Jaygopal Tarkalankar (; 7 October 1775 — 13 April 1846) 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 and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

scholar. One of His main decestor Sir Ankur Bhattacharya now lived in

Nabadwip Nabadwip (), also spelt Navadwip, historically known as Nadia, is a heritage city in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is regarded as a holy place by Hindus, and is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Located on the wes ...

, Nandipara in

Nadia district Nadia () is a district in the state of West Bengal, India. It borders Bangladesh to the east, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts to the south, Purba Bardhaman to the west, and Murshidabad to the north. Nadia district is highly influe ...

Early life

Tarkalankar was born in 1775 at Ghritapur village,

Keshiary Keshiary (also spelled as Keshiari) is a village in the Keshiari CD block in the Kharagpur subdivision of the Paschim Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal. Etymology According to the Rennell's map of Bengal (1776AD), present days ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. He completed his primary education from His father, ''Pandit'' Kebalram Tarkapanchanan.

Career

Tarkalankar went to

Benaras Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of ...

and worked with

Henry Thomas Colebrooke Henry Thomas Colebrooke FRS FRSE FLS (15 June 1765 – 10 March 1837) was an English orientalist and botanist. He has been described as "the first great Sanskrit scholar in Europe". Biography Henry Thomas Colebrooke was born on 15 June ...

. He taught Colebrooke Bengali and Sanskrit and helped him translation projects. He worked under William Carey from 1805 to 1823 in Serampur where he composed ''Shikshasar.'' Tarkalankar also worked with

John Clark Marshman John Clark Marshman (18 August 1794 – 8 July 1877) was an English journalist and historian. He was editor and publisher of the Calcutta-based ''Friend of India'', and was involved with several other Indian publications. Early life Marshman w ...

and published '' Samachar Darpan''. Immediately after its establishment of

Sanskrit College Sanskrit College and University (erstwhile Sanskrit College) is a state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It focuses on liberal arts, offering both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Ancient Indian and world history, Be ...

in 1824 he was appointed as lecturer of Vernacular literature. In his 22 years teaching career he taught

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay (26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), popularly known as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (), was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century. His efforts to simplify and modernise Bengali language, Ben ...

and Madan Mohan Tarkalankar. His principal aim was to re-develop the

Bengali language Bengali, also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. ...

by ridding it of its Perso-Arabic influences. Tarkalankar revised versions of Krittivas's

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

and

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

of Kashiram Das which were published from

Serampore Mission Press The Serampore Mission Press was a book and newspaper publisher that operated in Serampore, Danish India, from 1800 to 1837. The Press was founded by the British Baptist missionaries William Carey, William Ward, and Joshua Marshman, collectively ...

in 1834 and 1836 respectively.

Works

* ''Shikshasar'' * ''Krishvavisayakshlokah'' * ''Chandi'' * ''Patrer Dhara'' * ''Babgavidhan'' *''Paraseek Avidhan''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarkalankar, Jaygopal 1775 births 1846 deaths People from Nadia district Bengali Hindus Bengali writers Bengali educators 18th-century Bengalis 19th-century Bengalis Sanskrit writers Indian Sanskrit scholars 19th-century Indian translators 18th-century Indian translators 18th-century Indian scholars 19th-century Indian scholars 18th-century Indian educators 19th-century Indian educators 19th-century Indian male writers Indian male non-fiction writers 18th-century Indian non-fiction writers 19th-century Indian non-fiction writers Sanskrit scholars from Bengal Language reformers Writers from the Bengal Presidency