Ambika Charan Choudhury (16 August 1930 – 4 December 2011), popularly known as Kamataratna, was an Indian litterateur, historian and

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

, known for his contributions to the

Assamese literature Assamese literature ( as, অসমীয়া সাহিত্য, translit=ɔxɔmiya xaɦitjɔ}) is the entire corpus of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, documents and other writings in the Assamese language. It also includes the liter ...

Early life and education

Born on 16 August 1930 to a poor family, Nareshwar Choudhury (father) and Kashiguri Devi (mother), in Borpara village of Bongaigaon, Ambika Charan Choudhury attended schooling in local Birjhara High school, Bongaigaon. He obtained a graduate degree from

Cotton College Cotton College was a Roman Catholic boarding school in Cotton, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. It was also known as ''Saint Wilfrid's College''. The school buildings were centred on Cotton Hall, a country house used by religious communities fro ...

, Guwahati. After that he joined government services at Shillong. Later he changed several jobs and finally retired as Principal of Bongaigaon Normal School.

Social life

Choudhury always got attached with many social and political organisations. He devoted most of his life towards the development and promotion of Rajbanshi language and culture, also known as Goalpariya. He was an executive member of Assam Xahitya Xabha, joint secretary of OBC Xahitya Xabha, secretary of undivided

Goalpara District Goalpara district is an administrative district of the Indian state of Assam. History It was a princely state ruled by the Koch kings and the then ruler of the undivided kingdom. Today the erstwhile Goalpara district is divided into Kokrajha ...

Xahitya Xabha, and secretary of Koch-Rajbanshi Sanmilany. He was also founder of many educational institutions in western Assam. Choudhury was leading the popular demand for Schedule Tribe status to the Koch-Rajbangshi community since 1958.Historian Ambika Charan Choudhury dies in accident, ''Dy365'' News Channel, Guwahati, India, 7 December 2011.
He was actively involved with the ''Sanmilita Jatiya Abhibartan'', which is facilitating the peace process between Government of India and the moderate wing of the rebel group

ULFA The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) (Assamese: সংযুক্ত মুক্তি বাহিনী, অসম) is an armed separatist organisation operating in the Northeast Indian state of Assam. It seeks to establish an indep ...

. He died on 4 December 2011 in a road mishap at Tetultola near Kamakhyaguri in West Bengal. He left behind his wife, three daughters and two sons.

Literary works

Ambika Choudhury started his major literary journey through ''Ratnapeethot Ebhumiki'', a book written in 1961. He wrote columns regularly in ''Ramdhenu'' journal published from Guwahati. He had written more than 123 valuable articles and 29 books mostly on the Rajbangshi language and culture. ''Koch-Rajbanshi Jatir Itihakh aru Sanskriti'', ''Kamatapurot Mohapurush Sreemanta Sankardev'', ''Xantirdut Hajrat Mohammad'', ''The Koches Around the World'', ''Koch-Rajbanshies betrayed'', ''Biswabir Chila Roy Sahitya Pratibha'', ''Rani Abhayeswari and Bijni Rajyar Itibritta'' are some of his notable books written in

Assamese Assamese may refer to: * Assamese people, a socio-ethnolinguistic identity of north-eastern India * People of Assam, multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic and multi-religious people of Assam * Assamese language, one of the easternmost Indo-Aryan language ...

and English.

Awards and honours

Choudhury was a recipient of ''Bir Chilarai'' award, instituted by the Government of Assam. He was regarded the backbone of Koch-Rajbanshi language movement and was conferred the title of ''Kamataratna'' by many cultural and literary organisations.Scholar dies in road accident, ''The Telegraph'', Kolkata, India, 5 December 2011.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Ambika Charan 1930 births 2011 deaths Writers from Assam 20th-century Indian historians Activists from Assam People from Bongaigaon district Cotton College, Guwahati alumni 20th-century Indian essayists