Benimadhab Barua (31 December 1888 – 23 March 1948) was an Indian scholar of ancient Indian languages, Buddhism and law. He was a prominent educationist and writer.

Early life

Barua was born on 31 December 1888 in

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

. Among the schools and college he attended were the Chittagong Collegiate School,

Chittagong College Chittagong College is a government college in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It is the second college established in Bangladesh after Dhaka College. It offers higher secondary education (HSC), bachelor's degree and master's degree. History Having begun ...

Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in A ...

and Presidency College,

Krishnath College Murshidabad University is a public state university in Berhampore, Murshidabad, West Bengal. The university was established in 2021 by the West Bengal government under ''The Murshidabad University Act, 2018''. History The institution was establ ...

from where he passed BA (Hons) in Pāli in 1911. In 1913 he earned an MA degree in Pāli from

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

. Thereafter he also studied law at Calcutta City College and Calcutta Law College, affiliated with the same university.

Career

Barua joined the Mahāmuni Anglo-Pāli Institution as headmaster in 1912. From 1913 to 1914 he worked as a lecturer in the Pāli department of the

. He went to England on a government scholarship in 1914. He earned an MA in Greek and Modern European Philosophy from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. In 1917 he was awarded a D.Litt. by the University of London. He was the first Asian to do so. After returning to India in 1918, Barua rejoined Calcutta University and was promoted to a professorship. He developed the syllabus of the MA course in Pali along with his work in the departments of Ancient Indian History and Culture (1919–48) and Sanskrit (1927–48) in the same university. Barua's 1921 work on ''The Ajivikas'' served as the background for "History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas" (1950) the PhD dissertation of

A. L. Basham Arthur Llewellyn Basham (24 May 1914 – 27 January 1986) was a noted historian, Indologist and author of a number of books. As a Professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London in the 1950s and the 1960s, he taught a number of fa ...

, who cites Barua's work frequently.History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas, a Vanished Indian Religion, Arthur Llewellyn Basham, Motilal Banarsidass Publ, 1951

Works

Barua was a prolific scholar. Some of his works include:

In English

*''A History of Pre-Buddhist Indian Philosophy'' *''A Prolegomena to the History of Buddhist Philosophy'' (1918) *''A History of Pre-Buddhistic Indian Philosophy'' (1921) *''The Ajivikas'' (1921) *''Prakrit Dharmapad'' (which he wrote jointly with Shailendranath Mitra) *''Old Brāhmi Inscriptions in the Udayagiri and Khandgiri'' (1926) *''Barhut Inscriptions'' (which he wrote jointly with Gangananda Singh) *''Gaya and Buddha Gaya'' (1st part 1931, 2nd part 1934) *''Asoka and His Inscriptions'' (1946) *''Brahmachari Kuladananda and His Guru Bijaya Krishna Goswami'' (1938) *Ceylon Lecture (1945) *''Studies in Buddhism'' (1947) *''Philosophy of Progress'' (1948)

In Bengali

*The Bangla translation along with the original Pāli text of his first book, ''Lokaniti'', which was published in the annual report (1912) of the Bauddha Dharmankur Sabha. *''Madhyam Nikay'' (1st part, 1940) *''Bauddha Granthakos'' (1st part, 1936) *''Bauddhaparinay'' Barua also wrote over a hundred essays and speeches which were published in different journals.

Later life

Barua was a Fellow of the Royal

Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is a government of India organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of "Oriental research", in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions. It was founded by the p ...

of Bengal, member of

Bangiya Sahitya Parishad Bangiya Sahitya Parishat is a literary society in Maniktala of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Established during the time of the British Raj, its goal is to promote Bengali literature, both by translating works in other languages to Bengali and ...

, the Mahābodhi Society of India, Calcutta and of the executive committee of Iran Society. He edited ''Indian Culture'', ''Buddhist India'', ''Jagajjyoti'' and ''Vishvavani''. In recognition of his contribution to Buddhist studies, he was awarded the title of ‘Tripitakāchārya’ in 1944. The Asiatic Society awarded him the Bimalacharan Laha Gold Medal. He died on 23 March 1948 in Calcutta.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barua, Benimadhab 1948 deaths 1888 births Buddhist writers Bengali writers Indian Buddhists Indian Indologists Buddhist studies scholars Scottish Church College alumni University of Calcutta alumni Alumni of the University of London Academic staff of the University of Calcutta City College, Kolkata alumni Krishnath College alumni Scholars from Kolkata