Nirmal Chandra Sinha (1911–1997) was an Indian

tibetologist Tibetology () refers to the study of things related to Tibet, including its history, religion, language, culture, politics and the collection of Tibetan articles of historical, cultural and religious significance. The last may mean a collection of ...

, author, the founder director of Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology (SIRT), presently known as the

Namgyal Institute of Tibetology Namgyal Institute of Tibetology (NIT) is a Tibet museum in Gangtok, Sikkim, India, named after the 11th Chogyal of Sikkim, Sir Tashi Namgyal. The institute employs researchers and one of its new research programs is a project which seeks to do ...

, Deorali near

Gangtok Gangtok is a city, municipality, the capital and the largest populated place of the Indian state of Sikkim. It is also the headquarters of the East Sikkim district, Gangtok District. Gangtok is in the eastern Himalayas, Himalayan range, at an e ...

. He was known for his contributions to

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

and the documentation of the

history of Tibet While the Tibetan plateau has been inhabited since pre-historic times, most of Tibet's history went unrecorded until the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism around the 6th century. Tibetan texts refer to the kingdom of Zhangzhung (c. 500 BCE – 625 ...

and other states of

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

. He was honoured by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

in 1971 with

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.

Biography

Nirmal Chandra Sinha was born in 1911 in

Ranchi Ranchi (, ) is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern Odisha, western West Bengal and the eastern area ...

in the Indian state of

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

, formerly in

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

. After securing a master's degree from the

Presidency College, Calcutta Presidency University, Kolkata (formerly known as Presidency College, Kolkata) is a second major public state aided research university located in College Street, Kolkata. Considered as one of best colleges when Presidency College was affili ...

, he joined as a member of faculty of

Hooghly Mohsin College Hooghly Mohsin College (HMC) began on 1 August 1836 as the New Hooghly College. It was established by Muhammad Mohsin, who also started other colleges. On its 100th anniversary it was renamed Hooghly Mohsin College. It became affiliated to Univer ...

, in Chinsurah,

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

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. Working as the attache, he toured Tibet in 1956 as a member of the Indian delegation that toured the country for inviting

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

. 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. In 1958, when the Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology, present day

(NIT), was established, Sinha was appointed as its founder director. 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 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 ...

. During his tenure as the director of NIT, Sinha contributed significantly to the ''Bulletin of Tibetology'', a bi-annual publication by the institute. He was a scholar of many languages such as

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, Mongolian and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

which helped him in his writings. He wrote several articles in

Sikkim Express ''Sikkim Express'' is an English daily newspaper published from Gangtok, Sikkim, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous cou ...

and Gangtok Times and his last article, ''Lenin and Buddhism'', written in July 1997 was published in the latter. He also published a book, ''Indian war economy'', in 1962, co-written with P. N. Khera. A recipient of ''Prema Dorjee'' award from the

Chogyal The Chogyal ("Dharma Kings", ) were the monarchs of the former Kingdom of Sikkim, which belonged to the Namgyal dynasty. The Chogyal was the absolute monarch of Sikkim from 1642 to 1975, when the monarchy was abolished and the Sikkimese people ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

, he was awarded the civilian honour of

by the

in 1971. Sinha died on 3 August 1997 at Sunrise Nursing Home,

Siliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms twin cities, "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian sta ...

, at the age of 86.

honoured him by compiling his selected works which was published as a book in 2008 under the name, ''A Tibetologist in Sikkim''.

Articles

List of articles published by Sinha in ''Bulletin of Tibetology''. # Historical status of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

# Hacha for

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level city, prefecture-level Lhasa (prefecture-level city), Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Regio ...

# Tibet's status during the World War # On tantra # The missing context of Chos # Was the

Simla Convention The Simla Convention, officially the Convention Between Great Britain, China, and Tibet,

not signed? # The Himalayas # The Lama # The grey wolf # The refuge: India, Tibet and Mongolia # The sKyabs mgon # Chos srid gnyis-ldan # Sino-Indian inroads into North India # Obituary: Libing Athing # The Ancient path of the Buddhas #

Brahmana The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within ea ...

and

Kshatriya Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

# Gilgit (and Swat) # The Simla Convention 1914: a Chinese puzzle # Obituary Yapshi Pheunkhang # Sanskrit across the Himalayas # India and Tibet # In memoriam # Budddhasasana in Tibet # Stupid barbarian / animal symbols in Buddhist art # Tibetan Studies in modern India # Peace and war in man's mind # Aspects of

# Publications through twenty years # The universal man # Articles of Tibet trade 1784 # Publications through twenty-five years # Losar # About Dipankara Atisa # Geographical notices of India # On Tibetology # Ten priceless images # Relics of Asokan monks # Tradition and traditional sources # Dharma Tantra and Atisa # On names and titles # What constitute the importance of Atisa # Uttarukuru in Tibetan tradition # Inventory of Tibetan historical literature # Tantra in Mahayana texts # Stupa symbol # Inner Asia and India through the ages # A preface to Mahayana icononography # Tibetology contra Nepalese # Sahasra Buddha # Kalachakra Tantra # Buddharupa: observation on the evolution of Buddha image # Making of Dharmaraja # Dharamaraja Asoka # Asoka's dhamma: a testimony of monuments # Asoka's Dharma

Biography

Articles

See also

References

Further reading