Sukumar Sen

Prof. Sukumar Sen (1900–1992) was a Bengali linguist. He had also vast knowledge in Pāli, Prakrit and Sanskrit. He wrote the book History of Bengali Literature.

Work

Vishnu Pala's Manasa Mangala edited by Sukumar Sen is another of his work. The legend of Manasa, the snake Goddess, became a popular literary theme in Bengal from the 16th century with local and regional variations. The present edition of Vishnu Pala's Manasa Mangala was prepared by Prof. Sukumar Sen for the Bibliotheca Indica on the basis of the Asiatic Society manuscript no. 4993 (government collection). The interesting point is that the manuscript prepared from that were used by the singers who came from the common people; it was written sometimes between 1775 and 1825. Despite the late character of it, its linguistic importance cannot be gainsaid. Apart from that, it is a sample of folk treatment of Mangal poetry. Hence it is also of some interest to folklorists.

He showed gradual emergence of the Bengali language from Prakrit and Apabhramsa. At the beginning, devotional and lyric songs and mystical poetry, followed by narrative poetry, can be found. Gradually literary prose develops, and drama, as well as fiction. Sen gives many details about past writers and a broad sweep of the progress of the Bengali language, especially in its development during more or less recent times when it was reacting to Western influences.

Life

Sen was born in 1900. Their original home was at Gotan, near Bardhaman. He got his education from Burdwan Municipal High School and got divisional scholarship in Matriculation examination in 1917. He passed F.A. from Burdwan Raj College getting first class honours mark in Sanskrit. Then he studied comparative literature in Kolkata in which he got highest record marks. Linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji was his teacher here. Thereafter he received the prestigious Premchand Roychand Scholarship and PhD degree. The London Asiatic Society honoured him with a gold medal. He published numerous articles and research papers in his life.