Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri (; 8 April 1892 – 4 May 1957Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra (1972). ''Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty'', Calcutta: University of Calcutta, 7th edition, pp. iv-vi) was an Indian historian, known for his studies on ancient India.

Early life and education

Hemchandra Raychaudhuri came from a Baidya family. He was the son of Manoranjan Raychaudhuri, the ''Zamindar'' of Ponabalia in the present-day

Jhalokati District Jhalokathi District officially Jhalakathi District, () is a district in southern Bangladesh. It is located in the Barisal Division and covers an area of 758.06 km2. It is bounded by Barisal district to the north, Barguna district to the east ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, and his wife Tarangini Devi. He completed his schooling at Brajamohan Institution in

Barisal Barisal ( or ; , ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal District and Barisal Divi ...

. He passed the University of Calcutta's entrance examination in 1907, standing first. He then joined

Scottish Church College, Calcutta 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 Asia. ...

and after that Presidency College, Calcutta, standing First in the First Class in his B.A. (Hons.) examination in 1911. For his outstanding achievements in this examination he was awarded the Eshan Scholarship. He again stood First in the First Class in his M.A. examination in 1913 and was awarded the Griffith Prize in 1919. His nephews were Tapan Kumar Raychaudhuri and Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri.

Career

He taught as a lecturer in Bangabasi College, Calcutta (1913–14). Soon after he joined the Bengal Education Service and was posted at Presidency College, Calcutta from (1914–16). In 1916 he was transferred to

Chittagong College Chittagong College is a public educational institution in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It is a higher secondary school and also a degree awarding college of National University, Bangladesh. It is the second higher secondary school in the region that ...

. Around this time

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

Ashutosh Mookerjee offered him a Lecturership at the Department of Ancient History and Culture,

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

in 1917. He was awarded a Ph.D. in Ancient Indian history from Calcutta University in 1921. In 1928 he acted as Reader in the Department of History of the

University of Dacca The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka was founded in 1921 ...

. In 1936 he succeeded D. R. Bhandarkar as the

Carmichael Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture The Carmichael Chair of Ancient Indian History and Culture is a history professorship in the University of Calcutta, India; its holder is known as Carmichael Professor. The post was created by Ashutosh Mukherjee in 1912 after Baron Carmichael th ...

at Calcutta University from where he retired in 1952.

Works

* ''Materials for the Study of the Early History of the Vaishnava Sect'', Calcutta: University of Calcutta (1920) * ''Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty'', Calcutta: University of Calcutta (1923) * ''Studies in Indian Antiquities'', Calcutta: University of Calcutta (1932) * ''Vikramaditya in History and Legend'', Vikrama-volume, Scindia Oriental Institute (1948) * '' An Advanced History of India'' (Madras, 1946; last reprint in 1981) (authored with R.C. Majumdar and Kalikinkar Datta)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raychaudhuri, Hem Chandra Scholars from Kolkata Scottish Church College alumni Presidency University, Kolkata alumni University of Calcutta alumni People from Barisal District Bengali historians Bengali people Bengali zamindars Academic staff of Presidency University, Kolkata Academic staff of the University of Calcutta Historians of South Asia 20th-century Indian historians 1957 deaths 1892 births People from Jhalokati district

Early life and education

Career

Works

References

Further reading

External links