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{{short description|Indian writer, folk literature researcher and civil servant}}
{{short description|Indian writer, folk literature researcher and civil servant}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2011}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2019}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
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| image      = Gurusaday Dutt photo.png
| image      = Gurusaday Dutt photo.png
| image_size  = 200px
| image_size  = 200px
| caption    = Gurusaday Dutt
| birth_date  = {{birth-date|10 May 1882}}
| birth_date  = {{birth-date|10 May 1882}}
| birth_place = Birasri, [[Karimganj district|Karimganj]], [[Assam Province]], [[British India]]
| birth_place = Birasri, [[Karimganj district|Karimganj]], [[Assam]], [[British India]]
| death_date  = {{d-da|25 June 1941|10 May 1882}}
| death_date  = {{d-da|25 June 1941|10 May 1882}} (৬০)
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], India
| death_place = [[Calcutta]], India
| occupation  = Civilian, folklorist
| occupation  = Civil servant, folklorist
| spouse      = [[Saroj Nalini Dutt]] (nee Dé)<ref name="socialthoughtofrabindranathtagore:ahistoricalanalysis">[http://www.books.google.com/books?id=0HrBJJBFutsC&pg=PA138&lpg=PA138&dq=%22brajendranath+de%22&source=web&ots=6hzMYqYpVY&sig=j0LN8UVyO09xXv-DDGe4tWswGIo/ Tapati Das Gupta, Social Thought of Rabindranath Tagore: A Historical Analysis, (Calcutta, 1993), p. 138]</ref>
| spouse      = [[Saroj Nalini Dutt]] (সরোজ নলিনী দত্ত) (nee De) (দে)
| children   = 1
| children = 1
}}
}}


'''Gurusaday Dutt''' ({{lang-bn|'''গুরুসদয় দত্ত'''}}) (1882–1941) ({{lang-bn|১২৮৭-১৩৪৮}})<ref name="Dasgupta1993">{{cite book|author=Tapati Dasgupta|title=Social Thought of Rabindranath Tagore: A Historical Analysis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0HrBJJBFutsC&pg=PA138|access-date=11 July 2012|date=1 January 1993|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-302-1|pages=138–}}</ref> was a civil servant, folklorist, and writer. He was the founder of the [[Bratachari movement|''Bratachari'' Movement]] in the 1930s.
'''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==
==Early life and education==
Dutt, born to Ramkrishna Dutta Chaudhuri and Anandamayee Debi, was a member of the ''zamindari'' family of Birasri village in Karimganj sub-division of [[Sylhet District|Sylhet]] district, in eastern Bengal (present day [[Bangladesh]]). Members of his family were followers of the Vaishnavite sect.
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]].
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]], a daughter of [[Brajendranath Dé]], Esq., ICS.
He was married to [[Saroj Nalini Dutt]] and they had one son.<ref name="tapatidasgupta"/>


==Career==
==Career and political views==
He served in various capacities in the districts, such as District Magistrateship of Mymensingh, Directorship of Industries and Secretaryship of Local Self Government and Public Health of the Government of Bengal, as Government Chief Whip in the Bengal Legislative Council and as a nominated Member of the Council of States and of the [[Central Legislative Assembly]] from 1930-1933.
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"/>


==Contributions to social work==
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>
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'' 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'' to give voice to village women.
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>


Dutt contributed immensely to the development of rural dance forms. In Mymensingh he started a Folk Dance Revival Society, which revived the secular ''Jaari'' dance. In 1930, he discovered the ''[[Raibeshe]]'' folk dance, a martial dance of un-divided Bengal, in Birbhum. Subsequently, he also revived the Kaathi, Dhamail, Baul, Jhumur, Brata and Dhali 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 (Cultural Heritage Protection Society of Bengal).
==Social, cultural and artistic contributions==


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'', a journal on behalf of the Bengal Bratachari Society.
===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.


==Contributions to art and culture==
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.
Gurusaday Dutt was mostly known for his interest and contributions to Bengal's folk art, folk dance and folk music. 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''' scrolls, embroidered ''kanthas'', terracotta panels, stone sculptures, wooden carvings, dolls and toys, moulds used for making patterns on sweets or mango-paste etc. 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.


==Controversies==
===Cultural===
His fearless independence and indomitable spirit of nationalism brought him into conflict with the British Government on more than one occasion. In 1928, at Howrah, 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 British [[House of Lords]] and [[Lord Birkenhead]], then [[Secretary of State for India]] in the British Government, had to answer angry questions. British Parliamentarians wanted Dutt, referred to as this Indian officer, punished for having the audacity to question a British officer’s action. As a punitive measure he was transferred out of Howrah to Mymensingh.
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).  


His stay in Mymensingh was also cut short when he failed to give orders as required by him by the British Indian Government to deal with protesters against The Salt Act imposed by the Government. [[Mahatma Gandhi|M.K.Gandhi]] had called for a [[satyagraha]] against this Act. He was transferred to Birbhum by telegram (then the fastest means of communication), which was an unprecedented way of dealing with an ICS officer in those days.
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==
==Organisations founded==
*Mymensingh Folk Dance and Folk Music Society (1929)
*Mymensingh Folk Dance and Folk Music Society (1929)
*Pallisampad Raksha Samiti (1931)
*Pallisampad Raksha Samiti (পল্লি রক্ষা সমিতি) (1931)
*Bratachari Lokanritya Samiti (1932)
*Bratachari Loknritya Samiti (ব্রতচারি লোক নৃত্য সমিতি) (1932)
*South India Bratachari Society (1932)
*South India Bratachari Society (1932)
*Sarbabharatiya Bratachari Society etc.
*Sarbabharatiya Bratachari Society (সর্ব ভারতীয় ব্রতচারি সোসাইটি)
*In 1941 he also set up the Bratachari village(Bratacharigram) near Calcutta, and the Bratachari Janashiksha Pratishthan. The [[Bratachari movement]] founded by Gurusaday Dutt (from ''vrata'', vow) was a movement for spiritual and social improvement. The movement aimed at creating a sense of world citizenship as well as national awareness among people, irrespective of caste, religion, sex and age. The movement aimed to nurture the mind and the body and to encourage people to work for national and individual improvement through encouraging traditional and folk culture, especially folk dance and folk song. The ''bratacharis'', or followers of the movement, pledged themselves to build their moral fibre and serve the country on the five principles of ''knowledge'', ''labour'', ''truth'', ''unity'' and ''joy''. They aimed at developing the mind and body through dance as well as by undertaking to perform good deeds. The Bratachari movement did not catch on all over India and slowly died away after the death of its founder. In 2011, the Mamata Banerjee Government again made Bratachari education compulsory in Primary schools in West Bengal, after the Marxist Communist Government withdrew it from the School curriculum in 1984.
*Bratacharigram (ব্রতচারি গ্রাম) (1941)
*Gurusaday Museum (1961).
*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==
==Publications==
Gurusaday Dutt wrote many books and articles, which are listed below. The latest book to be published is "Banglar Lokashilpa o Lokanritya" (in Bengali), which is a collection of his essays and articles on Folk Art and Folk Dances of Bengal in various magazines between 1928 and 1941(his death), that were painstakingly obtained from the old magazines at Bangiya Sahitya Parishad's library by his grandson Devsaday Dutt and granddaughter-in-law Priyadarshini Dutt. The book has been published by Subhromani De and Subhadra De of Chhatim Books in 2008.
*''Agricultural Organisation and Rural Reconstruction in Bengal'' (1919)
 
*''Bhajar Banshi'' (ভজার বাঁশি) (1922)
*''Bhajar Banshi'' (1922) (in Bengali) (A book of rhymes for children)
*''Palli Sangskar'' (পল্লী সংস্কার) (1925)
*''Palli Sangskar'' (in Bengali) (1925)
*''Village Reconstruction'' (1925)
*''Village Reconstruction'' (1925)
*''Agricultural Organisation and Rural Reconstruction in Bengal'' (1919)
*''Ganer Saji'' (গানের সাজি) (1932)
*''Ganer Saji'' (in Bengali) (1932)
*''Indian Folk Dance and Folklore Movement'' (1933)
*''Indian Folk Dance and Folklore Movement'' (in Bengali) (1933)
*''Bratachari Synthesis'' (in Bengali) (1937)
*''Bratachari Synthesis'' (in Bengali) (1937)
*''Patuya Sangit'' (in Bengali) (1939)
*''Patuya Sangit'' (পটুয়া সঙ্গীত) (1939)
*''Bratacharir Marmakatha'' (in Bengali) (1940)
*''Bratacharir Marmakatha'' (ব্রতচারি মর্মকথা) (1940)
*''A Woman of India]'' (1941)
*''A Woman of India'' (1941)
*''Bratachari: Its Aim and Meaning'' (1942)
*''Bratachari: Its Aim and Meaning'' (1942)
*''The Folk Dances of Bengal'' (1954)
*''The Folk Dances of Bengal'' (1954)
*''Shrihatter Lokasangit'' (in Bengali) (1966)
*''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>
*''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)
*''Art of Kantha'' (1995)
*''Banglar Lokashilpa o Lokanritya'' (in Bengali) (Calcutta: Chatim Books, 2008)
*''Banglar Lokashilpa o Lokanritya'' (বাংলার লোকশিল্প ও লোকনৃত্য) (Calcutta: Chatim Books, 2008)
*''Goraey Golod'' (in Bengali)
*''Goraey Golod'' (গোরায় গলত)
*''Gramer Kaajer ka kha Ga'' (in Bengali)
*''Gramer Kaajer ka kha Ga'' (গ্রামের কাজের ক, খ, গ)
*''Saroj Nalini''
*''Saroj Nalini''
*''Palli Sanskar O Sangathan'' (in Bengali)
*''Palli Sanskar O Sangathan'' (পল্লী সংস্কার ও সংগঠন)
*''Paaglamir Puthi'' (in Bengali)
*''Paaglamir Puthi'' (পাগলামির পুঁথি)
*''Purir Mahathwa'' (in Bengali)
*''Purir Mahathwa'' (পুরির মাহাত্ম্য)
*''Gaaner Saaji'' (in Bengali)
*''Banglar Samrik Krira'' (বাংলার শ্মরিক ক্রীড়া)
*''Banglar Samrik Krira'' (in Bengali)
*''Chaander Buri'' (চাঁদের বুড়ি)
*''Chaander Buri''(in Bengali)
*''Bratachari Shakhaa'' (ব্রতচারি শাখা)
*''Bratachari Shakhaa'' (in Bengali)
*''Bratachari Parichoy'' (ব্রতচারি পরিচয়)
*''Bratachari Marmakatha'' (in Bengali)
*''Banglar Bir Jodha Raebeshe'' (বাংলার বীর যদ্ধা রায়বেশে)
*''Patua Sangeet'' (in Bengali)
*''Bratachari Parichoy'' (in Bengali)
*''Srihotter Lokageeti'' (in Bengali)
*''Banglar Bir Jodha Raebeshe'' (in Bengali)


==Death and commemoration==
==Legacy==
He died at the age of 59 of cancer. After he died, his son, Birendrasaday Dutt, took the initiative in renaming Ballygunge Store Road, where he had built himself a house, after him.
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.
 
His portrait adorns the walls of [[Mahajati Sadan]], Calcutta.
 
Biographies have been written on his life and works in Bangladesh by Shankar Prasad De, Amitabha Chowdhury, Shaikat Azgar and Naresh Banerjee.
 
A Medal in his honour, known as "The Gurusaday Dutt Medal" along with a Cash prize, was endowed by his grandson, Devsaday Dutt, at the University of Calcutta, which is given to the student who stands First in the Post-Graduate Examination in Geography, from 2008 onwards.
 
Gurusaday Dutt Scholarships are also being awarded by the Sylhet Union(Srihatta Sammilani), Kolkata for brilliant students pursuing post-graduate studies.
 
His articles initially published in the 1930s in journals such as ''Prabashi'', ''Banglar Shakti'', ''Bangalakshmi'' and ''Aloka'' (in Bengali), have been republished in a book entitled ''Banglar Lokashipla o Lokanritya'' in August 2008.
 
==Family==
His daughter-in-law, [[Aroti Dutt]], was an eminent social worker, and was the World President of the Associated Countrywomen of the World for two terms and President of the Saroj Nalini Dutt Memorial Association, Calcutta.
His grandson is Devsaday Dutt,FCA(England & Wales)and his great-grandsons are Rajsaday Dutt FCA, MBA (Darden School) and Shivsaday Dutt MBA (Kelley School).{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}


== See also ==
== See also ==
*[[Bratachari movement]]
*[[Bratachari movement]]
*[[Saroj Nalini Dutt]]
*[[Gurusaday Museum]]


== References ==
== References ==
Line 117: Line 100:
==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.gurusadaymuseum.org/ Official Website of Gurusaday Museum]
*[http://www.gurusadaymuseum.org/ Official Website of Gurusaday Museum]
*[http://rajsaday.com/?p=86/ Profile of Gurusaday Dutt at Lives Less Forgotten]
*[[Gurusaday Museum]]


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

Latest revision as of 09:42, 12 July 2023


Gurusaday Dutt (Bengali: গুরুসদয় দত্ত (চৌধূরী)) (10 May, 1882– 25 June, 1941) (Bengali: ২৮ বৈশাখ, ১২৮৯- ১১ আষাঢ়, ১৩৪৮) was a civil servant, folklorist, and writer.[1] He was the founder of the Bratachari Movement in the 1930s.[2]

Gurusaday Dutt
Gurusaday Dutt photo.png
Born10 May 1882 (1882-05-10)
Birasri, Karimganj, Assam, British India
Died25 June 1941 (1941-06-26) (aged 59) (৬০)
Calcutta, India
OccupationCivil servant, folklorist
Spouse(s)Saroj Nalini Dutt (সরোজ নলিনী দত্ত) (nee De) (দে)
Children1

Early life and educationEdit

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.[1]

Career and political viewsEdit

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.[3]

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.[3] This led to his transfer to Birbhum in 1931.[4]

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.[5]

Social, cultural and artistic contributionsEdit

SocialEdit

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.

CulturalEdit

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.

ArtisticEdit

Dutt was mostly known for his interest and contributions to Bengal's folk art, folk dance and folk music.[6] 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,[4] embroidered kanthas ('কাঁথা'), terracotta panels, stone sculptures, wooden carvings, dolls and toys, moulds used for making patterns on sweets or mango-paste etc.[7] 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 foundedEdit

  • 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)

AwardsEdit

  • Scindia Gold Medal (1901)[3]
  • Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal (1938)[8]

PublicationsEdit

  • 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)[9]
  • 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)

LegacyEdit

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 alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tapati Dasgupta, 'Social Thought of Rabindranath Tagore: A Historical Analysis, (Calcutta, Abhinav Publications, 1993), p. 138
  2. ↑ 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
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Bratachari Sports Federation at https://www.martialyogaarts.com
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Roma Chatterjee, 'Speaking with Pictures: Folk Art and the Narrative Tradition in India', New Delhi: Routledge, 2012)
  5. ↑ Waltraud Ernest, 'Colonialism and the Transnational Psychiatry: The Development of an Indian Mental Hospital', (London: Anthem Press, 2013), p. 243
  6. ↑ Kakoli Biswas, 'Pride of Bengal's Folk Art: Gurusaday Dutt', Karnavati University at http://karnavatiuniversity.edu.in
  7. ↑ Soumyadeep Roy, Gurusaday Dutt: Champion of Bengal's Folk Art', 07 December, 2020 at https://www.livemintmyindia.com
  8. ↑ New Years Honours List, 1938 at https://www.hmoob.in
  9. ↑ Publications of G.S.Dutt

External linksEdit

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