Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c15.s2.t56: Prabodh Chandra Bagchi
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c15.s2.t56
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Prabodh Chandra Bagchi
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Prabodh Chandra Bagchi (1898-1956) was an eminent Sino-Indologist of 20ᵗʰ century India, who has made substantial contributions of original nature both to the Chinese and Indian classical studies, and to the history of India-China cultural interface.
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He was born in Jessore district of Bangladesh in November 1898. After completing his graduation from Krishnanagar Government College in 1918 with
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*P C Bagchi at work in Visva-Bharati*
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*P C Bagchi in Visva-Bharati*
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Sanskrit honours, he joined Calcutta University to do his MA in Ancient Indian History and Culture, while obtaining a first class degree in 1920. Immediately after this, he joined Calcutta University as a Lecturer at the invitation of Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee. In 1921, he was sent by Mukherjee to Shantiniketan to study Buddhism and Chinese language under the erudite supervision and guidance of the French sinologist, Sylvain Levi. It was here in Shantiniketan that he developed a keen interest to delve deeper into the cultural contacts between India and China. In 1922, he visited Nepal in search of some Tibetan
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*P C Bagchi’s ‘India and China: A Thousand Years of Cultural Relations’, translated in Chinese by Jiang Jingkui, front cover*
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and Chinese manuscripts of old Sanskrit texts. In 1923, he went to France and joined Paris University on a government scholarship for higher studies and worked with many eminent Buddhist and Sanskrit scholars like Paul Pelliot, Henri Maspero, Jules Bloch and Antoine Meillet, besides his mentor Sylvain Levi till 1926. His academic career marked new success here with the publication of his thesis “Le Canon Bouddhique en Chine” in two volumes, which fetched him the most coveted degree of Docteurdes Lettres (State Doctorate) of Paris University. On his return from France, Bagchi taught in the Department of Ancient History and Culture of Calcutta University during the period 1926-1944. In 1945, he joined Visva-Bharati, Cheena Bhavan as Director of Research Studies. Meanwhile, the Government of India created a chair of Professor in Peking University to promote India-China cultural studies, and in 1947, he was then deputed to take up the new assignment in China for two years. After returning from China, he was appointed Principal of Vidya-Bhavan, the Department of Higher Studies of Visva-Bharati. But, it may be noted that though he had taken up such administrative assignments, he was never detached from his academic pursuits; and he had, during this time, given a series of scholarly talks on “Central Asia” and “Chinese Turkestan” in Calcutta University as its Hemchandra Basumallik Professor. He used to edit a series of journals like the Sino-Indian Studies, Visva-Bharati Annals and Sahitya Prakashika. His most valuable contribution towards India-China studies lay in the publication of the book, *‘India and China: A Thousand Years of Sino-Indian Cultural Relations’* in 1944. In 1952, he went to China as a delegate of the Indian cultural delegation led by Vijaya Laxmi Pandit.
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He was appointed Vice Chancellor of Visva-Bharati University in April 1954, and held this post till his untimely death on January 19, 1956 due to a severe heart attack.
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(*Arttatrana Nayak*)