Jadunath Sarkar | |
|---|---|
 Jadunath Sarkar, 1927[1] | |
| Born | 10 December 1870 Karachmaria, Singra, Natore, Bengal Presidency, British India
(Modern day Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh) |
| Died | 19 May 1958 (aged 87) |
| Occupation | Historian |
| Spouse | Lady Kadambini Sarkar |
Sir Jadunath Sarkar, CIE, FRAS (10 December 1870 – 19 May 1958) was a prominent Bengali historian and a specialist on the Mughal dynasty.
Sarkar was educated in English literature, worked as a teacher for some period of time but later shifted his focus history research writing. He had vast knowledge of Persian language and all his books he wrote in English. He was vice chancellor (VC) of University of Calcutta from 1926–1928 a member of Bengal Legislative Council between 1929-1932. In 1929 British knighted him.[2]
Sarkar was born in Karachmaria village in Natore, Bengal to Rajkumar Sarkar, the local Zamindar on 10 December 1870.[3] In 1891, he graduated in English from Presidency College, Calcutta.[3] In 1892, he topped the Master of Arts examination, in English at Calcutta University and in 1897, he received the Premchand-Roychand Scholarship.[3]
In 1893, he was inducted as a faculty of English literature at Ripon College, Calcutta (later renamed Surendranath College).[3] In 1898, he was appointed at Presidency College, Calcutta after getting selected in the Provincial Education Services.[3] In between, from 1917 to 1919, he taught modern Indian history in Benaras Hindu University and from 1919 to 1923, both English and history, at Ravenshaw College, Cuttack.[3] In 1923, he became an honorary member of the Royal Asiatic Society of London. In August 1926, he was appointed as the Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University. In 1928, he joined as Sir W. Meyer Lecturer in Madras University.
Sarkar's works faded out of public memory, with the increasing advent of Marxist and postcolonial schools of historiography.[4]
Academically, Jos J. L. Gommans compares Sarkar's work with those of the Aligarh historians, noting that while the historians from the Aligarh worked mainly on the mansabdari system and gunpowder technology in the Mughal Empire, Sarkar concentrated on military tactics and sieges.[5][undue weight? ]
Sarkar was honored by Britain with a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire CIE and knighted in the 1929 Birthday Honours list.[6] He was invested with his knighthood at Simla by the acting Viceroy, Lord Goschen, on 22 August 1929.[7]
The Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, an autonomous research center, has been established in his house, which was donated to the state government by Sarkar's wife. CSSC also houses the Jadunath Bhavan Museum and Resource Centre, a museum-cum-archive of primary sources.[8]
Published works by Sarkar include:
