Sanskrit scholar Madanmohan Tarkalankar, an important figure of Bengal Renaissance, passed away on this day.
Tarkalankar had studied at Sanskrit College, where he was Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s classmate. The two men formed a lifelong association there.
Tarkalankar taught at Fort William College and later in his life worked as a deputy magistrate.
He lent strong support to Vidyasagar’s projects of widow remarriage and female education. He was instrumental in arranging the first widow remarriage. He sent his two daughters, Bhubanmala and Kundamala, to Hindu Female School, started by John Drinkwater Bethune.
With Vidyasagar, Tarkalankar had set up a printing press called Sanskrit Jantra, which published several Sanskrit texts. He wrote poetry. Rasatarangini and Basabadatta are his notable books of poems. Some of his poems for children, such as Pakhi sab kare rab, are still popular.
He died of cholera when he was posted in Kandi as deputy magistrate. He was 41.
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