Madanmohan Tarkalankar (3 January 1817 – 9 March 1858) is one of the Sanskrit scholars of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

in the nineteenth century who has made a special contribution to the development of written Bengali language. He is also considered as one of the pioneers of the

Bengali renaissance 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 ...

. He was a professor at

Fort William College Fort William College (also known as the College of Fort William) was an academy of Orientalism, oriental studies and a centre of learning, founded on 18 August 1800 by Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, Lord Wellesley, then Governor-Gener ...

and authored several textbooks on early childhood education.

Birth and family identity

He was born in 1817 in a Hindu Brahmin family in Bethuadahari, Nakashipara. His father's name is Ramdhan Chattopadhyay He had two children named Bhuvanmala and Kundamala.

Education

He studied at the

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 ...

, where he was a classmate of

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 ...

. He later studied at the Presidency University.

Work life

He was a professor of literature at

. Later in November 1850 he was appointed as the

District Judge District Judge may refer to: * A United States federal judge, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate * A judge in a state court (United States), where the state is divided into judicial districts * * A judge in the district courts ...

Murshidabad Murshidabad (), is a town in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. This town is the headquarters of Lalbag subdivision of Murshidabad district. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hooghly river, Bhagirathi Riv ...

. He was appointed Deputy Magistrate of

(in December 1855) and Kandi in 1856.

Social reformer

He was one of the founders of the practice of ' Hindu widow marriage'. His contribution to the spread of women's education is undeniable. In 1849, when Bethun founded the Hindu Mahila School, he admitted his two daughters there. He used to teach girls in this school without pay. In 1850, he wrote a groundbreaking essay in favor of wife education in Sarvashubhakari magazine

Books

Madanmohan Tarkalanka devoted considerable effort to spread education in

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. ...

. The book ''Shishusiksha'' written by him was also published before the book ''

Barnaparichay ''Barnaparichay'' is a Bengali language, Bengali primer written by 19th century Indian social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. It was first published in 1855. This is considered as "The Most Influential Primer of Bengal". The primer had two pa ...

'' written by Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar. He published ''Shisushiksha'' in 1849 and a second part in 1850. Later, third part and fourth part (''Bodhodoy'').He wrote two books in his childhood- Basabdutta and Rasatrangini. His poem "Amar Pan"' is one of the poems in Bengali textbooks for second class students in Bangladesh and is considered as an excellent guide for the formation of children's psyche. He translated 14 Sanskrit books. Some of his notable books are:- * ''Rasatrangini'' (1838) * ''Basabdutta'' (1836) * ''Shishushiksha'' -3 parts (1839 to 1851)

Death

On 9 March 1858, he died at Kandi of cholera.

References

Notes

{{reflist, group=n 1817 births Bengali writers Sanskrit scholars from Bengal Brahmins who fought against discrimination Indian social reformers 1858 deaths