R. D.

Banerji
Rakhal Das Banerji, also Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay
(12 April 1885 – 23 May 1930), was an Indian archaeologist
R. D. Banerji
and an officer of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). In
1919, he became the second ASI officer deputed to survey
the site of Mohenjo-daro and returned there in the 1922-23
season. He was the first person to propose the remote
antiquity of the site—which he did in a letter to Marshall in
1923—and in effect of the Harappan culture. After leaving
the ASI, he held the Manindra Chandra Nandy
professorship of Ancient Indian History and Culture at the
Banaras Hindu University from 1928 until his premature
death in 1930.

In 1931, in the introduction of Mohenjo-daro and the Indus

Civilization, London: Arthur Probsthain, 1931, Sir John
Marshall wrote, "Three other scholars whose names I
cannot pass over in silence, are the late Mr. R. D. Banerji, to
whom belongs the credit of having discovered, if not
Mohenjo-daro itself, at any rate its high antiquity, and his Born 12 April 1885[1][2]
immediate successors in the task of excavation, Messrs. Berhampore,
M.S. Vats and K.N. Dikshit. ... no one probably except Bengal Presidency,
myself can fully appreciate the difficulties and hardships British India
which they had to face in the three first seasons at Mohenjo- (now in West
daro." Bengal, India)[1][3]
Died 23 May 1930
Early life and background (aged 45)
Kalighat, Calcutta,
Bandyopadhyay was born on 12 April 1885[1][2] in Bengal Presidency,
Berhampore of Murshidabad District, in present-day Indian
British India
state of West Bengal, to Matilal and Kalimati.[1][3] He
(now Kolkata, West
passed his entrance examination from the Krishnath
Bengal, India)
College School in Berhampore in 1900. He lived in
Bangaon.[4] Occupation(s) Archaeologist,
historian, linguist,
Soon, he married Kanchanmala (1891–1931), the daughter
Known for Proposing the
of Narendranath Mukhopadhyay. He passed his F.A.
antiquity of
examination in 1903 and graduated from the Presidency
College with Honours in History in 1907. He obtained his Mohenjo-daro
M.A. in history from the Calcutta University in 1911.[5] Academic background
Alma mater University of
Career Calcutta
Academic work
Bandyopadhyay joined the Indian Museum in Calcutta as
an Assistant to the Archaeological Section in 1910. He Institutions Archeological
joined the Archaeological Survey of India as Assistant Survey of India
Superintendent in 1911 and was promoted to the rank of Banaras Hindu
Superintending Archaeologist of the Western Circle in 1917. University
In 1924, he was transferred to the Eastern Circle and took
part in the excavations at Paharpur. He took voluntary retirement in 1926. After teaching at the
University of Calcutta,[6] he later joined the Banaras Hindu University in 1928 and held this
post till his premature death on 23 May 1930.[7]

Bandyopadhyay's first major independent professional work was in the fields of palaeography
and epigraphy. He won the Jubilee Research Prize of the Calcutta University for The Origin of
the Bengali Script published in 1919.

He was the first to study the proto-Bangla script, the original form of Bangla script. He wrote
the classic historical works on medieval Indian coins, and the standard works on the
iconography of Indian art, in particular Gupta sculpture and architecture. His best known work
was Eastern Indian Medieval School of Sculpture, published posthumously in 1933.

Discovery of Mohenjo-Daro

Bandyopadhyay is known for unearthing pre-Buddhist artifacts at the ruins at Mohenjo-Daro

and for noting similarities between the site at Mohenjo-Daro and Harrappa. Those discoveries
led to excavations at the two sites that established the existence of the then-unknown Bronze
Age Indus Valley civilisation.[8]

His interpretations of this civilisation were published in a number of articles and books: "An
Indian City Five Thousand Years Ago" ; "Mohenjo-Daro" (in Bangla, Basumati, 1331 BS);
Prehistoric, Ancient and Hindu India (posthumously published, 1934) and Mahenjo-Daro – A
Forgotten Report.

Works
Bandyopadhyay wrote two textbooks for Calcutta University, namely, History of India (1924)
and A Junior History of India (1928). His The Age of the Imperial Guptas (1933) is a collection
of lectures delivered by him in 1924. His standard two-volume Bangalar Itihas (History of
Bengal), in Bengali (1914 and 1917), was one of the first attempts at writing a scientific history
of Bengal. He also wrote two volumes on the history of Orissa, titled History of Orissa from the
Earliest Times to the British Period (1930 and 1931).

His other significant non-fiction works include, Prachin Mudra (1915), The Palas of Bengal
(1915), The Temple of Siva at Bhumara (1924), The Paleography of Hati Gumpha and
Nanaghat Inscriptions (1924), Bas Reliefs of Badami (1928) and The Haihayas of Tripuri and
their Monuments (1931).

Having published three novels, Pakshantar (1924), Byatikram (1924) and Anukram (1931), his
other literary works in Bengali language were historical fictions. The setting of his Pashaner
Katha (1914) is Kushana period. His three other novels, namely, Dhruba, Karuna (1917) and
Shashanka (1914) are set in the different phases of the Gupta period. His Dharmapala (1915)
narrates the story of the Pala emperor Dharmapala. Mayukh (1916) describes the Portuguese
atrocities in Bengal during the reign of Shahjahan. Asim (1924) narrates the condition of Bengal
during the reign of Farrukhsiyar.

His last novel, Lutf-Ulla, is set in Delhi at the time of the invasion by Nadir Shah. Another work,
Hemkana (uncompleted), was published in Prabasi (magazine) from 1911 to 1912.[9] A number
of his novels were translated into other Indian languages.

Non-Fiction
▪ The origin of the Bengali Script
▪ Baanglaar Itihaash (The History of Bengal) (1914 and 1917) - 2 volumes
▪ Prachin Mudra (1915)
▪ The Palas of Bengal (1915)
▪ The Temple of Shiva at Bhumara (1924)
▪ The Paleography of Hati Gumpha and Nanaghat Inscriptions (1924)
▪ The History of India (1924)
▪ A Junior History of India (1928)
▪ Bas Reliefs of Badami (1928)

Posthumous

▪ History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period (1930 and 1931) - 2 volumes
▪ The Haihayas of Tripuri and their Monuments (1931)
▪ The Age of the Imperial Guptas (1933)

Novels
▪ Dhrubo (19??)
▪ Hemkana (uncompleted) - published in Prabasi magazine (1911-12)
▪ Pashaner Katha (1914)
▪ Shashanka (1914)
▪ Dharmapala (1915)
▪ Mayukh (1916)
▪ Karuna (1917)
▪ Pakshantar (1924)
▪ Byatikram (1924)
▪ Asim (1924)

Posthumous

▪ Anukram (1931)
▪ Luttfullaah (193?)

Legacy
In 2022, in commemoration of the 137th birth anniversary of the illustrious Rakhaldas Banerji,
and to celebrate the centenary year of the discovery of Harappan Civilization, the Indian
Museum in Kolkata exhibited some invaluable artefacts from its proud repertoire in order to
provide a glimpse of Harappan civilization to the visitors.[10]
References
1. "রাখালদাস িনেজই গেড় �ফলেলন ইিতহাস" (https://www.anandabazar.com/editorial/rakhaldas-
created-history-by-his-own-1.1091882) (in Bengali). Anandabazar Patrika. 7 January 2020.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20201020155104/https://www.anandabazar.com/edito
rial/rakhaldas-created-history-by-his-own-1.1091882) from the original on 20 October 2020.
Retrieved 20 October 2020.
2. "Scientist of the Day - R. D. Banerji" (https://www.lindahall.org/r-d-banerji/). 12 April 2017.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20201020133957/https://www.lindahall.org/r-d-banerj
i/) from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
3. Sengupta, Subodhchandra; Bose, Anjali (1976). Samsad Bangali
Charitabhidhan(Biographical dictionary) (in Bengali). Calcutta: Sahitya Samsad. p. 455.
4. "Five New Heritage Buildings for West Bengal" (https://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktravell
er/travelnews/story/70419/west-bengal-to-enlist-five-heritage-precincts).
www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2020072608
1248/https://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/travelnews/story/70419/west-bengal-to-e
nlist-five-heritage-precincts) from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 18 November
2021.
5. "Distinguished-Teachers" (https://web.archive.org/web/20140924132706/http://www.caluni
v.ac.in/about/Teacher.html). www.caluniv.ac.in. Archived from the original (http://www.caluni
v.ac.in/about/Teacher.html) on 24 September 2014.
6. "Some of our Distinguished Teachers: Rakhaldas Banerji" (https://web.archive.org/web/2011
1121002802/http://caluniv.ac.in/About%20the%20university/Distinguished%20Teacher.htm).
University of Calcutta. Archived from the original (http://www.caluniv.ac.in/About%20the%20
university/Distinguished%20Teacher.htm) on 21 November 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
7. Sengupta, Subodh Chandra (ed.) (1988) Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan (in Bengali),
Kolkata: Sahitya Sansad, p.465
8. Humes, Cynthia Ann (2012). "Hindutva, Mythistory, ; Pseudoarchaeology". Numen:
International Review for the History of Religions. 59 (2–3): 178–201. doi:
10.1163/156852712x630770 (https://doi.org/10.1163%2F156852712x630770).
JSTOR 23244958 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/23244958).
9. Sen, Sukumar (1999). Bangala Sahityer Itihas, vol V, Kolkata: Ananda Publishers;
ISBN 81-7215-950-1, pp. 210–11
10. "Museum to display 5,000-yr-old Harappan artefacts on Rakhaldas's birth anniversary" (http
s://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/museum-to-display-5000-yr-old-harappan-artefa
cts-on-rakhaldass-birth-anniversary/articleshow/90694802.cms). The Times of India.
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20220806103416/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
city/kolkata/museum-to-display-5000-yr-old-harappan-artefacts-on-rakhaldass-birth-annivers
ary/articleshow/90694802.cms) from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August
2022.

Bibliography
▪ Bhattacharya, Asok K. (1999). Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay, Delhi: Sahitya Akademi,
ISBN 81-260-0848-2
▪ Dasgupta, Kalyankumar (ed.) (1990). Shatabarsher Aloy Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay (in
Bengali), Kolkata: Sharat Samiti.
▪ Bandyopadhyay, Umesh, Abhishapta Rakhaldas, Kansai Shilai (Bengali Journal), April–
September issue 2005, Calcutta.
▪ Amitabha Bhattacharyya (2012), "Bandyopadhyay, Rakhaldas" (http://en.banglapedia.org/in
dex.php?title=Bandyopadhyay,_Rakhaldas), in Sirajul Islam; Ahmed A. Jamal (eds.),
 Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.), Asiatic Society of
Bangladesh

External links
▪ Works by R. D. Banerji on Archive.org (https://archive.org/search.php?query=r+d+banerji)

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