Sukumari Bhattacharji (12 July 1921 – 24 May 2014) was a

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, author (Bengali and English), and

indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

. Born in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, Bhattacharji initially studied English due to scholarship restrictions but later pursued a master's degree in Sanskrit privately. She joined

Jadavpur University Jadavpur University ( abbr. JU) is a public state funded research university with its main campus located at Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established on 25 July in 1906 as ''Bengal Technical Institute'' and was converted into ...

as a professor and was known for her proficiency in multiple languages. Bhattacharji's most notable work, ''The Indian Theogony: A Comparative Study of Indian Mythology from the Vedas to the Puranas'', was based on her doctoral thesis and published by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

. As a social activist, she co-founded the non-profit organization Sachetana in 1982 to aid underprivileged girls. Historian

Romila Thapar Romila Thapar (born 30 November 1931) is an Indian historian. Her principal area of study is ancient India, a field in which she is pre-eminent. Quotr: "The pre-eminent interpreter of ancient Indian history today. ... " Thapar is a Professor ...

regarded Bhattacharji as one of the foremost indologists of her time.

Biography

Sukumari Bhattacharji was born to

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

parents Sarasi Kumar and Santabala Dutta in

. Sarasi Kumar had been known to be relative of poet Miachel Madhusudan Dutt. Bhattacharjee had done her schooling at St. Margaret School. She stood first in her bachelor's degree with Sanskrit and became qualified for scholarship of Ishan at

Calcutta University 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 ...

, but due to her being Christian she was deemed ineligible as per the endowment policy of the scholarship. This lead her not to pursue Sanskrit for her Masters. She studied English from Calcutta University. She married Prof. Amal Kumar Bhattacharji and joined as professor of English at Lady Brabourn College. Later in the year 1954, she pursued master's degree in Sanskrit privately. Budhadeb Basu had invited her to teach in the comparative literature department,

in the year 1957, where she continued as the professor at the Sanskrit department later. Bhattacharji was known to be conversant with

Pali Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

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German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

etc.

Works

Bhattacharji was mostly known for her

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

''The Indian Theogony: A Comparative Study of Indian mythology from the

Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

to the

Puranas Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...

''. This work was based on her doctoral thesis regarding the relationship, formation and coherence of

Bramha Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

and Maheswar against time in society in the year 1964. A few years later she was invited to pursue comparative research as the post doctoral fellowship at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

during 1966–67. Her works were complied under the title in the year 1970 by

. She was also a declared Marxist and involved and conversant with contemporary left activism. As the part of her social activism with collaboration with Yasodhara Bagchi, she had formed Sachetana in 1982 to provide aid to the under privileged girls for making them self-sufficient.

Books authored

* ''The Indian Theogony: A Comparative Study of Indian Mythology from the Vedas to the Puranas'' * ''Fatalism in Ancient India * ''Legends of Devi'' * ''Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit literature'' * ''The Ramayana and the Mahabharata : comparative popularity'' * ''History of Classical Sanskrit Literature'' * ''Religion, Culture and Government'' * ''Fate and Fortune in the Indian scriptures''

Reception

Historian

considered Bhattacharji as one of the 'foremost Indologists of her times'. The comparative analysis of the Indian Mythology and European mythology by Bhattacharji has been regarded as a valuable work as well.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhattacharji, Sukumari Indologists Bengali-language writers Presidency University, Kolkata alumni Indian Indologists Sanskrit scholars from Bengal