Nikhil Sarkar (1 May 1932 – 17 August 2004) popularly known as ''Sripantha'' 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 ...

social historian, writer and journalist.

Early life

Sarkar was born at Gouripur village of

Mymensingh district Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is a district in Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh, and is bordered on the north by Meghalaya, a state of India and the Garo Hills, on the south by Gazipur District, on the east by the districts of Netr ...

in 1932 in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. After competed primary education in Mymensingh, he graduated in history from 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 ...

literary career

He started his journalist career with

daily

Jugantar Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...

and thereafter joined in Anandabazar Patrika in the 1960s. Sarkar became associate editor of

Anandabazar Patrika ''Anandabazar Patrika'' (Bengali: আনন্দবাজার পত্রিকা, ) is an Indian Bengali-language daily newspaper owned by the ABP Group. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1 million cop ...

. He was in charge of the editorial page and Monday column named ''Kalkatar Karcha'' (Notebook of Kolkata). His numerous books were published under the pseudonym Sripantha. Sarkar worked on sub-altern history of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

as well as

Bengali culture The culture of Bengal defines the cultural heritage of the Bengali people native to eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent, mainly what is today Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura, where the Bengali language is th ...

. He was awarded the

Ananda Puraskar The Ananda Puraskar () is an award for Bengali literature awarded annually by the ABP Group to writers using Bengali, usually from West Bengal, India. History The award can be traced to a comment by Annada Shankar Ray ruing the absence of litera ...

in 1978.

List of major works

* ''Ajob Nagari'' * ''Sripanther Kolkata'' * ''Jokhon Chapakhana Elo'' * ''Mohanto Elokeshi Sambad'' * ''Keyabat Meye'' * ''Thagi'' * ''Metiyaburujer Nabab'' * ''Dai'' * ''Bat Tala'' * ''Harem and Debdashi'' * ''Kolkata''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarkar, Nikhil 1932 births 2004 deaths Indian male journalists Bengali-language writers Indian columnists Bengali historians Indian newspaper editors Writers from Kolkata Recipients of the Ananda Purashkar 20th-century Indian journalists People from Mymensingh District University of Calcutta alumni