www.sarojnaliniduttmemorialassociation.com/ Saroj Nalini Dutt Memorial Association]</ref> and a primary teachers training institute, both set up in Calcutta, are named after her.<ref name="sarojnaliniptti">[https://www.wbptti.in Saroj Nalini Primary Teachers Training Institute, Calcutta]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.sarojnaliniduttmemorialassociation.com/ Saroj Nalini Dutt Memorial Association]
*[http://sarojnalini.wbptti.in Saroj Nalini Primary Teachers Training Institute, Department of School Education, Government of West Bengal]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutta, Saroj Nalini}}
[[Category:1887 births]]
[[Category:1925 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian social scientists]]
[[Category:Indian feminists]]
[[Category:Indian women educational theorists]]
[[Category:Indian women social workers]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:People from Hooghly district]]
[[Category:Scholars from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Women scientists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Women educators from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Educators from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Social workers from West Bengal]]
[[Category:20th-century women educators]]

Gurusaday Dutt

2023-07-12T04:12:30Z

2402:3A80:1CD5:C37B:678:5634:1232:5476:

{{short description|Indian writer, folk literature researcher and civil servant}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gurusaday Dutt
| image = Gurusaday Dutt photo.png
| image_size = 200px
| birth_date = {{birth-date|10 May 1882}}
| birth_place = Birasri, [[Karimganj district|Karimganj]], [[Assam]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{d-da|25 June 1941|10 May 1882}} (৬০)
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], India
| occupation = Civil servant, folklorist
| spouse = [[Saroj Nalini Dutt]] (সরোজ নলিনী দত্ত) (nee De) (দে)
| children = 1
}}

'''Gurusaday Dutt''' ({{lang-bn|'''গুরুসদয় দত্ত'''}} ('''চৌধূরী''')) (10 May, 1882– 25 June, 1941) ({{lang-bn|২৮ বৈশাখ, ১২৮৯- ১১ আষাঢ়, ১৩৪৮}})
was a civil servant, folklorist, and writer.<ref name="tapatidasgupta"> Tapati Dasgupta, 'Social Thought of Rabindranath Tagore: A Historical Analysis, (Calcutta, Abhinav Publications, 1993), p. 138</ref> He was the founder of the [[Bratachari movement|''Bratachari'' Movement]] in the 1930s.<ref name="southasiajournal"> Sayantani Adhikary, The Bratachari Movement and the Invention of a 'Folk Tradition', in South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, Vol.: 38, 2015, Issue 4, pp. 656-670</ref>

==Early life and education==
Dutt, born to Ramkrishna Dutta Chaudhuri (রামকৃষ্ণ দত্ত চৌধূরী) and Anandamayee Debi (আনন্দময়ী দেবী) was a member of the ''zamindari'' family of Birasri (বীরশ্রি) village in Karimganj (করিমগঞ্জ) sub-division of Sylhet (শ্রীহট্ট), in eastern Bengal (present day [[Bangladesh]]). Members of his family were followers of the Vaishnavite sect.

After completing his Entrance examination at Government College, Sylhet, in 1898, Dutt completed his F.A. examination from Presidency College, Calcutta in 1901. He obtained a scholarship raised by the Sylhet Union to study in Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He passed the Open Competitive Service examination in 1905. Subsequently, he was called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn.

He was married to [[Saroj Nalini Dutt]] and they had one son.<ref name="tapatidasgupta"/>

==Career and political views==
His first posting, in 1905, was as assistant magistrate and assistant collector of Arrah in Bihar. He served in the judicial wing of the ICS from 1911 to 1915. In 1916 he was appointed as the district collector of Birbhum. In 1923, he was appointed as secretary of agriculture and industries.<ref name="bratacharisportsfederation"/>

In 1928, he was sent to Howrah as its district magistrate. Here, in connection with the Bamangachi Firing case, he condemned the firing on a crowd of protesters by the police led by a British officer. The matter was raised in the House of Lords in London and as a punitive measure he was transferred to Mymensingh. In Mymensingh he refused to take action against those who were protesting against the government's Salt Act.<ref name="bratacharisportsfederation"> Bratachari Sports Federation at https://www.martialyogaarts.com</ref> This led to his transfer to Birbhum in 1931.<ref name="speakingwithpictures"> Roma Chatterjee, 'Speaking with Pictures: Folk Art and the Narrative Tradition in India', New Delhi: Routledge, 2012)</ref>

From 1930 to 1933, he was the chief whip in the Bengal Legislative Council and a member of the Council of States of the [[Central Legislative Assembly]]. In the last few years of career he was appointed as secretary, Local Self Government and Public Health, Government of Bengal.<ref name="colonialismandthetransnationalpsychiatry"> Waltraud Ernest, 'Colonialism and the Transnational Psychiatry: The Development of an Indian Mental Hospital', (London: Anthem Press, 2013), p. 243</ref>

==Social, cultural and artistic contributions==

===Social===
Dutt's social work for the development of villages and improvement of agriculture led to the foundation of the first Rural Reconstruction Movement in India in Birbhum in 1918, extending the movement to several districts, such as Bankura, Howrah and Mymensingh. In 1922, he started a society for co-operative irrigation in Bankura, which he later extended to Mymensingh and Birbhum. In 1924, he headed an Indian delegation to a meeting of the Agricultural Institute in Rome. In December, 1929, he started ''Gramer Daak'' ('গ্রামের ডাক')that dealt with agrarian and rural matters.

His contribution to the empowerment of mostly rural women was evident in the establishment of the Saroj Nalini Dutt Memorial Association, as a Central Training Institute for training women, deprived of formal education, in the crafts and basic education in February, 1925. In October 1925, he started a monthly magazine entitled, ''Bangalakshmi'' ('বঙ্গলক্ষী') to give voice to village women.

===Cultural===
Dutt contributed immensely to the development of rural dance forms. In Mymensingh he started a Folk Dance Revival Society, which revived the secular ''Jaari'' ('জারি') dance. In 1930, he discovered the ''Raibeshe'' ('রায়বেশে') folk dance, a martial dance of un-divided Bengal, in Birbhum. Subsequently, he also revived the Kaathi (কাঠি), Dhamail (ধামায়েল), Baul (বাউল), Jhumur (ঝুমুর), Brata (ব্রত) and Dhali (ঢালি) dances from different parts of undivided Bengal. In 1931, after meeting Cecil Sharp, who had revived Morris dancing in England, he set up the Bangiya Palli Sampad Raksha Samiti (বঙ্গিয় পল্লি রক্ষা সমিতি) (Cultural Heritage Protection Society of Bengal).

All these efforts culminated in the founding of the Bratachari movement in 1932. In 1934, the Bangiya Palli Sampad Raksha Samiti was renamed as The Bengal Bratachari Society. In 1936, he started ''Banglar Shakti'' ('বাংলার শক্তি'), a journal on behalf of the Bengal Bratachari Society.

===Artistic===
Dutt was mostly known for his interest and contributions to Bengal's folk art, folk dance and folk music.<ref name="prideofbengal'sfolkart"> Kakoli Biswas, 'Pride of Bengal's Folk Art: Gurusaday Dutt', Karnavati University at http://karnavatiuniversity.edu.in</ref> He spent a lifetime collecting and studying art objects and handiwork from the remotest corners of undivided rural Bengal collecting items of folk art such as Kalighat paintings, ''patuas'' ('পটুয়া') scrolls,<ref name="speakingwithpictures"/> embroidered ''kanthas'' ('কাঁথা'), terracotta panels, stone sculptures, wooden carvings, dolls and toys, moulds used for making patterns on sweets or mango-paste etc.<ref name="championofbengal'sfolkart"> Soumyadeep Roy, Gurusaday Dutt: Champion of Bengal's Folk Art', 07 December, 2020 at https://www.livemintmyindia.com</ref> Gurusaday Dutt also wrote extensively on folk culture. Rabindranath Tagore and C.F. Andrews wrote in the foreword of the biography of his wife, Saroj Nalini Dutt, which he wrote. Gurusaday Dutt also wrote a good deal about the Bratachari movement.

==Organisations founded==
*Mymensingh Folk Dance and Folk Music Society (1929)
*Pallisampad Raksha Samiti (পল্লি রক্ষা সমিতি) (1931)
*Bratachari Loknritya Samiti (ব্রতচারি লোক নৃত্য সমিতি) (1932)
*South India Bratachari Society (1932)
*Sarbabharatiya Bratachari Society (সর্ব ভারতীয় ব্রতচারি সোসাইটি)
*Bratacharigram (ব্রতচারি গ্রাম) (1941)
*Bratachari Janashiksha Pratishthan (ব্রতচারি জনশিক্ষা প্রতিষ্ঠান) (1941)

==Awards==
* Scindia Gold Medal (1901)<ref name="bratacharisportsfederation"/>
*Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal (1938)<ref name="newyearshonourslist"> New Years Honours List, 1938 at https://www.hmoob.in </ref>

==Publications==
*''Agricultural Organisation and Rural Reconstruction in Bengal'' (1919)
*''Bhajar Banshi'' (ভজার বাঁশি) (1922)
*''Palli Sangskar'' (পল্লী সংস্কার) (1925)
*''Village Reconstruction'' (1925)
*''Ganer Saji'' (গানের সাজি) (1932)
*''Indian Folk Dance and Folklore Movement'' (1933)
*''Bratachari Synthesis'' (in Bengali) (1937)
*''Patuya Sangit'' (পটুয়া সঙ্গীত) (1939)
*''Bratacharir Marmakatha'' (ব্রতচারি মর্মকথা) (1940)
*''A Woman of India'' (1941)
*''Bratachari: Its Aim and Meaning'' (1942)
*''The Folk Dances of Bengal'' (1954)
*''Shrihatter Lokasangit'' (শ্রীহট্টের লোকসঙ্গীত) (1966)
*''Folk Arts and Crafts of Bengal'' (1990)<ref name="publications">[http://www.seagullindia.com/books/default.asp/ Publications of G.S.Dutt]</ref>
*''Art of Kantha'' (1995)
*''Banglar Lokashilpa o Lokanritya'' (বাংলার লোকশিল্প ও লোকনৃত্য) (Calcutta: Chatim Books, 2008)
*''Goraey Golod'' (গোরায় গলত)
*''Gramer Kaajer ka kha Ga'' (গ্রামের কাজের ক, খ, গ)
*''Saroj Nalini''
*''Palli Sanskar O Sangathan'' (পল্লী সংস্কার ও সংগঠন)
*''Paaglamir Puthi'' (পাগলামির পুঁথি)
*''Purir Mahathwa'' (পুরির মাহাত্ম্য)
*''Banglar Samrik Krira'' (বাংলার শ্মরিক ক্রীড়া)
*''Chaander Buri'' (চাঁদের বুড়ি)
*''Bratachari Shakhaa'' (ব্রতচারি শাখা)
*''Bratachari Parichoy'' (ব্রতচারি পরিচয়)
*''Banglar Bir Jodha Raebeshe'' (বাংলার বীর যদ্ধা রায়বেশে)

==Legacy==
A road in Calcutta, a gold medal and a cash prize, awarded to the first ranked student of geography of Calcutta University and a scholarship given by the Sylhet Union (Srihatta Sammilani) (শ্রীহট্ট সম্মিলনী) are named after him. His portrait hangs on a wall of [[Mahajati Sadan]], Calcutta.

== See also ==
*[[Bratachari movement]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.gurusadaymuseum.org/ Official Website of Gurusaday Museum]
*[[Gurusaday Museum]]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutt, Gurusaday}}
[[Category:1882 births]]
[[Category:1941 deaths]]
[[Category:Presidency University, Kolkata alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Bengali politicians]]
[[Category:Indian barristers]]
[[Category:Indian civil servants]]
[[Category:Indian Civil Service (British India) officers]]
[[Category:Bengali writers]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:People from Karimganj district]]
[[Category:Museum founders]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Members of Central Legislative Assembly of India]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century philanthropists]]

Saroj Nalini Dutt

2023-07-12T04:10:09Z

2402:3A80:1CD5:C37B:678:5634:1232:5476:

{{distinguish|Saroj Dutta}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Saroj Nalini Dutt
| image = Saroj Nalini Dutt photo.jpg
| image_size = 175px
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1887|10|9|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Bandel]], [[Hooghly district|Hooghly]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1925|1|19|1887|10|9|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| spouse = [[Gurusaday Dutt]] ({{lang-bn|গুরুসদয় দত্ত}})
| children = 1
}}

'''Saroj Nalini Dutt''' (''née'' '''Dey''' ('''দেব সরকার''')) ({{lang-bn|'''সরোজ নলিনী দত্ত'''}}) '''MBE''', (9 October 1887 – 19 January 1925) ({{lang-bn|২৩ আশ্বিন, ১২৯৪ - ৬ মাঘ, ১৩৩১}}) was an Indian social reformer and feminist.<ref name="womeninmodernindia">Geraldine Forbes, 'Women in Modern India', 'The New Cambridge History of India', Volume: IV.2, ,Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp.28-29</ref><ref name="sarojnalinidutt"> Jayati Gupta, 'Travel Culture, Travel Writing and Bengali Women, 1870-1940', 1st edition, (Routledge, India, 2020), chapter: Saroj Nalini Dutt (1887-1925)</ref>

==Background==
She was born in [[Bandel]], Hooghly in [[Bengal]] to [[Brajendranath De]] and Nagendranandini De. Home-schooled by her parents, she married [[Gurusaday Dutt]] in 1905.<ref name="womeninmodernindia"></ref> Her son, Birendrasaday Dutt (বীরেন্দ্রসদয় দত্ত), was born in 1909.<ref name="awomanofindia">Gurusaday Dutt, 'A Woman of India: Being the Life of Saroj Nalini (Founder of Women's Institute Movement in India' (with a foreword by Rabindranath Tagore), (Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1941)</ref><ref "সরোজনলিনী">রাজীব কুন্ডু, 'সরোজ নলিনী: সংখিপ্ত জীবনি', (অবভাস, কলকাতা, ২০১৪) (Rajib Kundu, Saroj Nalini: Shankhipta Jibani, Ababhash, Kolkata, 2014)</ref>

==Social work==
She was a social reformer and a pioneer of the movement for the uplifting of women in Bengal.<ref name="sarojnalinidutta">'সরোজনলিনী দত্ত', in সুবোধ চন্দ্র সেনগুপ্ত এবং অঞ্জলি বসু, 'সংসদ বাঙালি চরিত্রবিধান', ১, (কলকাতা, শিশু সাহিত্য সংসদ, ২০০২), পৃ: ৫৬৫, ISBN=৮১-৮৫৬২৬-৬৫-০, ('Saroj Nalini Dutta' in Subodhchandra Sengupta and Anjali Basu, 'Samsad Bangali Charitrabidhan', Vol. 1, (Kolkata, Shishu Sahitya Samsad, 2002), p. 565, (Bibliographical Dictionary) ISBN=81-85626-65-0</ref> She pioneered the formation of Mahila Samitis (মহিলা সমিতি) (Women's Institute) in Bengal. She started the first Mahila Samiti in 1913 in Pabna (পাবনা) district with the object of developing friendly cooperation there among the ''purdahnashin'' ladies. Subsequently, she started Mahila Samitis in Birbhum (বীরভূম) (1916), Sultanpur (সুলতানপুর) (1917), and Rampurhat (রামপুরহাট) (1918) districts respectively.<ref name="women'sassociation">[https://ir.nbu.ac.in 'Women's Association of Bengal and it's Interaction with Other Sister Associations of India, Institutional Repository, North Bengal University, p. 245]</ref>

She was the secretary of the Indian Section of the Calcutta League of Women’s Workers (later Bengal Presidency Council of Women), member of the Council of the Nari Siksha Samity (নারী শিক্ষা সমিতি)(Women’s Educational League), and Member of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation’s committee which was to make suitable arrangements for allowing women to elect councillors. She was also the vice president of the Sylhet Union, an association set up for the promotion of female education in Sylhet district.<ref name="socialthoughtsofrabindranathtagore"> Tapati Das Gupta, 'Social Thoughts of Rabindranath Tagore: A Historical Analysis', (Calcutta, 1993)</ref>

==Awards==
*Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE), 1918.

==Legacy==
An association for the upliftment of helpless and needy women, founded in 1925,<ref name="sarojnaliniduttmemorialassociation">[http://www.sarojnaliniduttmemorialassociation.com/ Saroj Nalini Dutt Memorial Association]</ref> and a primary teachers training institute, both set up in Calcutta, are named after her.<ref name="sarojnaliniptti">[https://www.wbptti.in Saroj Nalini Primary Teachers Training Institute, Calcutta]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.sarojnaliniduttmemorialassociation.com/ Saroj Nalini Dutt Memorial Association]
*[http://sarojnalini.wbptti.in Saroj Nalini Primary Teachers Training Institute, Department of School Education, Government of West Bengal]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutta, Saroj Nalini}}
[[Category:1887 births]]
[[Category:1925 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian social scientists]]
[[Category:Indian feminists]]
[[Category:Indian women educational theorists]]
[[Category:Indian women social workers]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:People from Hooghly district]]
[[Category:Scholars from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Women scientists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Women educators from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Educators from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Social workers from West Bengal]]
[[Category:20th-century women educators]]

Saroj Nalini Dutt

2023-07-12T04:09:27Z

2402:3A80:1CD5:C37B:678:5634:1232:5476:

{{distinguish|Saroj Dutta}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Saroj Nalini Dutt
| image = Saroj Nalini Dutt photo.jpg
| image_size = 175px
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1887|10|9|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Bandel]], [[Hooghly district|Hooghly]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1925|1|19|1887|10|9|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| spouse = [[Gurusaday Dutt]] ({{lang-bn|গুরুসদয় দত্ত}})
| children = 1
}}

'''Saroj Nalini Dutt''' (''née'' '''Dey''' ('''দেব সরকার''')) ({{lang-bn|'''সরোজ নলিনী দত্ত'''}}) MBE, (9 October 1887 – 19 January 1925) ({{lang-bn|২৩ আশ্বিন, ১২৯৪ - ৬ মাঘ, ১৩৩১}}) was an Indian social reformer and feminist.<ref name="womeninmodernindia">Geraldine Forbes, 'Women in Modern India', 'The New Cambridge History of India', Volume: IV.2, ,Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp.28-29</ref><ref name="sarojnalinidutt"> Jayati Gupta, 'Travel Culture, Travel Writing and Bengali Women, 1870-1940', 1st edition, (Routledge, India, 2020), chapter: Saroj Nalini Dutt (1887-1925)</ref>

==Background==
She was born in [[Bandel]], Hooghly in [[Bengal]] to [[Brajendranath De]] and Nagendranandini De. Home-schooled by her parents, she married [[Gurusaday Dutt]] in 1905.<ref name="womeninmodernindia"></ref> Her son, Birendrasaday Dutt (বীরেন্দ্রসদয় দত্ত), was born in 1909.<ref name="awomanofindia">Gurusaday Dutt, 'A Woman of India: Being the Life of Saroj Nalini (Founder of Women's Institute Movement in India' (with a foreword by Rabindranath Tagore), (Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1941)</ref><ref "সরোজনলিনী">রাজীব কুন্ডু, 'সরোজ নলিনী: সংখিপ্ত জীবনি', (অবভাস, কলকাতা, ২০১৪) (Rajib Kundu, Saroj Nalini: Shankhipta Jibani, Ababhash, Kolkata, 2014)</ref>

==Social work==
She was a social reformer and a pioneer of the movement for the uplifting of women in Bengal.<ref name="sarojnalinidutta">'সরোজনলিনী দত্ত', in সুবোধ চন্দ্র সেনগুপ্ত এবং অঞ্জলি বসু, 'সংসদ বাঙালি চরিত্রবিধান', ১, (কলকাতা, শিশু সাহিত্য সংসদ, ২০০২), পৃ: ৫৬৫, ISBN=৮১-৮৫৬২৬-৬৫-০, ('Saroj Nalini Dutta' in Subodhchandra Sengupta and Anjali Basu, 'Samsad Bangali Charitrabidhan', Vol. 1, (Kolkata, Shishu Sahitya Samsad, 2002), p. 565, (Bibliographical Dictionary) ISBN=81-85626-65-0</ref> She pioneered the formation of Mahila Samitis (মহিলা সমিতি) (Women's Institute) in Bengal. She started the first Mahila Samiti in 1913 in Pabna (পাবনা) district with the object of developing friendly cooperation there among the ''purdahnashin'' ladies. Subsequently, she started Mahila Samitis in Birbhum (বীরভূম) (1916), Sultanpur (সুলতানপুর) (1917), and Rampurhat (রামপুরহাট) (1918) districts respectively.<ref name="women'sassociation">[https://ir.nbu.ac.in 'Women's Association of Bengal and it's Interaction with Other Sister Associations of India, Institutional Repository, North Bengal University, p. 245]</ref>

She was the secretary of the Indian Section of the Calcutta League of Women’s Workers (later Bengal Presidency Council of Women), member of the Council of the Nari Siksha Samity (নারী শিক্ষা সমিতি)(Women’s Educational League), and Member of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation’s committee which was to make suitable arrangements for allowing women to elect councillors. She was also the vice president of the Sylhet Union, an association set up for the promotion of female education in Sylhet district.<ref name="socialthoughtsofrabindranathtagore"> Tapati Das Gupta, 'Social Thoughts of Rabindranath Tagore: A Historical Analysis', (Calcutta, 1993)</ref>

==Awards==
*Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE), 1918.

==Legacy==
An association for the upliftment of helpless and needy women, founded in 1925,<ref name="sarojnaliniduttmemorialassociation">[http://www.sarojnaliniduttmemorialassociation.com/ Saroj Nalini Dutt Memorial Association]</ref> and a primary teachers training institute, both set up in Calcutta, are named after her.<ref name="sarojnaliniptti">[https://www.wbptti.in Saroj Nalini Primary Teachers Training Institute, Calcutta]</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.sarojnaliniduttmemorialassociation.com/ Saroj Nalini Dutt Memorial Association]
*[http://sarojnalini.wbptti.in Saroj Nalini Primary Teachers Training Institute, Department of School Education, Government of West Bengal]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutta, Saroj Nalini}}
[[Category:1887 births]]
[[Category:1925 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian women]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian social scientists]]
[[Category:Indian feminists]]
[[Category:Indian women educational theorists]]
[[Category:Indian women social workers]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:Bengali Hindus]]
[[Category:People from Hooghly district]]
[[Category:Scholars from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Women scientists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Women educators from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Educators from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Social workers from West Bengal]]
[[Category:20th-century women educators]]