Ramesh Chandra Majumdar
Introduction
Prof.
Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (R.C Majumdar) was born on 4th December, 1888, in East
Bangal in the village of Khandarpara of
faridapur district. Son of Haladhar
Majumdar and Bidhumukhi Majumder. He was the youngest of three brothers Prakash
Chandra Majumdar and Satish Chandra Majumdar and two sisters Smt. Sashimukhi
and Smt.Promoda. R.C Majumdar died on 11 february 1980(aged 91) in kolkata,
west Bengal.
"Indians of old were keenly alive to the expansion of
dominions, acquisition of wealth, and the development of trade, industry and
commerce. The material prosperity they gained in these various ways was
reflected in the luxury and elegance that characterized the society... The
adventurous spirit of the Indians carried them even as far as the North Sea, while
their caravans traveled from one end of Asia to the other" - Ancient
India, 1977.
His Early Life
Prof.
Majumdar's early life wasn't that smooth to start with. He lost his mother when
he was just 18 months old and was brought up by his aunt along with his
siblings. He was born in a family which was in utter penury.
About His Education
When
he was about 5 or 6 years old he was admitted to the village minor school which
had just one room with a thatched roof and some benches for the students. He
studied up to class II but was unable to appear for his Minor Examination. His
eldest brother Prakash Chandra Majumdar got a Govt. Service in an English
Medium School with a salary of Rs.75/-, Calcutta. This brought both the
brothers Saitish Chandra & Ramesh Chandra to Calcutta in mid 1900 and put
up at their Maternal Grandfather Late Prassana Kumar Sen's place consisting of
two thatched rooms (Kholar Ghar) located at Sikdar Para Road(Now Mahim halder
Street), Kalighat, South Calcutta.
He
joined the South Suburban School, Calcutta in class 5. The Headmaster of the school was Late Sri.
Benimadhab Ganguli. In 1902, he and his elder brother went to Dacca and got
admitted to Dacca Collegiate School. The
hostel fees was about Rs. 7 and 50 annas. Satish Chandra Majumder bore all
Educational and other incidental expenses both his younger brothers could
continue their studies without any hindrance. During this time Ramesh
Chandra got several Merit Awards and
also took part in a Shakespearean play with guidance from their English teacher
Late Sri. Satyen Bhadra.
After
passing out from the school he joined the Hooghly Collegiate school. His eldest
brother Late. Sri. Prakash Chandra Majumdar had in the meantime joined
“Ravenshaw Collegiate School” at Cuttack, Orissa. In 1905 Ramesh Chandra Majumdar
Joined him at Cuttack Examination with a merit scholarship and joined
Brajamohan College (B.M.College) at Barishal, now in Bangladesh in the year of
1905 .
In
September 1905 he left B.M College and joined “Ripon College”, Calcutta so that
he could be under the guidance of the well-known politician Surendra Nath
Bandopadhyay .
In
1907 he joined Presidency College B.A. History Hons. where he was under the
guidance of Prof. Perscival. He passed with a 2nd Class Hons. and received a Govt. Scholarship for
Post Graduate studies and continued his studies in the same college and stood
2nd with a 1st Class in the final
examination in 1911. The following year he was selected for the Prem Chand
Raichand Scholarship for his thesis on the “Andhra-Kusana Age”
His Professional Life
His
first appointment was as a Lecturer at Dacca Training College in 1912, In the
cadre of Provincial Govt. Civil Service and continued at Dacca till 1914.
On
advice of Sir Ashutosh Mukerjee, the then Vice Chancellor of Calcutta
University, joined the University as a Lecturer in the Department of Ancient
Indian History and Culture in July, 1914. During the tenure of Lectureship he prepared the thesis titled
“Corporate life in Ancient India” which was finally approved and published in
year 1918. The University of Dacca was established in 1921, and he was selected
by Sir Ashutosh Mukerjee to join the University as Professor of History and
continued in the same capacity from 1921 to 1936.
Subsequently
he became the Vice Chancellor in 1937 and continued till 1942. At the time of
retirement was aged 54 and was capable of Continue his Academic Life.
From
1942 till 1950, he continued his
Research Work on “South and South East Asian History & Culture, which
culminated in publishing of three volumes namely Vol.1 Champa, Vol 2 & 3
Suvarnavipa and Hindu Colonies in the Far East.
In
1912 he was awarded PREMCHAND ROYCHAND STUDENTSHIP for his dissertation
Andhra-Kusana Period. He started his career in 1913 in Dacca Teachers' Training
College. In July 1914, he was appointed a lecturer in the History department of
Calcutta University.
In
1950 he was appointed as The First Principal at the College of Indology , Banaras Hindu University (B.H.U),
and continued till 1952. In 1955 he was appointed as Principal of The College
of Indology at Nagpur University. Subsequently he was invited to join as
Visiting Professor of Indian History at The University of Chicago and
Pennsylvania, USA, where he served from 1958 to 1959.
His Works
Majumdar
started his research on ancient India. After extensive travels to Southeast
Asia and research, he wrote detailed histories of Champa (1927), Suvarnadvipa
(1938) and Kambuja Desa (1944). On the
initiative of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, he
took up the mantle of editing a multi-volume tome on Indian history. Starting
in 1951, he toiled for twenty-six long years to describe the history of the
Indian people from the Vedic Period until the Independence of India in eleven
volumes. In 1955, Majumdar established the College of Indology of Nagpur
University and joined as Principal. In 1958–59, he taught Indian history in the
University of Chicago and University of Pennsylvania. He was also the president
of the Asiatic Society (1966–68) and the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad (1968–69),
and also the Sheriff of Calcutta (1967–68)
When
the final volume of "The History and Culture of the Indian People"
was published in 1977, he had turned eighty-eight. He also edited the
three-volume history of Bengal published by Dacca University. His last book was
"Jivaner Smritidvipe".
The
proposal to write on "Freedom movement" with Government sponsorship
was put forth by in 1948 by R C Majumdar. In 1952 the ministry of education
appointed Board of Editors for the compilation of the History. Professor
Majumdar was appointed by the Board as the Director and entrusted with the work
of sifting and collecting materials and preparing the draft of the history.
However, the Board as consisting of politicians and scholars, was least likely
to function harmoniously. Perhaps this was the reason why it was dissolved at
the end of 1955. The scheme remained in balance for a year until the government
decided to transfer the work on to a single scholar. To the disappointment of
Professor Majumdar the choice of the ministry of education fell on one Dr.Tara
Chand, a historian but also an ex-secretary of the Ministry of Education.
Professor Majumdar then decided to write independently The History of the
Freedom movement in India in three volumes
Contribution
The
long period in between saw Majumdar undertake some of the most fascinating
historical studies of the age. His contribution to the study of the spread of
Hindu civilization in Southeast Asia, through his masterly Ancient Indian
Colonies in the Far East (1927), put him in the league of legendary greats such
as Suniti Kumar and Bijan Raj Chatterjee, George Ceodès, Kalidas Nag and
Nilakanta Sastri.
His books names:-
• The Early History Of Bengal.
• Champa, Ancient Indian Colonies In
The Far East, Vol. I
• Suvarnadvipa, Ancient Indian Colonies
In The Far Fast Vol. II
• The History Of Bengal.
• Kambuja Desa Or An Ancient Hindi Colony In Columbodia.
• An Advanced History Of India.
• The History And Culture Of The India
People (In Eleven Volumes).
• Ancient India.
• History Of The Freedom Movement In
India (In Three Volumes)
• Vakataka-Gupta Age Circa 200550 A.D.
• Main Currents Of Indian History.
• Classical Accounts Of India.
• Hindu Colonies In The Far East,
Calcutta.
• India And South East Asia, I.S.P.Q.S.
History And Archaeology Series Vol.6.
• The History Of Ancient Lakshadweep.
• Corporate Life In Ancient India.
Chronology
of Accolades
Academic
association continued, to name a few ,
• Vice-President, International
Commission Publishing a “History of Mankind-Educational, Cultural and
Scientific Development”. Sponsored by UNESCO
• Honorary D.Litt. degree from
Universities of Calcutta, Jadavpur, Burdwan and Rabindra Bharati University.
• He was recipient of the degree of
“Deshikottama” from Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan.
• Honorary Fellow-Royal Asiatic Society
of Great Britain and Ireland and Bombay; honorary Fellow – President The
Asiatic Society of Calcutta;
• Honorary member of Bhandarkar Oriental Research
Institute, Poona;
• President, Indian History Congress;
President, all India Oriental Conference;
• President, xxii of International
Congress of Orientalist;
• President, Institute of Historical
Studies Annual Conference 1968;
• President of Indology in the xxii
International Conference of Orientalists held at Istanbul, 1951 and member
of it’s Executive Committee.
• President, Ramakrishna Mission
Institute of Culture, Calcutta.
• Sheriff of Calcutta-1967-68
Awards
and Lectures
Ref:
“Journal of Indian history”(diamond jubilee volume) published by : the dept. of
history, university of kerala,1982.
Awards
• Campbell Gold Medal by the Asiatic
Society, Bombay;
• Sir William jones & B.C.Law and
Jagattarini Gold Medals by the Asiatic Society, Calcutta.
Views
On The Indian Independence Movement
When
the Government of India set up an editorial Committee to author a history of
the freedom struggle of India, he was its principal member. But, following a
conflict with the then Education Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on the Sepoy Mutiny, he left the government job and
published his own book, The Sepoy Mutiny & Revolt of 1857. According to him
the origins of India's freedom struggle lie in the English-educated Indian
middle-class and the freedom struggle started with the Banga Bhanga movement in
1905. His views on the freedom struggle are found in his book History of the
Freedom Movement in India. He was an admirer of Swami Vivekananda and
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
CONCLUSION
Dr.
R.C Majumdar was provide identity to ancient Bengal through his rigorous
research. He was probably the only historian who extensively explored India’s
role in the political and cultural development of South-East Asia. He wrote on
Hindu kingdoms in South-east Asia and Hindu colonies in the Far East. Being an
admirer, he wrote a brief historical review on Vivekananda in which he brought
to light many facts which were not known earlier. He wrote many books and
because of his contributions he is known as legendary great in Indian history.
References
1. http://www.rameshchandramajumdar.com/
2. https://www.dailypioneer.com/2013/columnists/he-was-a-man-with-a-mind-of-his-own.html
3. https://unbumf.com/r-c-majumdar-a-forgotten-historian-who-rebelled-2/
External
links
• Interview with Majumdar
• Remembering Acharya Ramesh Chandra
Majumdar: A Century of Spotless Scholarship and Inspiration
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