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Dinesh Chandra Sen ( bn, দীনেশ চন্দ্র সেন) (3 November 1866 – 20 November 1939)Sengupta, Subodh Chandra (ed.) (1988) ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (in Bengali), Kolkata: Sahitya Sansad, p.208 was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

writer, educationist and researcher of

folklore from the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. He was the founding faculty member and the Ramtanu Lahiri Research Fellow of the Department of Bengali Language and Literature of the

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 ...

. He died in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in 1939.

Early life and family

Sen was born to Ishwar Chandra Sen and Rupalata Devi, in the village of Suapur (in present-day

Dhaka District Dhaka District ( bn, ঢাকা জেলা, Dhaka jela) is a district in central Bangladesh, and is the densest district in the nation. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and rests on the eastern banks o ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

). His mother's family was from ''Bogjuri'' in

Manikganj District Manikganj ( bn, মানিকগঞ্জ ) is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division, In 1845 AD it was at first declared as a sub-division. It was at first, under Faridpur district (Faridpur Zila) then it was in ...

Hiralal Sen Hiralal Sen ( bn, হীরালাল সেন, ''Hiralal Shen''; 2 August 1868 – 26 October 1917) is generally considered one of India's first filmmakers. In 1903, he filmed the popular Alibaba and Forty Thieves, the first full-length In ...

was a cousin on that side. His grandson

Samar Sen Samar Sen ( bn, সমর সেন; 10 October 1916 – 23 August 1987) was a prominent Indian Bengali language, Bengali poet and journalist in the post-Independence era. Education Samar Sen was a graduate of the Scottish Church College, at t ...

was a noted Bengali poet.

Education and career

In 1882, he passed his university entrance examination from

Jagannath University Jagannath University (JnU) ( bn, জগন্নাথ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় ''Jagannātha biśbabidyālaẏa'', University Acrostic : জবি or JnU) is a state-funded public university at 9–10, Chittaranjan Avenue in Sa ...

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

. In 1885, he passed his F.A. examination from

Dhaka College Dhaka College ( bn, ঢাকা কলেজ also known as DC) is the oldest secular educational institution of Bangladesh located in Dhaka. It offers higher secondary education ( HSC). It has Honours and Masters programs as well which are aff ...

. He passed his B.A. examination with Honours in English literature in 1889 as a private student. In 1891, he became the headmaster of the Victoria School in

Comilla Comilla (; bn, কুমিল্লা, Kumillā, ), officially spelled Cumilla, is the fifth largest city of Bangladesh and second largest in Chittagong division. It is the administrative centre of the Comilla District. The name Comilla was ...

. During 1909–13, he was a ''Reader'' in the newly founded Department of Bengali Language and Literature of the

. In 1913, he became the Ramtanu Lahiri Research Fellow in the same department. In 1921, the University of Calcutta conferred on him the Doctorate of Literature in recognition of his work. In 1931, he received the ''Jagattarini gold medal'' for his contribution to the Bengali literature. He retired from service in 1932.

Works

He worked on collection and compilation of Bengal folklore. Along with

Chandra Kumar De Chandra Kumar De ( bn, চন্দ্রকুমার দে, Chôndrôkumar De; 1889–1946) was a writer and collector of medieval folklore and folk ballads of East Bengal villages, mostly in the Greater Mymensingh region which is now in Ban ...

, he published ''

Mymensingh Gitika Maimansingha Gitika ( bn, মৈমনসিংহ গীতিকা), en, Maimansingha Ballads), is a collection of folk ballads from the region of Mymensingh, Bangladesh. They were published in English as ''Eastern Bengal Ballads''. Dinesh Cha ...

'' (Ballads of

Mymensingh Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north ...

), a collection of 21

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

In Bengali

* ''Bangla Bhasa O Sahitya'' (1896) * ''Tin Bandhu'' (Three Friends) (1904) * ''Ramayani Katha'' (Tales of Ramayana) (1904) * ''Behula'' (a folk tale) (1907) * ''Sati'' (1907) * ''Phullara'' (1907) * ''Jada Bharat'' (1908) * ''Sukatha'' (a collection of essays) (1912) * ''Grihashri'' (1916) * ''Nilmanik'' (1918) * ''Mukta Churi'' (1920) * ''Saral Bangla Sahitya'' (1922) * ''Vaidik Bharat'' (Vedic India: based on stories from the Vedas) (1922) * ''Gharer Katha O Yugasahitya'' (autobiographical work) (1922) * ''Aloke Andhare'' (1925) * ''Chaukir Vidambana'' (1926) * ''Oparer Alo'' (1927) * ''Pauraniki'' (Tales from the Puranas) (1934) * ''Brihat Banga'' (Greater Bengal: a

social history Social history, often called the new social history, is a field of history that looks at the lived experience of the past. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in his ...

) in two volumes (1935) * ''Ashutosh Smriti Katha'' (1936) * ''Shyamal O Kajjal'' (1936) * ''Padavali Madhurya'' (1937) * ''Puratani'' (1939) * ''Banglar Puranari'' (1939) * ''Prachin Bangla Sahitye Musalmaner Avadan'' (1940) * ''Rakhaler Rajgi''

In English

* ''History of Bengali Language and Literature'' (1911) * ''Sati'' (1916) * ''The Vaishnava Literature of Medieval Bengal'' (1917) * ''Chaitanya and His Companions'' (1917) * ''The Folk Literature of Bengal'' (1920) * ''The Bengali Ramayana'' (1920) * ''Bengali Prose Style, 1800-1857'' (1921) * ''Chaitanya and His Age'' (1922) * ''Eastern Bengal Ballads'' in four volumes (1923–1932) * ''Glimpses of Bengal Life'' (1925)

References

Indian folklorists Bengali writers University of Calcutta alumni University of Calcutta faculty 1866 births 1939 deaths Bengali Hindus 19th-century Bengalis 20th-century Bengalis Bengali historians Dhaka College alumni Scholars from Kolkata Rai Bahadurs 20th-century Indian scholars 20th-century Indian historians 20th-century Indian educational theorists 20th-century Indian male writers 20th-century Indian educators Bengali educators Indian academics Indian folk-song collectors {{India-academic-bio-stub People from Dhaka