329. Nirmal Kumar Basu (1901-1972)

Nirmal Kumar Bose was one of the writer of "Bharat Kosh", a world famous learned man,Pandit and follower of Gandhi. He passed M.Sc. with  1st class in Anthropology. He suffered imprisonment for joining Satyagraha in 1930 and Quit India movement in 1942.He was personal secretary of Gandhiji from 1946-47 while the undivided Bengal was riot stricken area.He was a professor of Calcutta University in 1938-1942.

Exhibition OnNirmal Kumar BoseScholar Wanderer(1901- 1972) Government of India At National Library, Kolkata, from January 22 -31, 2002

Nirmal Kumar Bose - Scholar wanderer Professor Nirmal Kumar Bose was born in Kolkata on 22nd January, 1901 and passed away on 15th October, 1972, leaving behind him a monumental socio- economic contributions to be cherished by his countrymen. He dwelt upon a wide-range of disciplines of knowledge - social and cultural history, political science, architecture, human geography. His scientific curiosity in anthropological investigations was always matched by profound concern for human welfare. Professor Bose was one of the finest interpreters of the ideals of Gandhian philosophy. He also left his own mark in ameliorating the deplorable state of the downtrodden people of the society. The National Library has the privilege of preserving almost all the publications authored by Prof. Bose, selected few of which are presented in this exhibition for a better understanding of the man and the scholar on the occasion of his birth centenary.

Prof. Nirmal Kumar Bose

Chronology
1901	January 22, Born in Calcutta.
1917	Matriculation from Puri Zilla School.
1919	I.Sc. from Scottish Church College, Calcutta.
1921	B.Sc. (Honours) in Geology from Presidency College. Calcutta Admitted to M. Sc. In Geology in Presidency College. Left college in response to Non cooperation Movement. Organised a camp of repatriated indentured Indian labourers from East and West Indies and South Africa under the guidance of C.F. Andrews. Settled in Puri. Started studying Temple architecture in Orissa.
1923	Joined M.Sc. course in Anthropology at Calcutta University. Passed M.Sc. in with highest marks among all the M.A./ M.Sc. candidates in Calcutta University that year.
1926	Field work among the Jung of Orissa hills. Continued studies on the architecture of temples throughout North India from 1923 to 1929. Became associated with the Gandhian Congress Workers of the Hoogly Group.
1929-30	Research Fellow in Anthropology in Calcutta University. Working on changes in the caste system.
1930	Organised Khadi Sangha (Village Industries Centre) and Sikshaagar, an adult literacy centre, for the scheduled castes at Bolpur, Birbhum. Joined Salt Satyagraha Movement : arrested and jailed at Suri and Dum Dum Central Jail: 1930-32.
1934	First meeting with Gandhi at Sevagram, Wardha. Continued Gandhian social work at Bolpur.
1938	Appointed as Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, Calcutta University.
1939-41	Prehistoric Excavations in Mayurbhanj. Research on Temple Architecture continued.
1942-45	Joined the August Movement. Was in Dum Dum Central jail from August 1942 to August 1945.
1946	Joined Calcutta University as lecturer in Human Geography. Served as Bengali interpreter and private secretary to Mahatma Gandhi. November 1946 to March 1947 in Noakhali and then again in Calcutta from May to September, 1947.
1948	Awarded Anandale Gold medal of the Asiatic Society for distinguished work in Asian Anthropology.
1951	Became Editor, Man in India: continued till his death.
1957-58	Invited as Visiting Professor in the Department of South Asian Studies at the University of California (Berkeley) and at the Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago. Participated in an International Seminar on comparison of Civilizations at Stand ford, California.
1959-64	Director, Anthropological Survey of India.
1965	Served as a Special invitee to the Study Team for Hill Districts of Assam under the chairmanship of Tarlok Singh, Member, Planning Commission. Invited to participated in the Annual Conference of the Association for Asian Studies in New York. Lectured on social and political changes in India and on the political philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi At Columbia, California (Berkeley), Michigan, Duke, New York State and Howard Universities. Invited by the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Mexico for lectures on Society and Culture in India. Invited by the University of Hiroshima, Japan, for lectures on methods of studying Urban Sociology. Awarded bronze medal for outstanding contributions in urban studies.
1966	Invited by the administration of NEFA to prepare a report on the educational problems of the region. Awarded Sarat Chandra Roy Gold medal by the Asiatic Society for distinguished work in Anthropology.
1967-70	Served as Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Government of India.
1968	Invited to attend Conference on "Education for Mankind" at the Centre for Continuing Education, Chicago University, U.S.A.
1969	Mahatma Gandhi Visiting professor at Gauhati University. Attended Gandhi Centennial Seminar at the East-West Centre, University of Hawaii.
1971	Fell ill with cancer. Delivered Acharya Jagadis Chandra Bose memorial Lecture at Bose Institute on "An Anthropological View of Indian Civilization". Elected President, Bangiya Shitya Parisad. Elected Honorary Fellow, The Asiatic Society, Calcutta.
1972	Elected President, The Asiatic Society, Calcutta. Delivered Tarak Chandra Das memorial lecture on "Methods in Anthropological Study of Indian Society". Died on October 15, 1972.

List of Exhibits
Bengali
1.	Aviskarer Kahini (n.d.); J/B 500 V 871a
2.	Congresser Adarsa-Pratistha 1949; B329. 954/ V871
3.	Gandhi Charita 1949; 182 CC 949.16(1)
4.	Gandhi Ki kachana, 1958; B 335.1 V 871g
5.	Hindu Samajer Gadan; 1949;182 PC 494.9
6.	Konarker Vivaran; 1960; B915.13 V 871 k
7.	Navin O Pracin, 1949; B891.44408 V 871 n
8.	Parivrajaker Dayeri; 1959; B 891.444 V 871 p
9.	Shapmrikta Tritiya Pandav, 1988; B 891.442 V 871 sa
10.	Svaraj O Gandhivad, 1947; 182 PC 947. 13
11.	Bose, Nirmal Kumar & Chattopadhyay, Ratnamani - Gandhi mans, 1967; B 301.153 C 4839 ga
12.	Gandhi-Rachana Sankalan, 1966;B 082 G 252
Hindi
1.	Gandhi kya chate the, 1959; H 301.153 G 2522
2.	Bharatiya adivasi jivan, 1976; H 572.7 V 871
English
1.	Anthropology and some Indian problems, 1972; E 572 B 651
2.	The Aryan occupation of Eastern India, 1962, E/ O 954 C 349
3.	Assam in the Ahom Age. 1228-1826, 1970; E 954 B 299 a
4.	Calcutta 1964: a social survey, 1968; E/O 309.154 B 651
5.	Canons of Orissan architecture, 1932; E/O 720.954 B 651
6.	Cultural anthropology, 1929; E 572.954 B 651
7.	Selections from Gandhi/ q/ 1957; 172 A 2227 (1)
8.	Gandhiji's theory of trusteeship, 1945; E 92 G 151 gan
9.	Gandhiji: the man and his mission, 1966; J/E 92 G 151
10.	Gandhism and Modern India, 1970; E 320.954 B/651 gm.
11.	Modern Bengal, 1959; E 954 B 651
12.	My days with Gandhi, 1953; SC 92 G 151 m & E 92 G 151 bo
13.	Problems of Indian nationalism, 1969; E 320.4158 B 651
14.	Problems of national integration, 1967; E 320.954 B 651
15.	Satya and ahimsa : Mahatma Gandhi's interpretation, 1949; 150 E 381
16.	Signal processing and its applications, 1993; E 621.3822. Si 26 b
17.	Social and cultural life of Calcutta, [195 ] E 309.154 B 651 so
18.	Some aspects of caste in Bengal, 1958; E/ O 301.440954 B 651
19.	The structure of Hindu Society, c 1975; E 301.40954 B 651
20.	Studies in Gandhism, 1940; E 320.954 B 651s
21.	A study of Satyagraha, 1968; E 323.20954 B 651
22.	Bose, Nirmal Kumar & Ogburn,William C.On the trail of wolf-children 1958;E/ O 92 k 127 w
23.	Bose, Nirmal Kumar & Patwardhan, P.H. Gandhi in Indian Politics, 1967; E 320.954 B 651 g
24.	Bose, Nirmal Kumar & Sen, Dharani Exacavations in Mayurbhanj, 1948; E/O 913.54 B 651
25.	Bose, Nirmal Kumar & others Social and Political ideas of Mahatma Gandhi, 1949; E 92 G 151 al.

On Nirmal Kumar Bose
Sinha, Surajit -	Nirmal Kumar Bose: scholar wanderer, 1986; GP 925.72 B 651

Bose had been reading the works of Mahatma Gandhi since his college days, and hisSelections from Gandhi (1934) remains a broad and useful anthology of Gandhi's work. Between 1934 and 1947, Bose started working closely with Gandhi, and served as his secretary in the mid-1940s. He developed a broad appreciation for his ideology, which is reflected in his analytical Studies in Gandhism (1940). This period is covered in his My Days with Gandhi (1953) which describes the last decade of Gandhi's life, particularly his courageous stance in personally moving into areas with fierce communal violence (Noakhali genocide 1947). While Bose held Gandhi's philosophy in high esteem, he was far more sceptical of his experiments with suppressing his own sexuality. In a letter to a friend, he wrote:

Gandhi sometimes asked women to share his bed and even the cover which he used, and tried to ascertain if even the least trace of sensual feeling had been evoked in himself or his companion ... Whatever may be the value of the [experiment] on Gandhiji's own case, it does leave a mark of injury on the personality of others who are not of the same moral stature."^[11]

The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts has organized the N. K. Bose memorial lectures once every two years since 1993. Anthropologist Surajit Chandra Sinha has written a field biography: The Anthropology of Nirmal Kumar Bose (1970)..