Yesterdate: This day from Kolkata’s past, November 3, 1866

Writer, teacher and collector of Bengali folklore Rai Bahadur Dinesh Chandra Sen was born on this day.
Sen had been appointed reader in the just-established Bengali department of Calcutta University, where he enjoyed a distinguished career. But earlier, when he was a teacher in Comilla (now in Bangladesh), he toured villages, collecting old Bengali writing and songs. Among the dozens of books he wrote, Mymensingh Gitika (Ballads of Mymensingh), is very well-known. His book Prachin Bangla Sahitye Mussalmaner Abodan, Sen wrote about the contribution of Muslims to Bengali literature. He wrote a history of the Bengali language. The British government awarded him the Rai Bahadur title.