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| Rahul Sankrityayan महापंडित राहुल सांकृत्यायन |
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| Born | April 9, 1893 Pandaha Village, Azamgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, British India |
| Died | April 14, 1963 (aged 70) Darjeeling, West Bengal, India |
| Occupation | Writer, Essayist, Scholar, sociology, Indian Nationalist, History, Indology, Philosophy, Buddhism, Tibetology, Lexicography, Grammar, Textual Editing, Folklore, Science, drama, Politics, Polymath, Polyglot |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Notable award(s) | 1958: Sahitya Akademi Award 1963: Padma Bhushan |
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www.rahul-sankrityayan.co.nr |
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Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan (Hindi: राहुल सांकृत्यायन) (April 9, 1893 – April 14, 1963), who is called the Father of Hindi Travel literature, was one of the most widely-traveled scholars of India, spending forty-five years of his life on travels away from his home. He became a buddhist monk (Bauddha Bhikkhu) and eventually took up Marxist Socialism. Sankrityayan was also an Indian nationalist, having been arrested and jailed for three years for creating anti-British writings and speeches. He is referred as the Greatest Scholar (Mahapandit) for his scholarship. He was both a polymath as well as a polyglot.
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Contents
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Childhood
He was born Kedarnath Pandey on 9 April, 1893 to a Bhumihar Brahmin family in Azamgarh district, in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. His father, Govardhan Pandey, was a religious-minded farmer, a typical profession of Bhumihars, from the village Kanaila of Azamgarh district in Uttar Pradesh. His mother, Kulawanti, used to stay with her parents at the village of Kanaila, where Kedar was born. He was the eldest of four brothers. He spent part of his childhood in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states of India. As his mother died at the age of twenty-eight and his father at the age of forty-five, he was brought up by his grandmother. His earliest memories as recorded by him were of the terrible famine in 1897. At age 9, he ran away from home in order to see the world, but later returned.
Sankrityayan only ever received formal schooling at a local primary school, though he later studied and mastered numerous languages independently, as well as learned photography.
Travels
His travels took him to different parts of India, including Ladakh, Kinnaur, and Kashmir. He also covered several other countries including Nepal, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Iran, China, and the former Soviet Union. He spent some years of his life in the "Parsa Gadh" village of Saran District in Bihar.The entry gate of that village is named as "Rahul Gate". While traveling, he mostly used surface transport, and he went to certain countries clandestinely, like Tibet where he went disguised as a Buddhist monk. He made several trips to Tibet and brought from there valuable manuscripts of Pali and Sanskrit, several books and paintings. Most of these formed a part of the libraries of Vikramshila and Nalanda Universities and were taken to Tibet by fleeing Buddhist monks during 12th century and onwards when the invading Muslim armies had destroyed these universities. Some accounts state that Rahul Sankrityayan employed twenty-two mules to bring back the loads of part of these materials, from Tibet to India.
In honour of him, Patna Museum, Patna, has a special section, where a number of these and other items have been displayed.
Books
Sankrityayan was a multilingual linguist, well versed in several languages and dialects, including Hindi, Sanskrit, Pali, Bhojpuri, Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Tamil, Kannada, Tibetan, Sinhalese, French and Russian. He was also an Indologist, a Marxist theoretician, and a creative writer. He started writing during his twenties and had written around 150 books and dissertations covering a variety of subjects, including sociology, history, philosophy, Buddhism, Tibetology, lexicography, grammar, textual editing, folklore, science, drama, and politics, many of which were unpublished. He translated Majjhima Nikaya from Prakrit into Hindi.[1]
One of his most famous books in Hindi is Volga Se Ganga (A journey from the Volga to the Ganges) — a fictional account of migration of Aryans from the steppes of the Eurasia to regions around the Volga river; then their movements across the Hindukush and the Himalayas and the sub-Himalayan regions; and their spread to the Indo-Gangetic plains of the subcontinent of India. The book begins in 6000 BC and ends in 1942, the year when Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian nationalist leader called for the quit India movement. It is remarkable for its historical elements interwoven with fiction.
This book was translated by K.N. Muthiya-Tamilputhakalayam in Tamil as Valgavil irundu gangai varai and is still considered a bestseller. In Telugu it inspired many people. Volga muthal Ganga vare, the Malayalam translation, became immensely popular among the young intellectuals of Kerala and it continues to be one of the most influential and one-of-a-kind historic book of its times. In Bangla, it is translated as Volga Theke Ganaga [ভোল্গা থেকে গঙ্গা] and still this is acclaimed by the critics.
More than ten of his books have been translated and published in Bengali. Mahapandit was awarded the Padmabhushan in 1963 and Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958 for his book Madhya Asia ka Itihaas.
He maintained daily diaries in Sanskrit which were used fully while writing his autobiography. In spite of profound scholarship, he wrote in very simple Hindi that a common person could follow. He wrote books of varied interest. He was aware of limitations of Hindi literature and singularly made up the loss in no small measure. He wrote 146 books, some of which are voluminous. Many works remain unpublished.
The well-known historian Kashiprasad Jaisawal compared Rahul Sankrityayan with Buddha. Rahul's personality was as impressive and memorable as are his achievements. He traveled widely and wrote in five languages — Hindi, Sanskrit, Bhojpuri, Pāli and Tibetan. His published works include autobiography, biography, travelogue, sociology, history, philosophy, Buddhism, Tibetology, lexicography, grammar, text editing, folklore, science, fiction, drama, essays, politics, and pamphleteering.
Soviet Union
Although he did not have any formal education, in view of his knowledge and command over the subject, University of Leningrad appointed him Professor of Indology in 1937-38 and again in 1947-48.
Awards In His Honor
| Awards | About | Awarded By |
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| Rahul Sankrityayan National Award | Contribution to Hindi travel Literature (also called Travel Litterateur's Honour). | Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Government of India |
| Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan Paryatan Puraskar | Awarded for contributing significantly in the field of travelogue and Discovery and Research in Hindi, for books written originally in Hindi on Tourism related subjects. | Ministry Of Tourism, Government of India |
Gallery
Rahulji's Museum Picture Gallery at his Birthplace Pandaha.
Works by Rahul Sankrityayan
In Hindi
Novels
- Baisvin Sadi - 1923
- Jine ke Liye - 1940
- Simha Senapathi - 1944
- Jai Yaudheya - 1944
- Bhago Nahin, Duniya ko Badlo - 1944
- Madhur Svapna - 1949
- Rajasthani Ranivas - 1953
- Vismrit Yatri - 1954
- Divodas - 1960
- Vismriti Ke Garbh Me
- Kinner Desh
Short Stories
- Satmi ke Bachche - 1935
- Volga Se Ganga - 1944
- Bahurangi Madhupuri - 1953
- Kanaila ki Katha - 1955-56
Autobiography
- Meri Jivan Yatra I - 1944
- Meri Jivan Yatra II - 1950
- Meri Jivan Yatra III, IV, V - published posthumously
Biography
- Sardar Prithvi Singh - 1955
- Naye Bharat ke Naye Neta (2 volumes) - 1942
- Bachpan ki Smritiyan - 1953
- Atit se Vartaman (Vol I) - 1953
- Stalin - 1954
- Lenin - 1954
- Karl Marx - 1954
- Mao-Tse-Tung - 1954
- Ghumakkar Swami - 1956
- Mere Asahayog ke Sathi - 1956
- Jinka Main Kritajna - 1956
- Vir Chandrasingh Garhwali - 1956
- Simhala Ghumakkar Jaivardhan - 1960
- Kaptan Lal - 1961
- Simhal ke Vir Purush - 1961
- Mahamanav Budha - 1956
Some of his other books are:-
- Mansik Gulami
- Rhigvedic Arya
- Ghumakkar Shastra
- Kinnar desh mein
- Darshan Digdarshan
- Dakkhini Hindi ka Vyaakaran
- Puratatv Nibandhawali
- Manava Samaj
In Bhojpuri
- Teen Natak - 1942
- Panch Natak - 1942
In Nepali (Translation)
- Bauddhadharnma Darshan - 1984
Related to Tibetan
- Tibbati Bal-Siksha - 1933
- Pathavali (Vol. 1,2 & 3) - 1933
- Tibbati Vyakaran (Tibetan Grammar) - 1933
- Tibbat May Budh Dharm-1948
- Lhasa ki or
Himalaya Parichay Bhag 1 Himalaya Parichay Bhag 2 these are two of his books describing the people and their original places of migration in the Himalayas
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
See also
References
- Ram Sharan Sharma, Rahul Sankrityayan and Social Change, Indian History Congress, 1993.
- Ram Sharan Sharma, Rethinking India's Past, (Oxford University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0195697872).
- Himalayan Buddhism, Past and Present: Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan centenary volume by D. C. Ahir (ISBN 81-7030-370-2)
- Prabhakar Machwe: "Rahul Sankrityayan" New Delhi 1978: Sahitya Akademi. [A short biography including a list of Sankrityayan's works]
Notes
External links
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