Ramaprasad Chanda

Ramaprasad Chanda (15 August 1873 – 28 May 1942) was an Indian anthropologist, historian and archaeologist from Bengal. A pioneer in his field in South Asia, Chanda's lasting legacy is the Varendra Research Museum, he established in Rajshahi (located in present-day Bangladesh), a leading institute for research on the history of Bengal. He was the first head of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Calcutta from 1920- 1921. He was also a professional archaeologist and worked in the Archaeological Survey of India. Chanda was one of the founders the Indian Anthropological Institute and was its president during 1938–1942. He represented India in the first International Congress of Anthropology held in London in 1934. He had done original research on the somatic characters of Indian populations by using ancient Indian literature and challenged Herbert Hope Risley's theory of Indian races. Riley was the first Census Commissioner of India.[1]

Ramaprasad Chanda
Ramaprasad Chanda photo
Ramaprasad Chanda
Born(1873-08-15)15 August 1873
Died28 May 1942(1942-05-28) (aged 68)
NationalityIndian
Occupation(s)Historian and archaeologist

Research

Chanda's work focused on the collection and analysis of objective data, such as inscriptions, in order to construct a scientific' history of the region.[2] He emphasized the importance of archaeology as a specialized discipline and promoted the need for Western methods and techniques in systematic and scientific work.[3]

Chanda's Gaudarajamala is considered to be the first scientific history of the region, and he carefully omitted classical legends and mythical characters whose presence could not be proven by hard evidence.[4]

Although Chanda was not involved in the actual excavations of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro ,he organized one of the first Indus exhibitions in the Indian Museum in Kolkata in 1924.[5] He gained the firsthand knowledge of the various relics that were classified and exhibited. He was singularly struck by a head of the male statue from Mohenjo-Daro with half-closed eyes concentrated on the tip of the nose.[6] He concluded that it was portrayed in an attitude of yoga.[7] This happened before the discovery of the well-known Pasupathi seal which portrayed a divine figure. According to Marshall, the deity in the seal was seated in a typical attitude of yoga.[8] Chanda’s initial assertions were further reinforced by the discovery of more seals depicting, not only of deities in the sitting positions, but also in standing positions.[9]

Publications
  • Gaudarajmala, Rajshahi: Varendra Research Society (1912)
  • Indo Aryan Races, Rajshahi: Varendra Research Society (1916)
  • Letters and Documents Relating to the Life of Raja Rammohan Roy

References
  1. Guha, Abhijit. "Obituary of Ramaprasad Chanda in the Journal of the Indian Anthropological Institute.1938, Vol.I, nos.1 & 2,pp.i-III". Obituary.
  2. Panja, Sheena (February 2021). "The Dilemma of Science': 'Tradition' and Archaeology in Early Twentieth-century Bengal". Studies in History. 37 (1): 92–118. doi:10.1177/02576430211001764.
  3. Codrington, K. de B. (June 1930). "MEMOIRS OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA. No. 41. Survival of the Prehistoric Civilisation of the Indus Valley. By Ramprasad Chanda. Government of India, 1929. pp. 40, and 2 plates, index. Rupees 1–2 or 2 s ". Antiquity. 4 (14): 256–256. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00004658.
  4. Chatterjee, Kumkum (December 2005). "The King of Controversy: History and Nation‐Making in Late Colonial India". The American Historical Review. 110 (5): 1454–1475. doi:10.1086/ahr.110.5.1454.
  5. Jayasuriya, Kasun Subashana (2021). "Discuss evidence of the Yoga practices in the Pre-Vedic Indus-Saraswati Valley". doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.31849.52329.
  6. "Ramprasad Chanda and the Aryan Invasion Theory". Harappa.com.
  7. Dhyansky, Yan Y. (1987). "The Indus Valley Origin of a Yoga Practice". Artibus Asiae. 48 (1/2): 89. doi:10.2307/3249853.
  8. Possehl, Gregory L. (1 March 2007). "The Indus Civilization". A Handbook of Ancient Religions: 418–489. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511488429.010.
  9. Ramaswamy, Sumathi (June 2001). "Remains of the race: Archaeology, nationalism, and the yearning for civilisation in the Indus valley". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 38 (2): 105–145. doi:10.1177/001946460103800201.


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