Nirmal Chandra Sinha
Born1911
Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
DiedAugust 3, 1997(1997-08-03) (aged 85–86)
Siliguri, West Bengal, India
Occupation(s)Tibetologist, scholar
Known forTibetology
AwardsPadma Shri
Prema Dorjee award

Nirmal Chandra Sinha (1911–1997) was an Indian tibetologist, author, the founder director[1] of Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology (SIRT), presently known as the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology,[2] Deorali near Gangtok.[3] He was known for his contributions to Buddhism and the documentation of the history of Tibet and other states of Central Asia.[4][5] He was honoured by the Government of India in 1971 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.[6]

Biography

Nirmal Chandra Sinha was born in 1911 in Ranchi in the Indian state of Jharkhand, formerly in Bihar.[3][5] After securing a master's degree from the Presidency College, Calcutta, he joined as a member of faculty of Hooghly Mohsin College, in Chinsurah, West Bengal[7] and later, as a professor of history at Behrampur College before joining the government service and was appointed as the cultural attache at the political office (residency) in 1955.[3][5] Working as the attache, he toured Tibet in 1956 as a member of the Indian delegation that toured the country for inviting Dalai Lama. Thereafter, he worked at the Indian Archive where he had the opportunity to work under renowned educationist and former Union Minister of Education, Triguna Sen.[3][5] In 1958, when the Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology, present day Namgyal Institute of Tibetology (NIT), was established, Sinha was appointed as its founder director.[3][5] He worked there till his retirement in 1987 after which he moved to Siliguri and took up the post as the Centenary Professor of International Relations at the University of Calcutta.[3][5]

During his tenure as the director of NIT, Sinha contributed significantly to the Bulletin of Tibetology, a bi-annual publication by the institute.[8] He was a scholar of many languages such as Tibetan, Sanskrit, Mongolian and Chinese which helped him in his writings.[3][5] He wrote several articles in Sikkim Express and Gangtok Times and his last article, Lenin and Buddhism, written in July 1997 was published in the latter.[3][5] He also published a book, Indian war economy, in 1962, co-written with P. N. Khera.[9] A recipient of Prema Dorjee award from the Chogyal of Sikkim,[3][5] he was awarded the civilian honour of Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1971.[6] Sinha died on 3 August 1997 at Sunrise Nursing Home, Siliguri, at the age of 86.[3][5] Namgyal Institute of Tibetology honoured him by compiling his selected works which was published as a book in 2008 under the name, A Tibetologist in Sikkim.[10]

Articles

List of articles published by Sinha in Bulletin of Tibetology.[4]

  1. Historical status of Tibet
  2. Hacha for Lhasa
  3. Tibet's status during the World War
  4. On tantra
  5. The missing context of Chos
  6. Was the Simla Convention not signed?
  7. The Himalayas
  8. The Lama
  9. The grey wolf
  10. The refuge: India, Tibet and Mongolia
  11. The sKyabs mgon
  12. Chos srid gnyis-ldan
  13. Sino-Indian inroads into North India
  14. Obituary: Libing Athing
  15. The Ancient path of the Buddhas
  16. Brahmana and Kshatriya
  17. Gilgit (and Swat)
  18. The Simla Convention 1914: a Chinese puzzle
  19. Obituary Yapshi Pheunkhang
  20. Sanskrit across the Himalayas
  21. India and Tibet
  22. In memoriam
  23. Budddhasasana in Tibet
  24. Stupid barbarian / animal symbols in Buddhist art
  25. Tibetan Studies in modern India
  26. Peace and war in man's mind
  27. Aspects of Buddhism
  28. Publications through twenty years
  29. The universal man
  30. Articles of Tibet trade 1784
  31. Publications through twenty-five years
  32. Losar
  33. About Dipankara Atisa
  34. Geographical notices of India
  35. On Tibetology
  36. Ten priceless images
  37. Relics of Asokan monks
  38. Tradition and traditional sources
  39. Dharma Tantra and Atisa
  40. On names and titles
  41. What constitute the importance of Atisa
  42. Uttarukuru in Tibetan tradition
  43. Inventory of Tibetan historical literature
  44. Tantra in Mahayana texts
  45. Stupa symbol
  46. Inner Asia and India through the ages
  47. A preface to Mahayana icononography
  48. Tibetology contra Nepalese
  49. Sahasra Buddha
  50. Kalachakra Tantra
  51. Buddharupa: observation on the evolution of Buddha image
  52. Making of Dharmaraja
  53. Dharamaraja Asoka
  54. Asoka's dhamma: a testimony of monuments
  55. Asoka's Dharma

See also

References

  1. ^ "Letter from Shiv Shankar Menon". Ministry of External Affairs. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  2. ^ "Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology". Make my trip. 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Notes and Topics: Obituary: Professor Nirmal Chandra Sinha - The Founder and Director of SRIT: An appraisal of his contribution" (PDF). The Tibetan and Himalayan Library. 1997. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Bulletin of Tibetology". Namgyal Institute of Tibetology. 2015. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Socanth obituary" (PDF). Digital Himalaya project. Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Padma Awards Directory (1954-2013) Year-Wise List" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs (India). 14 August 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  7. ^ "Hooghly Mohsin College". Hooghly Mohsin College. 2015. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  8. ^ "NIT Bulletin of Tibetology". University of Cambridge. 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  9. ^ Nirmal Chandra Sinha, P. N. Khera (1962). Indian war economy: Supply, Industry & Finance. Orient Longmans. p. 551. ASIN B00E1LMXWM.
  10. ^ Nirmal Chandra Sinha (2008). A Tibetologist in Sikkim. Namgyal Institute of Tibetology. p. 366. ASIN B00CHGP3U2.

Further reading

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