Sarat Kumar Ray

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
File:Sarat Kumar Roy (1876-1946).jpg
Sarat Kumar Roy (1876–1946)

Sarat Kumar Ray (Bengali: শরৎ কুমার রায়) (1876–1946) was a member of the royal family of Dighapatia. A noted scholar, he was the son of the Raja (King) Pramathanath Ray and lived in the Maharaja's Palace. Along with historian Ramaprasad Chanda, he co-founded the Varendra Research Museum,[1][2][3][4][5] which Lord Dundas the Governor of Bengal, inaugurated in November 1919. He was well traveled, and visited England in 1900. He was a friend of Rabindranath Tagore.

Early life

[edit | edit source]

Ray was born in 1876 into the Dighapatia Raj family in Natore District, Bengal Presidency, British Raj. His father was Pramathanath Ray, the Zamindar of Dighapatia.[3] He studied at Rajshahi Collegiate School and Ripon College (renamed Surendranath College).[3] He earned a B.A. from Presidency College and a master's in physics from the University of Calcutta.[3] He joined the Bangiya Sahitya Parishad after being introduced to it by his teacher Ramendra Sundar Tribedi. Through the Parishad he became acquainted with Dwijendranath Tagore and Rabindranath Tagore.[3]

Career

[edit | edit source]

Ray published his book, Sivaji O Guru Gobinda Singha, in 1908, for which an introduction was written by Rabindranath Tagore.[6]

Ray, along with Ramaprasad Chanda and Akshay Kumar Maitreya, worked to discover and preserve the archeological sites in the Varendra region of Bengal.[3][7] They also worked with R. D. Banerji to explore different sites. On 27 September 1910, they founded the Varendra Research Society.[3] Ray was the president of the society.[8] They needed a museum to preserve the antiques they discovered. Ray donated 63 thousand rupees and his brother donated the land for the museum.[3] The museum was inaugurated by Lord Dundas the Governor of Bengal, in November 1919.[3]

Ray backed Ramaprasad Chanda in his anthropometric research work circa 1910.[9]

Ray was a management member of Bangiya Sahitya Sammilani, Indian Music Society, Rajshahi Association, Rajshahi Public Library, and The Asiatic Society.[3] He was elected to the Bengal Legislative Council in 1930.[3]

Death

[edit | edit source]

Ray died on 12 April 1946.[3]

References

[edit | edit source]
  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  4. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  5. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  6. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  7. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  8. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  9. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).