B. N. Mukherjee

Bratindra Nath Mukherjee (1 January 1932 – 4 April 2013) was an Indian historian, numismatist, epigraphist and iconographist, known for his scholarship in central Asian languages such as Sogdian. He was a Carmichael Professor of Ancient Indian History and Culture at University of Calcutta and is reported to have deciphered many ancient scripts. He was the author of 50 books and over 700 articles on ancient history, numismatics and epigraphy.

Early life and education

B. N. Mukherjee was born on the New Year's Day of 1932. He obtained his master's degree in Ancient Indian History and Culture from University of Calcutta, learning under Sarasi Kumar Saraswati, J. N. Banerjee and R. G. Basak and did research under the guidance of Arthur Llewellyn Basham, renowned scholar and historian, to secure a doctoral degree from the SOAS University of London, London. He continued in the United Kingdom at University of Cambridge to research under Harold Walter Bailey on historical linguistics of West and Central Asia, focusing on Iranian, Saka, Saka–Khotanese and Aramaic studies. and the last of his works, Kushana Studies, New Perspectives, released in 2004, account his observations on these topics. His exploration of Ancient India led him to Numismatics studies and he wrote two books on the subject, namely Numismatic Art of India and Coins of Bengal.

Mukherjee wrote a 300-page commentary on the treatise, Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty, considered to be a classic text on ancient India, written by Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri. His style of writing was heavily leaned on to footnotes and his findings have, at times, attracted criticisms. Besides 50 books, he also published over 700 articles in various national and international journals.

Honours Mukherjee was a professor at University of Calcutta and held the Carmichael chair of the Ancient Indian History and Culture from 1975 to 1998. He was a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 1992. He was the president of the Indian History Congress and was a recipient of the Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri Centenary Medal of the Asiatic Society, Kolkata.

Mukherjee died on 4 April 2013, at the age of 79, survived by his wife and son.

Selected works