Girish Chandra Sen ( – 15 August 1910) 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 ...

religious scholar and translator. He was a

Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( bn, ব্রহ্ম সমাজ, Brahmô Sômaj, ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement of the Hindu religion that appeared during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of t ...

missionary and known for being the first publisher of the '' Qur’an'' into

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken o ...

in 1886.

Early life

Sen was born in a

Baidya Baidya or Vaidya is a Hindu community located in Bengal. Baidyas, a caste ('' jāti'') of Ayurvedic physicians, have long had pre-eminence in society alongside Brahmins and Kayasthas. In the colonial era, the Bhadraloks were drawn primarily, b ...

family in the village of Panchdona in

Narayanganj District Narayanganj District ( bn, নারায়ণগঞ্জ, Narayoṇgonj) is a district in central Bangladesh which is a part of the Dhaka Division. It is home to the ancient city of Sonargaon and is one of the oldest industrial districts in the ...

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

(now part of

Narsingdi District Narsingdi District ( bn, নরসিংদী জেলা) is a district in central Bangladesh. It is located 50 km north-east of Dhaka, capital city of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. The district is famous for its textile ...

in Bangladesh). He studied in

Pogose School Pogose Laboratory School and College, IER, Jagannath University ( bn, পোগোজ ল্যাবরেটরি স্কুল এন্ড কলেজ ,আ.ই.আর,জগন্নাথ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়) was es ...

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 i ...

. In 1869,

Keshub Chunder Sen Keshub Chandra Sen ( bn, কেশবচন্দ্র সেন; also spelled Keshab Chunder Sen; 19 November 1838 – 8 January 1884) was a Hindu philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within ...

chose from amongst his missionaries, four persons and ordained them as professors of four old religions of the world. He was selected to study Islam. Others selected to study different religions were Gour Govinda Ray for Hinduism, Protap Chandra Mozoomdar for Christianity, and Aghore Nath Gupta for Buddhism. A firm believer in the basic unity of all religions, he immersed himself in his studies and later went to

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

in 1876 to study

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

Islamic literature Islamic literature is literature written by Muslim people, influenced by an Islamic cultural perspective, or literature that portrays Islam. It can be written in any language and portray any country or region. It includes many literary forms incl ...

and the Islamic religious texts. After five years (1881–86) of studies, he produced the first Bengali translation of the Quran. Another person bearing the same name, Girish Chandra Sen, served as the headmaster of the City Collegiate School (later renamed to Ananda Mohan College) in

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- ...

Works

On completion of his studies, he returned to

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 ...

and engaged in the translation of Islamic scriptures. After about five years (1881–1886) of studies, he produced an annotated Bengali version of the Qur’an via

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Sen is also the first known translator of the works of Shakespeare in Bengali. His autobiography, ''Atmajivani'', was published in 1906. Initially, Sen worked at the ''Dhaka Prakash'' and later as an assistant editor at the ''

Sulava Samachar ''Sulabh Samachar'' ( bn, সুলভ সমাচার, ''Sulov Somachar'') was a Bengali weekly, published from Kolkata, a pioneering journalistic venture in 19th century Bengal. Indian Reform Association Keshub Chunder Sen established the ...

'' and ''Bangabandhu'' and as editor and publisher of the monthly ''Mahila''. While still at school he wrote a book, ''Banitabinodan'', on the importance of women's education and ''Ramakrishna Paramhangser Ukti O Jivani''. For his great contributions in translating Islamic literature into

, Muslims of Bengal often referred to him as ''Bhai Girish Chandra''.

Early life

Works

References

Further reading